Youth Leadership Program

Matthew 9:35-38
 
Jesus did not want his work to reach only a few, but to reach all.  But he knew the crowds were too large for him alone, and would even be too large for all of his disciples.  Jesus knew that if the disciples followed his command to go into "all the towns and villages" then there would be many people beyond places they were not currently working.  That is why Jesus then goes on to say, "the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few." Knowing that "the laborers are few," and that so very many "harvests" that must be gathered, we need to put emphasis and energy into the leadership development of apostolic lay leaders who can build up the body for the mission of the church.  Justo Gonzalez, in his book, Three Months With Matthew,  encourages us as Christians to consider Jesus command in verse 38; "Ask."  Jesus calls us to "ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest" as a reminder it is not under our own power or authority that his church should thrive, but indeed it the power available to all his followers to receive the power of the Holy Spirit.
 
We are seeking to empower the youth leaders of the church to move beyond relying on their own experiences and expertise to only lead the children during Camp AMP, but to rely on the Spirit of God to know how to tend the sheep of the flock, so that in turn they can seek lost sheep to bring into the flock.
 
An empowered youth laity, who have been activated by a spiritual basis for all they do, will serve as a force to be reckoned with as they move beyond the walls of the church to "cities and villages" to become the future leadership of our United Methodist Churches. That activation cannot be dependent on the shepherding actions alone of the pastor or the adult leaders of the congregations, but indeed through the utilization of our Connection. It is a task that calls for gifted and empowered youth to grow into being the  "laborers" that can be sent out into the harvest.  And that begins with a trained, knowledgeable, and empowered youth lay leadership who will challenge and inspire all the members of the church to bring a harvest of souls to the Lord. George Hunter's book, To Spread the Power : Church Growth in the "Wesleyan Spirit, cites that "When Christians report the chief characteristic of their human bridge into discipleship; the two most cited adjectives are "caring" and "loving.""  Our youth are ready to bridge other youth and young adults into our churches. But more importantly, they are also the bridge by which we in the church can effectively reach out to the generations with which the church has lost contact.

Thus, Camp AMP is morphing into the N-E-X-T expression of the Community Outreach Agency's mission of "Educating, Encouraging, Empowering."  Camp AMP is moving from providing an outreach to eighty or so children each summer, to taking the lessons that have been learned by our UMC youth counselors to another Biblical level by multiplying their opportunities to lead.  Our hope is to move from feeding the smalll group of sheep we serve each summer, to having youth who are trained and shephered by spiritual coaches  to go back to their own congregations equipped to lead in outreach ministries there.