Global Youth Ministry Network - Asia

A book that has greatly influenced my ministry is “The Next Generation Leader” by Andy Stanley. This book was first published 6 years ago yet the principles are very much applicable for those who work with the youth today. So I’m going through these principles as well as including some thoughts on how this can be applied to our ministry to young people. This is the 2nd of five parts.

2. Leaders are the first to seize an opportunity (and not necessarily the first to see an opportunity)

Take the account of the battle between David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:19-32, it was the young man delivering food to his brothers who seized the opportunity and not the seasoned soldiers.

Here Andy states “As I listen to leaders tell their stories I here little about strategic planning and goal setting. I hear a lot about identifying and acting on opportunities.”

At the GYMN seminars, goal setting and planning are essential, participants don’t graduate without making specific goals for ministry. Still, we know it’s all just vision until it gets applied into the ministry. I love and get caught up in the big plans that youth leaders want for their ministries but the step of acting on their ideas is very critical, that is why one of our trainers always remarks on written plans: “Make it happen!” Have the courage to make that critical first step in your plans.

Another way courage can be expressed is in the courage to say “No.” In the field of youth ministry many opportunities abound, yet a leader must focus on the ones that reach towards the group’s goals. Stanley says “We fear disappointing people. We fear being passed by. We fear missing out on a good opportunity…. [but] refusing to say no eventually robs a leader of his ultimate opportunity—the opportunity to play to his strengths.”

Go over the programs you are doing: are there programs you need to say “No” to?