It’s Never Too Late to Teach an Old Pastor New Things

This past week while serving on a mission trip in Tennessee, I was blessed to discover that I was traveling with eight new and wonderful teachers. These teachers were the youth part of the mission team from the church I serve at. I am so indebted to them for their willingness to love, laugh, and serve while being the hands and feet of Christ to those we were serving this past week. They did all of this in some very hot and humid conditions and did it all without complaint to anyone. I’m still not too sure how they felt with their pastor tagging along with the other two adult chaperones, but I felt it was something that I needed to do.
Of course, I thought I needed to be there for them but instead these eight remarkable youth taught me and showed me that I needed to go for me. I say that because I used to be involved in youth work and ministry for about ten years. I stopped serving in that capacity when I decided to go into full-time pastoral ministry. That was about ten years ago and I have learned something new during this mission trip with the youth; a lot has changed in the last ten years especially in how good youth ministry takes place. Needless to say, that was just one of the many things I learned this past week from my eight teachers.
If you’re curious, I will go ahead and list some of those new things I did learn:
• A smile when you are hot and tired is worth a thousand words.
• Leaders come in all sizes and in all ages.
• Time passes a whole lot quicker when you serve side by side with someone rather than working with someone.
• Sharing a laugh at the right moment can make everyone’s workload and mood a whole lot lighter.
• Rolling down here may be itchy and dirty, but it’s can still be a whole lot of fun.
• The younger generation sometimes makes better listeners that the older generation does, especially if it is someone from the older generation speaking in the first place.
• Youth can worship no matter how loud the music may be.
• Sometimes the youth can articulate what someone else’s sermon is about better than their pastor can.
• Youth are sometimes more willing to give their last dollar for a good cause than their pastor is.

Contrary to what many people may believe about the youth of today, not every teen is only interested in themselves and expects the world to be handed to them on a silver platter. I personally can attest to the contrary because I saw eight great teachers give up a valuable week of their summer vacation to strip and repaint an old barn, pull a ton of weeds off of a 60 degree slope, and paint a metal roof in some truly unbearable heat for two families they had never ever met prior to us pulling up in their driveways. I will cherish for the remainder of my ministry and my life the time I spent this past week serving with Katrina, Benjie, and my eight wonderful teachers. Thank you for all you taught me and for allowing me to tag along with you on this mission trip.
Andrea, Ashley, Austin, Haley, Kaylee, Kimberly, Maddy, and Matthew, you have blessed me more than you will ever know this past week. I look forward to serving with you again wherever God places us together to do so. I love each and every one of you…

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.”—Philippians 1:3-4