Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to travel to a small town in North Carolina and run a 3 day outreach for a local church. This town, like many in our country, has been hit hard by the economy. They have the same problems that everyone else has. There are teens making bad choices, families are falling apart, churches are struggling, and hope is not easily found. I walked into this week simply hoping to be a blessing to this town and the local church. I had no grandiose ideas that in three days we would turn everything around, but I knew God had called us there to give ourselves away. I chose to be obedient and faithful and let God do the rest.

On the first day of the camp I met Shelby. Shelby was quiet and secluded herself from all that was going on. I heard about Shelby the night before from the youth pastor we were working with. Shelby liked to be in the background and watch. She was not the kind of kid that wanted to get involved and she definitely did not want the attention. She seemed to content to just sit back and watch. I spent the first part of the day trying to encourage her to get out and play. I even told her that her job was to yell at me if I did anything wrong. She just stood there watching the day go by. Near the end of the day we started playing a game with a giant earth ball. You know, one of those insane youth ministry games where you are amazed no one died. I looked across the field and there was Shelby playing hard. Shelby came back each day and played even harder, sang the songs, and heard the Gospel. She felt included, loved, and noticed. It made all the difference.

Shelby has made me think about all the students in our schools and communities that are standing on the sidelines and watching life go by. How many of them go unnoticed and forgotten? How many are just waiting for someone to invite them to join in and play hard? There are over 24,000 students in the area I live in. At best, there are maybe 2,000 of them involved in local churches and ministries. That leaves 22,000 not connected, not knowing God’s love, and not being noticed. What would happen if 5-10 adult leaders showed up on a campus each week to notice these students? What if we connected 1000 teenagers to local youth groups this next year? The change in families and our community would be enormous.

The need is overwhelming. So many students and so little time. The running of a day to day ministry is entirely life consuming. I know, because I have done it for over 20 years. None of us can do this on our own, but together it is more than possible. This is the vision God has given me in Life That Matters Ministry. Teams of 5-10 leaders showing up on a school campus every week. Youth Pastors and leaders coming together for encouragement and support to accomplish what none of us could do alone. God has already opened the door to 4 local high schools and continues to open doors in middle schools. There are a lot of students waiting for us to show up and notice them.

I pray where ever you are you are noticing the people around you. I hope you are loving and including all of them. I know we can make a difference and I believe God will take what has started here as a dream and make it a reality all over the place. This is our journey and it is so much better together. The world’s teens need us to notice and to invite them to join us and play hard. Right before we left North Carolina, we visited Shelby and said goodbye. She finally yelled at me and then gave me a hug. I am so glad that God gave me eyes to notice her. I pray for the countless other Shelby’s who are still waiting.

As I sit at my desk today, I have been thinking back over the last 22 years of ministry. God has allowed me to be in some amazing places. I remember just starting out at the age of 19 in a little church located in a shopping center in a bad part of town. I can still clearly see loading my 1979 Ford Thunderbird with as many kids as would fit from the neighborhood and going to Burger King. It was there that I heard the unmistakable calling to youth ministry and I found the woman I would partner with for the rest of my life. The church closed its doors and we sensed God’s call into the military. It made no sense at the time, but we knew that was where we were being led. We committed to trust God to send us where He wanted us. Everywhere we were assigned, God led us to a church where we became the leaders of the youth ministry. It was amazing, but hard too. Separated by deployments and the Gulf War made us strong and forced us to rely on God.

After my first enlistment was up, against everyone’s opinion, we signed up for another tour. This time in Europe. It was in Germany that we found ourselves once again running student ministry and being introduced to an amazing organization called Young Life. It was all about building relationships with students, earning the right to be heard, and sharing God’s amazing story of grace and love. We were sold! We again sensed God’s call, this time to leave the military and go into full time ministry. We spent the next 10 years entering student’s lives and sharing the Gospel in Germany, Italy, and on the Space Coast of Florida. We knew every student on a little Navy base in the middle of the Mediterranean and we oversaw ministry that reached out to 1000 students in Brevard County, Florida. We loved Young Life, but there was a restlessness we began to feel in our hearts.

During this time we felt God leading us into a new adventure as He called us back into local church ministry. We moved to Bradenton Florida and watched God do amazing things in the lives of students. It was challenging for our family during this time. God was chipping away at us as He was molding us into what He wanted. God was faithful and He began to grow a vision of youth ministry in my heart. A ministry not focused on programs, but on the truth of scripture and the desire to do everything with excellence. It was about building God’s kingdom and not our own by coming along side with others and reaching students no matter where they went to church. I wanted to be part of something bigger than myself and I learned this is only possible when the center of ministry is Christ and not our own personality. God opened the door for us to join Mosaic Church outside of Orlando who had this same vision. Once again ministry grew and doors were opened into schools and with other churches in little over a year. It was astounding how quickly these relationships grew. God’s hand was on this and yet there was still that restlessness. We soon discovered God had a bigger plan than what we first imagined and that my days of running a church youth ministry had come to a close. A new adventure was beginning.

Here I am at age 41 and I am starting an entirely new ministry that combines my passion to reach students as I did in Young Life and my passion for the local church. A ministry that will engage over 24,000 students in our area, connecting them with local youth ministries and connecting them to each other to make the difference in their schools. A ministry that will invest in youth pastors and leaders, providing networks, support, and coaching. A ministry that will empower a new generation of leaders to continue the fight for our students by providing internships, mentoring, and training. Life That Matters Ministry will start in the Orlando area, but will spread everywhere. It is time to have a ministry and a life that matters for the kingdom.

Winston Churchill,in his first speech as Prime Minister said, “You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory – victory at all cost, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.” Youth ministry can not and will not fail. The stakes are to high. We must and we will reach this generation.

How do we do this? We do it together. We need you to partner with us and this great ministry. We need you to pray with us as God opens doors for school assemblies and community outreaches. We need your prayers for unity as we partner with churches and organizations. We need you to consider financial support as we establish this ministry over the next few years. We need to raise around $5,000 per month in support. If only 50 people would commit to $100 per month, or 100 people to $50 a month, or 500 people giving $10 per month we would reach our goal. Every dollar you donate will make a difference in the lives of students. If you are in Florida, we need you to consider setting up a dessert or coffee time with friends and family so that we can come and share the vision. The fact of the matter is we need all of you. We are staying on staff at Mosaic Church in Oakland, Florida for oversight and accountability of all funds. This is a huge dream and together we can make it a reality. Our desire is to launch ministry this coming August, which means we have little time to raise funds. Will you join us and help us to change the world?
All donations are tax deductible and should be made out to Mosaic Church and mailed to 3833 Glenford Dr, Clermont, FL, 34711. Please e-mail me back with whatever you can do and please pass this on to others on your mailing list. I can not wait to see all God is going to do as we partner together. I hope to hear from you soon.

Tony Hevener

Over the past few years I have been hearing of the struggles in Youth Ministry. The drop in attendance and the exodus of students after graduation from the church seemed to be a world wide trend. This prompted me to really start questioning what is going on with students. With the onset of facebook, myspace, twitter, and texting we have forgotten the art of relationship. The idea of being in each others lives and engaging, investing, and empowering one another. I believe we need to encourage students to live a life that matters and makes a difference in their world. For this to happen I have concluded there needs to be people walking on campuses and engaging students, youth ministers investing in other youth ministers and ministries, and empowering the next generation of leaders. This is more about building the Church than organizations. This is about being kingdom minded, instead of minding our own kingdoms. The question is, where do we start?

I have had the opportunity to minister in many different settings over the last 20 or so years. I spent years on Young Life staff both overseas and stateside growing a heart for outreach and learning how to navigate the world of public schools and administrators. I also spent years on church staffs confirming my belief in God’s plan for the world through His Church. Most recently, I have been on staff at a kingdom minded church named Mosaic on the outskirts of Orlando, Florida. Over the last year and a half God has opened doors for me to build relationships with many youth pastors, the administrators of 3 large high schools, and many other community and ministry leaders. At the same time God began to birth a vision of identifying students that are following Christ in each school and connecting them together and with local churches to bring about real change. I discovered that in the area of West Orange County and South Lake County there are over 15,000 high school students. There are great student ministries happening, but none of us were making a dent in this population. Running a weekly ministry is very time consuming, and as I sat in my office last summer I wondered how we would ever make a difference?

This past year in ministry was like so many before. We had growth and God was moving, but I could not get rid of a nagging feeling I was not doing enough. Everything changed in May of this year. We had been discussing sweet spots and the places we run the hardest in ministry on staff, when it became obvious that running the student ministry at Mosaic was not the best fit for me. I spent the next couple of weeks seeking God and trying to figure out what He was leading us to. The day after I was asked to step down, I received a call from an old friend asking me about an opportunity to set up an outreach program for at risk teens in the West Orange County area. God started rebirthing a vision He started in me the year before. What if I was free to be on the campuses engaging students every day? What if I could walk along side youth leaders in the area, encouraging them and investing in them to help them to succeed? What if I started empowering a new generation of leaders wanting to give their lives to ministry? This was impossible if I was running the day to day ministry of a church youth program, but now anything was possible. I had my questions. I did not want to just start another ministry that would develop outside the church. I wanted to build the Church and be connected to a body. I wanted to take the passion God placed in me for outreach and the passion for the local church and combine it. I wanted to be a part of seeing our own church grow and see every other one grow as well. I wanted a life and ministry that matters in the building of the kingdom, but what kind of position in a church allows for all that? This past week I got my answer. My position at Mosaic will now be one of being a campus pastor and leading community outreach.

Over the next year or two, we will be developing a ministry that will focus on three things. First, we will be engaging students by being on the campus every week. We plan on working with local agencies to provide school assemblies that promote personal responsibility and prevention of at risk behaviors. We will be organizing outreach events that will be community based while being connected to local church bodies in an attempt to funnel students into the many outstanding youth programs in our area. We will begin to identify the students on each campus that are followers of Christ and encourage them to live lives that matter and make a difference in their schools. Second, we will invest in the local youth leaders. We will seek to provide opportunities for networking with one another while also connecting them with local schools and administrators. We will be available to support and encourage the youth leaders and their ministries in any way possible. Third, we will empower a new generation of leaders by helping to connect those who have sensed their calling into ministry with local churches. We will provide mentorship and coaching as these new ministers seek to step into the world of youth ministry.

For years I have preached that we should dream a dream so big, that if God is not in it, it will fail. The time for me to practice what I have preached has come. This is an enormous undertaking that could have ramifications for youth ministry far beyond our area. I am humbled by this calling, and yet I know God is bigger than the dream. Mosaic has given the green light, but there are needs that must be met to make this dream a reality. The first thing I need is prayer. I need God’s wisdom and favor over the coming months as I begin to solidify relationships with area officials and local ministry leaders. I need teams. Teams of people called to outreach, event planning, administration, and those who will help keep my feet on the ground as I dream. Finally, I will need financial support. As this is a new ministry and Mosaic is still a growing church, I need people who will believe in this vision and support it. I need to raise around $5,000 a month in support. This is as simple as 50 people committing to $100 a month. As I said, I will be on Mosaic Church staff for them to provide oversight and and accountability for all things financial. This also allows you to use your contribution as a tax deduction. All support must be made out to Mosaic Church and can be mailed to me at 3833 Glenford Dr, Clermont, Fl, 34711. Please identify the donation as monthly or a one time gift. E-mail me at tonyhevener@gmail.com to be added to my e-newsletter mailing list so you can keep up with all that God is doing.

I have ministered to and with more people than I can count over the years. Many of you reading this are those people. I want to thank all of you for what you have meant to me and the ministry I have given my life to. I am asking you to partner with me, as I have served you and with you, to make it possible for me to continue to give my life away for students and the kingdom. I know God is leading this and I am so excited to be able to share this with you all. Together we will change the world. Together we will live lives that matter and make a difference for eternity. I look forward to hearing from you and sharing in this amazing journey.