I just wanted to reach out to you and touch base with you about something that's really important to me, and for the Buya students. And that's getting some Buya events on the calendar for the students.
Creating "just for fun" events, outside of Sunday mornings, is sooooo insanely critical to our students feeling like Shoal Creek is their "home". A middle schooler's love language is F-U-N, and by creating just-for-fun events, we show them that we really care about them, and that we are inviting them to call SC their home for spiritual growth now, and for when they graduate up into HS.
What breaks my heart more than anything else is when I see students transition out of Kidzone, then struggle to feel "connected" to Buya, and then eventually never make it up into Crash. The biggest damage in students struggling to connect at the Buya is that most who disassociate from the student ministries at the Buya age level fail to ever reconnect to the student ministries at the Crash level. Meaning, if they fail to "attach" at the Buya level, I rarely see them become interested in our small group structure or other opportunities for spiritual growth at the Crash level. Once they disassociate, they tend to disassociate for good. High school tends to be the most critical age for identity development, but if we can't keep them interested now, we won't have a chance to be effective in their lives then.
I'm wondering if there's an opportunity for the students themselves to take some ownership in their student ministry by asking them, "What would you like to do for fun to make Buya really YOURS?"
Ownership is always proof of the deepest level of internalization. My hope is that we could help the students see themselves as OWNERS of Buya, and not just "attendees." I'm soooo willing to let them do whatever they want to do to help them understand that Buya is theirs, NOT mine.
Would you consider doing 2 things for me to help give our Buya students the greatest chance of internalizing a lasting faith in Jesus in their time here at Shoal Creek?
1 - Would you ask them what types of things they think need to happen to make Buya the best it can be, and then let me know their responses? Especially when it comes to helping them feel connected, which will probably come in the form of brainstorming event ideas that they'd like to come to and invite their friends to.
2 - Would you help them be the owners of Buya that I know they can be? Meaning, would you be willing to work with your student, me and other Buya families to plan and execute one event before Christmas arrives?
My goal is to use your student's and family's ideas to create an event calendar to start to distribute and get the students excited. And I know the students will get way excited when they see upcoming stuff just for them, and what a cool opportunity for their maturation when they get to say, "I came up with that idea!"
Please, talk with your family, then reply back to me if this resonates with you at all. Even if you aren't able to come up with any ideas, but are just willing to help make things happen, that's perfect too! I do have ideas waiting in the wings, I'm just looking for families who'd like to be a part of making those ideas a reality.
THANKS!
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