Thoughts on Believe '08: Anderson, IN

First, let me just say that Believe was a great event. It was a great chance for our jr. highers to "Connect."

Like all trips; we had our share of unexpected events. But nothing hampered the weekend. Here is a breakdown of how we started the weekend (picture it if you will)...

- got to the school "on time" to pick up 7th graders, the 8th graders were at a local church for the day doing an all day 8th grade thing.
- walked in office and one of the secretaries (both who go to the church) said "I've got good news and bad news, what do you want first?" This is never a good way to start a trip.
- I said, "let's go with the bad news." To which she responded by telling me that a couple of the students left their bags on the bus. We would have to drive to the bus drivers house to get them off the bus.
- Waited for the 7th graders. They were in gym (I mean PE). The teacher's words to dismiss them from class "Alright, all you believers can go now" - had to be one of the highlights of the weekend for me, it brought a smile to my face.
(we never heard the good news)
- Drove down the street to pick up 8th graders. Then on another 5-7 minutes to get the bags from the bus. Then back past all three stops to head out of town.
- I think we started off being at least 30 minutes off schedule

The trip was good. We got there after the first session started. But the good thing about that was, as we were walking in we ran into Brent the Stunt Guy outside. Got to talk to him for a few minutes, great guy.

Even the first night, the students were opening up and sharing. This is rare for me; it usually takes the first day to get them talking.

Scott Rubin did a phenominal job communicating with the students. Also with the adults in the "breakout session"

Brent was great doing his "stunt guy stunts." The students think he is crazy.

Eric Timm added a whole new dimension to the weekend with his art. I've seen him before at other conferences and such, but this Believe tour has to be my favorite stuff I've seen him do.

I had some great adults who really made the weekend a great time to connect with the students. We were able to have some really good, deep, conversations that were about more than surface issues. Hoping to have it just springboard into ongoing conversations...

Thanks to Johnny and the rest of the staff for all the work they put into making Believe a very jr. high intentional and effective ministry.

(maybe I'll post some pics soon)

Believe '08: Anderson, IN

Tomorrow, we are taking a group of jr. highers to Believe in Anderson, IN. I am very excited about this trip. I've never actually been to a CIY event at Anderson before. I've been to many other events, in other locations, and have never been disappointed.

Another reason I'm excited is the group that is going: great students and great adults.

I'll post about the highlights after we get back. Hopefully this year, I won't have to talk to any police.

Photo Friday: Flashback

I've been trying to clean up some of our old pictures on iphoto lately. And yesterday, I came across this awesome picture. Here's the brief story. We were at a '05 Jr. High Believe, in Atl, eating lunch at the mall. Some of the "on stage" people were also eating lunch at the mall. One of the girls in my group wanted to go over and get Daren Streblow's autograph. Since she was already going over, I asked her to take the rest of my pizza and have him sign the bottom of it. And he did!



No, I don't have the pizza anymore - if I did you would be finding it on eBay.

Photo Friday #10

This is a picture from Believe this past weekend. Eric Timm from no one underground painted it during one of the worship sets. Jesus calls you to live with passion was the "take home" for that session.

Believe pictures

They had it "snow" inside the arena. Pretty cool, though it didn't really bring the temp. down at all.


This would be the breakfast line Saturday morning at the hotel. Needless to say I opted for yogurt and fruit. Most people just standing in line waiting to make a waffle. Is it worth it?


This is a picture of the arena from the front. It was before a session, so it was still filling up.

Believe highlights

On Friday, we all loaded up the van and set off for St. Louis. This would be the first time I'd ever been to St. Louis, so that was kinda cool. I got to see the Arch (not that impressive, it doesn't do anything :))

The drive to St. Louis was pretty uneventful - though we did run into some traffic once we got to St. Louis. But that was really expected. One thing I didn't like was that I had to drive. I would much rather sit in the back and get to interact with the students, but someone had to get us there. Here are some highlights.

Highlights:
1. the theme: This year's theme was Jesus. Plain and simple. Just Jesus. The five "take homes" were: Jesus is calling you! Jesus is calling you to something big! Jesus is calling you to bring what you have. Jesus is calling you to live passionately. Jesus is calling you to action.

2. Jesus is calling you to something big. This was a cool part of the weekend. Getting to talk with the students about how being a part of something big doesn't have to mean we have "big" parts. God uses us all (even the "small" parts) to make the whole thing work.

3. rooming with ms boys = fun, fun, fun. There is nothing like trying to get a roomful of middle school boys to settle down long enough to fall asleep. Needless to say, this was probably the craziest I've been on a trip in a long time. We were laughing so hard, when I actually tried to sleep I just couldn't. (I think it will be something these guys will bring up for a long time whenever we talk about going on a trip.)

4. changes in adults. Sunday night after our youth meeting Amy mentioned that she noticed a change in one of the adults after the weekend. I think this weekend at Believe helped this youth coach get a new outlook/perspective on working with our group of middle schoolers. And I know I saw some areas of change in how I interact with them. They are hungry for something significant in their life. My prayer is that this weekend will help to propel us into a new stage of ministry.

5. talk with police. This was a first for me. I noticed one of the students had been "in the bathroom" for what seemed like an extended amount of time. Just about when I was going to go check on him, he came back. No big deal, right? We were sitting on the edge of a section, right near the entrance to the floor seating. Two of the local police came in and were standing around, then one of them walked over to me. He asked if my name was Mike. When I told him it was, he asked if I wouldn't mind stepping to the side so I could talk with them.

I got out to talk with them to find out that that "long bathroom" student had been in the bathroom when someone was throwing toilet paper on the ceiling. The student was washing some marker off of his arm and got in there while it was going on. But he didn't do anything to stop it or to go to another bathroom. The guys doing it had left and he was the only one left when the police got there. But when he saw the police the first words from his mouth were "I didn't do anything." Which of course just tells someone you are feeling guilty. The police didn't do anything, but wanted me to know and to talk to him about it. It turned out ok, but I'm not a huge fan of talking to the police while on a trip with the youth.

6. Dumb adults! This one upset me. I mean these are the adults who are supposed to be teaching the students about how to follow God. If that is your goal, then how does this activity help promote that. Here's what they did that bugged me. All of our sessions were in an arena, which meant (among other things) there was no food or drink allowed in the building. You know, they have their own overpriced stuff for you to buy. One of the times we were waiting to go in I noticed a group in front of me. The reason I noticed them was one of the adults, a lady in her late 30s or so, was asking one of the teens in her group to smuggle a bag of chips in. He had on cargo pants and thus his pockets would be big enough to get a bag of chips into. She had no problem going against this "no food" rule and asking one of the students to help her. She was even laughing about it with one of the other adult sponsors.

I don't know why she did it. I hope she took it out before going in (she could have because I didn't follow them the whole way in). I'm just frustrated at the mixed signals we can send students. On the one side we tell them that there are things Chrstians are called to follow and ways to live in the world. Then on the other side, you have a kid sneak in some chips because you don't want to pay $3 for a thing of nachos. Which is more important: setting the example or saving a few bucks?

7. Who is sitting in the "decision" seat? This was from one of the skits (which I wish I would have taped or could find online). Only one of us can sit in the decision seat; you or Jesus. Far too often, I want to sit on the seat with Him or push Him off. I have been trying to ask myself this question often.

Believe: cops and Jesus

What a weekend it was at the Jr. High Believe in St. Louis. I'll put up a longer recap later today or tomorrow. But I wanted to say a thank you to everyone who prayed for us. I think it was a great "turning point" in the jr. high ministry. I'm especially excited to watch as the other adult who went with me is impacted and changes how she interacts with the students.

One of the strangest parts was getting asked to talk with the police during one of the sessions. No one got in trouble, but man was my heart raising.

Jr. High Believe

Tomorrow I am leaving with a group of jr. highers for St. Louis. We're going to the Jr. High Believe conference. I didn't get to go last year due to transitions in ministry (well at that point I was not at a church). This will be the biggest group I've taken (even though we've lost a few the last few days) and I am excited. Marko (Youth Specialties Pres.) will be doing the speaking and One Time Blind will be there doing some drama. The theme is Jesus and I'm thinking its gonna be a great chance for the youth to see a whole new side of Jesus.

I'll post some pictures, video and thoughts after the dust settles next week.

This is the first "trip" I've taken with the jr. highers since I got here last summer. I'll get to see a new side of them and they'll get to see a new side of me. :) Hopefully both of those will be good.