Being Relational

One of our core values as a student ministry is being relational. We believe firmly that if relationships are not being formed, ministry is not happening. Just look at Jesus, he spent most of his ministry building relationships with his disciples and others. Why? Why would he spend most of his life building relationships? Shouldn't he have been going around preaching or healing the sick? No, because Jesus knew that in order to make the biggest impact you must love people and spend time with them.

So, I wanted to give you a few tips on how to be more relational as a life group leader.

1. Come early and leave late - Dont show up right when service is starting and leave right when it is over. If you do this you are wasting valuable time that you could be using to spend with one or more of your students outside of the life group setting. I found out really quick that students don't usually open up that well in a group setting. But man if you wait till after class or grab them 30 minutes before and ask them simple questions like:"How's family life going? How's school? What is driving you nuts right now? What's one thing I can pray for you about?" These types of questions really open up for some good times of discussion and teachable moments. But if you ask those in a life group setting, students are going to do one of two things, their going to give a one word answer (ok, fine, good) or they are going to make it a joke to get others to laugh and help them not feel so uncomfortable. Making time before and after Life Groups is so key to building relationships.
2. Connect during the week - You want to blow a student away, call them during the week (or text them). Students think you are just doing your job as a life group leader if you only talk to them during life groups. But if you connect with them during the week, whether it is through text, a phone call, or hanging out, man a bond starts to be built that is hard to break.  Jesus purposefully walked hundreds of miles just so he could have an hour conversation with the woman at the well. Lets follow the lead of Christ and take time out of our week to start changing lives of students. You cannot expect your students to open up to you if you are not willing to open up your schedule for them. 
3. Carry a pen and pad - How often do we forget names, prayer requests, other things students have told us? A lot, right. Well I found that if you write them down after you have that conversation, and then go over them when your at home, it is hard to forget. And man, when you see that student next week and you remember what they told you, it boggles their mind. I remember praying for a student because he was worried about a test. I saw him two weeks later and asked him how his test went. He replied, "Oh my gosh, you remembered that?" He was totally blown away that I actually cared enough to remember his worries and problems. This opened up a huge door to pour into his life and show the love of Christ to him. Don't expect students to tell you their problems if you cant remember them. So write them down, it helps.

Excellence

Excellence is such an essential part of what we do at The Way. We never want to bring left overs or our second best to God (just ask Cain about that) we always want to give our best, pursue for excellence in everything we do including life groups. Wanted to give you some quick tips on how you can be excellent at what you do.

• Pursue God - You can never take your students some where you haven't been. Constantly be pursuing God with everything you got. You do this through daily prayer, Bible study, getting in a life group for yourself, evangelizing, giving, etc. Never stop deepening your faith because when you do that your students will too.
• Prepare - We say it all the time but it is so important. Know what your teaching, where you want to end up, and how you are going to get there. Don't just read the curriculum because honestly, the curriculum is boring (because it is a piece of paper), you are what makes it come alive, you are what puts meat on the bones of the lesson. But if you are just reading it, it's just a skeleton not moving anywhere.
• Pursue your students - The Bible teaches that Christ pursues us, he comes after us, isn't that a cool thought. So, why are we not doing the same thing with our students.
• Pursue them before service: Find your students before we start and hang out with them, play a game with them, buy them something from the cafe (tell them to put it on the youth tab if you don't have a dollar). Let your students know you're not just a teacher but you are someone who loves them.
• Pursue them during group time - get your students to open up during, dig deep into their lives, make sure that they know you love them and want the best for them, which is Jesus.
• Pursue them after group time - Again hang out with your students out side as they wait for their parents. Here is a great idea, meet their parents. Team up with them, give them your number so you can work together to disciple their student.
• Pursue them during the week - This is so IMPORTANT, connect with your students DURING THE WEEK. Text and facebook are the best ways I know how to do this. Ask them how their week is going, can you pray for anything, do they need anything, etc. Let them know your not just don't care about them on Wednesday but that you love them everyday (don't word it like that or they may call the cops)