Newsletter 50: August 2010

(New Zealand Edition)*

* if you are not from NZ click here for our Australian/International e-newsletter.

P4 - A Comprehensive and Flexible Training Programme

I am in the process of setting up training dates for P4 later this year. You can see confirmed dates and venues for Rotorua and Auckland here. More including Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin will be added very soon and details will be sent to you. If you would like me to conduct this seminar outside of these centres please email me.

The three resources available for each of the four modules are:

• A leader's guide that allows you to either build on what was covered in the seminars or repeat it for your own leadership team.
• A participant's workbook in which youth leaders record the insights they learn (provided free at the P4 seminars).
• 60 page booklets for each module that you can give to each member of your leadership team to read. These are easy to read and contain lots of real life illustrations, checklists and questions for personal reflection and discussion. (Available at a discounted price for leaders attending the P4 seminar)

More information on each is available in the YouthTRAIN Store where you will soon be able to purchase them . The first of four P4 booklets are with the printers now and will be available for sale very soon. Called "Growing in Leadership" it is a good introduction to youth leadership for new leader and for the more experienced. You can view a sample of the booklet here. (Note: You can order resources now through the store but there will be a delay of up to a month in sending these to you.)

Featured Resource: Purpose Driven Youth Ministry

Did you miss out on a copy of Mike King's book "Presence-Centered Youth Ministry"? I ran out of the earlier copies I had so have ordered 10 more and have only 7 left - first in first served at $30 plus $5 postage and packaging. This is an important book that I highly recommend - see my review here. To get your copy email me.

Featured Resource: LIFE - The Missing Dimension in Discipleship (FREE download)

Someone said to me recently that they have not been able to get past the first seven chapters of this book. They explained that there was so much in those chapters that they wanted to think on that they had to go back and keep reading them. Seven chapters might sound a lot, but each chapter is only two pages long! Would you like to see what they mean? You can download these chapters free here. Copies can be purchased through the YouthTRAIN store. People have said it's a good resource to use as a daily devotional and to get into the hands of their youth leaders. Not only does it challenge then to think about discipleship but it also gives them a good overview of Scripture.

FREE Youth Ministry e-Books

Check out some free youth ministry e-Books online (Source: Dennis Poulette www.ymimexico.org). Print these out (or download them to your iPhone.. or iPad!)

• 40 Icebreakers for Small Groups - Insight
• 130 Youth Ministry Tips and Ideas - Tim Schmoyer
• Bible Study Methods for Youth Leaders - Insight
• 25 Free Marketing Tools You Can Use Right Now - Ministry Marketing Coach
• Facebook for Pastors - Ministry Marketing Coach
• How to Recruit Volunteers (sign up first) - Ministry Best Practices
• Becoming Volunteer Centered (sign up first) - Ministry best Practices

Recent articles on young people and youth ministry

The following articles and links appear on our Facebook Page. Become a fan and be advised or articles like these as they are published.

• The Best of the Best for Middle School Ministry: A quick crash course in working with pre-teens developed after 10 years of good and bad ideas. (Youthworker magazine).
• NZ students study - and party - more than Aussies: A snapshot comparison between Australian and New Zealand university students. (NZ Herald).
• Culture of celebrity hurting teens: The effect that a media focused on "celebrity" behaviour has upon our teens. (NZ Herald)
• Parental law set to stop teen drinkers: "The Government is considering making it unlawful for adults to give alcohol to young people without their parents' consent..." (NZ Herald)
• Pay attention, kids: Unplug to tune in: The effect of television and videos games on concentration.
• Called but not Committed: Kenda Creasy Dean talks about her new book. (Youthworker magazine)
• Biblical Principles of Youth Discipleship: Developing a clear definition of discipleship and guiding young people toward being full-blown disciples of Christ. (Youthworker magazine)
• Drink, Drank, Drunk: God’s Guidance on Alcohol: Practical suggestions to help young people successfully navigate our culture's mixed messages about drinking
• YouthWorker Journal July 2010 edition and August 2010 edition are now available online.

A Couple of Youth Ministry websites you may not have come across...

• Slant 33: Excellent articles with three different writers contributing to a new youth ministry topic every week. Recent topics have been "What is the difference between empowering people and encouraging people?", "Why is the theology of play an important piece in our spiritual puzzle?", "What are some of the connections between community and salvation?" and "In what ways can youth ministry improve in the area of proclamation (kerygma)?"
  
• LeaderTreks: A whole list of useful "freebies" here - articles, resources and surveys.

Become a YouthTRAIN Supporter

While we charge for YouthTRAIN services (though some like this newsletter are free), it's neither possible nor realistic to expect these charges to cover all our expenses. Therefore we rely on the generosity of an increasingly small group of people to keep YouthTRAIN running. We need many more people to assist us in one off giving or regular team support. If you would like to invest in what YouthTRAIN does - regularly or as a one off donation click here to find out more. We have a link to our automatic payment form plus a page that tells you how you can make contributions through internet banking.

Latest Job Opportunities

Latest adverts posted during the past few months (more on our website):

• Youth Ministry Worker - Part or possibly Full time - Wellington, New Zealand (July 28, 2010)
• Associate Youth Pastor - Auckland, New Zealand (July 1, 2010)
• Diocesan Children's Ministry Adviser - Christchurch, New Zealand (June 30, 2010)
• Part-time Youth Pastor/Youth Worker - Auckland, New Zealand (June 25, 2010)
• Youth Pastor - Auckland, New Zealand (June 24, 2010)
• Youth Pastor or Youth Intern - Blenheim, New Zealand (June 1, 2010)

- Murray