andrewbreton

As some of you may know. I went to Grenada a couple weeks ago. It’s a small island in the southern carribbean. Paul Borthwick invited me to go and his orgnization, Development Assoiciates International(DAI) generously paid for my expenses. Paul is one of the wordlwide leaders in global missions and a Gordon College professor. While in Grenada, I preached in a school and a church, met with some youthworkers and did some seminars for some students.

Personally, it was an enriching experience and opened my eyes to what God is doing throughout the world. It was an honor to partner with DAI. I had always admired DAI from a distance, but witnessed its equipping work first hand throughout the trip. I have to say the best part of the trip was traveling through Miami International Airport, not having to worry about counting kids and their passports. Believe it or not, traveling with Paul is way easier! Below I discuss a highlight, principles learned, what surprised me and what I believe God is stirring my heart.

The biggest highlight for me personally was spending time with Paul. He is the constant cultural observer, strategic, spiritually wise and fun to be around. He allowed me to ask any question I wanted. I learn best in the context of relationships and dialogue. So, spending time with Paul was the perfect classroom for me. I gained a friend and someone to look up too. It’s not every day an accomplished leader pours his life into a younger leader like me.I came back rejuvenated, and ready to return to youth ministry because of that relationship.

I also had the opportunity to preach cross-culturally. This was a new experience for me, yet I walked away with some practical principles. Paul helped me craft, edit and adjust my sermons along the way. He encouraged me to observe the culture, be myself, tell stories and stick to the big idea. I won’t forget those principles; I know they come from years of experience.

One evening we had a special conversation with some millennial generation youth workers. I was surprised to see them working through the same challenge the American church is facing: passing the baton of leadership. They articulated their frustration with the boomer generation not allowing them to teach and lead in their churches. I didn’t realize the global implications of this issue. The next ten years will prove to be integral as the church learns to pass the baton of leadership worldwide.

After getting home from the trip, God continued to stir in my heart one specific discontent. That is this, most youth ministry training such as curriculum, conferences and education are found in the United States, yet most of the global youth population is not American. This poses a resourcing problem. Most countries are underserved with youth ministry training. The questions I ask myself are these. Do I have a global responsibility as a trained youth pastor to train other youth workers? Are there principles in youth ministry that are universally transferrable to other cultures? Do people in different cultures even desire training in youth ministry? Does adolescence exist in other cultures? I don’t have the answers to these questions, but I will continue to process and prayerfully consider what God might be leading me too.

Peter is my 7th grade boys small group co-leader. He is 89 years old and serves in our middle school ministry. He went to Harvard Medical School, served in World War II, practiced medicine for years and still teaches a seminar course at Tufts Medical School. As Peter began to lead our small group time this past Sunday, it struck me how amazing it was that Peter was still involved in our ministry. He commanded attention in the room through his gentle demeanor. The entire time, he had students reading scripture, looking up passages and answering questions. It was incredible to watch.

It reminded me of a talk I heard a little over a month ago at Willow Creek’s Leadership Summit. Craig Groeschel of LifeChurch.tv was encouraging churches and organizations to pass the reigns of leadership to the next generation. In his address, he delivered a memorable line directed at older members of the audience. He said, “If you’re not dead, you’re not done!” Peter exemplifies this in his continued service to our ministry. I have a lot to learn from him. And I almost forgot to tell you, Peter has been volunteering in middle school ministry for the past 15 years.

Challenge- Mentors should challenge you in all aspects of your life. Recently, I had a mentor challenge me with 2 disciplines. The first he said, “Andrew, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be as jacked as Ben Affleck in The Town”. While it stung a little bit, he was right. Being young and single, the only thing preventing myself from getting to the gym is my own laziness. I needed to hear that good word. Now in all honesty, I have become a little lackadaisical in the last two weeks in going to the gym. So, today a great friend of mine is going to go with me to help me get back into the routine.

Another mentor of mine wrote a book named Jumping the S-Curve. Inside the front cover, he writes “Andrew, I have watched you S-Curve with joy, keep growing and learning!”. These couple lines he expanded on during a conversation when he gave me the book. He challenged me to read more and watch less TV. Again, it stung a bit…but it was words I needed to hear.

Encouragement-  There are a couple people in my life with whom I might spend an hour with and literally walk out the door and feel like I can conquer the world. I am not talking about over-inflated meaningless words of encouragement, I am talking about people who speak words into my life who know me. They know my giftings, talents and skill sets. They have perspective. They help me imagine what could be!