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Is Giving Part of Your Youth Budget? by Brian Ford

Across the country many youth groups are blessed with their own rooms, the latest in sound and video equipment, passenger vans, and an endless supply of the latest curriculums. Winter retreats and mission trips are paid for through fundraisers and each year youth workers plead with board members for an increase in the youth budget. And while most of this is necessary for ministering to our youth are we teaching them to give? Have our youth budgets become a little self-centered and self-seeking? In America many of us are so blessed with what we have, I believe we have no idea what we DON’T have. Here is what I mean.

What we don’t have:

• Is raw sewage running down the middle of our streets passing by the front doors of our homes.
• Is a piece of tattered cloth being used for our front door.
• Is a home so small that our whole family has to share the same room for sleeping.
• Are hard cold dirty floors for a bed.
• Are Stomach pangs from lack of or no food
• Is garbage burning out of control on a daily basis in and around our neighborhoods.
• …and the list goes on.

So, are we teaching our youth to give of their own free will out of their love for God? “For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will.” – 2 Corinthians 8:3

What are some ways you can teach your youth to give?

God’s Word – I know that sounds simple, but you’d be surprised how many teens I’ve spoken to that have told me they never heard a message from their youth pastor about giving. And the one’s they have heard were the standard “give 10% of your income to God” from the Sr. Pastor. Here is a valid question I received from a teen. “How can a teen without a job give 10% of their income to God?”Hmmmm…well how about that allowance they get from their parents. Did you know the average allowance a teen receives today is $50.00 a week. Bottom-line it is possible to teach God’s Word in a relevant way to teens, even how and most importantly why to give.

By example – why not start a giving project within your youth ministry and YOU be the first to start it off. Announce to your teens you will be sponsoring a child, create a box or container for collecting the funds (you may want to include the child’s photo and information on the outside the container), and then YOU make the first contribution the night you announce the project. Set the example.

Sponsor a Child – Compassion and World Vision are two organizations you can sponsor a child. There is one added benefit to sponsoring a child through Compassion…you can visit your sponsored child. Imagine not only having your youth ministry give to a child in need, but also taking a trip overseas to visit the child. You can also take it a step further and get the whole church involved. Have your students do a “Compassion Sunday.” For more information about hosting a “Compassion Sunday” contact Compassion International.

info@interimyouthministries.org