the Monday Morning Debrief: Cows make Cows

This past weekend, I took a bunch of the New Life Student Ministry Volunteer Leaders to Messiah College (my Alma Mater) for a Student Ministry training day.  It was a great day overall and it was good for all of us to either learn new ways to minister or be refreshed on it.

One of the things I enjoyed the most was hearing from Duffy Robbins.  I haven’t heard Duffy speak in a long time so I was looking forward to it all week.  And he didn’t disappoint.  He was funny but more importantly had so much great information to share about ministering to students.

Of all the things he shared, it was a story about cows that made me ponder mostly about how our team is ministering to students.

He said that cows make cows and the farmer is merely there to feed and nurture it.  What does this mean for student ministry?  Simple.  As Duffy says that youth make the best evangelists, not student ministers.  Student Ministers are foreigners to students.  But a student is a peer, a friend.  They have already won the right that student ministers are striving for.

That is why as Student Ministers, we should be nurturing and feeding our students who do know Christ so that they can be the best equipped to reach their friends for Christ.  Does that mean we don’t reach out to students at all?  No, but what I believe it does mean is that I have to do a better job of raising up student leaders and train them up to win their friends for Christ.

Easier said than done.  Of all the years I have done student ministry, finding those students have been far and few between for me.  But it is possible and effective.  In fact, the years in which our student ministry has experienced the most growth it has been a direct result of investing in students who invested in their friends.

So, as I process how I can nurture and feed my current group of cows, I am curious to see how you are raising up student leaders in your ministry.  TAKE A MINUTE to share your thoughts on