Retaining Your Passion When Things Get Tough
‘When do you think you’ll stop working with kids?’, I have been asked on a few occasions. This question always puzzles me, as if there is a time limit or expiration date on youth work. What I know they are really saying is that youth work is a ‘stepping-stone to something else’. Well, what else is there? As long as there are young people, there will always be youth work. Young people deserve our full attention, don’t they? No matter how long you’ve been in the game it’s totally worth it, right?
Well, I’m 30 years in the game, and it is most definitely worth it, but most definitely tough. As practitioners, I’m sure you’ll agree there is so much more to youth ministry than kids club once a week or Sunday school. Youth work is about investing into the lives of sometimes complex, sometimes unappreciative, always amazing young people. It’s the one to ones, and the residentials away. It’s creating and planning and crying and laughing. There are times when you are counsellor to not just the young person, but to mum and dad and gran as well. When you are the one called in the middle of the night to sort out a problem or advocate for the young person at school or at the police station.
This is not an easy ministry. We have a limited amount of time a week to make a massive ‘God impact’ in the lives of young people. We are competing against social media, friendships & relationships, extra-curricular activities, trauma, poverty, laziness, mindsets...the list goes on; not to mention our own life demands and challenges.
The past 3 years have not helped our cause. A volatile cocktail of pandemic lockdown, global racist incidents, compounding mental health issues, and a general lack of hope and joy among our young people impacts heavily upon our ability to do our work. So, how do we retain our passion when things get tough? When our young people didn’t come back after lockdown, when we are weary and tired?
Well firstly we must continuously draw upon the well that feeds us.
Your passion for your work, is sustained by your passion for God. Quite literally, the joy of the Lord is your strength. To maintain passion, we need to stay connected to the Holy Spirit.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Psalms 51:12
The more we intentionally seek the joy of the Lord, the easier it gets to navigate this work. The bible says the workers are few, but the harvest is plenty. We are only effective workers when we draw from the well that feeds and sustains us. He will give us a willing spirit to do the work we have been called to do.
Staying present in the moment. Don’t get disillusioned. -Did I already say this work isn’t easy? Well, you know that’s the truth. It’s easy to feel tired and disillusioned about the impact of your work when you aren’t seeing the results you hoped for. Youth work is one of those ministries where you don’t always see results straight away.
It’s like the one out of ten lepers who came back to Jesus to say thank you for healing them or the parable of the farmer planting seeds and only a few took root and grew. Not all young people get it in the moment, but God is working behind the scenes, and we need to trust him on that, even when it feels like the ministry has taken five steps backwards.
Stay present, don’t allow your mind and energy to check out and start drifting to other thoughts during your interaction with your young people because they aren’t ‘giving’ back to you as you’d like. Push through the tiredness of having to explain again and again your justification to the church for that youth budget or the changes you have made. Why, because your God always shows up for you, so you show up for them.
Don’t be afraid to switch things up. -It’s easy to fall into a routine, especially when it’s working, or we think it is. This is a common danger in youth work. We get comfortable with the way we do things, without truly reflecting on the effectiveness of it. It’s a safe, comfortable place to be, but with any relationship with God, there is a pruning that needs to take place for our lives to become more fruitful and deeper with him. This principle has no exception in youth ministry. Sometimes God calls us to prune, wash, and replant the work we do for maximum results. Therefore, we need to seek the voice of the Holy Spirit in our work, to discern direction on the way to go, and gain strength and courage to take those steps.
Switching things up can cause your work to be questioned by others and your young people themselves, but are you led by them or God? We are children of the great creator, so allow yourself to be creative, and co-create with your young people.
Stay relevant and clued up or call it a day. -So, time for my disclaimer, although I say I’m a Youth Worker, my role has evolved somewhat to CEO. However, what still enables me to call myself a youth practitioner (yes, I wear it as a badge of honour) is that I still interact regularly with our young people. I purposefully still run sessions, mentor, and coach young people despite having a heavy workload as leader of my organisation. This constant interaction with young people keeps me fresh, helps me stay connected to those I fight the good fight for, and retains my passion in between managing staff, frowning over lack of funding, youth advocacy, and the boring but necessary admin duties.
The moment I am no longer concerned and excited with what young people are concerned and excited about (even if I don’t like all of it), when I have no desire to change and adapt the way I work even when I’m not seeing the positive impact, when I’d rather sit behind my desk, than risk looking the fool in an ice breaker game it’s time to call it a day.
Sustain me, my God, according to your promise, and I shall live; do not let my hopes be dashed. Psalms 119:116
Our hope is that we can connect our God to generations of young people. He will not let our hopes be dashed, and we will be sustained fanning our passion into flame.
Amie Buhari is the Founder and CEO of the Christian Youth charity - The Hebe Foundation. Amie has 30+ years of youth worker experience in various Christian and non-Christian organisations. She serves as a director on the board of London Baptists, and is a worship leader. Amie is a specialist in EDI Facilitation.
Instagram : msamieb
Twitter : @msamieb