What impact am I having in the lives of the kids I serve?

Some of the best youth workers constantly ask themselves this question, but the answers are hard to find. Much of youth work is a form of seed planting. The fruit may not be evident for years. That’s why we assembled three youth ministry veterans to discuss youth workers’ impact.

Les Christie is the chair of the Youth Ministry Department at William Jessup University. He is an energetic, international speaker and the author of more than a dozen books, including When Church Kids Go Bad: Loving and Working with Rude Obnoxious and Apathetic Students.

Duffy Robbins, Professor of Youth Ministry at Eastern University, St. David’s, Pa., is a 35-year veteran of youth ministry. He speaks around the world to teens and people who care about them.

Mark Matlock is the PlanetWisdom culture, content and idea guy at Youth Specialties. He heads the PlanetWisdom Student Conferences and Real World Parents seminars.

YouthWorker Journal: As we explore the issue of impact, lets look at the big picture: How can youth ministers know if they are having any impact on students’ lives? What does successful impact look like?

Duffy Robbins: When Jesus talked about impact—although, of course, He never used that word—He made a simple statement: A tree is known by its fruit. Jesus said it all comes down to the quality of the fruit. His precise words were: “I have appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.” What that says to me is that successful ministry impact is about seeing lasting fruit in the lives of our students. So, how can we know if we’re having impact? We watch for the fruit.

Mark Matlock: I think one of the most challenging aspects of youth ministry is that we are working with students during an extremely malleable time in their lives. When they leave our care for college and adult life is when we are able to see evidence of our disciple-making efforts.

Les Christie: To know if we are impacting students’ lives we must ask questions of not only the students but also parents, church leaders—paid and volunteer—and outside observers. The real acid test will come 20, 30, 40 years from now. Then we will have a chance to see the effects of our ministry over a lengthy period of time. Success, though, will come when Jesus says to us, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” But, the success is never ours; it is God’s. We are just along for the ride. The key is just to hold on.

YWJ: How do you measure and improve impact?

Mark: I think we are compelled to measure something that will determine growth and impact, but we must choose measurements wisely. Of course, when you measure impact, there’s always the risk of oversimplifying; but I don’t want to use that as an excuse to avoid evaluation.

Duffy: Sometimes, when we get overlyspiritual about measuring impact—we can never truly know…We fall into the trap of running programs without asking the hard questions about whether those programs are working. I’m afraid that approach leaves us with not much fruit and a whole lot of manure.

Les: Our youth group put a premium on relationship building. We asked ourselves: Are we reproducing ourselves? We must. I am not talking about creating clones or exact duplicates of ourselves. Everyone’s spiritual journey will be unique, but are we bringing them closer to maturity and wholeness in Christ?

YWJ: What piece of technology has had the greatest impact on teenagers in the last several years, and how do you think it could be used as a youth ministry tool?

Duffy: Finger Blasters.

Les: (Laughing) Did you say Finger Blasters?

Duffy: That or the overhead projector. I think it’s a tie, but I’ll go way out on a limb and say the computer; and in the category of computer technology, it would have to be the Internet.

Mark: No question social networking has been both a blessing and a curse to youth ministry. The ability to “follow” students and see their inner world on MySpace or Facebook is incredibly valuable in increasing compassion and intimacy with students.

Les: Facebook is a tremendous tool that we as youth workers can use to keep in touch with our students. It also helps foster relationships. It gives youth workers and students a chance to know each other on a deeper level. It is like getting a peek into a person’s bedroom. You can see by what is posted what interests that person, what they value.

YWJ: What advice would you give to a youth minister who has just come off several bad meetings and feels he or she has no impact on kids whatsoever?

Duffy: My advice would be to keep asking the hard questions about what might be hindering the harvest—what made the meeting “bad” and what can we change to make it better? I also would advise not to base the assessment of your impact on what you see in any one meeting, or perhaps even a series of meetings.

Les: Don’t give up. Nobody in baseball bats a thousand. Just because a person’s effort fails does not mean the person is a failure. Quit focusing on you and focus on your students.

Mark: I’d ask some hard questions: Am I taking time to prepare? Do I know these kids? Am I spending time with them? Is this really what they need right now, or is it what I want them to need? Listen to your students—verbally and non-verbally. Be encouraged; students often absorb more than we think they do.

YWJ: Other than the phenomenal stuff you yourselves have written, what published packages or curricula do you think have the greatest impact on teenagers?

Duffy: I like materials that get students into the Word. For me, the best curricula do that in a way that not only help the students dig into the text for themselves, but also move them to a place of response.

Les: Curricula that have the greatest impact on teenagers are the ones that are biblically-based, and by that I mean more than a token nod to Scripture. They also need to be activity driven, especially in reaching boys. The final ingredient would include terrific investigation and application questions. Everything I see available now is missing one of these ingredients.

Mark: I thought Michael Novelli’s Shaped by the Story is a very interesting approach to Bible exploration that has some interesting implications for how we can focus on helping students learn by “implication,” not just “application. ”

YWJ: What impact do the games, activities and fun of a meeting have on teenagers? What would you say to a youth minister who is afraid to get serious and put the games aside?

Les: In answer to the first question, games and fun provide come-and-see, entry-level activities in a group. They pull in new students and help teens develop tolerance, persistence and patience. They also improve problem-solving skills. The teenager’s life is crowded and complicated. Games provide an oasis of laughter and fun, shared experiences and memories. Games and play help us develop a richer imagination. Play relieves stress, boosts self-esteem and builds community.

Duffy: I still think it’s okay—dare I say important?—for youth group to be a place of creative, hilarious, unpredictable fun: Fun makes memories, and memories shape lives. But youth ministers are not primarily tour directors, baby-sitters, recreational directors or party planners. We are primarily spiritual directors.

Mark: Every culture on the planet has developed its own games. Play is important not as a time-filler, but as a means of eveloping community and intimacy. We often forget games carry a message, too; although it may not be the one we desire to communicate.

YWJ: What are some techniques you feel are effective for youth ministers who want to go from tossing Nerf ball questions to hard ball questions? What works, and what doesn’t?

Mark: I think the best youth mentors do something I call “structured spontaneity” or “spiritual improv.” The mentor knows where they are trying to lead a student, but allows the student to provide elements the youth worker “riffs” off of to help a student grow in his or her spiritual maturity.

Duffy: I would remind people to go beyond simple informational questions, such as: What does this passage say? We have to become better at asking analytical questions, such as: What does this passage mean? (We also should be asking) personal questions, such as: What does this truth mean in my life?

Les: Present real-life scenarios and have students wrestle with the potential choices. Create a safe environment in which they are allowed to be honest about what they feel. They need to be able to verbalize their views and feelings, however unorthodox they may be.

YWJ: Did we miss anything? What are your parting words of wisdom for youth ministers hoping to have a greater impact on kids’ lives?

Les: We need to be in the students’ corner; they have to know that. We need to be their advocates. They need to sense we are on their side. They need to know we are not perfect and that we don’t have it all together. They need the freedom to say things that don’t make sense.

Duffy: We haven’t said anything here about family, and family would be one of the most crucial components of long-term impact in a teenager’s life. By family I definitely mean moms and dads and trying to nurture this absolutely critical support relationship. I also mean the larger family—the family of God, the church. If what we are now learning about adolescence is true, that it really extends in many ways into the mid- to late-20s, it is absolutely essential for youth groups and churches to recognize that nurturing students ONLY through high school is like giving an eighth grader his driver’s license.

Mark: Increase the relational surface area available to your teens. You can connect deeply only to so many students. If you can invest in other adults who can deeply connect, your personal time with students may diminish (as well as your fame), but more students will be better served.