This past Tuesday on January 17th we had a young couple come to our class to share about their experiences in ministry. Their names were Elijah and Ashlee Hollis. Right off the bat you could tell that this was going to be an energetic time as soon as Elijah came up first to be interviewed by our professor. the class started with Elijah telling us about his times traveling with his family from a young age. His father was a youth pastor at the time and his grandfather was the senior pastor of a church they were serving at. His dad felt like they were called to go on the road and minister to churches all across the country. They sold everything they had and went on the road for 12 years all together. During 6 of those years it was just their immediate family and for 6 years his mothers family joined them. They would sing and perform dramas at churches.
After being on the road all of that time his father then decided it was time for a change. The planted a church called the Power Place in Kennett Square, PA. This church was started in the basement of an American Legion building that was not in use. There were holes in the walls and the place was just filthy. They went in and made it look much better.
Elijah went off to Bible college for one year and when he came back his father presented him with the opportunity to be the Youth Pastor at the church. Elijah had an interesting response to his dad. He said I don't really like youth and I have no desire to be a Pastor. He then went and prayed and really felt a strong burden for young people and then came back to his dad and said he would do it. The youth ministry is called High Voltage. The vision for the ministry is to raise up a generation of world changers. They want to take broken kids and help them to be put back together through the power of Christ. A lot of the students are not churched and the have recently graduated most of the students they started with so the youth group has a new face now.
Ashlee grew up in a church with a more traditional mindset so when she moved out here after getting married to Elijah she said she had an adjustment period. She was used to be around kids who were already churched and this was not the case around here. The vocabulary they used and just their mindset was very different from back home in the Midwest. these are exactly the kids they want coming to the church though.
Some of the activities they have done at the youth group that have been successful are the mud formal where everyone bought suits and dresses from a thrift store and they trashed them with mud. They posed for prom style pictures and they played games in the mud. They had a willy wonka night at the youth group where everything was basically edible in the room. Every time the have an event each month the next event already has a date and is in the works so that the momentum continues. They have creative meetings and plan thing down to the final detail.
Prayer is very important. He couldn't emphasize this enough. No matter how well planned things are God has to be in control of everything and only he can make something a true success. Elijah talked about how if you aren't seeking God yourself then there is no way you can give that to the students. He loves just doing life with the students and finds that to be one of the most successful ministry tools. He finds out what kids like and spends time doing that thing with them. IT means the world to the students.
One of the coolest things they talked about was a manna jar that they have in their home. Every time God provides a miracle or does something in their lives they write it down on a piece of paper and place it in the jar. This is a tangible way to remember all of what God has done for them and other people come in a read them when they are at their home. It is a great conversation starter. This is something I want to do in my home and I am going to in my home. Their time with us was very uplifting and it was great to see young people who are wise and doing things to spread the kingdom in a creative way.
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