How Long Will The Impact Of Your Ministry Be Felt?
(Below you'll see a Sneak Peak from the intro to my new ebook)

I want to start by asking you 3 important questions…

1. How long will the results of your ministry last?
2. Will you build a student ministry just to see it die if/when you leave?
3. Will your students keep following the Lord after they graduate?

Jesus ministered for only about three and a half years, but the results from those three and a half years are still echoing throughout history!

How was he able to do this in only 36-42 months of time?

He was able to do it because his it was his plan from the beginning!

Jesus' plan was:

• To birth a ministry that would live beyond his earthly leadership
• To reproduce ministers to carry on the work and who would reproduce others to carry on the work
• To provide them, through his death and resurrection, with the power and authority to accomplish all of this

Think about this…

He was constantly preparing his ministry and ministers for the day when he would leave them! His plan was always that his ministry would live on beyond his physical presence there.

How about you? Have you planned for the day when you will leave your group of students?

Whether it's soon or a long time from now, it will one day happen. (We all die!)

A Lesson From One Of The Most Effective Missionaries India Has Known
On his blog, Steve Addison tells the story of Carl Rhenius…

"Rhenius was an ex-soldier who became a missionary to India. Although trained at a Berlin mission institute, he went out under an English organization, the Church Mission Society.

"Rhenius and the Anglican mission eventually severed ties, but not before Rhenius had done significant work."

What did Rhenius do?

• He learned Tamil
• Made a new translation of the Bible
• Trained Indians to carry the gospel two-by-two to their own people.
• He set a catechist/schoolteacher in each Christian community.

Do you want to know how successful these methods were?

Whole villages converted to Christ! By his death on June 5, 1838, he was responsible for 13,000 converts. He is known as the "Apostle to Tirunelveli" and as one of the most effective missionaries India has known.

Do you see how Rhenius prepared his ministry and ministers to continue on beyond his time with them?

Greatness In A Church
In an interview with Christianity Today, author, Jim Collins (author of Good To Great) talked about one of the 3 ways he used to describe "greatness" in a church. Here's how he described it…

"Endurance. Making an impact over a long enough time, so that it's not dependent on the personality of one leader. If a church is effective during one pastorate, it may be a church with a stellar pastor, but it is not yet a great church."

This is also true for student ministries!

Will the effectiveness of your group live beyond your time with them?

Let's not even just focus on YOUR time with your group. What about their time with your group?...

• Will the effectiveness that you've had in the lives of your students live beyond THEIR time with your group?
• Will the students in your group keep following Jesus after they graduate from your group?

In a recent Barna report (9/11/06) there was some bad news…

"Much of the ministry to teenagers in America needs an overhaul - not because churches fail to attract significant numbers of young people, but because so much of those efforts are not creating a sustainable faith beyond high school. There are certainly effective youth ministries across the country, but the levels of disengagement among twentysomethings suggest that youth ministry fails too often at discipleship and faith formation."

Back to Jesus…

Everything thing Jesus did prepared the disciples to have a faith of their own, to continue on after he left. In John 14:12, Jesus says something pretty amazing about how well the disciples (and us) would do when he was gone…

"The truth is, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father."

Because of their faith in Jesus and through the work and power of the Holy Spirit, the disciples would do even greater works than Jesus did!

How's that for successful leadership!?! :)

They wouldn't just make it until the end, but they do what Jesus did and more!

• How will your students do when they leave from under your influence?
• Will they do even greater things than you?
• Is their faith personal enough to survive on their own?

Why I Put This Ebook Together
I was involved in student ministry for about 14 years. During that time I saw a lot. I saw the good, the bad and the ugly of it all.

I saw youth pastors leave some churches and their group dissolves away to nothing. I've seen groups that were devastated and had to start over completely because of youth pastors who came in for a couple years, did their thing and then left!

I put this ebook together, because I want to help Student Pastors to succeed. I want to help you to gather a group of students that will have a faith of their own that will last a lifetime. I want to help you to build a ministry that will live BEYOND your time with them.

But, in order for you to do that I realized I needed help! I needed wisdom beyond my experience.

I decided to gather a team of successful student leaders from around the country, from all different backgrounds, to reveal what they've learned from being in the trenches.

Your Own Team Of Coaches And Mentors
Napolean Hill once shared this story about Henry Ford...

"It is a well-known fact that Henry Ford began his business career under the handicap of poverty, illiteracy, and ignorance.

"It is an equally well-known fact that, within the inconceivably short period of ten years, Mr. Ford mastered the three handicaps, and that within twenty-five years he made himself one of the richest men in America.

"Connect with this fact the additional knowledge that Mr. Ford's most rapid strides became noticeable from the time he became a personal friend of Thomas A. Edison, and you will begin to understand what the influence of one mind upon another can accomplish.

"Go a step further, and consider the fact that Mr. Ford's most outstanding achievements began from the time that he formed a Master Mind with Harvey Firestone, John Burroughs, and Luther Burbank... and you will have further evidence that power may be produced through the friendly alliance of minds."

Think of this as your virtual "Mastermind" group of Student Ministry mentors!

What I've Done For You
I searched out successful Student Leaders and asked them for help. I asked them, based on their experience of what it takes to lead a lasting student ministry, to reveal to us what they would do if they had to start all over again.

Here's the imaginary situation I asked them to put themselves in…

"You are snatched from your current church (or other current job) and put at a church in the suburbs where you have to start all over again. There are five kids there. Two are the senior pastor's kids. There are three boys and two girls. Two are in High School and three are in Junior High. You are asked to build a ministry that will continue on after you leave. You have one year to do this. You have a limited budget."

Based on this situation, I asked them these 4 simple questions for you:

1. What are two common mistakes most pastors make when starting a student ministry that you would make sure not to make?

2. What methods/steps you would do to lay a strong foundation that would last beyond your time there?

3. What is one method/system you would use to see numerical growth as quickly as possible?

4. What is one method/system you would use to see lasting spiritual growth?

I was really excited to see the answers that I got and I think you will be too! But first I have to warn you about some things…

Three Warnings Before We Start
1. I’m NOT trying to encourage any student leader to stay with a group for only a short time. The imaginary scenario I gave is set up with a one year time-frame because I wanted to get these student leaders to give methods and ideas that would emphasize how to establish a strong, lasting foundation as quickly as possible.

I believe to accomplish something lasting with a group you need to stay as long as you can. I believe longevity equals effectiveness in ministry. I’m not trying to encourage you to stay with a group for only a year.

I just want you to encourage you to begin preparing for a lasting student ministry the first day you start! Don’t wait until your groups gets a certain size or wait until a certain time frame into it.

2. When you see something repeated over and over by different leaders don’t IGNORE it! You need to underline it! You need to remember it, because if these leaders have all discovered this same thing than it must be important! If it’s repeated it’s probably because it’s a key, universal concept!

3. Your student ministry will NOT be any better or more effective because you bought this ebook. It will own be better when you pray, seek God, and APPLY what you read in this ebook.

If you don’t pray, seek God and his anointing on your ministry, then these methods will be hollow and worthless. If you don’t actually apply any of these methods, then you will never see a change.

Prayerfully apply what you read in this ebook! That’s why I’ve included a workbook with it. Print it out NOW. Start writing in it as soon as you look at the first interview, ok?

Take a minute to pray and ask God to show you what ideas and methods he wants you to apply from this ebook.

Ready?

Here comes the first one of your coaches…

----------------End of sneak peak from book intro--------------------------------------------

Scott Aughtmon After being in Youth Ministry for approx. 14 years, He currently is church planting in Silicon Valley, CA

FREE Stuff

->Read The Intro To The Ebook - Right Here, Right Now!

->Articles

->Lasting Student Ministry Blog

About The Ebook

->Top Student Leaders Reveal What They'd Do If They Had To Start All Over

->The 14 Leaders Who Participated

->Testimonials About The Ebook

->How I Want To Share The Profits From This Ebook With You

->Not A Youth Pastor? Click here!

->Benefits Of An Ebook

->Click Here To Buy One!

About Me

->My Accidental Call Into Student Ministry

->Contact

"Reading Scott Aughtmon's new Ebook, "...Lasting Student Ministry" is akin to sitting 'round a table with a band of well-weathered youth ministry veterans as they share their various views on assembling a student ministry with real eternal impact." You'll find great insights through the streams of convergence and divergence in their thinking and praxis. The combined years of youth ministry experience of the ministers Scott pulled together is in the hundreds of years." "These folks have more to share than just a really good crowd-breaker involving balloons, chocolate sauce, and a live gecko!" Chuckk Gerwig Pastor to Students and their Families at Santa Cruz Bible Church in Santa Cruz, California http://www.sacreddigital.com