student ministry | leadership | parenting | life
It’s time for a new LifeLine video! Last week we invented a new character for the “Great ‘Merican Camp Out. I have been known to be wrong but I think it’s epically funny. Check it out:
Announcements | Camp Out from LifeLine Student Ministries on Vimeo.
I am pumped to announce that the LifeLine Team is complete. It took us quite a while to hire everyone but the work has been worth the effort. Our team is set and I’m confident that God has brought us the right people. Here’s our announcement video from this past week which unveils our team.
Announcements / September 15 & 18 from LifeLine Student Ministries on Vimeo.
The verdict is still out on the pronunciation of “Chipotle” but if you’re curious, here is what we all do:
LifeLine @ the Kentwood Campus
LifeLine @ the Knapp Street Campus
LifeLine @ the Cascade Campus
LifeLine Central Support
It’s that time of year again. LifeLine, our student ministry, is back in action. We had a great kickoff week with close to 700 students and over 100 volunteers. It was an absolute riot. Here’s the announcement video we kicked the year off with.
Lifeline Welcome from LifeLine Student Ministries on Vimeo.
Also, we’ve started something new. We’re posting our teachings to soundcloud.com. Here’s my first teaching of the year:
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/110079017″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
I have big news! I am so excited to announce that we have hired Kirk Bierens as our Knapp Street High School Pastor. I’m so pumped about this that I can barely contain myself. Kirk and I have been friends for years. I couldn’t be happier that he’s joining the LifeLine team.
For those of you who don’t know Kirk, I’d like to introduce you to him and share why I’m so excited that he’s joining the LifeLine team. Here you go.
FEARLESSLY FUN
Fortunately for LifeLine, Kirk never exactly grew up. When society told him to calm down, chill out and sit down in a lazy chair he went snowboarding. He’s never slowed down and is still incredibly fun. Earlier this summer, Kirk joined up as a cabin leader at Camp LifeLine and brought it strong. His cabin was named “Kung-Fu Panda” and he showed up with a 6 ft. replica. I’m pretty sure there was even a string that produced Jack Black’s voice attached to it.
After camp, when most of us were nearly in a coma, Kirk was going on about how he and his buddies were going to build a raft, float down the Grand River from Grand Rapids to Lake Michigan and then sink it in the big lake. Who is this guy?
I love that Kirk is fun. He’s got that crazy edge—He’ll do anything. I’m sort of thinking of using him as a stuntman for our LifeLine videos. I love bringing his kind of energy to the LifeLine team. I never want to get stale or boring and I’m pretty sure Kirk is incapable of either.
THE BEARD
Quite simply, you just have to fear the beard. A few months ago, Kirk and his buddies registered for a trail marathon. You have to be hard to run one of these. It’s such a manly run that they decided to forgo shaving until after the run. Respect.
GENEROSITY
As a friend, Kirk has always been incredibly generous to me and my family. A few years back, my family went through what we now call “the year of poverty.” It’s a long story but basically everything went wrong. During this year, Kirk hooked me up with a moonlighting job in his painting business. We painted a beauty school–no joke. I’d work at the church until 4 or 5 and then paint with Kirk until 2am. The thing is, I’m a terrible painter and I’m pretty sure he and his real crew had to fix my mistakes but his generosity during our time of need helped us get through a hard time.
Later that same year, he showed up at my house with a free washer and dryer that we still use. Did I mention that he’s generous?
FAMILY FIRST
I love Kirk’s family. He has one of those families that you just love to watch because their interactions are so authentic and loving. I’ve heard him talk about the uniqueness of each of his kids and how’s he’s trying to draw out each of their passions and gifting in individualized ways. He’s a great dad.
LifeLine is about family. We want to resource and inspire parents toward greatness. We recognize that we exist to partner with families. Kirk brings a lot to the table in this area. I know that he will be a great model and resource for the families of our Knapp Street Campus.
HUMILITY
Kirk is not about Kirk. I love this about him. He once wore a simple white v-neck for about 2 years straight because he felt like fashion had become too important to him. He just wants to follow Jesus, serve the church and his family and keep the spotlight on others. In fact, when he sees this post and how much I’ve highlighted his life and character, I’m pretty sure he’s going to want to fight me…privately, in a quiet place, because he wouldn’t want it to be a big deal.
CREATIVITY
I’ve already mentioned the life size Kung-Fu Panda. Kirk is an artist, and a good one. Here’s one of his paintings…yes, it’s a painting and not a photo.
I’m excited to see how Kirk’s creative gifts will influence LifeLine. And, I’m secretly hoping he’ll do a portrait of me for posterity.
NOTHING HELD BACK FROM JESUS
Kirk is one of those rare guys who is dead serious about following Jesus. He applied for this LifeLine job because he wanted to be obedient to how God was leading him. A few years ago, after a deeply impactful mission trip to China, he and his family were ready to drop everything and move to China as missionaries. And when I say ready, I mean they were inches away from moving across the globe when Molly, Kirk’s wife, became pregnant. Change of plans.
I love that Kirk doesn’t hold anything back from Jesus. Everything is in play. Here’s the truth: I want Kirk on the LifeLine team because I want my faith to look like his. I want our students to live like Kirk does. He follows Jesus passionately and recklessly. He puts his time, money, talents, possessions, passions—his everything on the table.
Welcome to the team Kirk! I’m looking forward to serving together. Our team and ministry will be better and stronger with you on board.
Tomorrow is almost better than Christmas. Tomorrow our student ministry leaves for camp. Without a doubt this is one of my favorite weeks of the year. I am incredibly proud of our camp both in terms of our program and for how astronomically well our volunteers and students lead and serve.
When it comes to camp our team is boss and yet, we keep it very simple. We’re only aiming to do three things. But, we’re planning to knock these three things out of the park. Here they are.
FUN
We unapologetically attempt to blow the roof off when it comes to fun. There will be entertaining videos. There will be dance parties. There will be ridiculously creative games.
We have been working for months on some of the best videos we’ve ever created. Our camp storyline is epic. That’s really all I can say because it’s all top secret.
Here’s the thing, I happen to believe that fun can be a spiritual experience. Yes, I’m being serious. Many of this generation’s students are hurting. Many of them are under enormous pressure. Many of them feel abandoned by the adults in their lives. If we, as a ministry representing Jesus, can offer them laughter and fun and a reprieve from the pain, pressure and abandonment then fun is a spiritual experience.
When adults take vacation time to spend a week with students—when they get on the students’ level by having fun and laughing with them—God is pleased.
FOCUS ON JESUS
Everything we do at camp points toward Jesus. The sessions, the worship, the fun, the games, the relationships—everything is focused on Jesus. If we get to the end of camp and we haven’t made it crystal clear to all of our students that God loves them and wants a relationship with them through Jesus then we have failed.
More than anything else we are interested in connecting students with Jesus because we believe that life, meaning and purpose is found when we connect our passions, talents and possessions with the mission of Jesus in the world.
LOVE STUDENTS
Everything we do in LifeLine revolves around relationships and our camp is no different. Each cabin functions as a small group. Cabins compete together, eat together, and experience sessions and small groups together. Our goal is that each cabin would function as a family at camp.
I like to think of a week of camp as a little taste of heaven. For one week each student can get away from his struggles and pressures. For one week each student is treated with love and respect. For one week each kid doesn’t have to produce anything. For one week distractions are put aside and a kid can worship her creator without worrying about what other people are saying about her. For one week a student can share her heart and a caring adult will listen empathetically, cry with her and pray with her. For one week students can feel the very presence of God and hear His voice calling them to real life.
Camp is so amazing. I can’t wait to see how our volunteers and student leaders rise up and love students—some of which haven’t been loved well ever in their lives. I can’t wait to see the smiles and laughter of students getting a little taste of heaven. I can’t wait to see how God moves and transforms life. Can you tell that I’m psyched for Camp LifeLine?
We have astronomical volunteers. Part of the reason why they are so awesome is that we train them for an hour before every large group program. Another reason they are so great is that we give them the summer off. No one can perform at astronomical level indefinitely. Here’s a snippet of the training we provided on how to lead well while taking the summer off.
Rest
The first thing we want our volunteers to do over the summer is rest. We tell them to pull back a little and recharge. They gave us 31 Sunday nights between Labor Day and Memorial Day. We know they are worn down and ready for a break so we give them one. We don’t ask them to show up at Bible studies or whatever else we might dream up for the summer. If we decide to do any programing during the summer, it’s entirely on our staff to pull it off.
Engage
While we encourage our volunteers to rest, we still ask them to stay engaged with their small group students, particularly through social media. I specifically asked them to communicate with their students at least once a week through whatever social media platforms they share with their students. I hear Xanga is all the rage.
In our structure each leader continues with the same small group year after year so it’s important to maintain the relationships over the summer. In addition, a little, “Hey, I’m still here and who knows when I might ask you what you did on Friday night” provides students with needed accountability.
Invite
Social media is an amazing tool but it can’t replace real life interactions. Face to face conversations are still exponentially more meaningful to students. I asked our small group leaders to invite their groups to do something (a movie, a trip to the beach, a service project or whatever) at least once during the summer. Some of our leaders are all-stars and they continue to meet with their groups all summer long but I know that this is an unrealistic expectation for everyone.
Recruit
Because our small group leaders are the functional pastors and shepherds in our ministry, our discipleship impact is dependent on the quality and maturity of our leaders. We work hard over the summer to recruit the best leaders we can find. However, it is difficult to describe to a person who has no background in our ministry exactly what we’re asking them to commit to. Because of this, our best recruiters are our current and former volunteers. They know what we are looking for and they can describe what it’s like to volunteer in our ministry. Understanding this, we ask our volunteers to identify people within their circles who would make great LifeLine volunteers. This “refer-a-friend” method has led us to many of our best volunteers.
So if you want astronomical volunteers, give them a break. But before you cut them loose give them clarity on what it looks like to lead well while taking the summer off.
Do you take the summer off? If so, how do you vision your volunteers for the summer months?
image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/mortengade/
One of the funnier videos we made this year.
WaterBomb! from LifeLine Student Ministries on Vimeo.
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