Through my years of serving youth ministry, I have been very blessed to have support from my students’ parents. Although there have been some ups and downs, I wouldn’t have been able to operate the ministry without their prayers, compassion, fundraisers, and representation. With such strong parent support, the students and I were able to have many memorable years together.
Sharing life together with the parents allowed me to set an example to strengthen the relationship between the students and parents. As I saw the students distance themselves with their parents, it was important to teach them to embrace their cultural and generational differences. It was beneficial to share life and build relationships with their parents because through it, the students were able to witness how to communicate, honor, and tangibly express love to them. This journey also opened lots of door to having parents and students worship and serve together.
I hope this will get you motivated to start sharing life together with your students’ parents. Here are some tips:
P- Pray: Take pictures of the core parents (PTA staff) and store it in a cloud drive as a visible reminder to lift up a quick prayer for them and family members.
A– Ask for advice: Don’t just ask for advice when it comes to making important decisions for ministry. Be open to seek wisdom in your daily life.
R-Reach out: They need some loving too. When the opportunity is given, minister to and serve them with all your heart.
E-Encourage: A simple text, email, or card with words of encouragement gives them strength and empowers them to keep on serving.
N-Never quit: The parents will make mistakes. We’re all human. It’s in these moments you don’t quit on them; rather, meet them face-to-face and learn how to stand up together.
T-Teachable: Have a teachable heart for Christ. This allows the parents to also be teachable with God’s Word.
I know it’s very difficult to reach all parents. Begin with your core parents and allow them to reach other parents. The youth need their parents to be involved in their spiritual life.
It’s been more 7 years that I have been sharing my life with Pt. Steve as a member of Jr. & Sr High PTA.(Now my two boys are college students) It was blessed expericence that I ever had. As he wrote, due to the special and strong relationship between pastors, teachers, kids and parents, we could have wonderful, memorable and valuable times.
The beginning was simple, he asked some parents to help him for kids. After then they reached out to the others by individual contacts and group communications.
I could be watching their growing and changing through all the retreats, revivals, training and activities. That made me understand them who was living and surviving in totally different culture from their parents’. Now my kids are grown up and they don’t need PTA anymore. I am missing the past time with pt Steve, kids and my honorable friends.
It’s been more 7 years that I have been sharing my life with Pt. Steve as a member of Jr. & Sr High PTA.(Now my two boys are college students) It was blessed expericence that I ever had. As he wrote, due to the special and strong relationship between pastors, teachers, kids and parents, we could have wonderful, memorable and valuable times.
The beginning was simple, he asked some parents to help him for kids. After then they reached out to the others by individual contacts and group communications.
I could be watching their growing and changing through all the retreats, revivals, training and activities. That made me understand them who was living and surviving in totally different culture from their parents’. Now my kids are grown up and they don’t need PTA anymore. I am missing the past time with pt Steve, kids and my honorable friends.