BEFOR EYOU COME UP TO THE PERSON

1. Before you ask the person for help – Ask others about that person

You may find yourself looking at the list of names of your youth group and wonder who can be a good fit for an opening on the team or a candidate to volunteer in the ministry. Special events or replacing someone on a team don’t get done by themselves.

Just like when someone applies for a job and they are asked for references, you need to talk to people about the person that you think might fit the bill. If you are looking for someone who can sign people up for the camp and keep all of the registration and financial records – that person must be organized, outgoing and punctual. When you talk to friends about the specific person that you have in mind and they tell you that that person is not organized and it’s ok for them to be late or don’t show up sometimes – thats not who you are looking for to fill in this position.

I have made this mistake many times when I asked someone to do something only to end up doing it myself, because the person I asked for help is not there or is not doing a good enough of a job.

EXAMPLE: During the leaders meetings we would talk about specific people that we thought might be a good fit for a specific position we tried to fill. We would ask other people about that person before we talked to them personally.

2. It’s all about how you ask

You can ask someone to do something VS You can ask someone for help

You need to understand one thing really well – young people love helping others! Its all about how you ask! Young people want to feel valued and appreciated. 

So how do you do it? Let’s say you need a few guys to come in and set up tables and chairs for a special event. Here are two ways to ask someone to come and help:

1. Come up to someone or send them a text and ask them to come in and help set up tables and chairs
2. Come up to someone or text them saying that you really need their help, ask them if they could help. Let them know that you have a team of people organizing an event that will impact others and you need someone that is responsible to put out tables and chairs. 

The second approach is completely different. We are really asking someone to be involved and make them feel that they are valued and what they will do is really important. I have seen this work in my ministry many times! Ask people for help!

WHEN YOU ASK THE PERSON

3. Be genuinely interested to help people develop their gifts

You need to be genuinely interested in the person and not just in filling the open position in ministry. Take a minute, ask the person if they have been praying or asking God about the purpose of their life and how they can serve with the gifts that they have. 

I have seen people that gave me a blank look when I asked them about their gifts, – and thats ok. Maybe God wants you to help them develop some of the talents that are on the inside of them. Ask questions such as:

• What are you good at?
• What do you like doing?
• Do you think that you are an organized person?
• Do you like to be in front of people?
• Do you have any music knowledge?
• Your social media is blowing up, would you like to make a difference through our page?
• Did you take any specialty classes such as art, engineering, graphic design, etc.
• Do you play any sports?
• Have you ever been a class president or have you led any groups in school? 

All of these questions will help you see the area of their gifting. You might find that you need to refer them to a different ministry in your church. Don’t be disappointed, you might have just helped that person find their gifting! 

There is another side to this. You might find yourself as a leader needing to ask one of your volunteers to transition into more responsible role of ministry. 

• Be a leader of a small group
• Prepare a sermon
• Go up on stage to do announcements
• Sing in the worship team
• Become one of the leaders in the summer youth camp
• Help with translation, etc.

When something requires more responsibility you might find some people push back. At that point, you as a leader must make a decision if you will push this person forward. I have seen people develop in the area of their gifting. Sometimes it took persistence on my part not to take “no” for an answer and push someone forward. Now, some years later, many of them are grateful because those experiences stretched them and helped them become a better leader.

4. Help people see the impact that their time investment will make on others

This might be one of the most important things that you can do to impact someones decision to serve. It’s your job to explain that they are not doing something for you, not even for the team but for God and to impact other lives.

One of the things that I loved doing is to sit my leadership team on stage when the church is empty and look into the sanctuary and envision people that are getting impacted by what they do. How the small groups impact the future of the church, how the worship team makes a difference in bringing the whole church in God’s presence and how the audio and video team impact people in the church and outside the church through technology and social media. 

Remember, it’s your job to inspire and give vision, cultivate the gift and point to God, who at the end of our life will say – Good and faithful servant, enter into my kingdom!

5. Provide training

I am sure that you heard of the following saying:

• I do it, you watch
• We do it together
• You do it, I watch
• You do it and train someone else

People love when you provide training and accountability. Some of us, including myself, grew up in the setting where there were no clear expectations. We strived to do our best hoping that was enough. 

In todays day and age, we owe it to ourselves to have clear expectations from someone who’s on our team. People want to be accountable. People love to see if they are making progress. People love to know specifically what’s required of them. It is my recommendation for you to have clear job descriptions for every position on your team. An organization chart is a great tool that will help you create clear job descriptions for your whole team. Please see Resources Page on iGrowLeaders.com