How to be truly effective person

This is a review of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. If you don't know him, he is the author of bestselling book the 7 habits of effective people.

I wanted to share this to all the people including you and all the youth out there. This review tells you why should or shouldn't read this book. For parents, having a closer relationship to their children is essential to build a loving intact family which is slowly diminishing in today’s present society. 

And if you want to develop a habit to be more closer to your children there is no reason not to read this book.

If you haven't read "7 Habits" yet, it MAY NOT be time to read it now.

I have noticed that you can't or shouldn't read it until you're ready. 

Let me explain that:

If you  are a parent, single parent, student leader, missionary, pastor or anyone who wanted to be truly effective in your career this book is for you.

There are concepts in this book that are so powerful, that even just reading them (without consciously putting them into action) changed how I live.

For example, I continuously found myself comparing what was happening in my life to what I had just read. If someone said an insulting thing to me, my initial feeling would be anger, but on the heels of that thought would come something I'd read in 7 Habits. I'd be thinking, "Hey! That reminds me of when Covey wrote about the stimulus and response.

We have the capability to act base on the circumstances that hover around us, but being a proactive person as he said, you should not be affected with the outside factors which influence your life.

The first 3 Habits were enough to get me incredibly excited about interaction with others. You could live 1000 years and not come up with these concepts on your own.

The 4th habit was called "Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood, this helped me to become a very good "facilitator or moderator".

I could talk to people and help them not "drown for psychological air" around me. People want to be understood.

If you argue your point all the time, no one feels understood and ideas are harder to be put into action. ANY IDIOT CAN ARGUE! The whole world seems to place a huge importance on debate...and being able to destroy other people's points of view with your logic and wit.

Having learned some of his principles especially to get close to anyone especially to children, Covey said it is important that we must practice to eliminate autobiographical response which can hinder our close relationship to our children.

This autobiographical response is somewhat behind our instinct that when we get irritated with our child we immediately state the reasons based on our own past experiences which is not appropriate.

Why?

Because we are only considering our side if we use this autobiographical response to our children, and so the welfare or concern of the child has not been considered and we became the child’s enemy. 

I think this is also the reason why children of today’s generation don’t usually open up problems to their parents. And this is because parents use this response; they closed the dialogue already which leads to hostility to the child.

I once shared this concept with an opinionated individual. They started yelling at me and saying I was wrong and that if you know you're right, you need to stand up for yourself and prove the other person is wrong. With a grin on my face, I replied, "Maybe you're right". LOL!

They didn't even pick up on the fact I had just done to them what I was advocating. It's amazing what happens to people when you state back to them what you think is the point they're trying to make.

You'll end up starting a lot of your sentences with: "...so, what you're saying is....".

Once you begin to show the person you're not there to argue, their backs go down; the urgency in their voice drops; they calm down; and then they listen to your point without fighting.

As Covey explains, the best way to influence others is...to be INFLUENCED.

It's such a good book and it's filled with principles that will help you in all your dealings, but I find you have to be in a position in your life to put it into action. It will work great if you can practice it every day in a setting as:

-a family member dealing with difficult situations

-a manager

-a salesperson

...or anyone who needs to deal with people day-to-day.  If you feel a strong need to know how to deal with others more effectively, maybe you're ready for this book now.

That is only one lesson I mentioned and there are more of it.

The book really can transform any person who wants a personal change from within. As I practiced his lessons, I became more effective even in small little way without giving any reason to quit my personal mission without having achieving it.

It’s really very powerful transformational self-help reference book I found in my collection.  At first it was just a dump in my closet since it is only given to me by my sister. But when I read it from chapter 1, I couldn’t stop until I finish the whole book reading.

As I already practiced in my life the habit number one which is being proactive this one is one habit that everyone must try to achieve everyday in order to win his life’s battle.  I also shared this habit to my friends and encourage them to be proactive to win their little battles.

Church Youth Group Activities

The church plays a vital role in the society and every individual is a member of a particular religion. You see, there are various religions all over the world. It is very important to instill the beliefs of the church in the minds of its constituents, especially the little children.

However, in today’s modern society, the youth should be given much attention because a lot of them are following the wrong path; a path that can lead them to self destruction. The church youth group activities can help them, if given the chance.

Are you already in your adolescence? If you are, then perhaps you’ve encountered a lot of changes lately. Some of the changes are quite strange and new to you. You suddenly feel the need to belong to a certain group and yet you’re struggling very hard to be accepted by others. If you’re in this kind of situation, you have to find a youth group.

Youth groups are almost everywhere. You can ask help from your parents so that you can find a local youth group. Why not check out the church nearest your place of residence? Churches usually have a youth group ministry that welcomes all the youth who wants to join. Inquire at the nearest church if they also have a youth group ministry.

Check the internet because there are so many resources there to help you in your search for a youth group. It would be best to find a locally-based youth group so that it will be easier to participate in the group’s activities. Not only that, you will also get to know other youths in your community and have a chance to befriend them. Youth groups can offer the youth members with a lot of opportunities for personal growth and success. If you’re in the right age to join the youth groups, don’t hesitate to visit their office and tell them that you wish to become a member of their youth group.

So, what’s in store for you as a member of the group? Church-based youth groups usually conduct monthly prayer meetings. In the meeting, the youth leader will start with an opening prayer. A bible verse will be read and the group will reflect on the word of God. After the reflections, other matters will be discussed. Open forums are also conducted so that all the members will have a chance to air their concerns.

If there are upcoming activities, the group will be informed as well. The meeting will end in a closing prayer. So you see, in the monthly meetings alone, all the members will know God better. By being a member of the youth group, you will learn more about God and His teachings. Your faith in the Lord will be renewed.

Aside from the prayer meetings, other activities are carried out such as evangelizations, fellowships, outreach programs, camp-outs, and many other activities. Some of the activities let the members have fun so that they will get to know each other better. In every activity, God is always the center. Parents need not worry a thing because their kids are safe.

The church youth group activities are also monitored by the church personnel. Be an active member of the youth group so that you will become a better individual. Your relationship with your family will also greatly improve.  

Youth Group Games Activities

Even if you’re already grown up, or you’re in your adolescence, you shouldn’t lose the child in you. Give yourself enough time to have fun by participating in youth group games activities.

Games and grammar activities will definitely help you have fun while learning. If you don’t want to get bored while trying to learn your lessons in school, take a look at these fun youth games.

Here are some of best youth games that you could try in your youth group.

1. Tic Tac Toe

Draw a tic tac toe giant board in class. In the squares, you need to write a sentence using a verb. Leave a blank space for the verb. If the missing verb can be identified, that is the time to place an ‘x’ on the box. The teacher will also participate in the game and should check the different answers of the students.

Aside from using verb in the sentence, you can also use other grammar rules.

2. Sentence Auctions

When doing youth games in school, you should start with the easy ones. Now, this game is harder than the first one. The class should be divided into groups. Teach them everything about auctions. Each group should be given points or even money so that they can bid for the given correct sentences. The teacher will be the one to auction correct as well as incorrect sentences. The group that earns the highest points wins.

3. Sentence Maze

The student should each hold a printed maze. Make sure that the students start together. Read sentences that are grammatically right and wrong. Students will have different answers. If the students are able to tell the right from the wrong sentences, they can finish the maze.

4. Sentence partners

Each student should be given a secret word. The words can be verbs, nouns, adverbs, prepositions, and many others. After that, each student should look for at least two partners so that they can create a correct sentence. When everyone is finished, let them read the sentences. All the sentences should be correct in order to win the game. You can do this all over again. Yu simply have to prepare many words that can be matched together.

As you can see, the games are similar to kids’ games. But that’s just the idea behind it so that the youth don’t get bored in class. With the games, they can have fun while learning their lessons in English. You can even use the games in other subjects like mathematics. Try the games and the class will surely have fun.

There are still other fun youth games that you can use. The internet can provide you with the needed resources. You simply have to search the internet and that’s it. The games will be all there, including the instructions and needed props.

Learning is a continuous process and for as long as you live, you will learn new things. This is the very reason why you shouldn’t lose the child in you. Having fun is not bad especially if you’re learning in the process. It will be bad if you’re not learning at all and if it is done excessively.

Spending everyday in class without having fun at certain a time can be very boring especially for the youth. Adolescence is a period of great change for individuals. To keep things running smoothly in class, have youth group games and activities.

Youth Leadership Activities

The faith of the future lies in the hands of today’s youth. It is therefore very important to train them how to be a leader at an early age. To start with, they must undergo youth leadership activities. 

You can instantly see a born leader when you see one. At a very early age, you will notice that a leader shows certain traits like being independent-minded, patient, strong, hardworking, and many other positive traits. However, leadership can be developed. Through the years of continuous study and training, they soon become successful leaders. 

Adolescence is a period of great changes. Each individual, boy or girl, tries very hard to be accepted. Oftentimes, peer pressure can give negative effects. If you don’t want your kid to experience peer pressure and the possible negative influence of other adolescents, your kid should be a member of a certain youth group. 

You must know the specific youth group that your child will join. You can find a lot of information regarding youth groups online. Some groups often have online forums where they can share their knowledge and experiences, as well as their problems. Other members of the youth group can share their stories and even give you pieces of advice. 

Check the background of the youth group before your kid joins. Make sure that the group has a positive reputation. Once you’ve chosen the best youth group for your kid, then he or she can now join the various youth group activities. 

Well of course, the existing members of the group will grow older as years pass and new leaders will take over. In this regard, youth leadership activities are often conducted to determine the potential leaders in the group. What are these leadership activities?

The youth group can organize a camping where they can spend a couple of days together. In the camp, the current youth leaders will be giving a series of games where every member will participate. Group games usually need a leader. At the end of the camp, potential leaders will be named and they are further trained to improve their leadership skills. 

Seminars and trainings are often given to the potential leaders. These seminars can enhance the skills of the soon-to-be youth leader. The trainings are also quite helpful because certain knowledge can be imported to your kid. 

Being a leader does not stop when you finally leave the youth group. Once your leadership skills are developed or enhanced, you will carry it as you grow older. Who knows, you might be the next senator or even the president of the country. 

Youth groups are truly needed in today’s times. The youth are more prone to be involved in vices such as drugs, alcoholism, gambling, and a lot more. If you don’t want your kids to follow the wrong path, encourage them to be a member of a reputable youth group. 

The parents play a very important role in the development of their kid’s personality. If you want to help them, talk to your kid now and find a youth group that he or she can join. 

Soon, he or she might be involved in youth leadership activities. In time, they may be the next leaders and will help other youths to enhance their leadership qualities. Good luck for finding a good youth group. 

Survival Youth Activity

One of the greatest challenge of the youth today is how to survive for themselves. And this can be master by joining activities that cater to the needs of the youth in order for them to survive. If you watch television often, then you probably know the different television programs which feature the survivor instinct of certain individuals. Did you know that by being a member of a youth group, you can do survivor-type youth activities?

A lot of teenagers want to be accepted in a group but sometimes, this is very hard to achieve. Adolescents go through a tough time because of the many changes in their lives. The society is sometimes too cruel and the troubled teenagers often find themselves involved in drugs, gambling, and excessive alcohol intake. If you don’t want to become one of them, you must find an active youth group in your locality.

What can youth groups do for you? The youth groups are very helpful. By being a member of the group, you will be pre-occupied with the various group activities. You will not have time to fool around. Your parents will be very thankful if they find out that you’re a member of a youth group.

Youth groups usually conduct monthly meetings. A good thing about youth groups is that they also focus mainly on God. The youth leaders encourage the group members to know God better. If the group is closer to God, then they can achieve all their goals.

Some of the youth group activities include the following:

1. Community or public service; church services

2. Socializing skills; ethical lessons

3. Going to the movies, having dinners at restaurants

4. Camping during summer, winter, and spring; sleep-over; retreats

5. Survivor-type activities like hiking, water rafting, mountain climbing, cave exploring, etc.

The fifth set of activities are well-loved by the youth group members. It’s one way to test their survival skills. Some youths want to live on the wild side and so they really like to do outdoor activities.

The group can go hiking in an out-of-town location. They can even do some mountain climbing after that. Hiking and mountain climbing are fun activities because they are nearer to nature. They can see many trees, plants, birds, and even animals.

Cave exploring is another good activity. The youth leaders can organize a cave exploring activity. They can even stay for the night there so that group members will have more fun. They can even do some bonding activities so that the members will know each other better.

While camping on a foreign place, the group can also go water rafting if the camp is near a river. This activity is fun and it really needs teamwork. This is an activity that builds teamwork. By the time the activities are finished, the group will know each other better.

Survivor-type youth activities are somehow dangerous but of course, they have a staff who knows first-aid. Your parents need not worry a thing whenever you’re out doing the activities. The youth leaders will make sure that everything will go smoothly and safely.

So what are you waiting for? Find a youth group near your place now and join. The group can provide you with the companionship that you need. The group members are excellent company. Your parents will even encourage you to actively participate in the various activities because it is for your own good.

At least now, you will be far away from the temptations of the modern world. Belonging to a good youth group is an advantage nowadays because they can help you become a better person.

What activities can help a teenager hone their skills?

Who says that the youth today is the same as youth of yesterday’s generation?

This is the most common  comment among the elderly to the young people of today. The youth nowadays are very different from the youth of long ago. There are teens that prefer to spend most of their time at home, helping their parents do household chores. A great many of them are the outdoor type. These teens love to go out and have a great time with peers. If you’re trying to look for creative activities for the youth, you simply have to keep reading.

Some youth activities are healthy but some youth are into dangerous activities. You probably heard over the news or read in the newspapers about youths who are deeply into drugs and alcohol. These activities are unhealthy and will only destroy the lives of young adults.

Teenagers want to be accepted in a group and growing up can be very hard for them. They undergo a lot of changes and those teens who find it hard to cope with the changes are often caught in a dangerous situation. They often end up in the company of bad friends. Soon, they will find themselves taking drugs or drinking too much alcohol. Some others are into gambling which can further affect how they handle their finances when they grow into adults.

So what activities for youth can you do? Even if you’re in a difficult stage at the moment, you should not lose control of yourself. You should still be responsible for all your actions. You’re already old enough to know what’s right from wrong. So you have to choose your peers wisely and make sure that you belong in the right group.

Parents should set an example to their kids and teach them the right manners even if their kids reach adolescence, they will know what to do. If the teens grow up to be good individuals, they can easily befriend other teens. Parents should monitor their kid’s activities and they must know their friends. That way, they can guide their kids to the right path.

Parents should also provide advice to their kids when needed. Good communication is a necessity. There are also activities that the family can do together; activities which are suited for the youth. Parents can start teaching their kids on how to be responsible with their expenditures by giving them the chance to budget their allowance.

In harnessing youth skills the community plays a very important role in governing the youth. Youth leaders should encourage fellow teens to join in sports activities. The sports activities can include volleyball, basketball, football, and other sports that can promote teamwork, sportsmanship, and camaraderie.

Joining youth groups is also an excellent idea. A youth group often has youth activities like camp-outs, outreach programs, prayer meetings, movie night outs, hiking, mountain climbing, and visits to foreign places. A good thing about youth group activities is that the parents and the organizers can monitor all the activities.

The goal of almost every youth group is to provide member youths with healthy activities which can help them as they grow older. Youth group ministries are also great because they help young people to be nearer to God. The group helps members to strengthen their faith in the Lord.

If you’re already in your teenage years, you have to be responsible for all your actions. Join youth groups so that you can do healthy activities for the youth.

Consequences for Bad Behaviour - Dealing With Bad Behaviour in Youth

According to the report, there are teenagers involved in killings and they just shoot the other young man without any reason.  It is as if, they are playing God and they have no fear to kill any other person. How awful it is in these last days.

Are there still any reasons to be safe in today’s society where even our young people are capable of these heinous crimes?

Are there any reasons to deal with bad behaviour of our teens in today’s present society?

Who is the culprit of these bad behaviours?

The Apostle Paul warns us that in the last days, people will be lovers of themselves. Indeed this is very true. Recent local television reported again another shooting where the involved persons are young people.  

All the problems of the society are interconnected. We cannot alone blame the government although they should give proper sanctions for these incidents involving teen related crimes. Moreover, we should examine the existing family relationships in our society.

To deal with the bad behaviours of teens today, we should take a look at the background of the family. 

Why?

The family is the basic unit of our society! To solve this problem the immediate family member should act and do the following:

Challenges of Youth - How You Find Who Your True Friends Are

Finding true finds in these days are not hard but not also easy to find. Sounds confusing right?

True friends are those who can really help you even if you don’t have anything to offer to them. In short they are the ones you can count on without expecting in return. This is what the Bible says, according to the gospel of John that the great sacrifice you can give to a person is your life. And this is what means a true friend.

I want you to consider your friends right now and evaluate if they have done this to you. Are they the kind of friend who are just there when they need something from you?

Or are they the person who will give you something which asked something in return? The theory says that life here on earth is an exchange. Do you believe that? Somehow this is true. During Christmas, some people do exchanging gifts, at least once in a year. But exchange in life doesn’t mean that if someone will give you a car, you will also give him a car?

That is not what it means by exchange theory, but rather, anything that is given away from a person to another in any form is already an exchange. If your friend gives you a new cell phone, what could you possibly give him in return? Some true friends just give without expecting for you to give also to them. And again this is one of the characteristic of a true friend.

I have one friend whom I owe a lot to him, but all I could do is serve him. My friend is none other than Jesus.

Imagine this. You are busy with your school projects, or work and family. And you have been blessed by every material need you have.

You have your car, house and lot, a family and you can buy anything as you like. That sounds wonderful isn’t it?

But have you think about God who gave you all the things that you have now? Remember, without Him, you are nothing.

5 TIPS TO OVERCOME CHALLENGES AND BE SUCCESSFUL WITH GOING TO COLLEGE

Success in going to college starts from your goal. If you have your goal to achieve like getting a degree and later on get a job which you desire.  All the struggles in your college life will be easy like you never think.

For me, success in college is doing what you really like. So it is important to think first what you want to do after you graduate. In this perspective you can try to enrol or take a college degree which you are passionate about. Not just taking up a course which is suggested by your parents or somebody else because you will end up drudgery. And most likely you will need to get another degree for your own successful career life after you have satisfied the wants of your parents.  So my first advice is…

FOCUS

Try to find out your passions and explore and make sure that your passions will be closer to the degree you are taking. Don’t be misled by the in-demand course at present because someday it will be saturated. So focus on your passions and learn and educate yourself.

In this way, college life will not be boring to you because it is your desire.

Support groups

Join some group of youth where you have the same passions and aspirations and keep away from the bad influences. It is not also good for you while studying and disregarding your social life. For me, college life is not just scientific exploration but building social networks which later on can help you in your career.

Four ways to overcome the Giant Obstacles – The road to Success

A lot of people have different perspective and mindset about getting the success they want in their lives. But despite to this, many people have yearned to be successful and yet failed to achieve their goals.

Why?

What hinders success?

There is what we call GIANTS in our lives. A giant simply means trials and problems in our lives. If we learn how to manipulate and win these giants we can then be successful. But how can we face the giant obstacles in our lives.  

There are many techniques and methods to win our giants. This is not the same how David won his battle against Goliath.

To win our Giants we simply apply the habits that was suggested by Stephen Covey in his book the seven habits of effective people.

Personally I practiced this habit in my life and slowly I have perfected this one and if you can learn this one, you can say to yourself that there is no one to blame for the misfortune of your life but you alone.

 This is the first step or habit that each one of us should apply. This habit is called the proactive habit.

One very proactive person in the Bible is Caleb and if you have read his story, you will be amazed at how he won the battle against the giants. Literally those were giants and they were small. But he bravely conquer his fear by taking proactive steps like saying this words, we can do it. And he did it. What a brave man.

Unfortunately, not many of them followed the proactive personality of Caleb, it was written that his friends shrink and were afraid to face the giants in the place that they were spying.

His friends were thinking they are small and like grasshoppers, could you imagine that?  Those were the personality of his friends, fearful and reactive.

But to this one man, who shouted we can do it. Everything seems possible to him. This man holds another personality that we can draw from.

2. He was optimistic. He always thinks in a positive way and so he was successful. In the book of Proverbs, it is written that you should be careful of your thoughts because what you think is who you become. So be careful of what you wish for, so to say. The important is to think positively.

3. Not every one of us believes that something will happen in our lives by just wishful thinking. Though, it is important that we should think in a positive way, and it is by believing that you can do it. If this is our belief, then it is good to accompany one trait of a successful person which is a DOER. Yes, the third thing to overcome giants is to do something, don’t just wait that something will happen because you are thinking positively, DO something to get it. Don’t waste your time thinking and planning, although this is necessary, but the most important is to implement what you have in your mind.

Another author said, what your mind can conceive you can achieve it’, and how to achieve that? DO something.

According to a social scientist, there are three types of person, one is those who watch things happen, second is those who wait things happen and third is those who make things happened. Now decide which one describes you most, your future lies in there.

 Lastly, above all, to overcome your GIANTS, you must pray. I have read from another source that the greatest man in the world is the one who kneels before God. If you confess and asked God to help you in your problems, Luther said, it is not your problem anymore, but it is God’s problem.

To summarize the things how to overcome you giants in life, you should have a habit of proactive, positive thinker, a doer and prayerful person. I believe there are lots more ways to overcome your problems in life, but there is no greater than submitting your life to God for you to be successful.

Challenges Facing Youth in Urban Area

Someone once said that the youth is the future of our generation. However, in today’s society many reports in television are about youth who were involved in crimes.

What do you think is the reason for this?

As I have quoted in the Bible and also posted in another blog, this generation is characterized by individualistic passions. People are now lovers of themselves, disregarding the moral law.

The things and crimes done by youth are always and will be happening again and again because of recidivism; it is where a person always does things because they are no proper sanction to his/her actions.

According to a famous author E.G. White, living in the city is considered to be hotbeds of iniquity and troubles. As you can see in the television, some youth are involved in robbery, theft and killings.

These are one of the many challenges a youth faces in urban area which are not fitted to them.

Only three major reason or challenges a youth faced. These are coming from the media influences, peer groups and family.

Social issues concerning a youth like early teen pregnancy and pre marital sex and crimes are also rife in the city. I cannot point out what caused this things but I think this is the effect of some media technology, like internet, televisions, and printed papers.

What the youth see in television has a subliminal effect in their minds and because they saw it on television, the youth watching these medium without parental guidance will try and do what is being viewed in televisions.

Some people tend to go to pub houses to enjoy for awhile thinking that they can find solutions to the problems, but this will give them more problems. If the youth are engrossed with this, this can be harmful only to their physical life but also to the spiritual life.

This is a challenge not just in urban youth but also in rural. The effect of media in our society has a very great impact to the lives of a person.

Another thing is the life in the cities are artificial and characterized only by money getting, luxurious life, and pleasure seeking which are temporary and in vain. If a certain individual cannot meet his desired needs, chances are they will resort to illegal money getting.

Well, this is all due to the fact that they cannot cope with the life of the city which is a fast paced and everything requires money. And if anyone who is downtrodden and circumstances hits their lives, they would resort to illegal works.

Not only that, the family also plays a big factor that a youth has to face while they are in urban area.

If the parents are busy with their own business, and have no time to communicate to their children. This will cause ideally that their children are to look after a peer group that will listen to them. Chances are if that peer group has bad habits, ultimately this will be imitated by the youth.

For parents, your young child should be taught earlier not to get entangled with easy getting and luxurious life instead to meditate and give glory to God and not to enjoy their free time on wasting money in the malls or pub houses. The youth should be taught to commune with nature and to God.

When a youth are with their peer groups, there is a big chance that he will not anymore listen to the advice of the parents. And all his activities are inclined to vanity like going to pub houses. Because the youth wants to be accepted in his peer group, anything that his friends wanted to offer to him will be accepted if the youth cannot handle the so called peer pressure.

I firmly believe that a peer group has the greater influence over the parents. Why? because they are the ones that listens to the problems of their friends, they are the ones who comfort them and the youth can find relief in them basically, so, why listen to their parents who cares only to their business?

Living in the city should not be considered a hindrance in finding your success in your career. But instead give it a challenge, and if you cannot handle those things mentioned above, I suggest go back to square one. Live a simple life before you will end up a miserable life.

3 Tips for Encouraging Youth in Difficult Times

One of the difficult times of a person is during adolescent period because it involves a certain change in a person’s role in society.

It is in this stage that an adolescent is going to face many challenges as they went from adolescent to young adulthood. The young adult time started to think independently for his own life without worrying what is life ahead. And if in this stage a youth are engaged in many things, difficult times are never unwelcome.

If you will encounter a youth in his difficult time, you have to encourage the person in a way that the person never loses an opportunity to continue his life. This is a bit hard because first and foremost, the youth should consult first their immediate family members who can help him in his problem.

Apparently, family members especially parents are not available when the youth is having a problem. In this case, the youth will consult his close friends and asked for some advice and if that happens to you. You can do three things to encourage your friend who has a problem.

First thing you should do is to find out what is it that bothers to him/her. Is it a family problem, peer pressure, or educational matters like failing grades.  These are just examples of what bothers to a youth, but I know that there are more.

How to find what bothers to a youth?

Talk to him/her and diagnose or find out the real cause of the problem. Get into his mind by sympathizing on his needs. And the best thing to do this is to listen attentively and do not comment on his words. Just listen!

This technique is giving a psychological air to the person and letting him open up all his worries thereby you can now find what bothers to him.

Avoid judging him, just listen and you can find his needs. This technique is told by Stephen Covey and I personally have applied this in my life and it gives me an advantage to encourage other people.

After giving him a psychological air, this is the time to encourage him with your own words. Tell the person that he/ she is not alone having the problem. And that problem is small compare to the blessings he received each day. 

Should we not be thankful enough for the air we breathe, or the food we eat. These are little blessings but should be counted as big, and you should make him realize that one. Because in life, difficult times always accompany the good times. How then can we recognize the bad things if there are no good things that happen to us. And remember that everything happens with a purpose.

Now that he is relieved let us say only a little, then do another encouraging technique that will help him to keep going with his life. Tell him that you were once you were like him before. Exactly, tell him that what he experience has happened to you before. In this way, he knows that he really is not alone having the problem and anything and everything in life can happen to anybody. The secret there is only to accept the circumstances that come to our lives. And the most important is to be resilient enough to combat our daily problems.

Lastly, acknowledge the person that sometimes we all do commit mistakes. And if that mistake is the reason that discouraged him, all you can do is to really frankly tell him that it is part of our life that we should sometimes fall down and stumble.

But this does not mean to stumble and not get up, our downfall can be our strength in time. Tell him the next time, that the mistake is a lesson for him not to do it again.

A youth, it might be your friend, son or daughter has different difficult times and to solve their problem you have to do the things above.

Challenging Theme Night Ideas for Church Youth Groups

If you are a youth leader and wish to organize night out for your church youth group, you can have different ideas to choose from depending on your theme.

For me, as a hobbyist of stargazing I usually involved and teach youth to star gazing. I teach them where to find different constellations using a star map. I have found this relaxing especially if the weather is fine and the sky is clear at night where you can only see the stars twinkling.

Why do this? You may found it tedious at first if you have no idea what stargazing is all about. But once you get to know more about the stars and especially the constellation where our Creator will come back. You will also enjoy watching and counting the shooting stars.  Not only that, you will get to know more of your youth members if you involved yourself in the activity and teach them one by one to point where is the constellation like Scorpio and other stars.

In order for this idea to be challenging, asked your youth group to list the constellations and stars they have found. The group that has the most listing of the constellations wins, and also asks them to locate for themselves if they really have found it.

Second best option for nightly group activities is a social night. What you can do here is gather some ideas for games where everyone can participate. As a youth leader, you need to have separate games for teen agers and the young adult or a mixture of parlor games.  

You can have a series of parlor games in the lawn premises or if there is not enough space for you to play. Try indoor games. The indoor games may vary if you want to be physically active or just a mind game.

If you would just play mind game, then do some group dynamics. You can have a group debate. To do this, simply divide the youth into groups depending on the topic that will be discussed. And as a youth leader, you will act as the moderator.

Just be careful with the words that you will use as a moderator, because you are the neutralizer.

If these activities sounds boring to you, try a nightly serenade, visiting your long lost friends or even your enemies and try to reunite with them. Again you involved your youth groups, and try to assign one person who will contact the home that you will visit.

After you made the protocol, get ready with your favorite songs and your gifts for the person you will visit. Please take note that gifts and snacks are not necessary but it will be helpful if you have one.

That is not all, for your night theme ideas, try to have a small group discussion which focuses on the Bible topics. You can do this by choosing a chapter from the books of the Bible and in that chapter, every time you have a gathering, choose only ten verses to be read silently by each member and give five to ten minutes for reflection.

Then, share to everybody what lessons have you learned. There are lots of nightly theme ideas depending on your activity, again the simple. Those are just suggestions and for me while doing missionary work, those methods are pretty well tested and proven to help hone the skills of the youth mentally, physically, socially and spiritually.

Three Challenges of gospel youth workers

A gospel youth worker is someone who submits and dedicates their lives in serving the Lord and helped spreading the good news to other people.

Many have been called to be a gospel worker but only few have answered the call for some several reasons.

The reasons of the youth that denied the calling is because of family problems like financial matters which is common to everyone, second is their professional career life which they could not give up in order to serve the Lord.  

It is really hard to give up something when you already are having enough money with what you are doing. And this hindered a person’s decisions to serve God or not. As some people know, a gospel worker is not rich, but not poor. Hence, the money thing is also a triggering decision whether to God or not to God.

I remember the story of a rich man ruler who wanted to have the eternal life but because of his riches, he denied following the footsteps of Jesus.

The same in today’s generation, many of us have been in this ordeal, we are given the opportunity to serve God but only few answered.  

To be a gospel youth worker, you must face different challenges in different situations. And these things I will wrote here is just a few of them.

The biggest challenge of the gospel youth worker is the peer pressure. Some people or friends might deride them, but we are being encouraged by the apostle Paul in his letter to Timothy that you should not be looked down instead be a model in speech faith and purity which is seldom we can find now at this present society.

Apostle Paul already warned us that in the last days, there will be perilous times and people will be terrible in lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to parent their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal not lovers of the good, treacherous rash conceited lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God

Thus the greatest challenge of the new millennium is to kindle the fire to bring back and restore the society to its original state as before. It is advised that the youth must bear all the positive virtues, having no fault that can be seen by the old.

Another challenge of a gospel youth worker is found in his mission field. There will come a time that people will laugh at you because you are bringing a Bible in your hand.

But this is not to discourage us, instead present to them the good news that we are transformed by His power and our purpose is to let the person know that God loved him too.

The third challenge that a gospel worker must endure is no other than self. There are many factors that contribute why the self is the hardest one to overcome. After all, it is your decision as a youth whether to follow or not? To serve God or Satan it is up to you. Also as an estranged person in the life of a gospel worker, you must strive to eliminate the loneliness from your family. It is likewise saying that, forget everything but not God.

There are some good role youth model that have worked to be transform the society to a loving, peaceful society, but only few succeed because they lacked the motivation to pursue their dream and were led to follow the those who are ahead of them and what the society dictates.

Being a gospel worker especially at a young age is quiet challenging, but after all the hardships God will bring a reward to his faithful little children who is co laborer with him.

How to Reclaim Youth from the World

Reclaiming youth is an activity targeted to bring back the youth to the church.

Why reclaim them?

There has been a research that most of the churches today have no more youth inside it. And the reason is that most of them are enjoying their life outside church activities. But there are also reasons that involved within the church members. Some of these are

1. Adult members live phony lives
2. Church places emphasis on non essentials, older members are critical and uncaring
3. Church leaders are preoccupied with organization not with people
4. Worships are dull and meaningless
5. church too restrictive
6. Attracted to different lifestyle
7. Do not have real friends inside the church
8. Church does not allow me to think for myself

In order to bring back the youth to the church and other church members a reclaiming seminar is one activity to strategize the elements of successfully bringing them back to church.

To do this, as a youth leader, your challenge is to facilitate a seminar about reclaiming. And this requires a little skill especially facilitating a group of young and adult people. You must have a little background on the tools that are in needed in the seminar.

The tool involved is a problem tree analysis, this may be new to your or not. But it will help to facilitate your reclaiming process to a successful one. It may take you whole day or week to plan, depending on the number of people attending the seminar.

In this seminar, it is important the segregate the participants by group (does not matter if the group is a combination of male and female).

The first activity in reclaiming seminar is to analyze what are the problems in the church.

Problem identification

At this stage you just ask the group to list all the problems in the church. All of the problems that they encounter and then try to rank them from their point of view which is worse or not.

To give you an example I will just use my experience with the youth in reclaiming which they have pointed out one problem which is Low Youth Church attendance.

Program identification

After identifying the problems, you can ask the groups what programs that can be applied to solve the problem. Any program must be at least attainable from their standpoint.

Then, asked the group to rank the best identified programs by group and present their reasons why. As a whole group, you can have a voting on which program should be carried on and implemented first.

In this example I will use again the result of our reclaiming seminar. We have identified a program which is to visit and serenade the long lost church youth members.

If the group has already identified the best programs for them, it is time now to list all the possible problems concerning the program.

Problem identification of the program

One of the problems that our youth group had listed is refusal from the targeted household, boredom, conflict of both parties (the one serenading and the person to be visited), food preparation (some church members don’t have food to offer, that is why they refused). These are some of the problems.

Cause and Effect identification

Before we go down to the bottom, let us have a recap, first you have identified the problem which is Low Church attendance of youth. And you have already a solution to the problem that is to visit and do serenading.

Then you have already the problems concerning serenading. Now is the time to reorganize those problems which are cause and effects.

You can rearrange the list in your meta cards in the board to follow the sequence. See the picture below. Rearrange it to the closest possible cause and effect category.  

Means to an End

If you have done the steps above, you are almost done with the process and the next method is very simple. You just re categorize the cause and effect as a means to an end.

To simplify, if you have identified food preparation as an the effect or cause why your prospect do not want to be visited, you try to be proactive now by telling the prospect that you will visit them or you can prepare your own food if this is allowable in their culture.

It is just listing the negative results and turning them to a positive one. 

By this time you already identified the persons that will go with you on to serenade, the things to bring during serenade and the outcome.

The important here is to focus on what is the easiest thing to do. And that could be elicit through the process you are reading now which is called the problem tree analysis.

I have used it in reclaiming the youth and it is not very difficult, though it requires a little bit of knowledge to facilitate but if you can just do the things above like, problem identification, program identification, cause and effect relationship and means to an end relationship.

Having been successfully done these things you are not far to your success in reclaiming the youth back to church.  

How to Get Into the Youth Ministry

How to Get Into the Youth Ministry- the Greatest Challenge

It is a word of the mouth that many are called but few are chosen.

It is fairly true, since to get into the ministry is sometimes not by our will and it just happened that one day we are in the youth ministry.

Whether you like it or not each one of us are commissioned to join in spreading the good news to other people.

And the premise is found in Matthew 28: 19-20, which says, Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of age.

Literally, we are called to serve, but some of us are playing deaf. That is why some would say that being into the ministry is by chance. But to those who answered to the calling, it is a WILL.  

Well, there are different ways that we are called by God and if we only listen to his whispering voice. We can really know what the purpose of our lives here is on earth.

If anyone wants to join and get into ministry specifically youth ministry, don’t ask yourself if you want this kind of work rather asked God to give you courage to pursue his mission commissioned to you.

If you have done this, you are ready to give yourself to God and follow him. Following him requires only one thing and that is to deny yourself.

There are a lot of ways you can serve the Lord in your own way with his guidance. Jesus said, that you take care of the poor and the oppressed, the widow, the thirsty, the prisoners and the hungry. If you have done all this you are serving the Lord because for whatever you do to the least you do it unto him.

Another option would be to join support groups or NGO’s that caters to the needs of the disadvantage sectors of the society. By becoming a volunteer in your organization, you widen your knowledge and networks and you gained new experience as a youth minister.

If you cannot find any group in your place, consider visiting your neighbor who has been sick or suffered a disease and give him basic needs such as food or clothes or offer some prayer as this will help to comfort the sick.

Now that you have done this visitation, you can start organize a group of young people with a common interest like you.

It is not hard to find them, you just have to be friendly and then if you have a meeting you can now propose to name your group.

If you want a sponsor for your activities, you try to involve your village officials for the said program. I am sure if you have program initiative, those officials are willing to accept the plan especially if they can benefit from your publicity.

It is always important in joining a youth ministry, you must bear in mind that you are doing it for the Lord and not to human beings, this is what Paul says to the Colossians. And I hope and wish you the best in your ministry.