We had a great night at youth last night. We have amazing students. One of these amazing students asked if she could talk to me. This young lady wanted to tell me she was leaving our group. She described her situation, her parents attend a church plant and God was leading her to help with a new youth ministry. What filled my heart with joy was the way she told me. First, she cared enough to tell me she was leaving at all and second It was her gentle spirit with which she told me. She must ha known I was fragile. As youth pastors we do not always get the privilege to hear a young person tell us they are leaving, or why, they just leave. How should we handle it?
We have choices when a kid tells us they are leaving.
1. Get angry. This does nothing for them or us
2. Try to convince them to stay. If they are leaving because of conflict or connecting problems, we can work with that. But don’t beg, it’s unbecoming,
3. Bless them. This is the route I have learned to do.
How do you bless them?
Thank them for their time and talent they invested in your group while they were there. If you can, ask them to come to one more meeting and bless them publicly; let the group pray for their journey Bless the leavers and I believe, God will bless you.
“You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.” Duet. 28:6 NIV