Oaks of Righteousness

Life Space Crisis Intervention

2008-05-29T20:33:00.002-04:00

As studying life space crisis intervention I decided to take the time and figure out what my personal life space crisis intervention would be. The first step is to focus in the incident. This is very important because I believe i jump to the end result a lot of times and try to solve everything and make both parties happy. I need to focus in the incident first to get the real story and get to know what to do next. It will also give time to both of the parties who were in a fight or disagreement to calm down. I would go to one person at a time and ask them to tell me what happened, truthfully. While I am talking to one person there will be as assistant or helper keeping an eye on the rest of the people. You should never be with children by yourself anyways. After hearing the story from everyone involved I would bring the group or parties together to talk about it and discuss it. In this little meeting I will have a few more volunteers or other staff just in case something breaks out and I need some assistance taking care of it. After talking out the incident I would then ask the kids involved what hurt them the most and what they think their, not any one else's, but their consequences should be in regard to the way they acted. We will talk it out and discuss their discipline and make sure that both I and they agree it is fair. I will then discuss that just because they messed up doesn't make me think any less of them but i just want to help them correct the negative activities or attitudes. I will tell them I still love them just the same as I did before the incident happened. After this we will resume activities and make sure that the incident is not brought up again rather than between me and the ones being disciplined.
When doing this I need to watch when I am about to get angry and always have someone there to help me. I need to be able to ask someone to step in if I am getting too worked up so I could go and cool down and collect myself rather than saying all kinds of bad things I really don't mean.

2008-05-19T21:24:00.000-04:00

ഐ ലവ് ദ ലോര്‍ഡ് ജെസുസ് ക്രൈസ്റ്റ് ആന്‍ഡ്‌ ഹി ഈസ് മൈ റോക്ക്, ഫോര്‍ട്ട്, ഷെഇല്ദ്, ആന്‍ഡ്‌ ലൈഫ്!

Chosen to be a Soldier:Renouncing the World

2008-05-19T19:59:00.000-04:00

As a Salvation Army Soldier each and everyone has their own code of rules and regulations. The O & R for Senior Soldiers can be found in the book Chosen to be a Soldier.While reading the section titled "Renouncing the World" I have some across many interesting and very important facts we should follow as Soldiers of Christ's Army.

1. The human spirit is free but that does not mean we are to rebel against God. As Christians we are followers of Christ and should therefore follow him and obey his rules for our lives. He has not given us these rules to be condemned or to not have a good time but to protect us from broken hearts and broken souls.

2.We should not be "worldly" meaning we should not worship things of this world such as clothing, money, jewelry, wealth, fame, or any of the such. We should not have to have the latest fashion or make ourselves look more important to others. We should also not degrade ourselves and not take care of our selves but look presentable.

3. We should stay away from drinking, smoking, and the use of drugs. As a movement dedicated to helping the struggling alcoholic we should not engage in drink because it will be even tougher for the struggling one to get help and we ourselves may fall into alcoholism. The army is to be called the largest abstinence organization in the world. Addictive drugs may be prescribed by doctors but should be watch very carefully so we should not grow addicted. We as Soldiers should not gamble because it is addicting and life controlling. Gambling can lead to men and women lying and gambling rather than providing for their families. Soldiers should not live in debt but after they have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord they should get with the people they owe money to and make out some kind of payment agreement. If they do not try to pay off their debt they will be removed from the soldier roll. We as soldiers must also keep away from dirty language, movies, books, plays, and situations.

To end it is said that being a soldier will not be an easy job but will be accompanied with persecution. But our Lord is good and he promises in Matthew 5:10-11 that we will be blessed if we bear the suffering for his name.

40 developmental assets:Internal Asset

2008-05-19T19:46:00.000-04:00

Integrity

What exactly is integrity and why exactly do children and youth need it? Well, integrity is when a young person acts on convictions and stands up for her or his beliefs. Why should our children and youth have integrity? Well, when they have integrity they are able to stand up for the right things. The children and youth also start to understand and follow what is right rather than what is wrong. When faced with a tough decision they have to make, if they have integrity, they will most likely choose the right decision instead of the wrong. Children and youth will also start to stick up for the right decisions they are making. When hanging out with friends they may start to explain to their friends that what they are doing is wrong and they need to stop.

One way we can start to get our children and youth to think about integrity and to have it in their lives is to first have it in our lives. If we have no integrity in our lives and expect our children and youth to have it then there is no way they are going to pick it up and live it out. They need to see their parents and leaders living a life of integrity so they may yearn for the integrity we have. We can also start to help them make the right decisions. We can start to teach them the good things and remind them that bad things and situations are going to come up but we need to fight against that. One program the children can go through if they already haven't is the DARE program. It is a program to stand up against drugs and alcohol and it defiantly teaches integrity.

40 developmental assets:External Asset #17

2008-05-19T19:30:00.000-04:00

Creative Activities

When i child has creative activities in their lives they are more than likely to get into less trouble, do better in school, and score higher on not only high school and elementary test but also college tests. Kids who are involved in a form of creative arts such as a choir, band, painting, drawing, designing, dancing, sculpting, and photography become more creative and insightful and start to apply those skills to other things in life. They will learn valuable lessons in these activities they will be able to apply to their everyday lives.

Adding the arts to your family time can increase the communication and create stronger bonds through time. Some ideas you could do with your family is plan a day once a month to go as a family to a play, musical, concert, dance performance, museum, or art gallery. While on this family outing you will be able to talk to the kids in a more comfortable environment and create stronger bonds with them. You will also be able to find out some of the arts they like and dislike. Another way you can apply the arts to your family is to go to one another choir or band or play concerts for support. When you attend one anothers activities that not only shows love to the person involved but also exposes you to different kinds of arts.

It is proven that the arts makes people smarter! There was a test given where Mozart was played for students just before taking the test. In the results the students scores 8-9 points higher than taking the test without the Mozart music! It has also been proven that students in the study of arts and music have scored higher on their SAT scores in both the verbal, and math tests!

If taking some time to invest in our children fun and encouraging activities make they smarter and help them not only now in life but through their whole lives why are we not doing it?

Mission Trip 08

2008-04-16T07:35:00.000-04:00

My first mission trip ever..and oh how it changed my life!
This past week I was on my school's mission trip. We went to the greater Boston area and visited most of The Salvation Army corps and special shelters there. It was amazing.
Some of the biggest impacts were the Plymouth corp where we presented a mini youth councils night. A few of us gave our speaks and we played a couple of games. We also did a choreo drama to Isaiah 42 and a stomp production Felipe Concha made called "Stop upon injustice". At the end of the service Steve was wrapping up and giving an alter call when a group of small children came up to the front of the chapel, grabbed hands, and started to dance in a circle as we were singing worship. It was awesome because none of the adults ran and brought the children back to their seats, they let them worship God the way they wanted to, by dancing at the front of the chapel. During the alter call they came back up but this time Capt Dan met with them as they all sat in a circle throwing their hands up and calling out "Break the chains! Lord Jesus Break the Chains!" It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. You see, our speaks were on child slavery and how we need to get out into the world and free people who are still bound by the chains of Sin and Guilt. We need to stand up for what is right and do something, even if it is the "un cool" thing to do. These children understood perfectly and I do believe that there were children slaves set free and unchained that night because of the innocent prayers and cries these children at the Plymouth corp in Mass sent up. I believe that it is our duty to go out and set others free. Through this meeting God really showed me for the first time that my work does pay off and I am not just working in Youth Work to have a job, but to save and transform lived through the Holy Spirit. Youth work for me is not, IS NOT, a job, but a lifestyle.
Another program we did was at the Brockton ARC. This meeting, although different from the children's meeting, touched my heart and soul just as much. We had preformed our famous "Everything" drama and the Holy Spirit swept through that place! Felipe also gave a speak about how when an eagle turns 40 he has the choice to either Live or Die...and we are like these eagles, we have the choice to either Live in Jesus Christ or Die and give ourselves to the world. Let me tell you, the Lord was defiantly in that place and the Holy Spirit was defiantly in the hearts of the men that evening. Over twenty men gave their lives to Christ that night for the first time. Through our Choreo Drama, our passion for the Lord, and Felipe's speak something hit those men right in the Heart and i believe and know that something was the Lord. During this meeting i realized and believed the scripture 1 Tim 4:12 that says " Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for all believers through your speech, life, love, faith and purity. That night that certain scripture became alive in my life. I was understanding that even though I am only 20 years old I can change people's lives with the power of the Holy Spirit no matter how old or young they are.
Now I am back at school, taking a few classes, then off to the NEOSA youth councils. My prayer is that the faces of all who touched my life and all who our groups helped and changed would stay in my heart and mind. I have made a commitment not to turn back to my old self I was before the mission trip, but to keep living for God with a spirit of Passion for his word and his will in my life. Because of this mission trip my life has been changed forever, for the good, and for God.
Now I am

High Risk: Destructive Relationships

2008-03-27T00:39:00.000-04:00

As i was reading the book "Reclaiming Youth at Risk" i read about destructive relationships. I was continually reading about how children in these kind of relationships have a lot of problems in social and emotional development. The children are relationship-resistant and they expect rejection a lot more than accept ion because they is what they are use to getting. I read a story about a young boy who had been in foster homes since he was about four years old. He wasn't only being switched homes but also schools, neighborhoods, programs, and shelters. There is a quote in the book that says "Each time he was moved was like pulling a piece of used tape from a wall and trying to fasten it again". Being moved around so much and having so many different families took a strong toll on the young boy. He was never able to trust anyone because he knew he would be leaving in a short time. He also could not show love or accept it because he didn't know what the point is when he would just be moved to another family soon after he had arrived with the current family. There was no one there for him continuously, there was just always new people.
Think about how you would feel if you never knew someone personally. You never had that best friend you have had for years, you didn't even have a father or mother that has known you and loved you since you were born. How would you cope in these environments? How long would it take before you buckled under the loneliness and depression?
There is not a happy ending to this young mans story, rather is it the worst of endings you could think of. This young man, after being at a foster home and getting the orders to move to another at the age of 17 (after he had been reunited with his siblings only to be taken away from them again) committed suicide by hanging himself from a board in between two birch branches in his last foster home. The signs were there, however. When Richard began to feel depressed and an outcast he began to keep a diary. If only the parents had been more involved in his life, if only the school teachers and directors had had a little more time with him...would he have ended his life this way? I don't think he would have.

In today's world there are a lot of people who can impact the lives of young people and children. There are not only the youth workers but the teacher, parents, and everyday people in the church that can impact a child or youths life. What would happen if you took more time out of you so called "busy" schedule to meet with a teen for lunch one day of the week? You could change the persons life and not even know it till one day they tell you that you are the reason they are still living.

I believe it is our duty, as followers of Jesus Christ, to reach out to those around us. We should not live our lives for ourselves but life our lives for Christ who gave himself for us.

Janusz Korczak

2008-03-20T00:29:00.000-04:00

Youth work is not an easy Job, actually its not a job at all.

It is a lifestyle.

A Calling.

It is very hard, especially if you don't have passion.

Janusz Korczak had passion...this is his story.

Janusz lived from 1878-1942 in Poland. He was a trained physician. Janusz had such a love for children and youth that he established an orphanage for Jewish street children in Warsaw and also worked as an associate director for a Christian Orphanage. Janusz was also an author writing 20 books. Janusz loved the children so much that when German troops invaded Poland and captures the orphans, all six of them, Janusz was also captured. The seven of them were sent to the Warsaw ghetto where the troops were to take them away on August 6, 1942.

The children, as well as Janusz, were neatly dressed in their best clothes and they marched in fours following the oldest of the orphans who carried a green flag symbolizing life.

Hundreds lined up to watch the orphans and doctor make their way to the train.

With a fear of Janusz's death, a high ranking official offered him personal asylum.
With the passion in his heart and the truth in his mouth he spoke these words

"Who would abandon Children at a time like this?"

Janusz along with the children were killed. He stood up until the very end of his life fighting and being with the children that no one wanted to be with. He took death upon himself for the sake of these children.

How many of us would take a death sentence for a child?

How many of us would stick by a child or a group of children when it meant breaking the law to do the better good?

If there were more Janusz Korczak's in the world, how would Youth Work be changed?

I pray a blessing and passion on everyone who reads this blog, I pray that the Holy Spirit touches your life and ignites the passion inside of you to stand up for the youth of today. I pray that you have a love and a passion not only for all youth but especially for the youth no one else wants to go after, stand up for, or help. I pray that you may have hope in the children of today and faith in God to help you do what it is that HE wants you to do. I pray that you take this story upon your hearts and remember it every time you come to a had part in ministry to the youth. In Jesus precious almighty magnificent name,

AMEN.

Borgman

2008-03-06T21:36:00.001-05:00

In my reading there was a list of questions to youth leaders that really made me think about my future and the decisions i will be making in the very near future. The question that struck me the most was "Is there a place for Rock or Rap music in worship?". I beleive that there most deffinatley is a place for Rock and Rap music in worship. When you worship the Lord your God you are suppost to worship him in your way. WHy? Because you are to worship God and only him. We should not worry about what others think. In this world of rockstar culture i beleive it is very important for the "rockstar youth" to know that they too can still come and be accepted into the church and worship the best way they know how to worship. We need to show them that just because they are differernt dosnt mean they can not worship. There are some stipulatoins about worship though. The worship MUST be worship and not just to Rock Out. They need to prepare their hearts for lifting up and praising God and not being a sceptical for others to see.
There are far too many times when the youth looks at the church and all they see is old people and hymns. I beleive we should still keep the hymns because they touch people's hearts. We should also add rock and rap worship into the congragations and corps where there are a genre of people there who worship or would like to worship by that mean of worship.
I dont think God will be mad if people praise him with rock and rap. It says in Psalm to "make a joyful noise unto the Lord!" If the words of the song are worshiping and praising God or his miricles and promises then I do believe he will think they are Joyful!

Detweiler, Craig & Taylor, Berry

2008-03-06T20:21:00.000-05:00

We need to study popular culture because it is the thing that shapes us into who we are. Wether we accept and like the popular culture or not is what shapes us. Also Popular Culture is what makes up the newest fads and fashions of today's world. Think about this, why do we wear jeans? Is it because they are comfortable? Are they nice looking? Are they really what we choose to wear or do we wear them becuase they are the "cool" thing to wear? Is not a pair of sweat pants more comfortable than a pair of jeans? Who exactley influances us to wear jeans? Is it Britney Spears? Yes. Lets say Britney influances us to wear jeans. If Britney influances us to wear jeans then who influances her? Is it her bosses or her manager? There is a chain of command that influances all of us. On the bottom of the chain is the Mass Culture then comes the consumers which are both us. Above the consumers are the advertisers headed by the product. Without the product the advertisers would be out of a job. Above the product is the factory who makes the product headed up by the manager of the factory who runs the whole shabang. The inventor is then above the manager and the top of the chain is the CEO. So, above all who then decides wether we should wear jeans or not, THE CEO!!!!
It is crazy how many companies of different genres are owned by the same CEO. Viacom, for example, owns such companies as MTV, VH1, BET, CMT, Nickolodeon, TV Land, and even the Christian Publishing Company Zondervan. Its crazy how we think that all the music companies are in a war or compitition aginst each other when really they are all owned by the same CEO.
If this is what is shaping our world today through popular culture i beleive it is Our duty as Christians to get the truth out. I beleive we should get out in the world and tell the people of the love and grace of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
SO next time you slip on those favorite pair of jeans of yours think about the chain of command and the impact culture has on our world.

End of the Semester...

2008-03-06T19:44:00.001-05:00

It is now the end of my second semster here at the Railton School for Youth Work Training school in Suffern Newyork. I am very stressed because of the load of homework i have to do from my very bad habit of prcrastination and pride. I think that i can do it all by myself and i will understand but the truth is sometimes you need help. God wants us to depend on him first. He wants us to come to him with all of our stress and cared and place it in his hands to deal with. Psalm 94:14 says "When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul". It is so true that when we worry and stress about stuff God wants us to lay it on him, all of it. For nothing is too big or small for God. In my spiritual formation class one of the verses i have to memorize is 1 Peter 5:7 which says "Cast all your anxiety on him {Jesus} for he cares for you.
When i do this i realize what kind of a differance it makes. I am in a better mood and i feel a lot better physically. God is the kind of God who loves to love you. He loves to care for us and strengthen us when we are weak. He is one who loves to craddle us in his arms and take us up when we have fallen down. He also wants ALL of our anxiety, not just a portion of it. If we give him only a portion of our anxiety who is left with the rest? No one but ourselves! God wants to help us and show us that he cares for you. When we give all of our anxieties to him we show him that we love and trust he is going to make everything well again.
I challenge you this week to cast all of your burdens onto Jesus Christ and see what a difference it makes in your lfie.

Week of March 1, 2008

2008-03-06T18:43:00.000-05:00

This week was extreamly hard for me. I had to ask God for strength so many times, I never gave up hope though. I would get very aggravated this week at the smallest things. I also disapointed myself by not doing my best. I know God loves me and i know he is always there for me. I was reminded of this when one of my teachers had asked me why i was in a bad mood. I had told her i didnt know and started to cry. She reminded me that it is up to me what kind of day i was going to have, good or bad, it was my choice.
I prayed to God and I have been straightened up and have began to think more and more in the fact that it IS my decision to have a good or bad day. It is always my decision to let Satan steal my Joy or not. I have chosen to NOT let Satan steal my Joy and I am going to live for Jesus Christ. Whenever i feel down i know i can always call upon the name if the Lord for my strength and happiness. I also know that God is going to take care of me. He is proving that in my life everyday.
I have chosen to not let the little things upset me but to pray to God when i get upset and when i start to loose my cool. I beleive it is not going to help anyone or any situation if i get upset about somthing small. It is only going to make a bigger problem and more of a fuss of things.
Jesus, i pray to you now to calm my heart and soul and bring me back to you, the only reason i have for living. Let me know you are near and that you know me and where I am at any time of the day, in Jesus precious name i pray, Amen.

Thirteen

2008-02-19T23:02:00.000-05:00

One of the main problems i saw with teens in the movie Thirteen was the role of the parent. The mother in this case acts like she is more of the Child. She is very crazy acting and likes to party a lot. She needs the attention and FRIENDSHIP of her thirteen year old daughter insted of being her parent and guardian. The mother goes out with her friends a lot and leaves the younger siblings with the thirteen year old who has stress from school with projects that are due as well as a lot of other homework. Even though the teen tells her mother she can not babysit, the mother tries to play a guilt trip on the teen. Also, the mother has no time to sit and listen to the teen when she reads her the deep heart felt poetry she write to express herself.
This scenario is often seen in families in todays culture and world, exspecially in single parent homes. The parent figure feels as if they need to be more of a "cool friend" to their child insted of a parent or guardian. There are many reasons why a parent would do this, our job as youth ministers is to build relationships with the teens and youth and help them through it as they live it each and every day. Another job we might have is to sit down and talk with the parent about how they act and how they are not being a parent but rather a friend to their child.
Before we can make any plans to start meetings with the parents we need to build a relationship with them. Start talking to them when they come and pick their child up from youth group. GO TO THEIR HOUSE AND VISIT THEM! This is one of the most productive ways to make realationships with people and i really beleive we need to do this a lot more often. When you go to someones house you are saying to them that they are good enough, respected enough, for you to come to their house to visit them. It shows love in many ways.
One way we could set up a meeting with the parent is to invite them over for dinner one night. While at dinner you can discuss the things that bother the child the most. The most important thing to remember in these instances is to do it in a calm, caring, loving way. If you come at the parent, telling them in any way they are a bad parent they are most likely going to go off on you and ask you who you are to tell them such things.
The child might need to seen counciling from a professional counseler. We as youth leaders should have contacts and know the local youth councilers in our city or town. We need to remember to keep up our relationships with other associations because we never know when we are going to need their help, or when they are going to need our help.
With these few starters i beleive that we can impact the family life and show them the love and care God has for them and they way he wants them to live.

Postmodernism:Jones

2008-02-19T22:26:00.000-05:00

Postmodernism is the beleif that we all have a story, but none of us have the same story. It is said in postmodernism that there is no place for religion and that everything is absolutley subjective. This is the world in which we live today. Everyone has a individual beleif and there is no one who has the exact same beleif. If we live in a world today who says there is no room for religion how are we suppost to share the works and words of God with them? It is our duty as youth ministers and beleivers in Christ to find a way to communicate the gospel to a world who does not beleive anymore.
First we need to start the process off my commnunicating with God through prayer. It is said that "Prayer is the most effective, most deadly weapon to the status qoe and the worldly ways of people. It will break those chains and boundaries and set them free from the slavery of sin they are under." We as God's people need to pray to him more than just five minuets of our day. We need to be serious! We NEED to be firm beleivers in the fact that God is GOD and he is listening to us each and every time we talk to him; He will answer our prayers if it is in His name and of His love! Think about it, how much would happen if we beleived in this with all that we are...amazing miracles!!!
Second, we need to be brave and open to anything that God wants us to do. He is the only one who is going to get us through this world and get to the people exactley what they need to hear to beleive in him, if we do not open our hearts and minds to the crazy things he wants us to do, we will not reach out to the people.
Third we need to not give up and keep going with patience and perserverance. Things are not going to change in a day, or week, or maybe even a year. We need to be patient and understanding to GOD'S time, not our own. He knows exactley what he is doing and he will bring it exactley when it needs to be broughten. If we give up and be impatient our miricles in the making could all go to waste and all the work and effort we had put into it would be wasted. Whenever we are weary or tired we need to learn to lean on God all the more and push all the more to tear down Satans evil tricks and plots.
With doing these three things i fully beleive that we can get across the amazing message of Love and Salvation to a world who has given up hope and no longer beleives.

Life changes! Only accept payments of Obediance!

2008-02-18T21:43:00.000-05:00

God is amazing! He is so so so SO amazing!

He works wonders right in front of our eyes and sometimes (ok, most of the time) we don't even see it!

This past Friday he showed me another After School Program.
It was crazy, but it was still a great place for the kids to be insted of the streets.

I went to Salem, Mass this LONG FREE weekend.
God is showing me more and more I am a leader for him.
I prayed with 2 teens at the alter
I gave my Testimony
I gave the Benidiction
I talked about RAILTON at a divisional Youth Praise
I got Gods word through so many that touched my heart

God is just unbeleivably astonishing
The Creator of the Universe!
The Alpha and Omega!
Begining and End!
The Lion and the Lamb!
The King and the Townsman!
The Savior and Lord!

I cant fathom sometimes that the King of all kings would come to earth and DIE for ME...
He has great plans for me(which he is making known to me day by day)
and i am SO excited for them!
No matter what
No matter where
No matter when.....
I will follow my God!!

God loves us no matter what, and that my friends, is the truth!
No matter how sinful we are
No matter how many times we turn our back on him
No matter how ugly and stupid we feel
God still loves us no matter what....

NO MATTER WHAT!

o and another thing....
God thinks we are BEAUTIFUL!
We are made in his image: so dont you dare think you are ugly or a mistake!!!!

O and in those hard times, the times you think you are going to DIE....remember these Lyrics

God will make a way
When there seems to be no way
He works in ways
We can not see
He will make a way for me
He will be my guide
Hold me closely to his side
With love and strength
For each new day
He will make a way
God will make a way...

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So, God also has this AMAZING life planned out for you. he knows everything you are going to be doing and he is going to be with you through everything, o yeah, and All you need to remember is that God will never let you down;he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always ne tjere to help you come through it...(1 Corinthians 10:13b The Message)

Your probally asking, ok, whats the catch. Well the catch? It is to obey God and trust in him! Yepp, thats it....sounds easy but it is waaaay harder than you think. I'm not going to lie to you...but just know the benifits you will get from it is totally amazing....let me rephraze that...they will BLOW YOUR MIND!

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Mueller

2008-02-14T22:07:00.000-05:00

As i learn more and more about Youth ministery and the culture of the youth i have grown out of i realize the one most important thing, we must be accepted into their culture by listening and learning from them before we can teach and coach them through life. If we are not accepted into their culture they are never going to listen to us, they will just think of us as outsiders who want to intrude on their territory. By reading Muellers work in the book "Understnading Culture" i learned that there are certain characteristics of culture. Culture has been created by God and given to us, humanity, to use and enjoy. God is the reason and creator of all culture, therefore there has to be good in culture. God has given us the responsibility to keep up ther culture and work on the progress of it. Culture is universal. No matter where you go no matter what time in history it is you will always find cultures imfluanced by people's lives. We as youth workers need to realize that no matter where we go there is ALWAYS going to be culture and it will most likley always be different, therefore we need to learn how to adapt and accept different cultures. Culture is shared by the people that are living in the society. When we go into a society we will reconize the culture. We will also reconize that there are cultures inside of cultures. We need to not let this pass by our eyes but take every moment and lesson to heart to help us to learn and grow through these different cultures to better serve the people.

Borthwick

2008-02-13T08:30:00.000-05:00

Youth ministery means reaching teenagers where they live. I belive this wholy. We need to get out into the worlds of the youth and learn it. There is no way we can just sit back and watch them and learn everything we need to learn to reach out to them. We need to get out in their world, do stuff with them, learn stuff from them, and know where they are comming from when they come to us with problems. Some ways we can do this is go and take them out to the movies for a night. Tell them they can invite a friend or two and just enjoy their company.

We need to get out into their culture without trying to conform them to ours. We need to realize that the times have changed (even if we are only a few years older) and that the things we did when we were their age is no longer the "cool" thing. We need to learn from them about their culture and when they try to tell us how somthing goes, let it go that way and not correct it because we think it is suppost to be done another way. However, if the act being done is morally wrong or could hurt others or the person commiting it, then we have the right and power to step in and say it is not right.

After we reach teenagers where they live we have to get to know the church. Knowing the church will help us to better communicate to the youth about it. Also when we know the church we can integrate the youth into it little by litte, not all at once by shoving it down their throughts. To get the youth into the church we also need to be CENTRIFUGAL, reaching out to the different cultures and not trying to make them all into one culture. There are many different cultures wherever you go, therefor it is very, very important to get to know the culture before we try to move the youth into the church.

With my calling to youth and to become a missionary Salvation Army Officer one day i feel the need to get a jump start and dive head first into getting to know others culture more and more. God has placed a call upon my heart to know others cultures so that i may be more productive in my work of spreading his gospel. As in the book where a church transformed itself to reach out to the "punk rock" genre of youth I want to be one who changes my ways of thinking and acting so i might be able to learn others culture. Im also going to start to build goals for myself and ask someone close to me to help to keep be accountable to those goals. The first goal is to learn spanish enough to be able to understand and communicate. I know this is going to take time and i am ready to dedicate my time to this because i feel it is very important to know a second language, exspecially spanish.

To end i just want to thank Steven Bussey for being such an inspiration to keep learning and educating myself. Before this year i had just done work to get it done but Steve has inspired me and given me a yearning to want to know more and more about youth and how they work. He has shown me the things i can accomplish when i put my heart and mind into it and not give up but work all the harder when i come to rough times. Thank you so much Steve.

Sunday Evening Program: Jesus Folk

2008-02-11T08:11:00.000-05:00

This past sunday i attended a program called Jesus Folk. It was a musical production put on by the Hartford Citadel Corps form Hartford CT. the program was made up of "fringed kids" who without this program probally would be on the streets with nothing better to do than get in trouble. It is an amazing way to get kids and youth involved and let them actually be a prt of somthing and not just feel like it. the prgram shocased some of Jesus most important ways of reaching out to the people in his day. It had catchy fun songs and amazing lessons we can use in our everyday life. As i watched the body language and the faces of the participants i could see they were loving it. The end of the program was Jesus crucifixion and resurrection. It really showed me how you can take kids and teach them Jesus in a whole different way.

A program like this would moste deffinatley be possible in whatever corp i may be placed. Even if there were few youth and children you could still put together a presentation with dance, timbrils, band, singing or even a short play. Its amazing how God can take the most simple things and work miricles through them. You never know how much you impact a child or youth's life when you give them a role to play in a special presentation. They know thay they are loved, trusted, and cared for when you trust them with the responsibility of learning a part, memorizing lines, learning a dance or singing a solo. I thank God so much for putting the simple things in my life for me to be thankful for. He has provided me with so many things i could never dream of having. I cant wait to see what he is going to do with my life. All i know is that i am going to be a vessel for him and my life is going to be amazing because he is in control of it.

God's Work

2008-02-10T22:20:00.000-05:00

God has been working tremendously in my life latley. I have been struggling with acceptance that he is the only love that i need. I have went through times in my life where i searched for the hole in my heart to be filled with the love of man and it never happened. No matter how hard i tried to find love, i was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. I have been persuing Gods love now for a while and i beleive i am finally begining to accept the fact that His love is the love i need to fill the void in my heart.

Psalm 139 talks about how the Lord has known us even before we were created in the womb. It also talks about us being fearfully and wonderfully made in his image. My body image has also been a prombem that i have had sence i can remember. I have always been the chunky girl who never got picked for gym class and who always got picked on for being overwight. I have relized that this is the body God has placed me in and i am going to take care of it by exercizing more often. My body is Gods temple and if i dont take care of it, its like trashing God's temple....which i do NOT want. For lent i have decided to pick somthing up rather than to give something up. I have decided to start to exercise more. I can praise the Lord when i exercise with the music i listen to and the thought i concentrate on.

Im also growing more twords the Lord and his plans for my life. As of now i have the dreams of going on my internship, going on a missions trip, and eventually becomming an officer of The Salvation Army. I have been called ever sence i was fourteen years old and i have ran from it. Im ready to embrace the destiny God has planned for me and take it up with my whole heart. I know i know...its kinda crazy and a big steph but hey, who can ruin my dreams when they are not only mine but the Lords!!!

The Myspace Generation

2008-01-30T00:21:00.000-05:00

I had watched a video about youth and the Internet these days. It totally blew my mind what was going on now. I have known about myspace and facebook, I even have both of them for myself. What I didn't know was the stuff that was going on in these sites. Youth these days think that when they are on the Internet no one is watching them, well they are wrong. When they are on the Internet it gives the WHOLE WORLD the right to see them and see what they are doing through posts of blogs(like this one) posts of picture, and even posts of videos. Another thing that youth are happy about with the Internet is no one is in charge of them when they are on it. They believe that they are free from parents and all authority when they are on the Internet. Even if some parents try to block or restrict some sites the youth of today know so many ways to get by the filters that the parents should just not even bother with them. It is sad to say but today's youth rely on the net and they don't even know it. They are blind to the fact that if the Internet would break down for a day their worlds would come to an end. Myspace and facebook combined have over one hundred and sixty million(160,000,000) members.
It is not just myspace and facebook that get all the attention on the Internet. Other sites such as sparknotes.com serve as a cheat to homework. Instead of reading the books the students go onto the Internet to sparknotes.com and get the outline of the story. The teachers are very aware of this and try as hard as they can to try to get the youth to read the actual books. They have gone to measures as far as making the student read the book in class so they know that the students did not go onto the Internet to read the sparknotes. Schools are also having a hard time to get the students involved in classes because of lack of technology. Today students have so many technology at their fingertips that they don't want to learn in the "old way" of text books and note books.
Another thing that blew my mind was the kind of websites that are out there today. There are such sites out there to a god names Ana, the god of anorexia. On these sites devoted to this so called god it gives "testimonies" of girls who have not eaten for days or who have dropped to outrageously unhealthy weights. It gives the youth ways to stop eating and how to loose weight. There are also sites out there for suicide. On these particular sites it tells the youth how to kill themselves. There is even a site that has a little quiz you take to see what the best way to kill yourself would be.
As a follower of Jesus Christ and a Youth Worker these sites scare the crap out of me. They are telling out precious royal youth that they are not good enough to live, they are not pretty enough to be seen, or they are nothing but a piece of garbage that should be thrown out into the trash. We, as youth workers, need to reach out to the youth and tell them that they are so much more than what this world tells them to be. We need to get out there and tell them that they belong to a royal family and they are kings and queens, princes and princesses of the King of all kings. I believe that the best way to reach out to these youth is to go right to the source. Some may say not to have a myspace or facebook because we too will get sucked into the addiction. My concern and argument is how can we know what these youth are doing on the Internet if we do not have the tools they have. How can we reach out to them if we block ourselves from myspace and facebook. If they are on these sites most of the day after they get home from school shouldn't we make one to be able to communicate with them? I know there are plenty of other ways to communicate with them but will they really pay attention and listen through those ways? Maybe, but I be live they will listen much more if we get into their world via the sites they love. This does not mean that our site has to have suicidal quotes, or Ana shrines. We should make our sites the person we are off the sites. If we are a rockstar, then your site is quite alright to be rocking. We should also use our sites as ministry tools for these youth. When they add us as a friend they are going to go to our site and check it out. How awesome would it be if one day the youth came to your site and read or saw exactly what they needed to be led to Christ, and you didn't even say a word, you were just real with yourself and the rest of the world.
These are some things youth workers as myself should be thinking about. How can we reach out to the generation that is glued to the computer? If you have any other ways to reach out to this generation, please post comments and let me know.

God Bless
1 Love 1 God 1 Way <><

Sunday Jan. 27, 2008: Pay Off

2008-01-28T13:04:00.000-05:00

While i am here at railton i am learning how to be a better leader and how to be better prepared for "pop ups". Pop ups are times when you are asked to do something whenever, wherever. You are never prepared for such pop ups, but you can be ready for them. I have been learning that no matter where you are, no matter what you do, be ready for someone to ask you to do something because you are now a leader.

This past Sunday the Railton group attended the Spring Valley Salvation Army here in New York. It is a beautiful little corp with an amazingly beautiful chapel. The corp is made up of community people and retired officers. It was so amazing to see so many soldiers and officers in their uniforms. What i have seen is now a days when you go to a Salvation Army only the Corp Officers and the leaders of the corp are wearing their uniforms. I sat in the youth or teen Sunday school. There they talked about foundations and priorities and how we need to get our priorities straight in our lives. It made me think about my own priorities as i was helping them with theirs. I am learning by the grace of God to have patience with others. I was told that when we pray for patience God is going to send people in our lives to teach that to us. I believe patience is a very high priority to have with people. By having patience with others you show them that you love and care for them. Another priority God is wanting me to work on is not being able to make everyone happy. I am the kind of person who would ring myself out for someone else. God is teaching me that we cant always make everyone happy. I need to also spend some more time to myself. As i am well into the second semester at school i have less time to do things such as watch movies and hang out. I need to first get my work done, help others with their work if they need it, and then go and chill and hang out.
I know that God is drawing me nearer and nearer to him each and everyday. All i have to do is just have patience and understanding of others.

Dear Lord i just pray to you now holy one that you give me patience and love for my fellow classmates and others here at the school. I pray that you help me to set my priorities straight and always remember to put you and your ways first. I love you Jesus. Amen.

SFOT Sunday Janurary 13, 2008

2008-01-15T00:16:00.000-05:00

Let me just start off with God is amazing! He is such an amazing God and I just want to give him props today for everything he has given to me and blessed me with.

Sunday the ministry team I belong to was at the SFOT for children's church. Our theme was Noah's Ark and let me just say WE BROUGHT IT! We worked so well as a team this time that it was amazing. I'm sure that things went wrong, but to others around us the children's church was as close to perfect as we can get.
As i was lying behind the puppet stand with the big giraffe costume on (I couldn't stand up because the kids would see my head over the puppet stand. I couldn't sit up because I had to hold the head of the costume up and my arms were getting numb!) I was thinking of the song the kids and leaders were singing, Trust in the Lord with your H-E-A-R-T. Such a simple song, with such simple lyrics but as I sang these simple lyrics I began to think to myself how important it is for us to trust in the Lord with our whole heart. I then began to think of what the Lord was trying to put onto my heart with such a simple children's song. He was telling me to trust in him, throw myself at his feet and just trust him with my whole heart.
I have been having some problems trusting the lord lately, but as I sang that song I prayed to God to take my life, I was trusting in him from then on. God is now taking my life and giving me little signs to let me know he is here for me. He is an amazing God and I believe that trusting in him with my whole heart is going to be and has already been one of the best decisions of my life. I'm not going to lie, it's going to be a very very hard journey for me because I have come to realize that I worry a lot about things I shouldn't be worrying about. I also have a tendency of getting worried that God is going to throw me out of his hands because of the sins I have commit ed and the fact that I have been let down plenty of times before. I am scared that I am going to loose people in my life that I don't want to loose. I have plenty more fears but I am ready to let it all go and just TRUST in the LORD with all that I am.
I know that by trusting in the Lord with my life I can better fulfill his purpose and will for me. I will become a stronger, braver, more confident christian and will be able to go out and spread his love and gospel more. Who knows, maybe he has plans for me to go over seas or to another country (I have never been out of the east coast of the states, and I have also never saw the Ocean...). It brings me great joy in my heart to think of things he might be calling me for. I know that whatever he calls me to do, I am going to run toward it full force, holding nothing back, because that is what He wants me to do. As I was doing devotions I came across a scripture that really stuck out to me. Isaiah 61 talks about God's anointed ones who are to go out and take care of his people in need and to rebuild lives and towns. I believe that is what God is going to have me do. He is going to use me to reach out to youth and their families who are in need of the Lords love and comforting and hope. I am praying more and more on this to see where God is specifically leading me. Don't worry, I will defiantly update you on it when I get any more information on it.
God Bless....1 Love 1 God 1 Way <><

A New Begining

2008-01-15T00:08:00.000-05:00

As a new year and a new semester begins, I too being somthing new. This Blog. This particular blog is going to be containing things I am learning from Christ in my everyday life and my extrodinary chances to go out into the world and minister to others about the gift of life Jesus Christ gave to us all. First off let me tell you a little about myself. My name is Stacy Elaine Cross and I grew up in a little town in Ohio by the name of Bucyrus. I have lived there my whole life untill I came to school, in New York, Suffern to be exact(dosnt sound like a place you would have a pleasure going to school, eh?!). I have a younger sister, a mother, and a step father (who is the best dad i have had in my life). I attend Railton School for Youth Work Training through The Salvation Army. I take a number of different classes and get to minister to a variety of differnt enviroments.
Well, that is a little about me. You will learn a lot more throught the year from the blogs I am going to faithfully post.Thanks for reading and God Bless!
1 Love 1 God 1 Way ><>