MOLINO–“The field is ready for the harvest,” said Phil Fischer, pastor, Dogwood Park Baptist Church Molino, as he spoke to more than 300 students, parents and community members at the Fields of Faith event held at nearby Northview High School.

The event, sponsored by Fellowship of Christian Athletes, encourages athletes and others to study the Bible, pray, build the church, and use their spheres of influence to encourage one another with the Word of truth.

This year, attendees heard a powerful message from Fischer that tied into the school and community’s agricultural roots of farming and being ready for the harvest.

The youth band from Walnut Hill Baptist Church led worship songs, and several students gave testimonies about the work of Jesus Christ in their lives.

“This event emboldens students to see that it is OK to be visible about their faith,” said Fischer. “They come away energized and ready to live out their faith in front of their friends.”

Six students at the event made professions of faith. Each was connected to a youth pastor at one of the local churches, including Dogwood Park Baptist Church, Walnut Hill Baptist Church, First Baptist Church Bratt, and Highland Baptist Church, for follow up and discipleship.

The event concluded with student-led prayer as attendees stood hand-in-hand circling the football field, a show of unity and solidarity in faith.

“This event was once seen as a youth-only event, but it has become more well-attended throughout the community,” said Ted Bridges, pastor, Walnut Hill Baptist Church. “The spiritual move in the youth across the country is reaching all ages, and in our area, this event helps quicken people to live out their faith boldly among their peers.”

GAINESVILLE–When college students arrive at Baptist Collegiate Ministries at University of Florida each year, they learn quickly about the opportunities for international mission trips.

It is actually a stated goal, said Eddie Gilley, who has been the BCM director there since 2002.

“We want every student to spend two weeks of their college career in a cross-cultural environment sharing Jesus,” he said. “We have a pretty robust plan for that.”

It’s their robust plan that has helped make them tops in the nation in sending short-term missionaries on international trips through the International Mission Board.

The UF BCM sends out 18 to 24 students each year on mission trips, the majority of those traveling in small groups for six-to-eight-week trips during the summer. For example, 18 of the students participated in the longer six-to-eight week trips this past school year, while six did a short-term trip.

“It’s usually somewhere in a difficult environment. We typically let other people go to the easy places,” Gilley said. “We challenge our students to go to places where evangelism might mean just moving boulders out of the way. You might not even get to plant a seed; you’re just moving rocks, moving barriers from people to even hear the gospel.”

The teams typically go to cities in Central Asia, Southeast Asia and Europe. In the past they’ve gone to China, Turkey, Japan, Africa and even Australia. “Other than Antarctica, we have sent a team to every continent,” Gilley said.

Planning, training and raising funds

John, who asked that his real name not be used, is a former UF BCM student who now coordinates all of their mission trips, which includes vision-tripping for future trips as well as communicating with current long-term missionaries around the world and

assessing their need for assistance from college students.

Working with the IMB, the organization sends students to assist current missionaries who are already working with college students in their countries. This makes it easy for BCM students to go on college campuses and use English as a platform, teaching English or offering conversational English opportunities to other students and forming friendships, which can lead to gospel conversations.

“This is a lot of entry-level evangelism and discipleship,” John said. “Everything is geared toward building relationships with lost people. Students can be a seed to those who are interested and leave those relationships with the long-term workers to follow up with.”

All students who sign up for the summer trips go through extensive training to prepare them for the mission field, including evangelism training, missions education and general church doctrine studies. They also learn about sharing across language and cultural barriers, contextualization issues, security issues and border patrol. The goal is to have them ready to work before they leave so no extra time is needed once they reach the mission field.

“By the time these students get to the field, they have already failed so many times that they’re really well-prepared,” John said. “They have failed in a safe constructive environment, and the hope would be that training is harder than the actual thing. We want them to seamlessly fit into the long-term strategy and be a blessing not a burden, and not a security risk.”

Several years ago the training helped a team that got stuck in the Singapore airport for five days when they were unable to get to their destination. “They had to find a hotel and try to work everything out, and they had to do it onsite,” Gilley said. “It’s like ‘Amazing Race’ for Jesus, you know. That’s kind of what they had to do to get there.”

In addition to the training, each team member sends out about 100 mission support letters to help raise funds for their trip. With a goal of about $4,500 per person, they are raising a total of about $100,000 each year. While some individuals may not make their goal, each team has always been successful.

The right time to go

Going on mission trips during your college years is the best time to go, Gilley said, as students are more independent from their parents, don’t have a career yet and have the freedom to travel.

“There is no other time in their lives when they are going to have the freedom to be able to go like they do in college. It’s the perfect time to utilize them, to encourage our mission force around the world and to change their perspective,” Gilley said.

And gaining a new perspective about mission work is huge as it impacts the way the students see missions for the rest of their lives, especially those who have experienced the longer trips.

“What we know is not every student who goes will go long term, but every student who goes will come back different. They will always know what it’s like whenever they hear Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions stories in their church. It means something else to them because they know someone who benefits from that on the field. They know what it’s like to be in a place where you toil for the gospel day in and day out and may not see anyone come to faith in years. But they are still faithfully there and faithfully serving.”

From a student perspective, John said the biggest obstacles that keep many from committing to these missions are their academic careers – as in time away from completing courses and internships – and their parents, especially Christian parents who either forbid their students to go or convince them into coming home for the summer and doing something safer, like working at camp.

“Parents are well meaning, but unfortunately they can often be obstacles to their students doing what God wants them to do,” he said. “Often the students are more motivated to go than their families are.”

‘Put your yes on the table’

Being named tops in sending students on mission is humbling, Gilley said, because there is so much more to be done around the globe. “We could send thousands, and it would still not be enough as the need is great all around the world.”

Gilley said BCM students are always challenged to say yes to serving God on mission, whether that means being part of one of their GO teams overseas, going on a short-term trip with their local church, staying in the U.S. and supporting others, or serving long term in another country.

“Put your yes on the table and let God say where, when and for how long,” he said. “If you’re willing to say yes, God will direct where you’re supposed to go.”

This is an important ministry issue to me as 22 year youth ministry veteran, former public educator, and as the dad of a teenage boy who lives with multiple learning disabilities. I am currently working towards an Ed.D. at SWBTS where I get to continue exploring the intersection of learning disabilities and practical theology.

The themes of caring for the lowly are interspersed throughout the whole counsel of God’s Word. Jesus tells us in Matthew 25:40 that whatever is done for the least of these is done for Him. Students who struggle with routine tasks because of a disability could very quickly be considered the “least of these” that Jesus says. This verse magnifies the investigation considering Psalm 139:13-14. God has remarkably and wonderfully created people with learning disabilities. These verses tell us God is the author of each person’s specific creation and saw their purpose before their birth. Disabled people can and will be used by God to bring Him honor and glory in the church, education, and society. This view of creation leads teachers to acknowledge that every student is a precious creation of God with a purpose, especially those with learning disabilities.

Youth pastors are called to shepherd and care for students, including those with learning disabilities. This calling to educate others for the glory of God does not discriminate when it comes to disabilities. God created humanity and called parents and youth leaders to disciple the next generation, which means that despite disability, all people can learn.

Jesus confronts societal beliefs about disability. God has created those with learning disabilities to bring himself honor so that His works will be on display for the world to see. This idea is the same that Jesus espouses in John 9:1-2 when answering the disciples concerning why a man was born blind. The man was able to testify in John 9:13-34 to the Pharisees about the miraculous work Jesus had done in his life through his disability. How do we, as youth pastors, help our students to be able to view disability in this way, as a blessing with Jesus working through them rather than a curse?

Teenagers often struggle with “executive function.” This is even more pronounced among students with learning disabilities. Executive function is defined as how to do the proper thing at the proper time in the proper way. Because all teenagers struggle in this area, it can be difficult to know who has learning disabilities because they usually are invisible and unseen until someone makes it known. Those with learning disabilities can be easily overwhelmed by life, and processing sensory input in areas such as…

• a crowd of people

• the number of things to look at on the wall in a room

• the emotions they feel at a given time

• too many people talking at once

Best Practices in Ministry to Students With Learning Disabilities

1. Don’t put them in the spotlight without their permission. For example, a person with dyslexia fears being put on the spot to read aloud. They don’t want their learning disability to be front and center until they feel comfortable with everyone in the room. However, when they are ready and willing to talk about what Jesus has done in their life, like the formerly blind man in John 9, give them opportunities to do so. Champion them for who they are. Give them space to lead, think differently, and excel at what they are good at.

2. Expect them to do things you don’t consider normal. Students with learning disabilities will do, act, and say abnormal things. They will get emotionally overwhelmed in situations that you think are odd. What is normal, or neurotypical, for you is not the way that a neurodiverse brain chooses to respond to a problem. Train your leaders, other students, and yourself to recognize this, celebrate unity and diversity, and to love them through it. You and your leaders can set the example for other students in how to respond in these situations.

3. Make changes where you can. Every learning disability is different. Loving these students means we are willing to make changes to accommodate them. Reduce visual stimulation, allow students to move around the back of the room when you are preaching/teaching, educate yourselves about what learning disabilities are (https://ldaamerica.org is a great starting point), and be willing to show students with learning disabilities that you love them not only in word but also in deed by considering their spiritual development significant enough to make changes for them. If you’re not sure where to start, try asking students’ parents for their input based off what’s been helpful in other settings.

4. Love them (even if you do not understand them). They want someone to love them and walk beside them through life. They want a Paul that says, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” They don’t need you to diagnose them, but they will notice if you make changes. These changes mean you notice them and love them enough to make the environment as welcoming as possible.

For Further Reading

Amos Yong, The Bible, Disability, and the Church: A New Vision of the People of God (2011)

Lamar Hardwick, Disability and the Church: A Vision for Diversity and Inclusion (2021)

Check out this list by the Rooted Ministry: Resources for Enfolding Youth With Disabilities Into Your Ministry

This article was originally published on Youth Pastor Theologian.

Call Them Out

Scott Pace and Shane Pruitt, in their book “Calling Out the Called,” challenge readers to be proactive in the way that we call out potential leaders in our student ministries. We must not shy away from teaching on not only the universal calling on all believers but also the unique calling for each individual. We all have students sitting in our chairs that God has placed a special calling on. We must provide opportunities for these students to surrender to that call on their lives. Extend that invitation and give them space to wrestle with that call on their lives.

We must also be willing to identify these gifted individuals and speak the truth of God’s calling on their lives over them. If you see potential, tell them! My story of being called into ministry starts long before I surrendered to that call while I was a freshman at Gardner-Webb University.  One of my high school Sunday school teachers, Mr. Berry, would often tell me “Darryl, God has big plans for you and has gifted you with the ability to lead … I pray that you see this and serve Him with these gifts.” I would often laugh him off and just go about my morning. But it was that seed that was planted when I was 16-17 years old that sprouted into something bigger. It was Mr. Berry’s words that came to mind when an invitation to full-time Christian service was laid out before me during a chapel service when I was 19 years old.

Let’s make sure we are doing all that we can to identify and call out those who have the gifting of leadership.

Train Them Up

Once we identify the leaders in our ministry, we must do all that we can to train them up to be used by God for His glory! Guide them; meet with them; disciple them. Do whatever it takes to help them not only to see the gifting that God has given them but also to develop that gifting. Give them opportunities to serve within your ministry; let them teach; let them lead groups; let them stretch their leadership wings. This takes work on our part, but it is absolutely worth the extra effort. Walk with them in this process, and watch God work.

Send Them Out

This last part can be difficult because we are often selfish with our leaders. I don’t know of a single ministry that can say, “You know what … we have plenty of leaders,” so hear me clearly when I say that  we need to have a loose grip on these leaders that we train up. We must be willing to allow them to be trained up by us and go somewhere else to serve. This may be another ministry within your church, on the mission field, or even another church altogether.

My church here in Oviedo has a vision statement that helps me in this understanding of releasing leaders. It goes like this: “To share the Gospel of Jesus wherever we live, work, play, and go so that the sun will not set on the ministry of CrossLife Church.” We have a goal of seeing our church members trained up as leaders and sent out so that our ministry can stretch beyond our church walls and our little corner of the world. At one point in our church’s history, we had a missionary or pastor from our ministry in every time zone around the world. If you train up a leader who is called to the mission field or pastoral ministry and that leader goes somewhere else, don’t mourn the loss of that leader, but celebrate the spread of your ministry’s impact around the world!

Let’s call out the called, train them up, and send them out so that we can see the next generation of leaders spread the Gospel of Jesus to the ends of the earth!

On Wednesday, March 16, Hillcrest’s student ministry celebrated the 100^th student being baptized after student ministry leaders had challenged middle school and high school students to have 2,000 gospel conversations with their peers.

Believing that if students were faithful to share the gospel, God would be faithful to bring people into relationship with him, student leaders Dustin Scott and Jeremy Weidlich had the idea for a wooden cross with 100 lightbulbs to stand as a marker for each student who followed in believer’s baptism.

After creating the challenge, student ministry leaders discovered young people show up with fearless faith, sharing the gospel, and God also shows up, drawing students into a relationship with Jesus.

“There have been many times I’ve left conversations with students thinking to myself, ‘Man, I need to learn boldness from these guys,’” said Scott, next gen pastor.

As the 100^th lightbulb was placed in the cross, Student Pastor Weidlich said, “This was a moment we’ve desired for a long time. Every student and every leader played a part in this process. The students were so encouraged by what the Lord has done that they immediately began asking what the next challenge will be. They are ready.”

As the challenge began, students were given different strategies for sharing their faith, including the 3 Circles evangelism strategy, developed by Jimmy Scroggins, pastor at Family Church in South Florida. Students found accountability in weekly connect groups where they shared what worked, what didn’t work and what they learned from their experiences. They were further encouraged to share their personal testimonies, as that would make a big impression on their friends.

From the platform, leaders kept the goal in front of the students, reminded them to stay focused on the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, and celebrated big wins.

“The response each week, when someone comes to know Jesus, gets baptized, or puts a lightbulb in the cross, has been my favorite part of all of this. Our students cheer so loudly and rally together to celebrate this life change. It doesn’t matter if the student is their best friend or a complete stranger, they celebrate their new brother or sister in Christ,” said Corey Young, student ministry associate.

Gospel prevails over COVID

The wooden cross was revealed at a major youth event just one month before the world was hit with a pandemic that closed schools and churches and changed everyday interactions.

Weidlich shared, “Prior to COVID, the excitement for gospel conversations, salvations and baptisms was palpable. Post-COVID, it felt like everyone was slowly dipping their toes back into the water of everyday life, student ministry and gospel conversations included. COVID was a gut punch to our fun challenge, but ultimately the gospel prevailed, and we reached our goal.”

During the course of meeting the goal, Weidlich moved into the role of student pastor as Scott moved from student pastor to next gen pastor, with both ministers still rallying students to have gospel conversations.

Sharpening one another

Weidlich finds the fervent faith of students encouraging and referred to 1 Timothy 4:12, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believer an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”

Regardless of age, people often enjoy the community of working together to achieve a goal, both leaders agree.

Scott shared, “Teens will hit the bar you set for them. Good things happen when you have a desire to reach a goal and to see people come to know Christ. They were sharpened by one another, which sharpened and challenged all student ministry leadership.”

The retreat was designed to equip and fortify student ministers who have been ministering in a drastically different environment due to the world-wide pandemic. The event was attended by a dozen student pastors and leaders and was held at the Southeast Regional Center in Hialeah.

During the first half of the day Zac Workun, student ministry specialist for Lifeway Christian Resources, led a training focused on three essentials of a healthy student ministry. After lunch, the group of pastors met in smaller groups to talk about some of the issues they are dealing with in ministry as well as some of the ways that they have seen God work.

Nathan Schneider, next generation catalyst for the Florida Baptist Convention (FBC), emphasized his role in being right beside the student ministers.

“How can we serve you,” he asked them. “It is my privilege to serve you as you lead the next generation,” he said.

Echoing that sentiment, Al Fernandez, southeast regional catalyst for the FBC, told the ministers that their work is “important for the kingdom of God. You are the stop-gap between a Biblical life and a worldly one.”

“Effective student ministry is three things: kingdom expanding, character transforming and culture shaping,” said Workun.

“Whatever your attitude is when you lead will permeate through your ministry, so have a kingdom expanding mindset.” Such a mindset focuses on discipleship as well as being missional and evangelistic.

“The lives of the students should be different when they leave your ministry,” he added. Leaders and pastors can keep a pulse on the spiritual growth and health of their students by looking at key indicators like how often they pray, lead devotionals, read scripture, serve, and invite others to church.

And on the culture shaping aspect, Workun observed that the current generation of students are “creative, funny, painfully aware and socially motivated.”

“They want to tell you about what they know and an adult that is willing to listen is a game-changer.”

“We want to build relationships and share the gospel; the power is the gospel, that’s what changes people’s lives,” he said.

Once a thriving family church, today First Baptist Cocoa, located on the corner of Brevard Avenue and Oak Street for 111 years, is a predominantly older congregation. They have not had a youth ministry since 2014.

But with the help of the new youth pastor and grant from the Florida Baptist Convention, the church now has a growing student ministry and remodeled space for them to meet.

Williamson, originally from North Carolina, grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts, a city west of Boston, where his parents served as church planting missionaries with the North American Mission Board.

Beginning with one student, Williamson helped his father launch a youth ministry at their church in Worcester.  One student soon grew to 25.

“God brought the youth quickly,” said the youth pastor. He discovered teens want to know more about God and want someone to pour into them.

The 2018 graduate of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and his wife, Kate, relocated to Cocoa last year due to health issues requiring a warmer climate. He teaches English online to international students.

When the Williamsons first visited First Cocoa in January of this year, lead pastor Rich Lively thought they were there visiting grandparents.

“But they said they were not related to anyone in the church, they were just looking for a Baptist church and found our website and came. I thought they would church shop, but they came back.”

When Lively learned about Williamson’s background, the pastor asked if the young man would be willing to help the church get a youth program started. Dean answered “yes.”

The church also said “yes” to hire Williamson as a part-time youth minister, even though the money was not in the budget.

“The congregation’s response has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Lively, “as they see the need to reach the younger generation and families with children. And Dean’s done a great job.”

With no teens at first, Williamson started a basketball ministry on Thursday nights in late May, utilizing the church’s activity center.

Now 10-15 students play every week; some are students from the home school coop that meets in church building, and some are grandchildren of church members.

“After we play basketball, I have a 15-minute devotional. I try to share a message that resonates with them that they can apply to their lives,” said the youth minister.

Lively, a North Carolina native, is also a missionary kid who became a missionary himself. He served 17-plus years overseas with his wife and children, in multiple locations and roles, including working with refugees in Thailand and directing a Bible school in Russia.

He previously pastored in Deland and served for five years as mission pastor at Church at Viera in Melbourne, before coming to First Cocoa in 2018.

Lively and the church leaders are looking for opportunities and avenues to reach the Cocoa community.

“We want to repurpose our education building, really allow it to be used to bless the community,” shared Lively. Three different homeschool coops now use the Cocoa facility.

Both pastors said they are grateful for the financial grant from the Florida Baptist Convention which is being used to help fund the remodeling work as well as provide basketballs, food and materials needed for the new youth ministry.

With the help of volunteer labor, the third floor dormant for the past seven years, has already been partially remodeled, painted and houses the homeschool groups.

The space will host the church’s new youth group, including a youth Sunday School class that began this summer.

“We now have usable space for God’s Kingdom work,” Williamson said.

“The church stepped out in faith to hire a youth pastor and God has rewarded in that we already have a group of youth before the summer is over. That’s a huge win, victory.”

The July 6-10 Super Summer Youth was held at Lake Yale Baptist Conference Center in Leesburg.

The new believers were joined by 13 children who prayed to receive Christ during Super Summer Kids that brought 228 campers to the July 13-16 event held at Lake Yale.

“We go to camp to see God move and at the end of the day, God moved,” said Nathan Schneider, Next Gen lead catalyst for the Florida Baptist Convention.

Super Summer Florida is a student ministry camp for Florida Baptists, by Florida Baptists. The camp is sponsored by the Florida Baptist Convention with funding provided by the Cooperative Program. The camp draws hundreds of students each year from around the Sunshine State who look forward to fun camp activities, fellowship and growing in their faith.

“After the first night alone, 10 churches saw at least one student pray to receive Christ for the first time,” Schneider said. On Friday night, three girls prayed to receive Christ and were baptized by their leader that night in a fountain on campus, he added.

“Two boys sitting near that fountain when the girls were baptized went back to their rooms and started talking about how they needed to be baptized,” Schneider said. “They spoke to their leader and at 2:30 in the morning they, too, were baptized in the fountain.”

An event like Super Summer typically sees a Gospel response by 10 percent of the youth in attendance, Schneider said. But this year’s Super Summer drew a response closer to 26 percent.

“A lot of prayer went into the event and a lot of people prayed for God to show up and move in the life of the youth and the kids.”

Shane Pruitt, National Next Gen Evangelism Director for the North American Mission Board (NAMB), served as the youth camp speaker. He is also a traveling communicator, evangelist and Bible teacher. Worship was led by Stephen Handley, worship pastor at Refuge Church in Jacksonville.

At kids’ camp, Theodore Lightbourne, administrative pastor at Aletheia Church in Gainesville, and Billy Young, pastor at Hopeful Baptist Church in Lake City, shared responsibilities as keynote speakers during the four-day camp. Handley also led worship during the week.

One of the children who made a profession of faith was “added to her church group at the very last minute when a spot became available. She prayed to receive Christ after Theodore shared the gospel on Wednesday night,” Schneider said.

“Another kid hurt his foot during one of the camp activities earlier in the day. During the worship he was in the lobby with his pastor who was treating his foot. They started talking and the student prayed to receive Christ as his Savior right there in the foyer.”

During youth Super Summer, 19 students answered calls to ministry and another 25 made other faith decisions including baptism and recommitments to Christ.

“We came to camp to see God move,” said Schneider. “We celebrated all the lives that came to Christ that week as well as mended relationships and calls to ministry.”

Super Summer 2022 dates are set for July 11-14, kids camp, and July 18-22, youth camp.

Without a blueprint for how to handle such an undertaking, he and other student ministers have had their work cut out for them, said Sawyer, student pastor at First Baptist Church in Chipley.

“I think it’s been a mental and emotional battle for many leaders. This led to physical exhaustion, for me, due to constantly trying to keep things flowing digitally.”

Church leaders have faced unprecedented stressors daily during the quarantine. This is especially true for student and youth leaders, as they must continually be innovative with how they do ministry.

A study by Barna Group researchers in July 2020 found “half of pastors (47%) agree that ministry to kids and youth is the largest challenge they are facing.”

During the pandemic student ministers were forced to find new ways to communicate with students when parents might not be comfortable bringing them to church or when students may be more distant both physically and mentally.

Having personally experienced this challenging year, Sawyer developed an idea to hold an event to enrich and encourage student ministers.

“Out of my own personal struggles and moments of discouragement,” the student minister approached Lewis Miller, Florida Baptists’ west regional catalyst, about organizing an event “that can be a moment of connecting with one another and just loving on youth leaders.”

That first-ever youth minister event became “Better Together: A Night of Encouragement for Youth Leaders” and will be held at First Chipley, April 15 at 6 p.m. The night will concentrate on refreshing youth leaders and their spouses.

“We are strengthened and empowered for the work that God has called us to when we partner with one another,” explained Nathan Schneider, lead catalyst for Next Generation Ministries, Florida Baptist Convention.

The meeting aims to help youth leaders make connections, so they know they are not alone in ministry.

Guest speaker for the night will be Matt Lawson, chief mobilization officer for the North American Mission Board, SBC.  The conference will include a free dinner and prize giveaways.

“Things like this help remind us we are not alone and in this together,” said Sawyer. “Yes, we belong to Jesus and He is sufficient. But we aren’t meant to live in isolation. We are better when we can network and know other leaders in our community are on the same team as we reach this generation.”

If you or someone you know would like to attend the “Better Together” event for full-time, part-time or co-vocational student ministers at First Baptist Chipley on April 15, 2021 at 6 p.m. you can sign up at https://flbaptist.org/event/better-together/.