Building One Another Up - Dare 2 Share
Helping youth leaders empower
students to reach their world.
Helping youth leaders empower
students to reach their world.

Building One Another Up

Why encouragement and support are essential for both male and female youth workers.

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Encouragement is incredibly important in youth ministry—for both men and women. As a woman in a full-time role in student ministry, I see how much I need that encouragement from others in the same field. As fellow image bearers, those of us who work with teenagers each bring unique contributions to student ministries, and it’s helpful to receive affirmation regarding our specific roles.

When my husband and I co-led student ministry, he would always invite me to our community youth leader gatherings, also known as a network. Each time I would ask, “Will I be the only woman there?” His typical response was, “Probably, but you should still come.” Honestly, I should have gone, but I didn’t, even with his encouragement. I got it in my head that being the lone woman showing up to a group of guys having lunch together and talking about student ministry wasn’t the right place for me.

My husband would return from those gatherings refreshed and encouraged. I wanted the men to have their time to gather and pray and encourage one another, but the truth was I didn’t know how to get that for myself. For some reason, I thought my presence would disrupt their dynamic.

So how can we all better support women—or anyone—serving in student ministries? I think Dare 2 Share has given us a great model we can use for this: Prayer – Care – Share.

Prayer

Whatever the format or style of prayer, just knowing that our fellow student ministers are praying for us and our ministry is the greatest encouragement. It conveys that what we do matters. The long hours, the unknown results, the discouraging days can all be left at the feet of Jesus Christ, and others’ prayers of intercession on our behalf can carry us through those weeks when we have no words left to pray.

As we grow in relationship with one another and share our struggles and prayer requests, we can find healthy ways to pray, whether it’s in group settings or in our own time with the Lord. Our fellow youth pastors know better than anyone the weight that we carry—and we need one another’s prayers.

Care

Be intentional about supporting other youth leaders in your community. If you host a local youth pastor gathering or network meeting—specifically reach out to the women you know in student ministry and encourage them to come. Let them know there’s a place for them at these gatherings (even if they’re the only woman there). Tell them straight out that it’s not a boys club; it’s a time for everyone serving in this type of role to come and spend time in prayer and networking with others in the field. If possible, care for your fellow youth leaders by providing free food or coffee.

Share

Normally in the Prayer – Care – Share model, this step is intended to mean sharing the Gospel, but in a network setting you could think of the idea in a broader sense. Let’s share our stories, share resources, and share reminders of why we’re serving in our roles. And we want to share celebrations. Celebrate the volunteer stepping up to lead, the parent calling with good news, and most of all the student putting their faith and trust in Jesus Christ for the first time!

We can help one another remember that we serve in this role because we know the power of the Gospel is for all people, and we believe wholeheartedly in the importance of teenagers in this mission. We share a common Cause with all our fellow youth leaders.

Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our own image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:26-27

We’re all uniquely designed and wonderfully made, and God has placed us in our roles in ministry for His purpose. As we serve individually in our jobs, it’s important that we remember that we are not alone. We can and should be encouraging the women and men in ministry to keep the Cause of Jesus Christ central in their work and in their lives.

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