Youth Ministry Milestones

This fall marks my 10th year of youth ministry. I've been a volunteer at my church back in Kent, Ohio and with Youth for Christ here in Lexington, Kentucky. I will also be helping to re-launch the youth ministry at Apostles Anglican Church this fall.

During this time, I've seen my share of youth "bone-headedness" that an adult would expect to see. I've either seen or heard of kids peeing on buses (on the outside), stealing magnets off of cars, stealing and then returning floodlights from front lawns, kids getting pulled over for peeling out in full view of a patrol car, my own car being lovingly vandalized over and over again, and kids puking in walmart bags and handing them to me to dispose of.

The list could continue, but I halt at naming any more because none can compare to what transpired this past weekend. I now have a kid who has actually branded the word "yo" on someone's butt. Yes, branded. With a hot poker from the fireplace. The anonymous individual did say that he/she was prompted by the recipient of the brand to do so and did give them a bath towel to put in their mouth to drown out the screaming, and to keep all their teeth in place.

And yes, he/she did get in trouble due to the fact that: 1. They took pictures, of course; and 2. The parents found the pictures due to the fact he/she forgot to delete said pictures, of course. In this technologically savvy age we live in, it seems that we aren't as savvy while using these cool new devises, or at least we're not destroying the evidence like we should.

This is a new one for me. I didn't quite know how to react at first. I did congratulate him/her on their accomplishment. It took a lot of creativity to pull this off. Is this a setback? Far from it. I think there are far worse things these kids could be doing while they're bored over the summer. I will, however, be working with this child on their decision-making abilities this year.