ebb and flow and away we go

Anyone who has been involved in youth ministry, or with youth in general, or can remember being a teenager, will know that consistency is NOT a characteristic for this demographic. With this in mind, we're going to share a little on the "ebb" of our ebb and flow natured ministry.

The first few months of every year are usually our coldest, and usually our slowest in terms of numbers here at the Drop-In. We had a considerable "flow" leading up to the Christmas holidays - packed house most Drop-In evenings, high levels of intervention and activity, ministry to many, and chaos - and transitioned to much fewer numbers of youth. This ebb of youth ministry can appear as defeating, and even feel discouraging based on surface level evaluation. BUT BUT BUT...upon a closer inspection of what is actually going on, there is a lot of good in it.

For example, over the last few months our youth-to-adult ratio has gone from 10:1 to 4:1. Some nights we'll even have a 2:1 ratio, and in these moments we are making significant, long-lasting and impact-ful connections with our teenagers. Statistics in North America have shown that there is a significant correlation between the decline in adult connection in the lives of youth and the decline of their functional behaviour. Our teenagers also tell us that the connections they have with adults at YFC are sometimes the only ones they do not run away from (teachers, parents, police...etc.).

The safety of our Centre and ministry also has had a chance to grow. A standard is set, where people coming here can not only be loved by us, but also learn to show love and respect back to us, their peers, and to themselves. The difficulty and tension in setting a standard is having a target audience that has a hard time with living up to something and being held accountable...and thus not willing to come anymore. They opt for hiding in the dark, unaccountable shadows, away from adults in general (never mind adults of integrity). So in these ebbing months we also focus on reaching out of our Centre and connecting with youth...sometimes in those dark shadows.

With the spring often comes a resurgence of youth; a coming forth out of the winter shadows, with a little more willingness to seek the light. The Light. In the meantime we still have a good amount of fun and growth at our Centre. Ebb and flow we may go, but Christ remains our Cornerstone. Enjoy some pics...