Teen Leaders

Teens can lead the way in our generosity journey. Below our Director of FUSION (special needs ministry) tells about two teens who went beyond to help a family with special needs.

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I have 2 amazing teen leaders—Matt and Sara. They are not members of Good Shepherd, but heard about our program from Sara’s mom. Sara and Matt have been helping with Buddy Break for the past eight months and are two of my most passionate leaders. They arrive early to connect with other leaders, stay late to help clean up, and keep their energy level high and contagious for the entire 3 hours of Buddy Break as they play with the kiddos.

About two months ago, Matt approached me, saying he was interested in babysitting for kids with special needs. Having no experience with kids with special needs before Buddy Break, Matt had grown to love working with them so much, he wanted to use that passion to possibly make some money and serve families. Matt also recognized that their parents rarely had a break and he wanted to be able to provide them a break. I told him I would keep him in mind as I often hear from families that need babysitters.

About a month later, a FUSION family approached me saying they needed help finding childcare for their 2 kids. They would need extensive help for a week and wanted to know if I knew of anyone. I looked over my list of FUSION leaders, asked a couple people who were able to fill some of the hours, but there were still holes. I prayed that God would show me who I could ask… and immediately Matt and Sara came to mind. I contacted Matt and Sara and they were able to take all the hours that were left! They didn’t know what they would be paid, or if they would be paid… They saw a need and with their generous hearts, decided to fill it! Now, this family has 2 students they can call on to watch their kids if needed, knowing their child with special needs and his sibling are in good hands!

Danielle Schaeffer, Director of FUSION

Transforming Students' Lives

Every dollar counts.  The generosity of our church is reaching and transforming lives.  Check out how our Beyond journey is impacting the lives of students through our Student Ministry...

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Since our congregation went to one-fund and no longer charges for Student Ministries registration, the number of students who have registered has increased. Resulting in the following:

• This has allowed us to connect to more students and families with the unfailing love of Jesus. 
• It also encouraged families to register early so we were able to know the number of leaders needed to meet our students' needs. 
• This also allows students to enthusiastically invite their friends and not have the awkward moment of asking them for money to get registered for ministry opportunities at Good Shepherd. 

Through the generosity of Good Shepherd Church we have been able to mentor and lean into student leader development.

• One of our college students spent 7 weeks in Guatemala, will return for 2 more weeks at Christmas and is part of taking a team from his college to serve with him too over Christmas break. Many relationships with young children were developed as he spent part of his time living in the orphanage. He was able to do follow up work checking on the success of the water filters that Good Shepherd had installed. 
• Another college student is spending the year in Berlin being a missionary on college campuses. 
• 5 of our students were accepted through a grueling interview process to be staff for Group Mission trips this past summer. These positions are highly sought after. They spent the summer in various cities in the U. S. assisting teens as part of Week of Hope and Workcamp mission trips that we have been participating in for over 20 years. Their experiences at Good Shepherd led them to this serving opportunity. 
• Good Shepherd was able to hire a summer part-time employee to focus on our college age students who live local and those who return for the summer. Many were able to reconnect with church and relationships here. 
• One other college student spent the summer serving with Greater Europe Mission (GEM). We 
• as a church have supported the Raineri's, missionaries with GEM.

Janice Rubin, Director of Student Ministries