by
Nathan Landheer
April 23, 2021
YOUT 350-D01
Campus Ministry
“Student Conversations”
LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Submitted to Dr. Vandegriff
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
The Students
For this project, I had a conversation with three of my current high school students of the
youth group that I lead. I was able to meet with each of them in-person over coffee
Lily is a senior at the largest high school in the area, her dad is one of the pastors at the
church, and she has been coming to Sunday school, church, and youth group her whole life. She
finds herself questioning and doubting her specific calling when it comes to her plans for the
next year of her life. Adam is a senior at the second largest high school in the area. He is very
involved in sports and theater at his school and has just recently become more involved in youth
group. He has a very clear picture of what he wants to do in the future, but hadn’t directly linked
it to a call. Finally, Wyeth is a junior at the largest high school in the area. He was born into a
Christian family, but did not start taking his faith seriously until just this past year. He self-
identified that he has a call on his life, but doesn’t know if that is into ministry or not.
The Conversation
These conversations were deeply impactful for me. On one hand, I got to spend an hour
or so with these students and build a deeper friendship with each of them. How cool! On the
other hand, to hear more about the world through a high schooler’s eyes will always be one of
those things that “fill my tank.” I learned that they don’t have many dreams when it comes to
bringing their faith into their schools, but have a lot of dreams for bringing their friends into the
church. I learned that they would love if myself, or any other student pastors, would spend more
times in their schools (especially if I would bring them donuts!). Most of all, I learned that deep
down, they care deeply about their friends and want to see them grow.
In my conversation with these three students, one thing jumped out at me as a major
theme: they don’t believe in themselves. A main focus of my questions were all leading to asking
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them to be more involved in their own faith, and the faith of those around them. When I
asked what issues they saw at their schools, I received answers of mental health,
drinking/partying, toxic relationship, and the like. They could very easily give me the
problem, but when I asked what part they could play in the solution, they came up empty. As
I pressed into this with each of them, the reasoning was shockingly similar. It wasn’t that
they felt like they would say the wrong thing. It wasn’t that they are worried about what will
happen to their reputation if they spoke out. It was because they felt that they were too
young. Lily said, “I know they’re my peers, but they wouldn’t listen to me. I’m just the person
across the classroom from them.” Similarly, Adam said, “I know that, theoretically, I could
make a difference, but I’m only able to make a
difference with my small group of friends that know me and trust me. It would be really hard
for me to change the entire school as just a student.”
The Application
Due to this realization, I see that one of the best things student pastors can do is to be
someone who encourages, empowers, and equips young people to be agents of renewal in
their schools. These young men and women don’t need an hour long teaching on the minor
prophets. They need someone to tell them, “God’s placed a call on your life to be a disciple
maker and that’s not a future call. That’s a call for right now.” It’s one thing to share the
words of Paul to young people that says, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are
young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in
purity” (1 Timothy 4:12, NIV). It’s another thing to walk alongside a student as they begin to
understand this and implement it into their life. The latter is what makes student ministry
something that is bigger than one church and it’s young people. That’s when it becomes a
movement that ripples through
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schools, communities, and families because the students are empowered and encouraged to be
disciple makers themselves.
Conclusion
I wish I could sit down at a coffee shop with every single student that walks into the
doors of the schools of my community. To be able to ask questions in order to better understand
was such a fun experience for me and chance for them to feel heard and understood. It gave me
clarity on how I can better serve them and the community. These conversations gave me a pop in
my step of the daily walk of student ministry. Praise God!
