Do You Know Your Students?

Written by Pamela Culbertson

Have you taken a good look lately at the students who make up your department and/or class? Do you see them for who they are? When they walk into the room are you aware of what they have left behind? Was there bickering in their home prior to their arrival? Who was present in that home? What responsibilities did they have to assume to come to church? What awaits them when they return to their homes?

As families arrive at church today with "smiles, everyone, smiles" across their faces, consider what is behind those smiles. Every youth represents a family whom God has entrusted to you this year for ministry. You cannot answer the questions above by spending an hour each week with your teenagers. You have been called out to invest your life in the lives of teenagers and their families. Here are a few tips on how you can begin to really know your students well:

Know Their Names
John 10:14 (Holman CSB®) says, "I know My own sheep, and they know Me." Do you love your teenagers and their families enough to know them by name and to know them personally? People want to hear their names. Can you recognize your teenagers in a crowd of students?

Make Home Visits
Have you considered the amount of information you can glean by spending 30 minutes to an hour in someone's home? You will observe family interaction, become aware of special needs, and acquaint yourself with who is present in the home. You will meet the parent(s) of the teenager who attends church without his family. Never ask to see a teenager's room, but if he offers to show you around, take the tour. Posters, CD and DVD collections, bulletin-board items, the presence of a telephone, television, computer and/or CD player will give you some insight into his interests and his world.

Attend Their Activities
Jesus never stayed in one place. He went to where the people were. At the beginning of the school year, ask your teenagers to give you schedules of their extra-curricular activities. Your attending sporting events, concerts, plays, contests, and special ceremonies places you in their environment. You learn their interests. You see and even meet their friends. You can offer the needed support and encouragement for their participation and/or achievement.

Respond in Times of Need
Hospitalizations, funerals, illnesses, and accidents involving any youth family member necessitates a response from you. A phone call, visit, card, and/or meal are a few ways you can respond.

Pray for Them
Pray for your youth and their families each week. Pray for their salvation, their special ministry needs, your growing relationship with them, and that God will personalize His Truth through your ministry in their lives.

Involving yourself in the lives of your teenagers will enable you to minister to them in a more personal level. You will be given "permission" into their lives and they will develop a sense of trust that allows you to minister to them even more effectively.

Pamela Culbertson is the Minister to Youth at Gaston Oaks Baptist Church in Dallas, TX.