Preparation and Prayer

As is the case with any trip, there is much preparation to be done as your students make themselves ready for the upcoming Peru Mission Trip. Packing lists will be checked countless times to ensure that no essential item is left behind and many will spend time reviewing the schedule in order to know where they will be at all times.

However, in the midst of all the stress that comes with preparation, we encourage parents and students to put their packing on pause for a moment and enter into a time of prayer:

- Pray for the students: That the Lord would use them during this time to serve and that the experiences they encounter would allow them to grow closer to God.

- Pray for the leaders: That they would watch over the students and guide them in the ways in which the Lord has directed.

- Pray for the people we will encounter abroad: That they would be touched by our students and leaders and see the love of Christ in us.

We encourage you to pray as you prepare and to continue to pray while the students on their journey. We pray that our Heavenly Father would watch over this group and that the Holy Spirit would guide us as we go out and serve.

To Peru With Love: A Fundraising Effort Benefitting Trinity's High School Missions Team

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On Faith + Doubt

A couple of weeks ago, our high school students, during Northbound, were asked to think of questions they were always afraid to ask in church. Many of our students wonder and often hesitant to ask difficult questions because they are not sure how adults would respond. They do not want to be judged so they keep the questions to themselves. What we desire for our students is that our homes and our church are safe places where they can ask questions.

Andrew Zirschky at the Center for Youth Ministry Training says, “If we are going to respond adequately to the doubting experiences of youth, we need to ensure that young people … have patient, understanding companions who can guide and care for them through the twists and turns of the journey of doubt.” Our parents and adult leaders at church are the companions Zirschky describes.

As parents and adult leaders, we often do not have answers to the difficult questions our teenagers sometimes ask. Brad Griffin of Fuller Youth Institute suggests we have four words in our back pocket for those moments: “I don’t know, but…” It’s ok to admit that we do not know but together, we can seek out the answers. To help develop the spiritual growth in our students, we have to be open for doubt-filled questions and respond with patient and loving responses. May the Lord place us in these moments as we walk with our teenagers through their spiritual journey.

- Andy 

A Good Friday Meditation

I'm just going to leave this here for you.  

Listen. 

Pray. 

Give thanks.

Humble and human, willing to bend You are
Fashioned of flesh and the fire of life, You are
Not too proud to wear our skin
to know this weary world we’re in
Humble, humble Jesus

Humble in sorrow, You gladly carried Your cross

Never refusing Your life to the weakest of us
Not too proud to bear our sin
to feel this brokenness we’re in
Humble, humble Jesus

We bow our knees

We must decrease
You must increase
We lift You high

Humble in greatness, born in the likeness of man

Name above all names, holding our world in Your hands
Not too proud to dwell with us, to live in us, to die for us
Humble, humble Jesus

We bow our knees

We must decrease

You must increase
We lift You high

We lift You high
We lift You high 

Humble

You are humble 

Make me humble like you 

We lift You high


"Humble" by Audrey Assad

Tough Issues High School Curriculum: Bullying

Last Wednesday, we ended our Tough Issues curriculum with a focus on bullying.  In some ways this was an easy topic to tackle because we all know that bullying is wrong, but in some ways it was difficult because... we all know that bullying is wrong.  Schools and independent non-profits have been raising bullying awareness for years now, and rightly so.  So many students have be hurt and have even lost their lives as a result of bullying.  There are many ideas to help stop and prevent bullying.  But, many of these ideas skip a very important step - they do not take much time to focus on the why of bullying.  Why do bullies bully, and why should we not involve ourselves as the bully or even the bystander?  

In Northbound on Wednesday night, our leadership team helped shine a light on the bullying that we all have taken part in in big and small ways.  We were reminded of the hurt caused by sub-tweeting (a 140 character or less message written on the social networking site Twitter visible to all who follow (or subscribe to) the author's account that is clearly in reference to someone without directly identifying the person(s)).  Attention was called to the hurtful nature of gossiping, belittling another's abilities within particular interest groups (art, drama, band, sports, etc), and ostracizing persons from peer groups or social activities.  There are so many ways that we are bullied and take part in bullying.  

When we begin to see the world as God sees it and understand that each person is a child of God created in His image, we are able to understand fully the harm of bullying.  No matter the reason for bullying, none is so great that it excuses the intentional harm caused to one of God's children.  

As you talk with your student about bullying, think about the ways that you might perpetrate "micro-aggressions" on others.  What example are you giving your children?  Do you typically talk about and treat others (no matter how frustrating they are or how right you feel) as children of God who bear His divine image?

Bullying stops when we each individually decide to stop bullying others.  

Tough Issues High School Curriculum: Body Image

Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

We are bombarded in our culture with the message of health and fitness. It is a $27 billion industry and consistently growing. Yet, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports one in every three American adults is obese and two of three are overweight.

Where is the disconnect?

Being healthy by eating properly and exercising regularly is important. When we are not healthy, we cannot live up to the full potential of God’s purpose for our lives. However, many of us have a skewed view of health and beauty. Both guys and girls have a poor understanding of body image. 

The media plays a large role and it is an easy target to place much of the blame. It pushes the image of washboard abs, broad shoulders, defined chest and sculpted arms as the perfect guy. Media tries to sell us there is a perfect look for the girls with certain hair, lean bodies with perfect thighs, backside and chest. It uses tricks like plastic surgery, light tricks and Photoshop to remind us how perfect models and celebrities. No doubt media deserves a lot of the blame but there is plenty of blame to go around.

Each of us have bought into the “lie” and added our personal vanity into the problem of self-image. We want to look better than others and we’ve somehow made it into a competition. We think, “If I work out just a little more, I will be thinner than her and so-and-so will notice me.” “If I bulk up a little more, she will see that I am better looking than so-and-so.”

So why do we do this to ourselves? We somehow believe we do not measure up…measure up to God and with others. Yet, when he created Adam and Eve, God noticed that his creation was VERY GOOD. God created us with a certain body type. Within this body type, we should moderate food and exercise to stay healthy. We should constantly remind ourselves God loves us without any conditions. When we do this, we live into who God created us to be a little more at a time. This is a life-long journey.

This past Wednesday night, we talked through this message with our high school students, and we heard from one of our young adults and former students, Jessica Phillips.  Jessica shared her journey with our students of really discovering her identity on the other side of struggling with our culture's version of reality.  

Body image does not always drive us to unhealthy diets or obsessive workouts, sometimes it means that we have low self-esteem and poor relationships or that we compensate by being the life of wild parties.  The way we see ourselves directly affects the way we live our lives.  A healthy and whole body image is one that begins with the understanding that each individual is a very good creation created bearing the Image of God, and how we treat God's creation (ourselves) matters.    

Tough Issues High School Curriculum: Depression

This past Wednesday, we tackled the second difficult topic of our Tough Issues series with our high school students. Dr. Amanda Price, a licensed psychologist, came and shared what depression is, what it isn’t and how we can help one another. Amanda emphasized that it was natural and appropriate to feel depressed at times when life presents difficult moments. However, when these feelings linger for weeks and months, it begins to transition into suffering from depression, which is more serious. She reminded the group to always reach out for help when they feel overwhelmed. It was informative, engaging and important information for our students and adult leaders.

As the Student Minister at Trinity, I’ve witnessed and walked alongside many of our students suffering from depression. This is not an uncommon experience with middle school and high school students. Though the greater Church is getting better at understanding depression and anxiety, there are still many misconceptions. Many still feel that if they pray a little harder or read their Bible a little more, God will take away the feelings. There are many examples (Job, David, etc.) in the Bible that struggled with depression. They prayed harder but God did not take away the despair. God walked alongside them providing love, grace and mercy. Today, God continues to walk with those that are suffering with depression and anxiety, reminding us to trust in his promises of presence and mercy.

I found a great article this morning that speaks to how we should approach depression and anxiety as Christians. Please take a few moments to read it. http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/church/5-things-christians-should-know-about-depression-and-anxiety

For those suffering with depression, may God surround them with peace, grace, mercy, and love. For those who know friends and loved ones who struggle with depression and anxiety, may we have compassion, patience, and love to walk alongside them through their journey. God have mercy.

- Andy