Global Struggles

My trip to the Philippines and Singapore was my first to Asia. While the Philippines felt quite Western, Singapore is much more Eastern in feel. I'm still wrestling through many of the things I learned and what the implications may be for my youth ministry setting. One thing that stuck out is how much youth ministry has in common around the globe but how differently we view these commonalities and how differently we try to address them. Such as...

- Problem of teenagers feeling connected to larger church body.
- Struggle of youth workers to gain respect among other church leaders.
- Struggle to minister to parents, not just kids.
- The issue of students walking away from church and faith after teenage years.
- The concern of culture dictating morals etc. to our students.

The churches in the Philippines and those in Singapore all listed these as some of their key struggles. The church in America would likely list them as ours, too.

Glad to know we aren't alone.... :)