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Mission YFC/Youth Unlimited – Strategic Plan for 2007-2010
Youth for Christ is in its 14th year of ministry in Mission. While much has changed over the years, some things have remained constant, particularly our strong connections in the schools. An example of this is that we are still actively involved in West Heights Elementary School 13 years after we started to work there.
Mission itself is a growing and changing community. The population is slated to almost double over the next 10-15 years as many new housing developments are built and Mission becomes more of an affordable “bedroom community” option. While this rapid growth is occurring, Mission is striving to maintain its friendly “small town” feel, but that is somewhat counteracted by the “big city” problems that are becoming more common.
While Mission has always had its criminals (we have 2 major jails) and poverty issues, these problems have become more obvious and, I believe, more prevalent over the past 5 years or so. We now have obvious street prostitution, drug dealing, homelessness grow ops, graffiti, and violence. These increasing issues have led us to steer more of our time and resources into ministries that will reach out to youth who are affected by/involved in them. This is especially true of the ministries we run in our downtown office location.
Along with the “Downtown” ministry we have three other main ministry areas. One area is the new ministry developing in the Heritage Park/Mission Four Square neighbourhood. The first focus of this will be the Lifechangers Course. The second area is the community based ministry (in some schools, the Mission Leisure Centre and Mission Restorative Justice) and the third is a North Mission/Cedar Valley area based ministry in conjunction with the three churches in that neighbourhood. This strategic plan will briefly describe these four ministry areas, overview their strengths and weaknesses and identify goals for current programs and for new programs to be developed.
Youth for Christ in Mission has a reputation for being community minded and an asset to the youth of our city. We want to continue to develop that reputation and to be even more able to respond to the growing and changing needs of youth and their families. We are trusting that God will continue to lead us to the youth that He wants us to reach and to the programs/methods that will enable us to reach them.
Guiding Principles:
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Youth Wholeness. YFC in Mission uses a multifaceted approach to helping youth become “whole” people. We have programs that enable our staff and volunteers to feed, clothe, exercise, educate, listen to and advocate for youth. Mixed in with these services we work at creatively and meaningfully presenting the gospel. These things are working quite well together in the TAPP program (Cedar Valley Area) and in Station X (Downtown), but they do not all fit as well in the community based part of our ministry. Some of our school programs, for instance, are great at helping kids to be active and to build relationships with caring adults, but they do not have program options connected to them that enable us to share the gospel effectively. This is one of the areas we want to address in the following plan.
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Staff Wholeness. We desire to work together as a team of youth workers to best impact this community, but the logistics of our ministries has somewhat prevented that in the past. The Mission staff are operating as 3 “ministry teams” that are working with 3 distinct youth populations. (We do overlap somewhat in our community based youth work.) Because the program methods and the youth that each team works with are so different we often find that we don’t have much in common and can’t relate to many of the issues faced by the other team. Some possible solutions to this “teamwork” issue will form part of this strategic plan.
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Creation of Discipleship Communities. Creating and keeping disciples is a challenge that Mission YFC staff have been grappling with for many years. We have made some positive moves in this direction through TAPP, a community/ church youth program for grades 6-8, that incorporates evangelism, worship, service, and family support and through Station X, an alternative youth church that exposes non-churched youth to scripture, worship, compassion and mystical/ spiritual experiences. We will explore additional ways that we can effectively disciple youth (including one-to-one mentoring and small groups) in this document.
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Strategic Leadership. We definitely have room to grow in the area of strategic leadership. Writing and managing this plan will be a part of that growth, but we will also look for specific training opportunities that will enable us to become even more strategic. Dave, Sharon and Doug have a well developed strategy that involves planning their full ministry year in August. Station X is usually planned about 2 months in advanced, but the other ministries are less structured and would benefit from more comprehensive planning. We have made use of yearly retreats and plan to make them even more focused in the future.
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Community and Social Engagement. This is an area that we have been quite strong in. Our staff has consistently been active on community committees, helping with community projects and assisting with community needs. This ranges from involvement in the Restorative Justice group to providing resources for homeless young people. We hope to do even more to make a difference in our community, by working in association with other agencies, churches and businesses that have a similar desire to make Mission a better place for our youth.
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Resource Sharing. For many years, Mission has been a “have not” ministry area (due to poor fund raising on my part, coupled with a “hard to fund raise in” community) and we haven’t had much “wealth” to spread around. Things have improved a bit over the past few years and we now have initiatives like the Mission Youth Van (used by 10+ different youth groups) and the Uganda (lost children) fundraiser project. We have plan to do even more with what God has given us.
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Emerging Leadership. This is another area that we have had mixed results in. The TAPP program has a source of young leaders (from Cedar Valley Church) and Dave and Sharon have developed a comprehensive volunteer training and development model. Other parts of our work have been more hit and miss. Station X began with a strong emphasis on developing emerging leaders, but many of them have since moved away and we have not been as good at identifying and training them in the past 2 years. We’ll work at improving this area in the years ahead.
Priority areas:
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Youth Wholeness. We have identified this as one of our three greatest areas of weakness and so we will be working on it more specifically. Our biggest concern with youth wholeness is that some of our programs are not as multi-faceted or inter-connected as they need to be in order to be most effective. This is true of a number of our school initiatives and some of our community programs. Our plan is to try to adjust and/or change these programs so that they have a place in them (or connected to them) where work of a spiritual nature can be done. If this is not feasible than we will consider eliminating programs that can’t be adapted.
An example of this is the work that Calvin is starting in Heritage Park Secondary School. His initial role in the school is to develop a lunch hour, floor hockey program, but while this will enable us to develop youth in the physical and social areas of their lives, it won’t do much for their intellectual area and spiritual development. In order to address these other aspect of youth wholeness, Calvin will also be attending the student run Christian Club (as a support person), offering the facilities of his church (a rock Climbing wall and a youth centre) for student use and inviting youth that he connects with to the church youth programs.
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Creation of Discipleship Communities. This principle is already at work to some degree in TAPP and Station X, but we believe that we can do more. We want to make the development of strong, stable and reproducing disciples a major emphasis in our ministry in the next year. We plan to do this by increasing: the spiritual teaching done at these programs; the one-to-one (or two) mentorship of new believers; and the development of additional small group, Bible studies.
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Emerging Leadership Development. We believe that it is key for us to enable young leaders to take on more responsibility in the ministries that are at present “staff run”. This means that we need to identify potential leaders, determine if they are able and willing to get involved, and then provide them with the necessary training/mentoring that they will need to enable them to “take over” roles that are currently filled by staff. It will also require understanding and accommodation from the staff for the transfer of roles to occur efficiently.
Station X/Downtown Ministries
Station X is a weekly gathering of downtown Mission youth where we eat supper, play games, hang out, engage in spiritual discussions, pray and participate in various forms of worship. Friendships are formed among the regulars and the YFC Staff and volunteers have opportunities to minister to the needs that arise with these higher-risk youth. It is essentially a downtown, alternative, youth church that has been meeting since Oct. ’03.
6 month - 1 year plan
YOUTH WHOLENESS – While Station X has been good at helping youth in the physical (food, clothing, toiletries, camping gear), social (friendship building, community development, acceptance), intellectual (topical discussions, chess) emotional (crisis support, informal “counseling”, safety) and spiritual (Scripture presented nightly, discussions about spiritual topics, worship opportunities through music, art, drama… and guest speakers) areas, we still have some aspects of ministry that need growth, so:
- we plan on increasing our social & spiritual development opportunities by having an annual overnight retreat that would help us build community, enable us to do “campfire type God talks” and expose youth to the lifestyles of Christians in other settings (1in 2007)
- we will continue to use HistoryMaker as an opportunity to build community with youth and teach them about God. (12 youth in 2007)
- we are adding each youth to an email and MSN Messenger list for online communication.
- we will proceed with our efforts to ensure that Mission develops adequate housing for its homeless youth and young adults. The Mission Action Committee on Homelessness will invite other community partners to collaboration meetings to discuss and decide what the best approach to this problem is for Mission. (April –June ’07)
DISCIPLESHIP COMMUNITIES – Station X is an attempt at providing a worship/ discipleship community to a group of un-churched downtown youth. It has worked well in this area, but we want to improve our ministry in this area by:
- having a consistent prayer "space" after the talk/worship time (weekly, starting spring ’07)
- doing more 1 on 1 mentoring (staff and volunteers) with discipleship youth (5 youth/year)
- using varied types of worship, ie. music, art, video to help youth experience God
- training/educating through guest speakers (once a month starting spring ’07)
- exposing them to other discipleship communities like Warehouse 180 & Unite Mission (once every month or two)
- encouraging new believers to attend Remix days, HistoryMaker, etc. (as needed)
EMERGING LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT- Many of the leaders that we have been able to develop at Station X have moved on to other communities and ministries. This leaves us in a place where we are in need of new leaders to help steer and run Station X. In order to develop new emerging leaders for Station X (and other ministries) we need to:
- strategically identify potential leaders (as they are available)
- increase 1 on 1 mentorship (by strategically matching up emerging leaders with staff)
- make full use of YFC training opportunities (including LifeTeams sessions) (2 times/year)
- enable more volunteer ownership of the ministry (3 more volunteers added to planning team)
- offer LifeTeams as a more complete leadership training opportunity
3 year plan –
By 2010, Station X will continue to meet on a weekly basis as a downtown community that worships together, helps one-another, and seeks to journey toward God. Some new aspects of ministry will be in place to compliment Station X and to enable us to take at-risk youth even farther in their personal and spiritual development.
YOUTH WHOLENESS- Over the next three years we want Station X to continue to be a safe place for “at risk” youth to belong, to get help with their daily needs and to have an opportunity to experience and meet God. We will increase our ability to assist downtown youth with the issues facing them by:
- being partners in the development of transitional housing for homeless youth in Mission
- joining others in persuading our municipal and provincial governments to establish and fund drug detox and rehabilitation beds in Mission.
- providing the artists in the Station X community with opportunities to exhibit their art
- having a more active role in connecting unemployed youth with suitable employers
- having more discipleship pods (x-cells) happening amoungst friendship groups
STAFF WHOLENESS- We want our staff and volunteers to be all that they can be in this ministry and therefore we will:
- enable staff and volunteers to lead in their areas of strength and support them in working on weaker areas by giving them appropriate ministry objectives and follow-up supervision.
- ensure that staff participate in at least one training workshop dealing with issues related to “at risk” youth (substance abuse, bullying, homelessness, prostitution, health issues…)
- use time in Station X planning meetings to discuss how we can most effectively minister to the varied issues that individual Station X youth are facing.
CREATION OF DISCIPLESHIP COMMUNITIES- Since, one of the main reasons for Station X’s existence is to help make disciples, we will strive to make this an even greater part of this ministry. We will provide more spiritual input to the youth and give more opportunity for them to go further in their journey with God by:
- ensuring that every new believer has a leader assigned to do one-to-one follow up and to begin an appropriate discipleship process.
- finding and/or writing appropriate discipleship resources/materials (by Oct 2007)
- involving our disciples in evangelism, worship, service and discipleship of others
- inviting specific youth to the Lifechangers Course at Calvin’s house (see page 6)
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP- In order to lead a ministry as varied and creative as Station X it is essential that we allow staff and volunteers to contribute in their areas of strength. We will ensure that the right people with the right skills are in the right jobs, by:
- continuing to plan Station X as a team so that different styles and strengths are implemented into the flow of each evening.
- occasionally inviting “outsiders” to planning meetings to add insight, creativity and ideas
- offering our leadership and creative ideas to other groups to use. (farm ourselves out)
- being diligent in doing the X Reports for our own reflection and so that we can present them to others for periodic input and evaluation.
- offering to “put on” creative worship experiences for other youth groups and/or churches
- organizing Station X related events that are advertised and open to the community (Stations of the Cross, Concerts, Art Exhibits)
COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT- We want to be an active and helpful part of the downtown community and will continue to work alongside of other groups, agencies and individuals that we share common goals with by:
- continuing to participate on boards and committees in the community (Mission Action Committee on Homelessness, Downtown Coalition, and Mission Restorative Justice…)
- running occasional, collaborative events with other youth agencies like the Mission Indian Friendship Centre and Fraser House. (movie nights, fooseball tournaments…)
- organizing bigger events that are advertised and open to the community (project fund raisers, community information/training nights, concerts, Stations of the Cross…)
- working strategically with government, agencies, businesses and individuals to bring help, hope and healing to the disadvantaged that live in the downtown area
- continuing to develop our working relationship with Union Gospel Mission
RESOURCE SHARING- We want to be good stewards of what God has given us by:
- teaching youth at Station X the importance of being good stewards and generous people
- having at least one fund raiser/year at Station X to support ministries in the third world
- participating in Love Mission and do at least one other service project each year
- finding ways to assist and honor the staff at the Mission Indian Friendship Centre, Union Gospel Mission, Fraser House and Mission Community Services…
- continuing to share our office/ministry facilities with New Heights Church and working with them in the maintenance and future development of the space
- using the Station X space for community development meetings/projects
- allowing other downtown youth agencies to use our Mission Youth Van
LifeChangers Course/Heritage Park Area
The LifeChangers Course is a Remix group made up of youth from Station X and Four-square Jr. and Sr. High Youth. It is held at Calvin & Elisa's house and team lead by them.
6 month - 1 year plan
YOUTH WHOLENESS- The small size of the group (8-12) and the “at home” setting of this group will help to make it a place where youth feel valued and where they are able to grow in many areas of their lives. The LifeChangers Course will:
- use teaching that touches on a wide variety of topics relating to issues facing youth
- encourage open honesty which will result in greater trust, support and friendship
- be about learning together in a safe and fun environment
- 80% of the same youth still attending after 6 months will indicate that community is building
- * (spiritual development is difficult to measure)
- poll parents of youth who attend to see if noticeable, positive changes are happening in their lives
DISCIPLESHIP COMMUNITIES- LifeChangers is a new discipleship community that we hope will be a model for others to come. This community will:
- emphasize the creation of a close knit community of youth and leaders
- regularly invite new members from Station X, Heritage Park SS and Foursquare youth
- strive to make the studies Bible based, life changing and relevant to spiritual formation
- 2 new people (who are invited by regular attenders) come in the first 4 months
- 4 youth make a conscious choice to go deeper in their relationship with God in the first year
EMERGING LEADERS - There will be opportunities for youth to participate in leading the discussion at LifeChangers and in the development of presentations to be used in other ministry settings like Station X and Foursquare Youth. This will occur by:
-strategically identifying potential leaders (identify 2 leaders after 3 months and work at training them so that they can take over after 1 year)
- engaging youth in 1 on 1 mentorship with adult leaders
- giving opportunities for developing leaders to create and lead studies (4 times in first year)
- bringing leaders to Remix Training meetings (At Mark Anderson's house) (2 in first 3 months)
3 year plan
STAFF WHOLENESS- Having healthy, well balanced, trained and prepared staff is the basic requirement for any successful ministry. It is especially vital in a discipleship focused ministry because who you are as a person is being passed on as part of your ministry. Therefore it is important for the staff to:
- meet regularly with their mentor to evaluate progress of discipleship and teaching
- be accountable to their mentor so that they can help guard against staff burnout
- participate in Remix planning and development groups for ideas and support
- ensure Calvin and Elisa's mentors and accountability partners monitor burnout. (1/month)
- maintain an average of 4 (20 minute) morning Bible readings a week
- attend at least 6 Remix training sessions in the first year.
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP- It is especially important to be strategic in the development and implementation of a discipleship program because we are dealing with the spiritual health of the youth involved. Staff need to be spiritually healthy, well prepared to present the scripture/topic and ready to invest themselves emotionally in the lives of the participants. This can be accomplished by:
- using a variety of interactive methods so that it is not just the teacher speaking, but the youth are encouraged to ask questions, share thoughts, and teach the rest of us
- having the staff (Calvin and Elisa) participate in Remix planning and development groups
- incorporating videos to change things up and spark discussion
- exploring ways in which the LifeChangers Course can expand online so that those who attend on Tuesday nights can extend their involvement throughout the week.
- developing other group leaders who can eventually take over running LifeChangers
- add a LifeChangers section to the YFC website (already under development)
- develop a list of at least 5 different teaching methods that could be used by June 2007
- have youth from all 3 high schools and various youth groups attending the study by Dec. 2007
- have 2 LifeChangers Courses run by “emerging youth leaders” by Oct 2010
RESOURCE SHARING-
-train and educate the youth who participate so that they can then pass on what they learn
-have a training seminar at Foursquare for parents (once a year starting in 2007
COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT-
-communicate with each parent (at least once in 6 month period)
-have one training seminar at Foursquare for parents (once a year starting in 2007)
- I'd like to see youth from all three high schools and many different youth groups represented in the groups. Word of mouth should spread from friend to friend and not be limited by what school or church they belong to. (by 2010)
Community Ministries
Being vitally involved in the community has been a strength of YFC in Mission right from the start. Our staff are involved in 4-5 committees each year that connect us with dozens of agencies and individuals who are concerned about youth. We have also worked closely with Mission Parks and Rec. and Fraser House Society to provide a summer day-camp program for youth for the past 2 years. Mission Youth Unlimited (YFC) has a strong reputation in both the schools and the wider community as being a caring and trustworthy youth agency. We want to continue to build on this reputation and to increase our influence for good and for God in this community.
Six Months to One Year Plan:
YOUTH WHOLENESS- We are currently active in 3 elementary and 2 secondary schools and have options to be involved in more. Most of our school programs are sports based and focus on the contacting and relationship building part of the ministry. We have just recently branched into involvement in the high school Christian clubs and we would like to increase this connection in the years ahead. This is giving us opportunities to support the Christian youth in the schools and to invite other youth we are working with. Our summer day-camps and our involvement in the Mission Youth Lounge have also been strong contacting points for us. We want to continue to provide quality youth programming (in co-operation with other agencies) and to look for ways to bridge the youth that we meet into other aspects of our ministry that give us more opportunities to share Christ with them.
DISCIPLESHIP COMMUNITIES- The community ministry area is primarily designed to be the contacting part of our overall work. Therefore there is not much direct discipleship occurring in this work. We do however want to utilize this aspect of our ministry to the fullest extent and our goal is to provide numerous “bridges” for youth to cross over from a place of being contacted to a program with more direct evangelism and discipleship potential. One area that we will be specifically working on is our work in the school system. We are going to make sure that each of our school ministries is in someway connected to other ministries (within YFC or in other Christian youth groups) that have a spiritual component.
We are also working on bridging youth, that we make contact with at the Mission Youth Lounge or the Summer Daytrip program, into other aspects of our ministry (Station X, TAPP…) so that we can encourage their spiritual development. An important “by-product” of our work in the community is the opportunity to minister to the staff of the other community agencies that we are working with. We will continue to look for ways to minister into the lives of these community leaders.
EMERGING LEADERS- We will work to provide youth, in our community programs, opportunities to take on appropriate levels of leadership. Training and mentoring these leaders will be a role that we will continue to share with the staff of the other agencies. We will also encourage emerging Christian leaders to step into leadership roles (Mission Youth Committee etc.) where they can have a positive influence and a valuable witness.
Three Year Plan: We want to maintain and further develop the strong community ties that presently exist here in Mission. Our goal is to be seen as a thoughtful, caring, competent, and Christian youth programming option for community youth.
YOUTH WHOLENESS- Mission Youth Unlimited (YFC) will continue to offer safe, helpful and caring programs to non-churched youth with the dual focus of supporting these youth and building meaningful relationships with them that will allow us to minister to their spiritual lives. We’ll provide “whole person” care for youth by:
- operating sports programs and coaching teams in the schools
- chaperoning schools dances and fieldtrips
- helping to plan and staff the summer daytrip program
- volunteering in the Mission Youth Lounge and at Boom Box Dances
- helping organize the Mission Skate Board Competition and other skater events
STAFF WHOLENESS- Our goal is to provide adequate time and training to enable staff to effectively run contacting programs in the community. We’ll reach this goal by:
- being supportive of and co-operative with staff from the other agencies we work with
- taking part in training opportunities offered through partnering agencies
- meeting, as needed, with our partners for support, program planning and evaluation
DISCIPLESHIP COMMUNITIES- (As above in the six month to one year plan)
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP- We want our staff to be seen as knowledgeable and effective leaders in our community and will work to ensure this by:
- thoughtfully speaking out on issues important to the youth that we work with
- taking leadership roles in planning and operating community youth events
- actively participating in youth issue committees, forums etc.
- operating our community programs in a professional way
COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT- This is what our community ministry is all about. We want to be missionaries to Mission who are helping to make this a better community for all. We’ll do this through:
- being advocates for youth with the government, schools and agencies
- continued involvement in “youth issue” committees in our community (including the Mission Youth Suicide Prevention Committee and the Mission Youth Committee)
- continuing to take training from and volunteer with Mission Restorative Justice (Barry)
- co-operating with school administration, agency staff, police, social workers… when dealing with youth who are in crisis
- building connections with leaders in other agencies so that they will be supportive of future PR, fund raising, and grant application efforts
RESOURCE SHARING- We want to continue to develop the network of sharable resources that exists at present. This includes things that can be shared between groups in Mission and those that can be shared between Mission and the global community such as:
- the Mission (YFC) Youth Van that is used (and funded) by numerous youth programs
- facilities including Station X, the Leisure Centre, Mission Four Square Church Youth Centre and Climbing Wall, Cedar Valley Mennonite Climbing Wall and the Skate Park…
- program specific equipment (sound equip., camping gear, art supplies, BBQ’s…)
- community youth fund raising events for third world causes
- anti graffiti program and supplies – enabling youth to help clean up their city
EMERGING LEADERSHIP- We will work to help community youth in Mission reach their potential in both personal and leadership development by:
- supporting the creation of, and participating in, the Mission Youth Committee
- working with student body councils and other community youth leadership groups
- involving youth in planning community youth events (skate comps, dances, concerts…)
- helping youth have a voice on issues that they want to speak out on
Cedar Valley Area (North Mission)
One Year Plan
TAPP is a ministry to Grade 6-8 students which addresses contacting, relationship building, discipleship and student leadership using programs such as camps, rock wall, games, crafts, sports, Bible studies, student leadership, retreats, one to two’s, large group events, small group outings, worship, social action (Uganda fundraisers/awareness) and service projects. A new aspect of this ministry is an emphasis on connecting with and helping the parents of the TAPP youth.
YOUTH WHOLENESS- TAPP, and the programs that branch out of it, offer a fairly complete package of youth services. These services will be upgraded by the addition of:
- a volunteer planned and implemented focus on the parents of TAPP youth (by Dec. ’07)
- the development of the Family Adventure Guest House Ministry to provide father/son and mother/daughter overnight retreats that prepare the students for adolescence and for relational and spiritual growth. The specific benefits to the families would include:
- an interactive prayer time
- movie nights with discussion questions
- conversation starters with your child session
- team building adventures
- a how to study the Bible session
- access to the “Preparing for Adolescence” CD and Discussion Sessions (4 parts)
- relationship building free time
DISCIPLESHIP COMMUNITIES- For many youth, TAPP is the only “church” community they are connected to. Youth are given opportunities to participate in prayer, Bible study, worship, service to others, and even financial giving. Youth who make commitments are discipled in small groups by the staff and volunteers and effort is made to help youth with a successful transition into the Sr. Youth Group at C.V.M.C. through:
- the Gr. 9-10 Supper Bible Study Club (10+ TAPP alumni youth attending by Oct. 2008)
- using winter and summer camps to help youth grow deeper in their faith (60+ youth/year)
- building the 5-3-1 concept into our small groups and tracking reasons for non-attendance through the intentional relationships of the small group leaders
- one to two appointments for discipleship and follow up (at least 6/year/volunteer)
EMERGING LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT- Young leaders (mostly from C.V.M.C.) are being trained to take on roles in the TAPP ministries. This includes:
- staff mentoring Sr. High and College age volunteers in the context of TAPP
- volunteer training/support meetings once every 2 weeks.
- an annual volunteer planning, training and team building retreat (early fall 2007)
- younger volunteers serving as camp counselors at winter and summer camps (5 in 2007)
- motivating and equipping four, student directed Uganda Fundraising and Awareness Teams from local youth groups (with one group being from TAPP) (4 by 2008)
- early leadership skill development occurring in the Pit Crew L. Team meetings
Three Year Plan
In three years the TAPP ministry will look much the same outwardly, but will have new leadership so that Sharon and Dave can focus on different aspects of the ministry. While some progress has been made in helping youth transition from our Gr. 6-8 youth program into a Gr. 9 and up program, we would like to see greater success. We would also like to see families, as a unit, more involved as participants in the ministry.
YOUTH WHOLENESS- To provide even more assistance to youth in the Cedar Valley area we want to add the following to our TAPP ministries.
- weekly drop in rock climbing (by 2008)
- the Family Adventure Guest House broadened to include whole family retreats (by 2010)
- volunteering with Grades 6&7 at Cherry Hill Elem. (by 2008)
- handing over the leadership of TAPP Youth to a well qualified volunteer staff or the church’s youth pastor (but still remain well connected) (by 2008)
- preparing Mission youth for lifetime service and support of the severely neglected and poorest of the poor through fundraising and awareness projects in northern Uganda and CFHI (adopting one Ugandan youth counselor at $60CAN/mo) (by 2008)
- volunteer led parent meetings and socials once every couple of months. (4/year by 2008)
DISCIPLESHIP COMMUNITIES- We will continue to provide evangelism and discipleship ministries through TAPP and will work to improve the hand-off of youth to the Cedar Valley Menn. Church Sr. Youth Group and/or other neighborhood church youth groups. This will be accomplished through:
- increased attendance at the Gr. 9-10 Supper Club Bible Study Club (+ 5 youth by Oct ’08)
- on-going relationship building with youth leaders in Cedar Valley area churches
- additional staff time spent with youth who are in the transition phase (as needed)
- connect Adventure Guest House families with local care groups or Christian programs, churches etc. that address their need for God. (as needed)
EMERGING LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT- The comprehensive training and mentoring system for Sr. High and College age volunteers in the context of TAPP will be continued and key volunteers will be trained to take on larger leadership roles. We will also be adding training for former club youth who are now young parents.
- select and train a volunteer to oversee the “Community” aspect of TAPP (by fall 2008)
- mentor one high school graduate who has a similar passion and priority for Mission’s
youth and the world’s severely neglected and poorest of the poor. (By Oct. 2008)
- involve youth who have been a part of YFC, who are now parents in need of guidance, in the Family Adventure Guest House Ministry (two per year)
STAFF WHOLENESS- In order to help staff accomplish all that they are capable of, training and educational options will be utilized as follows:
- continued participation in GVYFC Task Forces or similar initiatives that build up the ministries and staff of GVYFC.
- make use of Life Teams training sessions when appropriate (one per year)
- Dave will work to complete his Masters Degree (by 2010)
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP- Ongoing steps will be taken to ensure the development of strategic leaders (and strategic programs) and will include:
- Dave’s MA in Christian Studies majoring in Youth/Family and Leadership (by 2010)
- continuing to hold annual planning, training, and team building retreats with volunteers
- setting aside 5 days in August each year to meet with volunteers and work alone at planning the next year’s ministry. (yearly)
- using annual GVYFC volunteer training sessions to prepare volunteers (yearly)
COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT- TAPP staff and volunteers will continue to build rapport with church and community leaders in the Cedar Valley area by:
- connecting with the church youth workers in north Mission (at least 2 times/year)
- building connections with the Administrators and teachers at Albert McMahon and Cherry Hill Elementary Schools (3 times each year in each school)
- motivating and equiping four student directed Uganda Fundraising and Awareness Teams from local youth groups. (one being TAPP Youth) – each group raises $60CAN per month to sponsor a Ugandan youth counselor (all 4 groups active by Dec. 2008)
RESOURCE SHARING- God has given us so much and we want to “share the wealth” with others. We plan to do this by:
- continuing to maintain the Mission Youth Network database and acting as a liaison to help youth workers/leaders/pastors work better, together on common goals (4 times/year)
- continuing to encourage, assist, or lead in providing annual training events for Mission’s youth ministry staff and volunteers across the city (one training event each year)
- helping to focus TAPP and other youth groups on the crisis facing youth in Uganda (and other third world countries) and raise funds to help meet this need (4 groups by 2008)
- providing funding (with help from Union Gospel Mission’s Camp Fund) to send youth, from families facing financial hardships, to camps and retreats (20 + youth per year)
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