The Power Of One-On-One
by Jonathan McKee

Jesse walked into the Taco Bell across the street from the school and quickly found the rest of the youth staff huddled in one of the corner booths. Jesse, like the rest of his fellow volunteers, reserved five hours a week for hanging out with kids. It was Tuesday night and they'd just finished their weekly youth group meeting-74 students, eight volunteers, one overworked youth worker, and only two minor injuries.

After some prayer time, Jay (the youth pastor) asked everyone to talk about how their time with students was going.

"Jessica is really opening up," said Kristi. "I think the discussion on fathers really hit home for her. I'm going to hook up with her this weekend for a milkshake and talk with her more about it."

"Justin liked the talk too," Jason added. "I think he finally might be interested in something more than just basketball and girls."

Jesse thought about his time with TJ. This guy had been a handful since day one, but had responded well to Jesse's attention. Jesse always managed to be on TJ's team during games and made sure he was in his small group. Last weekend Jesse had him over to his house to work on his car. Greasy hands and pizza opened up doors to conversation with TJ that Jesse never expected.

Youth group activities are great, small-group sharing is very valuable, but nothing opens doors like one-on-one time with students. In a world where the only words TJ usually hears from adults are, "Did you finish your homework?" or "You're 15 minutes late!" or "Hey, you can't skateboard here!" the positive attention he receives from an affirming adult is making a huge impact.

Jay built his ministry on a foundation of caring adults who inject themselves into students' lives. Each volunteer commits to Tuesday nights, weekly staff meetings, and quarterly staff training times. But their most important commitment is to milkshake conversations, inviting students for dinner, or taking them to football games.

Nine adults, each devoting one-on-one time to a handful of students. Do the math. They're making a difference for Christ, one life at a time.