Students

Why a Blog?

Our goal with this blog is to keep students, parents, and visitors as up to date as possible on what's coming up and most importantly why. The calendar will always be on top and I believe can be added to your Google calendar if you are interested in that. In addition, we will include entries with specifics about our upcoming events, recaps of fun things we have done, add pictures, and offer some thoughts and commentaries from some of our leaders. Another great function of a blog is that you have a chance to respond or comment on the entry with thoughts, points of clarification, or questions. We welcome your comments and look forward to interacting with you as we progress.

We had some technical difficulties with the calendar due to a syncing malfunction so our goal of a monthly reminder fell by the wayside until we could get that resolved. Now that it has been taken care of, we will restore our goal of posting weekly and sending email reminders on a monthly basis so you can be in the know. You can also subscribe to the blog so that you will get email regarding changes made to the blog as they happen so you don't have to wait and wonder. If you are new to the blogging world, this is a great way to get in the action and stay as hip and current as possible.

As we get this up and running, you will come to rely on it and enjoy it. The commentaries will give you a glimpse into the mind of a student ministries leader, the upcoming events info will prove useful, and the recaps and pictures will warm your hearts.

Thanks for partnering with us in raising teens to be world changers. The way we look at it; the students we work with, your kids, will be the next surgeons that save lives, the next researchers to find cures, the next entrepreneurs to create jobs and teach others, the next teachers investing in others, and the next wave of Christ-followers to impact our culture in everything they do. We couldn't be more excited for their future!

Why serve trips?

As a leader involved in some of the planning for the upcomming Chicago serve trip, I have been thinking a lot about why we do serve trips.  Here are some of my observations and conclusions about why we take these short-term trips and what it does for us and for the students who go:

1. Group Bonding: There is a reason I put this at the top of the list -- it really happens! We have seen students come together like we never expected them to; students from different schools, different backgrounds, different levels of faith (and general maturity). The bonding happens through shared experiences, whether they be serious or hilarious, important or flippant, deep or surface-level. I cannot count the number of times when, even months after a serve trip, a student would say "Remember when..." and the "remember whens" would continue for minutes on end. In fact, our core group of students this past school year were the very students who came on our fall Chicago serve trip. Hmmmm....

2. Spiritual Growth:  There is a theory in education which states that in order for real learning to happen, there has to be a struggle between what you already know and believe to be true and a new encounter which does not fit in. This struggle is basically re-arranging your schema (stuff you already know and have organized in your head); as you process the new information, you have to re-arrange, re-organize, and re-understand that schema in order to "make room" for the new information. This is what we see happening on serve trips. Students have already formed ideas of what they think about God, what they think "real life" looks like, and what they expect from the city (ie: Chicago). But when they get there, things are different from their original expectations -- they see a homeless woman who isn't high and isn't drunk... what now? Where's God? What's my response? They meet a man who is passionate about serving Christ through serving his community. Where's my passion? Where's Christ in me? They have to buy dinner with a measly $2. How do real people do this? How does my faith play into this? Real spiritual growth happens when we are confronted with experiences outside our "box"... when we are allowed to question, chew, and seek Jesus in a setting that is not part of our usual routine.

3. A change in students' perspectives: A weekend serve trip opens the students' eyes to a part of the city, both the challenges and the beauty, that they have never seen before. It plants seeds in their hearts and gets them thinking about longer-term possibilities where they live, as well as future possibilities. I know that both of these things were true for me; my first serve trip was to Chicago when I was a sophomore in high school. My eyes were opened to something I had never experienced before and I felt a new, deep pull to somehow serve in an urban setting. I followed this all through high school and college-- tutoring in an urban school here in Grand Rapids, taking more short-term serve trips, volunteering for an after-school program, and working summers at a camp for inner-city kids. Now that I'm "grown up", all of my teaching experiences have been in urban, at-risk schools, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. A student may or may not feel that pull (some call it a "calling") to serve in an urban, low-income setting, but the seeds have been planted for current and future service, donations, support and understanding.

4. Supporting people who are "in the trenches": Ministries like Sunshine have been around a long time, and have built substantial relationships with the people who live in their communities. They are the ones making the long-term difference in these communities and bringing positive change through their consistent relationship-building. That's really what brings change in any ministry: consistent relationships. So when we come in, our goal really is to support existing ministries without "getting in the way" or doing our own thing. The example that the director of Sunshine gave us was of a group that comes to Sunshine every summer. The high school students from this church group help run Sunshine's "Summer Blast" program by being the manpower behind the program, but Sunshine's staff is still leading the program and is the up-front "face" for the neighborhood kids that attend. Another goal for us along these lines is to develop a long-term relationship with a specific ministry in Chicago. It would be so cool to have a ministry say, "Oh yeah, we have that KeyStone group coming again this year. That means we'll be able to do ______________". That gives me goosebumps!

5. Learning about the community we serve in: This is more than just "learning" numbers and statistics. It is learning the name and story of the homeless woman you gave a granola bar to. It is learning the history, needs, and triumphs of a local ministry. It is learning how others worship the same Jesus in a style different than our own ("Amen! Hallelujah!"). It is learning about yourself through these experiences. It is learning that each statistical number has a name, a face, and a story. It is learning that there are huge needs... and huge hopes. It is learning something new about the God you thought you already knew through your experiences in the community. "I never really thought about homeless people"... "I didn't know there were so many runaway kids in Chicago"... "I didn't know Lou Malnati's Pizza gives their profit to Lawndale Church" "Wow, that guy had a lot of passion for Jesus; I've never seen anything like it!" These were comments we heard from students on our first trip... I'm looking forward to more in November!

Student Calendar

DC Recap

I will have to apologize at the beginning of this post because there is so much to talk about concerning our trip to Washington DC that this might seem a bit unorganized, full of rambling, or missing some key information.  I honestly don't know where to start...

We packed the vans on Thursday morning and headed out for a 10 and a half hour drive which we easily turned into a 12 hour trip.  Its tough to get 16 individual bladders to cooperate and be full at the same time.  We arrived in DC at about 10pm and got a tour of the place we stayed called Shalom Place.  It was great.  It sleeps 24 in really nice bunks with comfortable mattresses.  Since we only had 16 total people we had plenty of space.  The kitchen was nice and attached to the common area where we played games, did devotions, and shared in singing worship.  It couldn't have been better suited for us.  In fact, many of the students thought that housing was one of the best parts of the stay in DC.

Friday morning we got up early and headed to the bus stop where we caught a ride the nearest metro station.  It was a great to travel by public transportation the entire time.  Finally, we ended our morning commute a few blocks from the garden we were going to be working in.  7th Street Garden is a community garden where they grow fresh fruits and vegetables right in the middle of the city.  They have a program that allows people to serve for an hour in the garden in order to get a bag of food from their partner ministry called Bread for the City.  We were able to help them with various projects from fixing and staining their signs, to weeding, and also sifting their compost pile and spreading the dirt in the various beds where fresh food was growing.

We left 7th Street to head home for lunch and some devotions.  We shared in an activity where two groups were given the same task but with different resources available.  One group was set up to win which sparked a great conversation about the lives we live verses the lives of the impoverished live.  Some of the best observations were that the group with more resources, in fact left over resources, would probably not have shared their abundance with the less fortunate group.  Furthermore, the less fortunate group would not have asked for help.  Another very interesting observation was that it wasn't until the less fortunate group saw the resources the more fortunate group had available that they felt the activity was unfair.  Basically, left to their own abilities they would have made things work.  They were actually excited about their final product until they saw what the other group had to work with.  I think this activity was a great kick off to our week.

Soon after, we left for DC Central Kitchen where we did about 4 hours of prep work for the cooks to be able to prepare stew, spaghetti sauce, and salads.  This organization prepares an average of 4000 meals per day, but the best part is that they have self sustaining programs that train the jobless to work in their kitchen as well as run a catering business.  It was one of the coolest programs that I have heard of that serves meals but also serves people by giving them training and jobs.  This serve opportunity was one of the favorites.

The next morning we headed out to serve at an organization called Food & Friends.  This organization prepares and delivers meals to people with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life challenging illnesses around the city.  Unfortunately, the had a water main break so half of our group was unable to serve in the kitchen but the other half was still able to deliver meals.  Half of our group was able to take part in serving a portion of the over 700,000 meals that Food & Friends will deliver this year alone.

We met up as a whole group again at park where we worked with the Anacostia Watershed Association.  Our goal with this organization was to work along the Anacostia river which divides the rich and the poor of DC.  Instead, we ended up working to pull invasive species from the forest.  While none of the students were terribly excited about opportunity, they all worked pretty hard and did little to no complaining.  We were also able to use it as a teachable moment.  The whole time we felt like it was pointless to pull weeds form the forest because it seemed like a never ending problem.  Near the end we did some maintenance of a species that they had rid the forest of over the past couple years and now just had to maintain its growth.  When compared to the issue of poverty, we realized that we have the same feelings.  It is a seemingly endless problem but if we continue to work with organizations making huge strides in changing the lives of the less fortunate like 7th Street Garden, DC Central Kitchen, and Food & Friends we could get to place where we can have an impact.

Sunday was a well-deserved relaxing day.  We slept in, did some devotions, sang worship and then got ready to head to the Holocaust Museum in the late morning. The Holocaust Museum was a great addition to the learning side of the trip because many of the beliefs and values that sparked the awful events of the Holocaust are similar feelings and beliefs that many people have toward the poor.  The best part for me was at the very end of the Museum.  There was a poem that read:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -

because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out -

because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -

because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me.

This poem coupled with the message we heard later that night at a church in China Town on leadership was the essence of why we took the trip for me.  We must help to raise up leaders who will stand for whats right because its right, but we must first return to the understanding of the difference between right and wrong.  Morality says that you don't do wrong but Character and Integrity say that you stand up and fight for whats right.  Christianity is not a calling of not doing wrong, it is a calling off doing whats right.  Morality says that you don't actively oppress others, but Character and Integrity says that you seek out injustice and work to make it right.  We went to DC to make an effort in righting the wrongs that others pass by on a daily basis.  The challenge now is to continue to act on the things we learned about in our own backyard.

Touring the Pentagon, seeing all the many monuments, and experiencing some of the history that our country was founded on is a great way to spark action when returning home.  the many monuments in honor of our countries heroes was a great wake up call that we have many freedoms that come with responsibilities to do our part to uphold the Christian principles in our families, reach out to others and help them, and serve as the many generations before us have served us.  We are blessed to be able to speak freely about our history and should be proud that what we have was created and founded on the principles in which Christ taught and lived out.

Students in DC for Serving Experience

Join us in praying for Keystone students and leaders while they are on the road and in our nation's capital serving. Pray for their safety and that they might impact lives as well as grow closer to God along the way.

Trips = Shared Experiences

A lot of people ask me why we do trips and what we do on trips.  These are usually wonderful invited conversations because I love explaining the importance of trips and frankly what we do is a distant second to why we go.

The biggest and best reason for any trip with middle school and high school students is for shared experiences.  Shared experiences are the key to any relationship and are the essential building block for building trust.  We teach our leaders to build trust with students first.  Its the old adage, "[students] don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."  There is no better way to build trust than through shared experiences and their is no quicker way to get shared experiences than trips.  I have often explained that even the hours spent in the car or fully packed 15 passenger van can be some of the most important.  After years of being on a variety of trips with students and being on them as a student, I am constantly reminded of many stories I share with students that could only be created on some sort of time away from home trip.

I will forever remember the hour i spent in a paddle boat at Castaway Club inn Minnesota with a high school student who was struggling with his parents divorce.  At the time, I had no idea what to say and no frame of reference for support.  But two years later, that student told me that praying together for his family was one of his most impactful experiences.

Another incredible moment happened at Camp Michindoh near Anderson Indiana.  I was praying with a middle school student about his separated parents.  After a sweet prayer full of tears (shed by both of us), I knew that we had shared a really cool experience.  But about 15 minutes after returning home I received an ecstatic phone call from him saying that the night we prayed for his family, his dad had come home.  To this day his parents are together, his dad is sober, and we have at least one experience that neither of us will ever forget.

On a much less spiritual note, last year at Timberwolf Lake, I had the chance to walk through a high ropes course with a student who was deathly afraid of heights.  Other students, even ones who didn't know him, were cheering him on to the finish. 

None of this is to point out what I have done, but to share a piece of why we go on trips.  We have had students pray for the first time, cry with friends, and embrace students who they had never known before the trip.  Even some of the worst trips to the infirmary and the stomach flu has brought groups of students closer together and in mysterious ways has allowed leaders to share the Gospel with students.

As you can see now from a few small examples in a variety of different settings, the what we do while on a trip is a distant second to why we go.  But, we do have specific intent with the trips we choose.  A couple key factors we look at when choosing a trip is obviously what we want the goal to be.  Whether it be service focused, a ton of fun to introduce the story of Jesus, or quiet time with God, we always create shared experiences, learn about each other, and learn about God.  We have three major trips over the course of the summer that meet each of the above goals, and we work hard to offer a couple other options throughout the year as well. 

One major focus for us this past year has been serving opportunities.  We want to create these shared experiences while serving others.  Serve trips offer a ton of opportunities to talk about God and how Jesus fits into our everyday lives in a very non-threatening way.  We also get to see how and why God intended us to serve one another as well as care for the less fortunate.  We get plenty of time to reflect on the projects we have worked on, pray together, and learn a ton about ourselves.  It is amazing to watch students lead each other, get to teach each other, and realize their potential for doing so much good in this world.

Another one of trip opportunities is a camp trip for middle school students.  This trip is primarily focused on FUN!  We have 4-5 days packed with high energy craziness perfect for middle school students.  Our intentions are to get them away from the ipod world, wii, and cell phones so that they can hear, see, and feel God working in their lives.  We have seen so many cool things happen on these trips, but some of the fondest memories happen around the dinner table as we eat in a family-style setting (which not many of us do anymore).  It is so cool to look at each other's faces, ask about the day, and ask if someone would "please pass the ketchup."

Lastly, when I first started at Keystone I quickly realized that the backpacking trip to North Manitou Island was non-negotiable...and I am so glad.  This trip seriously feels like a trip to a private island where you can see some of the coolest pieces of creation in Michigan.  It is clear that God exists on Manitou Island.  We encourage one another as we hike with up to 80lbs on our backs, we watch the sunset, watch the stars shoot across the sky, and think through why God included us in His plan.  Manitou is a place far removed from the ordinary where we share our life-stories, pray for each other, and learn so much about how God is working in our lives and see how He has worked in the lives of others sitting around us.

As i finish up this lengthy blog, I am getting even more excited about our upcoming trips, the possibilities of life change, and the stories we will come home with that will last a life-time.  I hope this helps give some perspective into why trips are such an important piece of our ministry.  Please pray fro our trips this summer and if your son or daughter isn't signed up yet...I wouldn't wait.

High School Serve Trip - Washington DC, June 26-30 (returning July 1 in early am)

Middle School Camp Trip - Timberwolf Lake, July 27-31

High School Backpacking Trip - Manitou Island, August 1-3

Celebration - Congratulations Grads!

We have been working through a series on Spiritual Growth for the past two weeks and finishing it up this weekend.  Its it the perfect school year ending as we always think about transitions.  I had the chance to go to a high school graduation last night and I am also looking forward to the many open houses I will be attending in the near future.  It's always interesting to stop and reflect at this time of year to look at what we have accomplished; the relationships we have formed and grown, the failures we have learned from, and the successes we have celebrated. 

I want to take moment to focus on celebration.  We tend to forget to take time to pause and enjoy the things in life that are good.  In a culture of performance based measurement, where we are always looking to get better, we often lose sight of success in the moment before we move on to achieve the bigger and better next thing.  Don't get me wrong, we should always be striving for excellence, constantly reevaluating how we do what we do so that we can do our best to serve God.  But God also calls us to celebrate, to be mindful of the blessings we have been given, and to identify our many individual gifts.

As I sat at the graduation ceremony watching student after student who has come through Keystone at some point in their high school career, I was forced to examine our ability to help student's grow spiritually from infancy to adolescence and on to adulthood.  Student ministries at Keystone has come a long way in its ability to reach a wide variety of students who either attend or have been invited to check out what we do.  Many of the high school graduates from this year have helped to shape our programs and have made huge strides spiritually in doing so.

Please, take time to congratulate the many graduates in your life and in your church for the lives that they live as Jesus followers, wish them the best on their way toward the next leg of the life journey, and do your best to support them by offering a place for them in the church as college students and then 20 somethings.  I can't thank the students at Keystone enough for the love and support they have given to student ministries.  They have sacrificed time and energy in pursuit of growing spiritually as well as bringing others around to check this Jesus thing out for themselves.

Love and Respect?

When we think about Love and Respect in the same context we usually think about it in terms of a marriage relationship.  Why then would a student ministry blog be highlighting the topic and even better yet how would a student ministry use the Love and Respect cocncepts to communicate Biblical messages to students.

Well, I'm glad you asked.

First, love and respect apply to all relationships.  Matthew 12:29 tells us to love others as we love ourselves. And 1 Peter 2:17-18 says that we are to resepct everyone. Not only those who are deserving but also those who are inconsidereate and harsh.  At times it may seem a much easier for people to love and respect the people they are not married to, but for students it is important to discuss love and respect with everyone around us so that we might do justice to the message Jesus came to share.

Second, the Bible is clear on how a man and woman should interact within a marriage, and when we begin to think about the "food" that fuels us in those relationships, love is a woman's greatest need as respect is a man's greatest need.  It is important for students to also see what a healthy husband/wife relationship looks like.  So we discuss love and respect on a general level while using husband/wife examples to support the need for each and also to help us to better understand ourselves and our needs in relationships.

Third, after looking at general ideas of love and respect as well as husband/wife relationships we talked about specific relationships in our lives where love and respect exist or don't exist.  As we discussed student interactions with moms and dads as well as siblings and friends, we came to the conclusion that what we need most in a relationship may vary from relationship to relationship.  In some relationships we may bee looking for respect and others love depending on the history of the relationship, the gender of the other person and the age of the person.

While it would be nieve to assume that students wouldnt understand love and respect as it pertains to a marriage relationship, we also thought it would be neglectful to skirt the topic altogether.  Our discussions were wonderful in exposing some of our own struggles in understanding ourselves and our relationships with others.  We were able to shed light on how we might act differently toward our loved ones and discussed ways to show love and respect.

Our students will be going out of their way to show the males in their lives respect and communicate it clearly, and they will be striving to be sure that the females in their lives are loved and know it without a doubt.  I hope you notice!

Welcome!

Thanks for visiting our blog.  We will be using this awesome communication tool to keep you up to date on what's new and what's coming up.  We will also post stories about students, leadership lessons, and insightful thoughts on adolescence and culture.  We are excited to be able to provide consistent communication to students, parents, and leaders.

If you want to receive email notifications each time we update the blog, subscribe to this particular blog.  Our goal is to update about once a week and send out an email reminder about once a month to check the blog for new information.  We will continue to send a newsletter on a quarterly basis that will continue to point to this site as the best way to stay informed and connected.

Thanks,

Mark VanDellen & The Student Ministries Team