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Dear youth work problems,
I only have one young person in my church... is it worth running a youth group?
Come with me to 1855. A Sunday School teacher called Edward Kimball has recognised the potential in a young lad. Kimball and the lad agree to meet up regularly to talk about faith and life. Over time, through investing in this relationship, Kimball leads the young teen to Christ and then helps him grow in his relationship with God as they continue to meet for an hour or so every week. When the boy grows up he ends up travelling all over the world telling people about Jesus. The boy’s name was D.L. Moody. Moody went on to pass the baton of faith to J. Wilbur Chapman, who did the same with Billy Sunday.
Some years later, Billy Sunday was speaking in the small American town of Charlotte and as a result almost half the town became followers of Jesus. These new Jesus’ followers recognised the importance of passing on the baton of faith too, and so they invited another guy called Mordecai Hamm to come and speak in the hope that the rest of the town would also come to faith. Mordecai Hamm spoke for three weeks and many came to faith – including a young teenager called Billy Graham, who is one of the most famous Christians on the planet today and has literally led millions of people to Jesus. That’s millions of people who have had their eternal destinies changed, and are enjoying the forgiveness and freedom of life with God.
But the story isn’t about Billy Graham. The story is about a Sunday School teacher called Edward Kimball who simply decided to invest an hour or so a week in growing the faith of one person, and as a result, one hundred and fifty years later, millions of people have become followers of Jesus. So, is it worth having a youth group of one? Absolutely! Who knows what God could do through you, and that person, in decades and generations to come?
Jesus models to us that we’ll always make our biggest kingdom impact on the smallest number of people. That’s why he picked just 12 disciples, and then within the 12 he had a deeper training relationship with three (Peter, James and John). Even within the three there was, perhaps, a unique relationship with John. In other places in the Bible we see Moses investing in Joshua, David investing in Solomon, Elisha investing in Elijah, Mordecai investing in Esther and Paul investing in Timothy. Your greatest influence will always be with the smallest number of people.
There are, of course, some important considerations. Firstly, if you’re doing one-on-one work then make sure you’re following your churches safeguarding policy. As a minimum this should ensure you have parental permission and you’re doing this in some kind of public space (i.e. you’re not on your own together in a private place). If this is taking place as part of Sunday morning church then that shouldn’t be a problem, but you might also want to connect in other places, possibly coffee shops or the home of the young person if the parents are present (I’ve discipled a young person in their front room with the door open and their mum in the next room).
Jesus models to us that we’ll always make our biggest kingdom impact on the smallest number of people
Secondly, check that the young person actually wants to meet. If you are enthusiastic about meeting with them to offer support and encouragement in faith and life, then hopefully they’ll catch that enthusiasm and want to hang out too.
Thirdly, it probably goes without saying that their commitment to meeting will be dependent on what you plan to do. A suggestion to explore Levitus over 52 weeks might not go down well, but taking time to explore where they are on their journey of faith, and what might be their next steps would be a good starting point. Throw away your pre-programmed meetings and commit to journey together. Talk about school, family life, pressure points, joys, sorrows, and faith. For some great questions to use on a regular basis to stretch faith and life go to livelife123.org/7questions.
Finally, think about setting some goals together – both for the young person and the ‘group’. Obviously, a goal for the ‘group’ would be ‘grow’. So chat with the young person about how you could see more people come to the group. What kinds of things would draw friends? Maybe you’ll need to be willing to change what you do dramatically in order to ensure it works for non-Christian friends. Invite your young person to dream, and think creatively, about how to draw their friends in. This might just be met with ‘I don’t know,’ which is sometimes akin to ‘I don’t care’ (i.e. I don’t care if my mates come or I don’t really want them to come). In which case, focus on developing the faith of your young person until they get to a place where they’ve cultivated a more missional heart to want to reach their mates.
The bottom line here is that this is a journey. God’s not in a hurry. Jesus never ran anywhere. He spent three years investing in his disciples. Imagine the impact you could make in the life of a young person if you met with them every week for three years. Take time to build your relationship with them, building trust and a climate of honesty and vulnerability. Discover more about how they learn and seek to grow their faith in accordance with their learning style. Don’t beat yourself up if you have a lousy week or they don’t show up. Jesus’ disciples were constantly letting him down but he didn’t give up on them.
Jesus just might have given you the gift of just one person to invest your life in. Embrace this opportunity and see what God might do.
