Now that we have had a chance to talk about what God has been doing so far here in Wichita I would like to share with you the vision my wife and I have for the Youth & Family Ministry. When talking about vision it's always growing and becoming more clear. So to clarify I would like to share our vision as we see it now. I am sure in a few months and even a few years from now I can look back at this post and realize how near sighted I was. However I do appreciate this as well, God never gives us more than we can handle.
As we have seen parents get behind the idea of youth and family ministry and get more involved it has been exciting to see how their families have changed. However as we spent time at the beginning of the year thinking through the direction we wanted to go it became clear that we were missing something. Jami and I appreciate Brandle and Wendy so much. They have been such great guides and advisors as we have stumbled along. As we were sitting down with them and discussing plans I believe God put it on their hearts to see a greater need, the young teens. When we think about youth and family ministry it is not just a need for the high school aged students. Middle School is one of the most challenging times for many people. It became clear that the families at this stage in life are needing help just as much as the other families. The other thing that we observed is the hard transition from the Young Teen Ministry to the High School Teen Ministry. They all of a sudden had events every week and Heartland events throughout the year that the families are asked to participate in without any real relationships in place. Needless to say we needed to do better in meeting these needs. So we have expanded the Youth and Family Ministry (YFM) to include the Young Teens (YT). We have two big YFM events a month with everyone while the High School Teens (HST) meet every week. This is allowing us to help provide opportunities for relationship building and resources for the YT families to get the support and help they need.
Since the beginning of the year we have seen the ministry getting stronger and families participating more than ever before. Relationships among the two different groups are beginning to form and we are excited to see what God has in store the rest of this year. Of course we aren't able to meet all the needs in this ministry. We have great people around us. We have some parent's that are stepping up and taking on more of a leadership role in the ministry and helping work with the other parent's. We have another couple that is helping us work with the young teens and are embracing their role and the vision of building up these families. The church also hired an intern this year to work in the YFM. Chris Yoder has been a huge asset and is doing a great job. It's inspiring to see how God is using different people to grow and change the family here in Wichita.
