This past week Rezlife West spent time serving in the city of Omaha, Nebraska. Below are six practices we collectively engaged throughout our week in service, and a few of the lessons I learned.
1. Hard Work
Foremost among the practices our group undertook was that of hard work. Roll up your sleeves, wipe your brow, hand to the plow work. We did not twiddle our thumbs, sing Kumbaya, and quote Harry Potter trivia. We worked. And when you come from families that primarily engage in knowledge work and white collar professions, cutting grass, reworking landscape, scraping and painting decks, replacing carpet tile, moving brush, weeding gardens, picking up trash, stocking shelves, and more is foreign. One of our students had never operated a lawn mower before this past week. He is entering high school.
While hard work in and of itself is instructive and valuable (work ethics are developed, rather than naturally assumed), throughout our week our group strove to discuss the philosophy or outlook that undergirded the work itself, so that our actions might take on a broader and more profound meaning that can be both felt and understood. For example, Abide Ministries Network exemplified the incarnation by moving into a violent neighborhood, actively loving their neighbors, cleaning up properties, throwing block parties, and mowing the grass. Abide also provided educational programs for children that helped improve basic reading and math skills, as well as acquainting students with some of the basic key narratives of the Bible. Abide put flesh on the good news of and about Jesus Christ, making a profound difference in the lives of their neighbors and in their city. Rather than confining Christian discipleship to the realm of abstract ideas, this ministry had undertaken meaningful action that had concretized the concepts and ideas Christians espouse. This is called truthful, holistic, gospel ministry. Expounding a theology of the kingdom and the cross helped us to engage in a more complete ministry experience.
2. Theological Conversations
My favorite part about any experience is the conversations. I enjoy talking about life and witness and philosophical and theological ideas. I like to discuss good books and favorite vacations and outstanding music. I like to hear stories.
Thus, it is no surprise that I had numerous opportunities to discuss theology with students and adults alike. Most enjoyable was a discussion of baptism--its meaning and significance. Students asked if baptism was required for one to be saved. They asked the relationship between baptism, church membership, and obedience. They asked questions concerning the logic of both infant and believer's baptism, and were curious where I stood. This converstion led in many different directions, including distinctions between denominations, understandings of theological method, reasonable approaches to Bible study, and more. I was delighted, and though we were far beyond a reasonable hour for bed, I was so energized by the topic of discussion, and the thirst for biblical and theological knowledge among our young, that I would have continued talking even beyond what we enjoyed. It was that good.
3. Cross Cultural Ministry
Omaha, Nebraska is quite different from Kansas City suburban life, particularly in the communities where we were embedded. Our group was 98% white, partnering with urban outreach ministries that largely serve African-American and Hispanic populations, thus providing a different, yet formative experience for our teenagers with regard to culture, privilege, economic status, family systems, ambitions and hopes, education, and other concerns.
On Tuesday evening, our youth group joined with Bridge Church for their midweek gathering. The music was hip hop, the experience was prayer driven, the message was given by an ex-con turned prison chaplain. This was nothing like our typical week. Our students joined prayer circles in which the requests raised included comfort for family members who had experienced gunshot wounds, and it was noted that such a concern makes our petitions for better grades and less stress seem trivial. Others heard leaders describe recent trips the church had taken to Mexico to serve and share the gospel. For the one telling the tale, this had been his only time away from home. Our students have travelled the world on family vacations, and interstate adventures are common.
For a bunch of suburban white kids, it was good to experience "Race to Race; Face to Face". We prayed for one another, served one another, and learned from one another.
4. Relational Ministry
Last week I teamed up with another adult leader to be responsible for nine teenagers, seven of whom I knew very little. By the end of the week, I had learned more about each person--their interests, their ambitions, the way they responded under pressure, their personality, and their work ethic. Much of what I learned did not take place face to face, but rather side by side, working on a common project and moving toward a common goal.
One of my goals in youth ministry has always been to establish a safe space for inquiry, for conversation, for mistakes, and for growth. With the help of Linda Peterson, I believe that our group created just such a space. I'm confident that the students in my group know that they now have peers and adults they can turn to for guidance and wisdom on their spiritual journeys.
5. Contemplation
Each day our group spent time reflecting on our experiences. Thus, in the midst of business and activity, there was also time for contemplation. In student ministry (or any ministry), a key objective is training people to see. We challenge our students to identify where God is at work, what elements of our work and experience align with God's will as it has been revealed in the Bible and understood through solid theological reflection, and how these perceptions can serve to shape our souls so that we might be more like Jesus, and thus exhibit greater faithfulness to him in our world. This goes beyond the surface and directly to the heart. We did this very effectively through our large group meetings, but in the future I plan to work harder to also facilitate these discussion in our small group settings, so that voices and experiences do not get lost, and greater intimacy is built within the confines of our ministry teams.
6. Fun
Fun is last on the list, not because our community is dominated by killjoys, but because the brand of fun we experienced was of a different kind. Monday afternoon we spent time at the Omaha Zoo. We visited Table Grace Cafe one day for lunch. We played Signs and the Look-Up Game and Human Knot and Yellow Car. We wrote memorable quotes on our lunch bags. We developed inside jokes and preserved witticisms. Fun is part of the package, both in the laughter and in the doing of good.
All in all we experienced an excellent week. I was blessed by our students, and I hope our students were formed so that they might evidence greater faithfulness to Christ.
Ben Simpson 
that evangelicalism at that time expressed a similar angst, yet was growing and healthy. 
that many who lament the decline of Christianity are simply not reading the data correctly, or are producing research tools that are designed to paint a dire picture, so as to set up a stark contrast for leaders crying out for increased zeal.
, a wonderful book in its own right.
