Help for Young Life Leaders NOW » Campaigners Chaos

Weekend Camp Cabin Time Questions

PHSYL — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:09:00 +0000

I recently spoke at a YL weekend camp. One of the best pieces of YL camp speaking advice I ever received was to plan your cabin time questions before you plan your talk. Obviously you tweak them after you study the scripture and the rest of the talk planning process, but you really want to begin with the end in mind.

Even as a speaker, I feel the most critical part of the gospel proclamation and formation is in the cabin time discussion. I’m sure you have seen miracles happen in front of your eyes in the midst of cabin time, I know I have.

I have posted cabin time questions before here, and below are the ones I recently used. If you are interested in more cabin time type questions you can also look here.

Cabin Time Questions Weekend Camp Handout

Weekend Camp Leader Training We just finished being a part of four weekend...
Excellent Camp Follow-Up A good friend of mine sent out an email about...
Camp Review… Unity Outfits Almost all the summer YL camps I go to...

Club Talk and Campaigners Sync: Mark 7

PHSYL — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:49:00 +0000

Here is the seventh installment of Sync through Mark…

Sync: Mark 7 Club Talk
Sync: Mark 7 Campaigners Plan

Club Talk and Campaigners Sync is BACK!: Mark 6 Last Spring, we began an ambitious project to write a...
Club Talk and Campaigners Sync: Mark 5 Here is the fifth installment of Sync through Mark… Sync:...
Club Talk and Campaigners Sync: Update You may have noticed that the updates of the...

Club Talk and Campaigners Sync is BACK!: Mark 6

PHSYL — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:39:29 +0000

Last Spring, we began an ambitious project to write a club talk and corresponding campaigner lesson for each chapter of the Gospel of Mark. We got through 5 chapters and then needed to pause. Over the summer we received lots of positive feedback. In fact, just yesterday Vince, a leader from Indiana, left this comment, “Thanks so much for the advice…I did this talk tonight at All-City club and it went well.”

My friend Tanita has stepped up on this project and thanks to her and others, I am excited to announce…

Here is the sixth installment of Sync through Mark…

Sync: Mark 6 Club Talk
Sync: Mark 6 Campaigner Plan

Club Talk and Campaigners Sync: Mark 5 Here is the fifth installment of Sync through Mark… Sync:...
Club Talk and Campaigners Sync: Mark 7 Here is the seventh installment of Sync through Mark… Sync:...
Club Talk and Campaigners Sync: Update You may have noticed that the updates of the...

Three Teams on Each Club Team

PHSYL — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:29:00 +0000

I know an amazing senior leader who has organized his team in a new way this semester. (Go Alex!) He decided to form three teams with his leaders. While everyone participates in the activities of each team, those on the team have specific responsibilities. It is all outlined below.

What I like about this is that is spreads out the planning and puts a few people in place who are always thinking about their specific area. Ideally it should add accountability and make it easier to not forget about a key area of the club team. This is also a way to place leaders who are more gifted with certain things in charge of their specialty.

In case you think this is impossible with your team because it is too small… on their team there is one, or two, “adult” leaders on each team and then about 2 leaders who are still in high school. So this approach could work for a team that only has three leaders.

Disciple Team

As leaders we are not called to make converts to Christianity but Disciples. Our goal is to teach kids more about Christ, help them on their walk with Christ, and train them to be the light to their friends and family.

Responsibilities for the semester

Determine teaching plan for the semester (topical, expository)
Organize readings for each campaigner meeting (Lesson, Book/Chapter)
Give the team a outline of Campaigner lessons/readings for the semester (needed by 9.21.09)
Make bookmarks for Campaigner kids
Recruit Work Crew Kids for Work Crew Weekend (10.2.09-10.04.09)

Responsibilities for the week

Lead campaigner discussions each week
Remind kids of the readings each week

Outreach Team

Outreach is going where kids are. Outreach is our opportunity as leaders to show Christ in the world no matter where we are, or what we are doing. Outreach is meeting kids at school, at sporting events, hanging out with kid and inviting them to see who Christ is through our interactions with them.

Responsibilities for the semester

Plan out of club outreach events (needed by 9.21.09)
Once a month, movie night, In N Out night, Post Homecoming Party, etc.
Gather Sports schedules, Plays schedules, and distribute to the team (needed by 9.21.09)

Responsibilities for the week

Set up, and organize Ultimate Frisbee each week
Be on campus every week

Club Team

Club is the an opportunity to invite kids to be themselves, meet new people, meet leaders, and hear about how Christ has impacted the lives of the leaders that serve in Young Life.

Responsibilities for the semester

Organize the themes, games, at club events, and skits for club
Create a Camp Sell Skit
Give the team leader a summary of what is needed and how games work for each game/mixer at club (needed by 9.21.09)

Responsibilities for the week

Print out club line up from the team leader and bring it to club prep
Make PowerPoint slides for the songs at club each week

Team Leader

Organize and distribute club line up via email each week
Support and assist each team, Disciple, Outreach and Club
Provide needs and supplies for each team
Set an example for other leaders to follow

This Year… Rode The Team Bus To Games The “This Year…” series looks back at lessons learned...
This Year… Club at My House Every Week! This year we were able to move into a...
This Year… New Club: Club Every Other Week The “This Year…” series looks back at lessons learned...

Camp Follow-Up Idea

PHSYL — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:54:00 +0000

Here is an idea passed along by my friend Drew from Colorado. His friend Zach came up with an idea for follow-up from camp. Instead of putting a book into kids hands and asking them to read it. Zach is sending out an abbreviated version of a quiet time for kids to do a few times a week as a Facebook message to individual kids who started following Christ at camp. We’ve found this to be successful as kids are more apt to read things on the computer written as messages to them then a book.

Great idea Zach!

Excellent Camp Follow-Up A good friend of mine sent out an email about...
An Idea to Promote Camp and New Kids My friend Joey and Alex are trying something this...
Camp Review… Talk Illustrations At summer camp we get to hear from some...

Excellent Camp Follow-Up

PHSYL — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:08:00 +0000

A good friend of mine sent out an email about camp follow-up with ideas he has collected over the years. I thought they were excellent and wanted to pass them along.

What do you do for camp follow-up?

Here are a couple of things that I we do for summer camp follow up:

1) Start talking about it at camp. Plan a first post meeting before you go to camp. The last night in cabin time, talk about that meeting.

2) As soon as a kid meets Christ, I invite them to join me for a quiet time the next morning. It begins to teach how they can relate to Christ.

3) If I have a long bus ride home, I will have a mini-campaigners on the bus with kids who have made a commitment to Christ.

4) I have a pre-printed card with information about the first follow-up meeting and give it to kids as the bus pulls into the parking lot. I also have enough to give one to parents.

5) If I am in town, I usually will plan to meet with the kids from my cabin every day for a week. I use it as an extension of cabin time to help bring the close relationship from camp back home.

6) I have done a variety of things with kids. In our area we are committed to large group campaigners, but we make sure that every day, they break down into a sharing time with the kids from their cabin.

7) I have every campaigner kid help by calling the new Christians to invite them to campaigners. I also divide the names among the leaders

8) The Navigator wheel is a good resource to use. I have also walked through one of the gospels (like Mark), teaching what it is like to know Christ. So each night there is the content of that chapter of scripture, and teaching how to take what you read and allow it to influence your life.

9) We usually have a person share briefly from their life as part of the night. A sort of mini-testimony.

10) We meet EVERY week. The only exception would be if the 4th of July falls on a scheduled night, but we would probably go with kids to fireworks. If I have an assignment, this means that I need to get my team on board and ready to lead the group. If I don’t have leaders to do it, I recruit someone who I trust will do a great job.

I think that the community you build is at least as important as what you teach. If you can create a safe place where people are loved and accepted, then kids will want to come.

Three Teams on Each Club Team I know an amazing senior leader who has organized...
Camp Follow-Up Idea Here is an idea passed along by my friend...
Weekend Camp Cabin Time Questions I recently spoke at a YL weekend camp. One...

Club Talk and Campaigners Sync: Update

PHSYL — Wed, 13 May 2009 22:46:00 +0000

You may have noticed that the updates of the Sync through Mark have slowed down. There are a couple of reasons, but I want to let you know that we hope to continue them in the Fall. In the mean time, we will shirt our focus to summer camping, follow-up and some insights from the year-in-review. BTW… If you have any insights from the year or have something to pass along, let me know.

Club Talk and Campaigners Sync is BACK!: Mark 6 Last Spring, we began an ambitious project to write a...
Club Talk and Campaigners Sync: Mark 7 Here is the seventh installment of Sync through Mark… Sync:...
Club Talk and Campaigners Sync: Mark 5 Here is the fifth installment of Sync through Mark… Sync:...

Campaigners Cards – TMS based question cards

PHSYL — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:49:00 +0000

One of my favorite tools is the Navigator TMS Topical Memory System. I recently had a need for some quick-hit verses and questions. I came up with these and I thought I’d share them with you. Just print them and cut them out. I have included 40 verses with a question or two for each.

It is in Word format so you can edit as needed for your group.

TMS Based Campaigners Question Cards

Great Tool for Making Scripture Cards I was pointed to a site that is awesome...
Excellent Camp Follow-Up A good friend of mine sent out an email about...
Leader Panel for Club Talk The Leader Panel is a great option in lieu of...

Club Talk and Campaigners Sync: Mark 5

PHSYL — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:12:00 +0000

Here is the fifth installment of Sync through Mark…

Sync: Mark 5 Club Talk
Sync: Mark 5 Campaigner Plan

I’ve received a lot of positive feedback on these in email and conversations. Any feedback you’d like to post in the comments? Anything that has really helped or could be added to make it more useful?

Club Talk and Campaigners Sync is BACK!: Mark 6 Last Spring, we began an ambitious project to write a...
Club Talk and Campaigners Sync: Mark 7 Here is the seventh installment of Sync through Mark… Sync:...
Club Talk and Campaigners Sync: Update You may have noticed that the updates of the...

Club Talk and Campaigners Sync: Mark 4

PHSYL — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:34:16 +0000

Here is the fourth installment of Sync through Mark…

Sync: Mark 4 Club Talk
Sync: Mark 4 Campaigner Plan

Club Talk and Campaigners Sync: Mark 5 Here is the fifth installment of Sync through Mark… Sync:...
Club Talk and Campaigners Sync is BACK!: Mark 6 Last Spring, we began an ambitious project to write a...
Club Talk and Campaigners Sync: Mark 7 Here is the seventh installment of Sync through Mark… Sync:...