Thinking Orange

Last week our ministry team took a trip down to Atlanta for the Orange Conference. You might be thinking to yourself, what is "orange"? Well, in all reality, it's a color mix between red and yellow! Yes, your 5 year old probably could have told you that. But why is "orange" relevant to children's and youth ministry? That's a little bit trickier to explain...but I'll try.

An interesting fact that is difficult for me to get my mind around is that as a youth minister I get about 40 hours with your kids...PER YEAR!! With some kids I might get a little bit more, and with some a little bit less, but on average, that is the small amount of time I have to influence your kids. You, on the other hand, get about a gazillion hours with your kids each year. Now if we each did our own thing in trying to help your kids become all that God wanted them to be...we would make some impact. But if we could partner together (yellow and red come together) in this thing, the impact would be multiplied. This is what thinking orange is all about.

It's about sharing our time and our resources so that in the end each of our students is well aware of how much God loves them and desires to be in relationship with them. It's about helping them understand that they are able to make a huge impact on this world and in God's kingdom. And it's about caring for our kids in a community of people...because as well all know, it takes a village to raise a child.

The question becomes...what can we accomplish together as we try to influence this next generation to stand up and make a difference in this world for Christ? I am open to suggestions...I am open to your thoughts...I am excited about the possibility...