Student ministry is one of those vocations that sometimes perplexes people. I often get asked, “So what do you do?” I love it when people ask me that because it gives me a free 30 seconds or so to promote and advocate for what I believe is one of the most important ministry priorities for any church or para church. I want to see every young person in every city of the world have an opportunity to meet Jesus, grow in their faith, and to grow as a leader to impact more young people in their arena of influence.
I came to Christ as a high school kid through Young Life and then served for 15 years on staff with YL in Arizona, Colorado, and New Zealand. After that, I joined my good friend Bill Maston in launching Nexus International which is a student ministry mission organization that equips catalytic student ministry leaders in 55+ countries. Then as a part of Nexus we birthed the Wilderness Ministry Institute to equip leaders in outdoor ministry skills.
WHO IS OUR AUDIENCE?
Our primary audience is local & indigenous leaders who want to see student ministries explode in their area but have little to no training or support in their city or country.
Our secondary audience is any leaders who want to see student ministries succeed in their area. This includes leaders in the following categories:
- Student ministry staff and volunteer leaders all over the world (middle school, high school, college)
- Youth pastors
- Campus ministry leaders
- Outdoor ministry leaders/directors/staff
- Camp staff
- Parents of adolescents who want parenting advice and a good marriage relationship especially as they raise teenagers
- Pastors who value student ministry highly in their church
- Donors and supporters of our ministry who we love and value intensely
- Professors of youth ministry
- Professors of outdoor ministry/camping
- Missionaries to students/campuses around the world
- International students who are in the U.S. for a brief time
- Church planting networks that want a student ministry DNA to be stitched into the fabric of their churches
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WHAT WE DO IN NEXUS INTERNATIONAL TO EQUIP STUDENT MINISTRY LEADERS?
We teach local student ministry leaders how to introduce young people to Jesus and help them grow in their faith. We equip and encourage them in developing a robust, sustainable strategy for recruiting and training student ministry leaders and building highly successful teams.
Our process…
We taylor our ministry to the individual leaders who we come alongside, and there is a basic process to our training that helps us accomplish our objectives:
- Evaluation/Assessment: Identifying local student ministry leaders who truly want a spiritual leadership mentor like us. We look for a good mutual fit, and we look for high levels of ambition and commitment.
- Disciple catalytic local leaders in their relationship with Jesus
- Provide ongoing student ministry training to individuals and groups that really want it:
- How to build relationships with students
- How to proclaim the Gospel effectively to students
- How to develop new converts into dynamic young leaders to advance the Gospel
- How to use regular outdoor retreats and camps for personal spiritual growth, evangelism, discipleship, worship, and leadership development
- Empowerment: connecting leaders with business-minded believers who can help them with sustainability
- Encourage catalytic student ministry through regular visits and input
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We Value Highly…
- Abiding in Jesus above all
- Long term relationships with catalytic student ministry leaders
- Humility
- Teachability
- Availability
- Relational Evangelism
- Healthy leaders reproducing healthy leaders for a lifetime
GET INVOLVED WITH US IN GLOBAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT