Ministry Interview Project:
Strategy Paper Assignment
Name: Rylie Hineman
Persons Interviewed: Ava Ostrander & Pastor Zack Andrews
Date: October 4-5,
YOUT 201-Section #202240
What I Learned:
This project really helped me see the encouragement needed for anyone involved in youth
ministry, and also the full extent of what students face on a day-to-day basis. Ministry is already not an
easy area to choose as a profession, and youth ministry adds to that even more so. It is right in the most
easily influential area of life, where students can now decide who they are going to be based on what they
are fed daily, and if that is not Jesus, then there is little to no chance for any integration of salvation other
than the environment the church provides. Youth workers are constantly in a tedious area, where ministry
takes its own category in the students' lives and we have to work equally as hard with where they place
the importance with Christ.
Being a leader means you assume the position of counselor, friend, peer, family, and this
is often looked over by anyone that has not experienced the position. The scope of ministry
workers can go as far as emergency placement for the student with the worker, and it has in
Pastor Zack’s experience. This may seem inappropriate to some to bring a student in to the
household, but when they personally request it because that is who they feel safest with, there
is significant weight added on to the heart of the leader.
It is undoubtedly hard to work with a plethora of students that change on a weekly basis.
With a majority of them being non-believers, one often wonders if the work they are doing is
reaching anyone, even the seasoned believers. It is hard to control students that have no
semblance of a life with Christ, and this continues to add on to the stress of a youth worker.
Stealing, alcohol, fighting, and other things have taken place within the group setting, which
continues to upset the church that there is no control, and for the youth worker it is a battle
between giving the students grace and completely giving up.
The influences that these students face contribute a lot to the actions that can be seen.
In a broken world, those that have been given no respect, will give none. Those that have grown
up in a sexualized environment see nothing wrong with sexualized experiences, and those that
have no experience within or around a church find it extremely difficult to assimilate into the
church. Ava found it difficult to not only try and share the Gospel in school, but found it just as
hard to try and encourage herself and fellow Christians.
Prayer Strategy
Praying is an extremely important thing to implement in the church, and subsequently should
always be put in place for the ministries within the church. Incorporating prayer is a very easy
inside the church, but I find that the difficulties are in explaining and really having the students
grasp how important and powerful prayer is.
Pastor Zack related on the same topic, and relaying just how hard it is to try and deliver and
involve prayer with students that have no involvement in the church other than the two hours
they spend in youth group. It also is extremely hard to continually explain to an age range from
13-18 what prayer is and how it is a tool that God has given to us. Typically, I would say that this
is a range of excuses, and I typically do not support that, but working in ministry I have to agree.
It is very easy to become invested in the students' lives, so much so, that forgetting the basic
foundations of Christ and what was left behind for us is so easy.
Ava began to express this kind of thought when I asked her how praying is perceived within the
youth group, outside of it, to our mature believers, our new believer, and to our non-believers. To
our youth group, she explained exactly what I expected her to say, and that was that we have so
many new faces, it is hard to explain and point out the importance of prayer. This inadvertently
effects prayer outside of the church, and that we are not effectively preparing the youth to rely on
prayer in their worldly lives.
Both of these insights have led me to the conclusion that prayer needs to be more involved in our
group. Not just praying for the students and leading them in it, but letting the students lead the
prayer and seeing how the Spirit is guiding them. Giving them the opportunity to pray will help
them recognize that it does not need to take place just within the church, and getting them
comfortable with prayer also helps further them in their walk with Christ. Going into my
personal connection strategy, I would like to make a point to facilitate prayer circles or meetings
in the school or at school events. The visual representation can be intriguing to the non-believer,
and encouraging to the believer that their faith also exists everywhere they go.
Personal Connection Strategy
For the personal connection strategy, I was able to gain insight and come to a few
conclusions on how to build and improve personal connections with the youth. Both Ava and
Pastor Zack explained that the number one thing that would help increase interest in our youth
group and the Gospel was a presence outside of the church. This thought brought many ideas and
events that could be put in place that could be impactful outside of the church walls.
The first part I wanted to focus on was first establishing and having a presence outside of
the church. This idea went back into what Pastor Zack’s description of how being a ministry
leader entails so much more than just the spread of the Gospel. Some students ask for our
presence at things outside of the church because no one else will be there for them. It is
heartbreaking, but it is a powerful opportunity that God has given us. Even if the family is
heavily involved in both aspects of the student’s life, like Ava, she explained that she still gets
just as excited and encouraged to see leaders that would take time to witness something she cares
about. Looking at both of these testimonies, we cannot ignore that an intentional presence
outside of the church is where anyone’s walk with Christ can begin.
The second part, and more likely to be more successful in an event style would be finding
a way to involve ourselves, like Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Pastor Zack explained just how
difficult it is becoming to try and get any Gospel within the schools, but working with
organizations like these can open the door to mixing two things that students find extremely
important. Ava brought up that there are small things that can be done like supporting a booster
club event, taking time to visit with students at sporting events or other school activities. It is
important to reach the students in their comfort zones, and Ava explained how they recognize the
effort being made, even in the slightest bit, and she even goes to explain that this interaction is
part of what contributes to the growth we have seen in our group. This is encouraging, and I hope
to be able to work out ways to become more involved in these events.
Group Outreach Event Strategy
To start with an outreach event that had worked in the past and I would like to reimplement
would be what we call a “5th quarter”. This event offers an after party to the youth that would
take place specifically after home hosted sporting events. I have been made aware that there are
often bad events that take place, fighting, drinking, and other things because there is a social
atmosphere surrounding these games. What this event would do is it would offer a different
opportunity to have fun in a controlled environment. It would have food and games, which
would support that atmosphere that the students long for. There is also the opportunity to share
this event amongst the other churches in town. It is simple enough that it is really just a matter of
having a building to place it in, and it would be easy to share the common goal amongst other
believers. The idea of scheduling means that it does not have to be an additive to the schedule,
but can be seen as more of an opportunity that surrounds the events that take place in a smaller
town. I really think that the students of the ministry would enjoy this event, and it would give an
opportunity to our more mature believers to invite others in to an environment that is not
completely surrounded by the church, but gets them comfortable beforehand.
Another event that I would like to draft and possibly begin would be to implement maybe
quarterly or seasonal events that bring the students and family into the youth environment. We
have so many students that are proud of their faith, but when they go home, it all stops. Yes, I am
aware that there is no guarantee that the family comes to the events, but it would mean so much
to the students to have a family recognize the positive influences. In that same way, these events
would have to be supporting to the families and also the students that come without families.
This would drive the content of the event, perhaps we explain what is happening at that point in
the youth group, maybe have some door prizes or food, just things that draw them in. I think this
may copy the school system a little bit with parent teacher conferences, but the difference is that
this deals with the students' eternal lives. It even has potential to open the eyes of the parents! It
is really hard to live a growing and constant life of faith when there is little support except for
once a week, and this speaks to the importance of holding events in the church! In the same way,
holding events outside of the church can be a way of creating an environment that the students
long for.
Integrity Statement:
I, Rylie Hineman, interviewed Ava Ostrander and Zack Andrews on 10/04/2022 and 10/05/2022
and have followed all the necessary instructions.
