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Like so many of us, Covid crushed our plans for the summer. No trips. No camps. No mission trips. If we were lucky, we were able to have limited or restricted gatherings with appropriate social distancing and safety precaution. And some of us, were left to online contact through Zoom, YouTube, Facebook, or other social media platforms. It's been a tough summer.

This would have been my second summer, the end of my first year. I arrived in June 2019, and jumped into a handful of student meet and greets. We hosted a series of events that we quickly threw together. It was simple, but it worked. But summer 2020 was to include a number of summer activities (bonfires, pool parties and such), summer camp options, a middle school mission trip, and a high school mission trip. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't frustrated when everything got shutdown.

The shutdown forced a total redesign of our summer ministry schedule. In-person group events and activities were a no-go. Everything was online or 1-on-1. We spent a little more time on Zoom with meet ups and small gatherings. We increased our reach to students by asking our leaders to be a little more intentional with text messages, snail-mail notes, and social media engagement. It was ideal, but we did our best.

The only thing I kept coming back to, was our missing mission trip. I really wanted to begin the process of helping students see the importance of serving others. How could we get our students to serve, while staying within the boundaries of the covid guidelines and restrictions? Enter the virtual mission trip.

Early in the summer, ideas for virtual mission trips started popping up around social media. At first glance I was skeptical. Students serving independently? On their own? Hmm. Then I started seeing pictures and reading the stories. Youth groups from all over were attempting these virtual mission trips, and reporting some fun moments shared by their students. Could it really work?

I wasn't sure that our group was ready for something like a virtual mission trip. Again, I was just wrapping up my first year with our students. Of this first year, I had only been with students for about 8 or 9 months. We were still getting to know each other, building trust, and shaping our new ministry.could we drum up enough interest? Would students sign up? Would they actually participate in something like this? I had my doubts.

Then came the question...What would the students do? How would we construct a weeks worth of activities that we really couldn't physically be there to lead? And, how would we know if the students actually did anything? After about a month of thinking and praying about it, I decided to give it a try.

I was sure how it would all come together, but one of the Core Values at our church is, Bold Failure Paves Bright Futures. Our church supports new things, even if everything crashes down on it. So with the confidence of knowing it would be okay, I sat down and created SERVE WEEK 2020.

Serve Week 2020, was created to give my students an easy way of serving the people around them, while helping them discover that they were made to serve. I combined a short video devotion with a prompt that led them to a daily serve challenge. There was a devotion and aa challenge for each day of the week, Monday through Friday. We then encouraged the students to take a few pictures of themselves accomplishing the challenge, that we would share on our social media.

We asked the students to sign up for Serve Week, hoping that by signing up, they would see and keep their commitment. We had about 10 students sign up. For a group our size, in the circumstances that we're in, that's not bad. I built a couple pages on our student website as our "home base" of information. Each morning, a few social media prompts reminded students to visit the website for the daily devotion and challenge. Halfway through the day, another reminder went out asking for photos to be sent in. We then shared the pictures on the following day.

The week wrapped up with the students gathering at our church's community garden to harvest and weed. We worked, had pizza, and spent some time hanging out together.

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Here's what I learned...

1. Simple is Okay - I know I am one who can go "over the top" when it comes to planning events and activities. But bigger isn't always better. I chose to keep Serve Week simple, focusing on little things that the students could do on their own, or with just a little help from their parents. With the variety of restrictions, guidelines, and opinions differing from state to state and person to person, I wanted to make sure students were able to participate at a comfortable place. Plus, this was our first attempt on something like this, so simple was the best way to go.

2. Keep Expectations Low - Usually I am on the other side of this one. I generally keep higher expectations for my students. But knowing that not everyone would feel comfortable or ready to participate in our Serve Week, I decided to have real, but slightly lower expectations. I think this helped me see Serve Week as more of an experiment that we were trying, and less of an event where we expected some huge response. In the end, I was super delighted with the response from our students and our parents.

3. Make it Doable - With each daily challenge, I came up with something that I thoughts students could actually accomplish. The challenge was based on a concept or idea, with a number of possible options for completely the challenge. This gave freedom for the students to be creative and carry out the challenge the way they thought, using the gifts and talents they had. They were free to use our ideas and suggestions, or come up with their own. They key, however, was to make it something that the students could actually do one their own.

4. Have Fun with It - When doing the daily challenge, make sure it's something that is fun. Include family, friends, and leaders. Make it something that appeals to the students, something that they might want to do, or are already doing. Take pictures of and with the students. Strike a pose. Be silly or goofy. Have fun.

5. This is Going to be and Annual Event - The biggest thing I learned from our Serve Week is that it's something I want to see become part of our summer calendar. The thought of being able to schedule a week for students to serve the local community is a great thing. Not only does it provide students with an entry point to serving, but it allows for a week of focused missions and service within your community. I am already thinking about Serve Week 2021, and how we might use this week as a way for our students, families, and leaders to leave an impact on our community.

So, what did our Serve Week 2020 look like? Well, I'm happy to share it with you!

You can click on the links below to watch the daily devotion with the serve challenge and to see the webpages I created with additional ideas. You're free to borrow any ideas that you find helpful. (I know I borrowed ideas from other youth workers and organizations.)

Did you host a virtual mission trip? How did it go? What did you do? Would you be willing to share your week, ideas, resources with others? Let us know!

​- jay

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With Season Two just one week away, this week's podcast is a solo venture as Jay talks about heading back to school, back to youth group, and back to training.  What's our role as youth workers? How do approach conversations? And how can we help make a challenging season a little easier?

Then it's all about DYM's National Day of Volunteer Youth Ministry Training! Have you heard about it? Are you registered? Is it still on? Be sure to listen and learn how you can still be part of an amazing day of training for your entire volunteer team!
And don't forget to visit, http://www.TheYouthWorkerDaily.com, for all the show links, contacts, resources, and helps mentioned in this week's episode!

Season Two of Conversations with Every Day Youth Workers drops on Thursday, September 3rd! Don't miss our first guest of the season! It's going to be great!

Check out the return of The Youth Worker Daily Vlog! Join us for daily tools, tips, resources, and helps as we share practical ideas in 10 minute clips! Visit our YouTube channel for more! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcODMXm4FL6KQCt61KtEDYQ

As always please subscribe, follow along, share, and give us a rating! We would love to hear from you, so leave us a comment or two!

​The Youth Worker Daily hopes to encourage youth workers with tools, tips, resources, and helps so you thrive in your ministry! Thanks for listening!

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Our first season is complete and season two is coming together, in the meantime however, the podcast is still here! Jay shares a quick update of what's happening as we get ready for season two's September 2020 launch! Take a few minutes and listen to today's podcast.
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Some things to listen for...

• We're looking for podcast guests! Come and share your story as a guest on an upcoming podcast!
• We're looking for youth workers who are crushing it! Have you mastered small groups? Maybe you have an incredible ministry to girls. Maybe your helping boys become men! We want you hear from you!
• Got a resource you want to share? A book, curriculum, a camp, or an organization; if it can help youth workers, we'd like to talk with you!
• DYM National Day of Volunteer Youth Ministry Training is coming! And, Jay is hosting the conference for Western PA, Eastern Ohio, and Northern West Virginia! 

Visit our website: http://www.TheYouthWorkerDaily.com for all the details and to register for DYM National Day of Volunteer Youth Ministry Training.

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Welcome to Conversations with Every Day Youth Workers, the podcast of The Youth Worker Daily! On today's episode, Jay sits down to wrap up our first season. It's been great to be able to talk with youth workers as they share their stories with us here on the podcast. But with season one done, it's time to start planning for season 2! That means we're looking for youth workers to join us on the podcast as our guests! 

You have a story; what God is doing in your life and in your ministry. As youth workers, we watch as God moves through what we do to change the lives of our students, their families, our leaders, and even us. Too often we find ourselves with this God-sized story and no one to share them with. That's why Conversations with Every Day Youth Workers exists. We want to hear your story! 

Come and be a guest on the podcast! Share your story. Pass along the ideas, lessons learned, and experience you're having.  You can celebrate your wins and work through the fails. Whether you are in a big church or a small church, what you are doing with students matters, and I love hearing what God is doing within your ministry.

Reach out to me! Click on the link below and be a guest on an upcoming episode of Conversations of Every Day Youth Workers! We will set up a time to talk and set a date for the podcast to air!

You can now listen to the full, first season of Conversations with Every Day Youth Workers by clicking on the button below!

A number of years ago, I created a t-shirt that answered the question, "When are you going to become a REAL pastor?"

As a youth worker who has served within the church for decades, (not just leading my students, but also preached numerous times from the pulpit, made hospital visits, officiated weddings, counseled students and adults, and stepped up to help out in other larger leadership roles) I can't tell you how many times I heard that question! When are you going to become a real pastor?

I think it's a question that a great many of us have heard. The truth is, youth workers are pastors; real pastors. Sure we might not call have the title, or be recognized by the church leadership as a pastor. And, yes, depending on the church or denomination, there might be exams and interview to be completed before getting the official title. But if we set all of that aside, at the heart of what we do, we are pastors! 

So, as I drove home from a youth workers convention, having just had a couple conversations regarding the question, I had the idea for this t-shirt; "Yes...I am a REAL PASTOR!

Since I already had a t-shirt press and connections with a t-shirt distributor and printer, I decided to make up a few t-shirts and offer them up to youth workers. Well, that was about 6 or 7 years ago. Just recently, while going through some boxes in our storage, I found a few t-shirts left over from the original printing. I also found some of the original graphics that I can press onto any other t-shirt. Then I found a box of blank t-shirts!

That got me thinking...what if I reached out to youth workers, and try to sell these t-shirts and prints? Well, that sounded like a great idea to me! So I went to my workshop, pulled everything out, sorted, counted, and stacked. Because quantities are low, and my wife would really like them out of the house, I've decided to sell the remaining shirts for just $10 a shirt, including shipping and handling!

The original shirt is a basic, black cotton tee with white letters and my domain name, www.JayHigham.com.
I have this shirt in the remaining sizes and counts.

• Adult Small: 5
• Adult Medium: 5
• Adult Large: 3
• Adult XLarge: 1

But I also have a limited number of prints. 12 to be exact. That means I can press the graphic on one of the following...

These tees are now available on a first come, first served basis. If you would like to order one or more of these tees, simply email me. Because quantities are limited, you can not buy them through my online store. But if you email me with your size and color of the tee, I will send you an invoice and link for payment. Once you have paid, I will box up your shirt and drop it into the mail.

Thanks for your support and consideration. Oh, and if this tee isn't what you're looking for, don't worry, next week I will be updating my online store with some brand new t-shirt options created for the every day youth worker! So stay tuned!

Remember, limited quantities, so if you are interested, contact me ASAP!

Each t-shirt is only $10, which includes shipping and handling!

​That's a pretty good deal!

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Welcome to Conversations with Every Day Youth Workers, the podcast of The Youth Worker Daily! On today's episode, I sit down with, Josh McLemore. Josh is the youth worker at Douglas First United Methodist Church, in Douglas, Georgia. Josh is also host of the podcast, Church Hurts, and a Grow Strategist, with Stuff You Can Use. Our conversation covers Josh's call into youth ministry, his current ministry, and what so much more. 
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Please follow, like and share! Thanks!

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Welcome to Conversations with Every Day Youth Workers, the podcast of The Youth Worker Daily! On today's episode, I sit down with the one and only, Travis Deans. Travis has an incredible ministry in the Pittsburgh area, networking with youth workers, encouraging student to reach their school through Student Outreach Clubs, and leading the Pittsburgh Youth Workers Conference. It's a great conversation as we hear what God is doing in Travis' ministry! 

​Please follow, like and share! Thanks!

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This week's episode takes us to Altoona, PA, where we talk with Micah Marshall, Executive Director of the Refuge Youth Network. Micah share's his story of how God took his passion for students and grew a ministry where he is now impacting the city. If you found today's episode helpful, please follow, subscribe, and rate the podcast!! Thanks for listening!