For me right now student/youth ministry is at it’s best when it bridges primary and high school. But mainly the high school stage. I realized that I'm done with the days of graduating students and forgetting about them.That was one of my greatest mistakes as a new teacher. One spend so much time building relationship with students just to have them disappear one day into high school. You never really hear anything from them again except for some grievous news of how unfortunate life turned out for some of them. If there was anything I learned over time, is that good teachers are not afraid to disciple their students –now, I believe in maintaining those relationships that were build over time and equipping students for the transition to teenagehood and adulthood by intentionally walking with them through the different stages of life.
I shared my heart with Suzanne and both of us wanted to follow up on our graduates that we immediately started to work toward the goal of hosting our first reunion lunch with all the girls that were in town that weekend.
The reason for putting on a reunion event was to reconnect with the girls. The very fact that our graduates are freshmen in high school means that they need quality adults in their lives to mentor them. And, truthfully I personally realized that I need them in my life too if I want to effectively help them and many more. Mentoring brings life to both sides. Sometimes you get more out of it than you give. Relationships are the key to growth.
Rekindling our relationships could have been enough reason to do this reunion but it was also a great opportunity to listen. It was interesting to listen to the girls talking about the joys and struggles of life as teens in general and being in high school. This helped me better understand what topics we need to address while they are still in high school. At this point faith and finding friends that shares the same faith has been a struggle for most of them and it was a great opportunity for them to evaluating their first semester choices and to remind them of what was important. This reunion event was a great way to tell them that they are still valued members of "Community Hope's family". The day was filled with laughter, a great meal prepared by Suzanne, cooling off in the pool and best of all; a chocolate cake to celebrate their lives!
And little gifts to show them that they still belong and they are dearly loved!
