When students participate in short-term mission work, parents and youth leaders hope the experience of serving others will be transformative. But for mission work to make a real impact, leaders and students need to spend more time before, during, and after their service processing and preparing for their experiences. This curriculum and student journal helps leaders prepare students for what to expect on their mission trip, allows students to reflect upon their experiences, and enables them to genuinely debrief. Students will engage in learning exercises that help them gain new insights about themselves, their relationship with God, their teammates, and the world we re called to love and serve. These steps ensure short-term mission work that has a deeper effect on students and on those they serve, and helps students apply what they have learned in the mission field to their own lives. Also included are ideas to help get parents and the church engaged in the youth ministry s short-term mission work."

So you re fired up, you want to make a difference, you want to change the world but how? Signing up for your church s mission trip or service project is a great first step, and you are definitely going to make a difference in someone s life. But are you ready for the different cultures you may encounter? How are you going to really connect with the people you serve? And what about when you come home---how do you make sense of all the things you ve experienced? It s easy to forget your experiences in the mission field---especially when the people around you haven t had those same experiences. And it is easy to go back to living your life the way you were before---but if you really want to change the world, you have to change, too. The only way that is going to happen is if you spend some time before, during, and after your service preparing for and processing your justice work. As you use this journal you will start to think about--- * the people you are serving * your relationship with your teammates * how God factors in to your service project * the impact your experience has had on you * how you can continue to make a difference in the world around you If you think you re fired-up for service now, just wait As you complete the creative and fun exercises included in this journal, you will be energized for justice work, you ll learn how to apply this to your own life, and nothing will be able to stop you."

Most typical youth ministries today produce nice, obedient kids who behave themselves--and then leave the church and the faith. Even those who remain struggle to extend their own faith beyond youth group. They seem like "good kids," but their lives and decisions outside youth group aren't oriented towards Jesus. Clearly that is not our goal. So what are we doing wrong? And how can we better serve the unique needs of the most anxious, adaptive, and diverse generation in history? If you're tired of youth ministry that fails to change lives, it's time to change youth ministry. Building on two decades of the Fuller Youth Institute's work and incorporating extensive new research and interviews, Faith Beyond Youth Group identifies the reasons youth ministry often fails both short-term and long-term, and offers five ways adult youth leaders can cultivate character for a lifetime of growing closer to Jesus rather than drifting away. It shows leaders how to cultivate trust, model growth, teach for transformation, practice together, and make meaning so that the teenagers can become adults who hold fast to the truth 24/7 and boldly live out a robust faith in a watching world.

Sometimes life gives you way more questions than answers. And yet it seems like everyone expects you to just figure it all out! Whether you're looking toward your future or wrestling to get through today, it doesn't have to be so stressful. Just three big questions will help you find clarity about all the rest: * Who am I? * Where do I fit? * What difference can I make? This 60-day exploration breaks down those big questions into manageable pieces and helps you embrace God's best answers for you. Backed by Scripture and informed by years of research with teens just like you, this book does more than help you figure out what to do with your life; it will help you understand what your life means to the world--no matter who your friends are, what career you end up with, what kind of family you come from or will have in the future, what obstacles you may face, or what doubts trouble you along the way. YOU are one-of-a-kind, and you can find faithful answers to life's biggest questions.

Teenagers are tired of vague or nonexistent answers to their tough questions about God, the Bible, and Christianity. Just when they're capable of diving into the deep end of their faith, all too often the church keeps them splashing around in shallow waters. As eight years of Sticky Faith research on teenagers has shown, it's not doubt or hard questions that are toxic to faith. It's silence. The trusted voice of the Fuller Youth Institute and proven best practices from churches around the country converge to provide you with tools both to start conversations about hard questions, as well as to lead students toward discovering their own faith convictions.

So you're on fire, you want to make a difference, you want to change the world...but how? Signing up for a service project or mission trip is a great first step. But you probably have a lot of questions. Are you ready for the different cultures you may encounter? How are you going to really connect with the people you serve? And what about when you come home-how do you make sense of all the things you've experienced? Will any of it make a lasting difference for anyone? It turns out that if you really want to change the world, you have to change too. The only way that's going to happen is if you spend time before, during, and after your trip preparing for and processing your work. This Journal will help you think about: * Why you're going * The people you're serving * Your relationship with your teammates * How God factors into your service project * The impact your experience has had on you * How you can keep making a difference back at home If you think you're fired up to serve now, just wait! This hands-on Journal will equip you to serve in a way that sticks-both for you and those you serve. * How you can keep making a difference back at home If you think you're fired up to serve now, just wait! This hands-on Journal will equip you to serve in a way that sticks-both for you and those you serve.

Today's teenagers are the most anxious, creative, and diverse generation in history-which can make it hard for us to relate. And while every teenager is a walking bundle of questions, three rise above the rest: - Who am I? - Where do I fit? - What difference can I make? Young people struggle to find satisfying and life-giving answers to these questions on their own. They need caring adults willing to lean in with empathy, practice listening, and gently point them in the direction of better answers: they are enough because of Jesus, they belong with God's people, and they are invited into God's greater story. In this book, which is based on new landmark research from the Fuller Youth Institute and combines in-depth interviews with data from 1,200 diverse teenagers, Kara Powell and Brad M. Griffin offer pastors, youth leaders, mentors, and parents practical and proven conversations and connections that help teenagers answer their three biggest questions and reach their full potential.

Ever had a question about God that you were scared to ask? Ever felt like your hard questions get squashed, silenced, or brushed aside? We get that. We wrote this guide for people like you. And we have good news. First, other teenagers and adults ask these kinds of questions all the time. Second, it's not only okay to ask hard questions, but it's actually important-some say essential-for your faith journey. And finally, God can handle it. God isn't anxious about your questions, struggles, or doubts. We don't think you should be either.

Today's teenagers are the most anxious, creative, and diverse generation in history--which can make it hard for us to relate. And while every teenager is a walking bundle of questions, three rise above the rest: - Who am I? - Where do I fit? - What difference can I make? Young people struggle to find satisfying and life-giving answers to these questions on their own. They need caring adults willing to lean in with empathy, practice listening, and gently point them in the direction of better answers: they are enough because of Jesus, they belong with God's people, and they are invited into God's greater story. In this book, which is based on new landmark research from the Fuller Youth Institute and combines in-depth interviews with data from 1,200 diverse teenagers, Kara Powell and Brad M. Griffin offer pastors, youth leaders, mentors, and parents practical and proven conversations and connections that help teenagers answer their three biggest questions and reach their full potential.

Many of the statistics you read about teenagers and faith can be alarming. Recent studies show that 40-50 percent of kids who are connected to a youth group throughout their senior year will fail to stick with their faith in college. As youth workers are pouring their time and energy into the students in their ministries, they are often left wondering if they've done enough to equip their students to carry their faith into adulthood. Fuller Youth Institute has done extensive research in the area of youth ministry and teenage development. In Sticky Faith, the team at FYI presents youth workers with both a theological/philosophical framework and practical programming ideas that develop long-term faith in teenagers. Each chapter presents a summary of FYI's quantitative and qualitative research, along with the implications of this research, including program ideas suggested and tested by youth ministries nationwide. This resource will give youth pastors what they need to help foster a faith that sticks with all the teenagers in their group long after they've left the youth room.