Safeguarding

There has been a topic that has been on my mind for quite some time now. I've seen many things in my short time of being a youth leader.

There are many obstacles to face during any form of leadership. Pastors undergo stress from their congregations while businessmen undergo the stress of sales. No matter what form of leadership you are involved in, you will face obstacles.

However, some issues may be easier to resolve than others. However, as a leader, our focus is usually the individuals or group that we lead. We make sure that criteria and activities are presented in the light of our groups. We tend to go so far as to base things on our groups. But, what happens when opposition knocks at your door?

At this point in time, this is an issue that I've faced. Along with the issue came the importance of the duty of safeguarding my young people. In a spiritual setting, safeguarding can be tough and frustrating. In the realm of the spiritual, enemies and opposition tend to be a lot more subtle.

In Biblical context, it is described as 'wolves in sheep's clothing' as well as given warnings of 'dogs' according to the writings of the Apostle Paul. Nonetheless, it is an issue that is important and requiring discernment. How far should the leader go to safeguarding his or her group?

To sum it all up, my response is to go as far as necessary. Options may range from repelling or removing individuals from the flock in order to maintain the growth thereof. Although these decisions are hard and trivial, it is the biggest necessity for the leader to adhere to.

Along the Way: A Note to Leaders

There are many joys and hardships to being a leader in any given situation. Leaders are useful and necessary regardless of location, whether in a church or elsewhere. However, leadership is a serious role and should be done with passion and persistence.

The usual focal point that is before me as a leader is direction and the group itself. However, I have learned a lump-some of pointers and unexpected incidents along the way. Leadership has its way of presenting stress to the individual in every given situation. Leadership is not simply a gift, it is a learned skill. The effectiveness of your leadership is often based on time and experience. For example, my pastor has had numerous ups and downs but has pastored for years now. There are many decisions that he has made that have seemed farfetched to me in the moment. However, as issues and complications have unfolded, his choices turned out to be the absolute best and he has achieved excellence in his method and process of leading. Even the Bible bears witness to elders and gray hairs! The wise man that wrote Proverbs said, "the glory of young men is their strength and the splendor of old men is their gray head." (Proverbs 20:29 NKJV) Despite the mention of grays, my pastor doesn't seem to have much.

I have spent countless hours, days, and months trying to stand as a leader and one thing is certain. Along the way, I have become better at being a leader and making wiser decisions. This leadership thing is more process and progress than simply arriving. The key to leadership is going the extra mile and enjoying the adventure. There are mountaintops and valleys along the way, but the only necessity is a willing soul that decides to grow along the way.

Personally, I have come to appreciate where I've fallen short and I've learned how to navigate through the valleys. The people that you lead will not simply be a reflection of you, they will also latch on to the passion that you portray.

At the end of the day, a leader shouldn't be measured by failures, but their success is measured by their passion and willingness to grow along the way.

Growth: Horizontal or Vertical?

Growth is a change that isn't often placed into a realm of debates. However, through this post, I would like to challenge the readers of this blog, both young people and leaders on the topic of growth.

What is your consideration of growth in a group, numbers or knowledge?

While keeping the question clear, I will give my view on the topic throughout this post. Some may view assume that I would be more concerned with numbers, due to the traditional church setting. However, I'm honestly more concerned with vertical growth than I am with horizontal growth. Although numbers are sought after in our current time, numbers aren't everything. There are many Biblical instances in which the concept of numerical growth was crushed and proven less important. Primarily, the first story that comes to my mind is of Gideon and three hundred men of war that went up against an army, clearly outnumbered by their enemies. (Found in Judges 7)

Thus, I move to my main point and reason for the side that I have chosen. In my estimation, growth in knowledge is more important because its recipients are made free by the knowledge they possess. We are often faced with a situational story that goes like this, "You don't give a hungry man a fish, you teach him how to fish and he'll never be hungry again." If we give him the fish, he comes asking for more and brings his hungry friends as well. This will cause your group to expand horizontally. But, if you teach him how to fish, he will teach his hungry friends how to fish as well. Has anyone realized the key to the scenario?

I lead a relatively small group of young people, yet I give my all regardless of their size. I focus on the growth of knowledge in there lives for the same reasons that you would teach a man how to fish. Ultimately, it relieves the burden of feeding him and it also multiplies his influence on his companions. So, your intermediate group may be small numerically, but the growth of knowledge has caused your group to expand immensely. Simply put, you may reap the same quantity of people if you focus on horizontal growth, but the difference lies in the quality of your group.

My most recent event has had a very small turnout, but produced significantly greater results. Thus, in the completion of my perspective on the matter, here is the photo of young people that are committed to Jesus; the ultimate goal.

So, what is your opinion of horizontal and vertical growth? I would like to hear from you!

What It's All About

When it comes to churches, we must understand that having a youth group is more of a privilege, rather than an obligation. However, if you want an effective assembly, the youth group is a necessity. 

Due to the size of our home church, the youth group has not always been what it is today. There have been many seasons in the life of Revolt Youth. 

When I first stepped up to the call, I only had one thing on my mind and that was, “If I can teach our young people to overcome fear, I will witness potential energy turn into kinetic energy.” But, when I got into it, there was an entire world of issues that I was obligated to deal with. 

Primarily, the first thing I needed to understand was, what’s it all about anyway? I needed to cut to the chase right away. 

This was not about overcoming fear, but encouraging people that I can relate to extremely well to live life fully and to live out their faith. The group began with young adults, some older than I, which made things a little tricky. But, by the help of God, it was not impossible to accomplish the task. I began with trial and error on numerous occasions, which eventually led to the framework of Revolt. 

I became effective to the young people that I led by first laying down foundational biblical principles found in the book of Hebrews and also helping to fulfill there needs of fun and social acceptance. These concepts were the key to building and continuing to build a force to be reckoned with.

When someone is building a phenomenal piece of architecture, the most important concepts are to build a firm foundation and to provide it with the proper balance; that’s what it’s all about!

My goal has been to build a group of young people that are serious about their lives and know how to have fun in the process. So far, things are looking great and headed in the proper direction.

Introducing the Leader

Hello everyone!

My name is Geral Joseph and this is my blog for my ENG 420 class.

I am an individual that is mainly driven by my passion for God and others. I am pretty familiar with the blogging experience as well as managing quite a few blogs. However, they have ranged from monthly nuggets to devotions. This time, I endeavor to take a different approach at this. I am a preacher and also the Youth Leader at Calvary Apostolic Church. The youth group which I lead, consists of two groups, youth and young adults. Through this blog, I will express my passion for the young people that I am graced to lead, as well as, my journey as the Youth Leader.

As an introduction, this is our promo video that I made for this year: