Does Deep & Wide Youth Ministry Work at Camp?

The Goal of Deep & Wide Youth Ministry

The goal of Deep & Wide Youth Ministry is to help teenagers attain a point in their spiritual development where they begin to become spiritual multipliers. This goal is summed up in Colossians 1:28-29, “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.”

Paul’s goal for the Colossian believers should be our goal for the teenagers in our youth groups and in our communities. Our goal is for every teenager to hear the gospel (that’s why “we proclaim him”) and for every teenager who responds to be presented “perfect in Christ” (i.e., spiritually mature.”) – taken from the Dare2Share website.

Deep & Wide Youth Camp Ministry

Does Deep & Wide Youth Ministry work in a camp ministry setting? A year ago when I made the jump to camp ministry as the TIMS Program Director I asked myself that very question. There’s no secret I’m a big fan of the Deep & Wide YM model (philosophy). Any chance I get to communicate it with youth workers is an opportunity to share what is a biblical truth. So I knew I wanted to work towards moving the TIMS Work Camps into becoming a Deep & Wide Youth Camp Ministry. I just had to pray about how we were going to make that happen.

TIMS or Teens In Missionary Service provides ministry opportunities for individuals and youth groups to do service oriented projects for economically and physically dis-advantaged homeowners. The TIMS Work Camps gives students the opportunity to build relationships with the families they serve opening a door to sharing the Gospel.

As the months and weeks to TIMS 2009 approached I felt everything was in place. The evening worship sessions, cabin devotionals and lunch break quiet times were all centered on growing deep (a.k.a discipleship). While the time each youth group would spend on their work site with their client families would be centered on going wide (a.k.a. evangelism). We even developed a mission statement for TIMS; “The physical work at TIMS is secondary to the primary spiritual work of the Gospel.” Our focus is on helping students that take part in our summer missions program to leave camp growing deeper in their faith and passionate about going into their schools and community with the gospel. We’ve chosen a simple approach to ministry. To gently push this simple ministry approach for the TIMS Work Camp I wrote a 3 week training material for youth leaders to download and use in the week’s leading up to their youth groups arrival (TIMS Pre-Trip 3 – Week Training).

As a result of going with the Deep & Wide Youth Ministry model for TIMS we saw a significant spiritual impact made in the lives of the families and people within the community where the youth groups served this summer. On any given day as I made my rounds to the many work sites, I observed and overheard students having open conversations with their client families about their faith. The evening sessions produced some deep conversations that I’m still having with students from the various youth groups via email or Facebook. They are asking the tough questions because they are seeking to know more. Some of those students arrived at TIMS apathetic, but as the week went on and they were exposed to the speaker’s teaching, the families they served and what their youth leaders were communicating during cabin devotions they left TIMS interested in knowing more about their faith. Other students left TIMS excited and ready to share their faith with friends and family.

Making It Last

I know what you’re thinking; “it’s camp…of course they (students) come home excited.” There has always been this glooming cloud over camp ministry that blames us for having students come home on fire and then a week later fizzle out. But this same “fizzling out” can happen even if you take your students to a youth conference or an outdoor music festival. During the campfire at TIMS this past summer I always closed with the following remarks; “There is a reason why God calls us to mountain top experiences. Just look at Moses or Elijah. But it’s OUR responsibility to continue that experience well beyond the mountain top.”

At TIMS Work Camp’s we’re striving to build a Deep and Wide Camp Ministry and it’s our prayer that youth leaders will continue the experience when they return home with their students by building a Deep & Wide Youth Ministry within their church and community. After 10+ years serving IN the local church as a youth leader and now serving at a camp ministry for youth I have seen both sides and it is possible to implement the Deep & Wide model in camp ministry. The key is getting youth leaders to work WITH us by also implementing the same biblical model in their youth ministry when they return home from camp.

What’s Changing for TIMS 2010?

While this past summer was awesome and I’m thanking God for his amazing work, I know more can be done. Implementing the Deep & Wide model is NOT something that happens over night. Making disciples is messy and hard work, but with the help of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word I believe that TIMS 2010 will explode with discipleship and evangelism like we’ve never seen before. So as we continue to grow, here are some things that will be changing for TIMS 2010:

• We’re going to be intentional in meeting with local youth leaders before TIMS 2010 to discuss and equip them with the Deep & Wide Youth Ministry model.
• Every speaker prayerfully being chosen for TIMS 2010 is already using the Deep & Wide model within their ministry and will bring that model with them in their nightly teachings.
• Every youth group attending TIMS 2010 will be equipped with a FREE 3-week Pre-Trip training material.
• Deep & Wide YM will be communicated in some way in every piece of marketing, newsletter and material we send to churches, students and youth leaders.
• The TIMS 2010 devotional will focus on taking the students deeper in their relationship with Jesus and gently push them to share their faith on the work sites and beyond.

TIMS 2009 just closed a couple weeks ago, but I’m already getting fired up for TIMS 2010. For more information visit the Deep & Wide blog and/or email my friend Jason Lamb with Dare2Share.