Meeting with Rwandan Bishop John Rucyahan and Marko (youthspecialties.com) Friday morning to continue to work out the plans to train youth workers in East African countries.

Please pray for traveling mercies, a God graced meeting and for God's protection and blessings on my family while I am away.

A lot has been written on the topic and I am certainly no guru but here are a few things I have seen work with both kids and adults...

-Pray
-Shut up and listen...and when you are ready to talk...listen.
-Be free! You are not the savior. You will mess up. You do not know all the answers. Come to terms with this asap.
-Ask the right questions. Get them talking...ask them questions that force them to discover the issue(s) themselves.
-Help them to discover how God is involved in the process. One main question I ask is "Why do you think God has allowed this?" This is a great one because I often don't know this answer and it puts me in a humble stance and puts me alongside the person in the journey toward hope, wholeness and truth.
-Connect it to a Biblical story or theme. Often times I will ask, "Does that situation sound like anything you have run across in Scripture?" Or, "Is there a Biblical character you can relate this to?"
-Help them vision a Godly outcome. Help them explore how they should respond (think, act etc...) in light of God and His calling and purpose.
-Pray with the person
-keep the confidentiality

Put this in the "short and sweet" category. Here is a great quote from Francis as it applies to self image:

"You are who you are in the eyes of God. Nothing more and nothing less."

Shared this quote with the kids tonight. We did a teaching on self image and used the Rob Bell Nooma video "Name". It is a good one if you have not seen it already.

Ok...weird title. Could not think of a better one for this short and bizarre post but cut me some slack since I have a nasty cold.

So I took the kids on a ski trip this weekend to West Virginia. We had a blast. However, we had to do devotions in the morning at 6:30am. Which, is pretty dang early especially for teens and especially if they were skiing the entire day before.

Couple this with the fact that I feel very strongly that devotions are something we "do" and not something we sit back and receive. So, this means I expect and do devotional times that are structured to create ample space and time to give kids a direct opportunity to draw near to God.

Well, each morning we did a different type of lexio to a psalm (started with psalm 63, then 86 then finishing with 1). While doing it I made them kneel on the ground.

Now, this may sound like cruel and unusual punishment but the truth is it is a trick I learned in the monastery. When you are having a hard time praying (tired...don't want to pray...mind wandering etc...) being in a semi uncomfortable position helps you focus. Kneeling is one of the best ways to beat a bad prayer time. Not the kneeling where you are slouched over or leaning against something. No, I am talking about the kneeling with a fairly straight back.

The kids did it...so did I...and so did the leaders. And guess what?

It worked. Really well.

Try it. You will thank me for it just like I thank the Franciscans who taught it to me.

This week we tried something different with the students.

We normally do the singing at the end of the service but last nite we did it first...and it was a little longer than usual.

After the music we gave the students an index card and on it they wrote what their "spiritual temperature" was and to write a question that they would like to ask God...something they are struggling with...that type of question.

This should come as no surprise but I am going to put the general themes that came up from their anonymous questions:

1) Why does evil exist?
-they asked this in a variety of ways...i.e. why does bad things happen to good people, or why does an all powerful God allow bad things to happen to children etc...

2) How can I know that I am saved?

3) How can I have a victorious life in Christ?
-This was asked in a couple ways. A few spoke about difficulties with "addictions" and a few asked it by commenting on how they would be rockin and rollin after a retreat but they would slip back into apathy or luke-warmness withing a few weeks.

4) I am struggling with technology addiction.
-This one really surprised me and it was not really in a question form each time. It was more of a statement that came from a couple students. One referred to technology as an idol.

We then went over some of these questions in a Q and A format. However, if I did it again I would wait a week or two and then address them.

For those of you who are not into youth ministry but know the Zoephel Clan, here is a pic for you.

This is a 89 Lincoln Town Car. A woman in our church gave this to us as a gift. We were in desperate need of a car. Notice the fuzzy dice in the mirror...classic.

This proves God has a sense of humor...or he is a pimp. I will go with the former.

Seriously, we love the car and we are incredibly thankful that it was given to us. It is the car with the best ride that I have ever been in. It drives like floating on a cloud...that is the best way to describe it.

A veteran youth worker and I were talking and he was sharing his frustration with his inability to pass onto his youth a disciplined devotional life. I can certainly relate to this. And it is near and dear to my heart. Why? Because I am not so sure anyone can be obedient to the Lord (over any extended period of time) without a disciplined devotional life (I know, I know...the disciplines are not the gospel..they are simply ways we can hopefully put ourselves in a position to experience God's grace and be transformed).

This got us discussing the question..."How can we pass onto our youth a disciplined devotional life?"

Another point entered our discussion. The last numbers I heard stated that a youth has a significant advantage of keeping and growing in their faith if they have 4-5 adults who are living their faith and are in relationship with that youth.

So...what do you think? What would you say if you were in this discussion with us?

I am on my way to the airport to pick up Marko (president of YS) who is meeting us there as he drops off a rental car. Paul Martin and Sheryl Shaw are in the car with me. It turns out...Marko's GPS has led him astray and he ends up right where we started...in Destin. The problem was that we were in Fort Walton Beach and he was supposed to be in Ft Walton Beach to drop off his rental car (we would then pick him up and take him to Destin for a dinner meeting).

We decide we will rendezvous in a Publix parking lot in Ft Walton Beach. A few minutes pass...Sheryl, Paul and I joke around in the car...what we do best...eventually Marko pulls up to our car, which is a total gangsta car that Sheryl had rented, and says hi. Paul jumps out and rides to the airport in Marko's car.

Well, when we get to the airport Marko drops off the rental car and they all pile into Sheryl's gangsta rental car. This is when...the real story begins...

Are you ready for this?

Are you sure?

It is short and sweet....

We come to find out that Paul Martin went into the car with Marko and shared the Gospel with Marko. It started out something like this...

"Have you ever tried to jump to the moon? I mean all the way to the moon? Of course not. That is impossible. It is the same with God."

I will leave it up to your imagination as to what he said after that.

Paul Martin...thank you...you are my hero.

Been busy of late. Here is what went down.

Marko from YS flew down to meet with me, Sheryl Shaw and Paul Martin to talk YS and AMiA.

Then Marko, Sheryl and I spent a few hours with Archbishop Kolini from Rwanda. That was SWEET. Kolini is an amazing fellow. Much more so in person. I was impressed. And I am not one to faughn on these types anymore (I am a recovering faughner). God has moved in this man's life and shaped his character.

Cool notes....
Smoked my first Cuban Cigar while overlooking the Gulf of Mexico on a fourth floor condo balcony. The cigar was very smooth.

Archbishop Kolini told me he wanted to come to my ordination to the priesthood.

And best of all....we are going to be going into Rwanda to help with the post genocide reconstruction by helping equip, train and support youth leaders and youth ministry. Good stuff.... More on that later.... Let's just say God has granted us loads of favor.