the sacramento national youth workers convention is over. most of the attendees are gone, the boxes are packed and getting loaded on trucks bound for pittsburgh (next convention starts in a week and a half!), and my family just left to fly home. i fly home tomorrrow.
my general session talk today seemed to go just fine. i got a good amount of positive feedback. it’s always difficult to know if it went really well, or just pretty good. at least i have the sense that it didn’t totally suck! karla said some beautiful and amazing things in her introduction of me, and even started crying. that wasn’t fair!
i’m really pleased with how the convention went. we had no total dog speakers in a general session, no bands that ended up being high-maintenance prima-donnas, and no major hitches. there was a great theme of encouragement through the whole thing.
i’m dog-tired, and really looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning!
I was truly blessed Marko…I didn’t want to leave. I was also blessed by your session…did you and Chap talk prior to his seminar and closing session? You both hit a homer with where I was at in my life…thanks again Marko..it was also great to connect by the way…cya at CORE in SActo!
So, in your opinion, what was the biggest “dog” in the general session since you have been at YS.
What about the biggest “dog” of a workshop.
What about vise versa. What have been your faves in each category.
I would say my fave talk of all time was Mark Yaconelli in St. Louis the month after Mike died.
thanks, KC — it was great to see you.
clint — i don’t want to name the dogs. nothing helpful in that. but i will tell you some of my favs:
– yaconelli (mike) always was
– louie giglio has always brought me a new perspective
– i’ve loved rob bell
– mark yaconelli, efrem smith, doug fields have always hit home runs, as far as i’m concerned
– princess zulu rocked last year
– gary haugen (from international justice mission) kicked butt
– i’m sure i’m forgetting dozens of other favorites…
Hey Marko…I enjoy reading your blog. I am glad to hear ys conference went well. I enjoyed last years ALOT. I was curious if you could shoot me an e-mail on any resources you have on teenagers cutting. I searched the articles on youth specialities but haven’t found anything. I was wondering if this has been touched on at all with the magazine or in your blog.
HOWEVER, first REST…enjoy sleeping in…and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
[email protected] or [email protected] Thanks! ~ Jen
The worst reaction from a speaker than I remember was “The Path” lady. People were just walking out in DROVES. I wanted to leave but stayed just cause I felt sorry for her.
Hey Marko!
From my end it was also an awesome week! I am playing hooky from work today because for some odd reason I thought 15 hour days would mean I could still come home and be able to go in today! Ha!
Seriously though, ever since my first NYWC in 1994 I have wanted to volunteer and after being turned down five times…I would not have traded last week for anything!
jen — two books to recommend:
“the youth workers guide to helping teenagers in crisis”, by jim hancock and rich van pelt, is a fairly comprehensive look at critical teenage issues, and would have some detailed help and understanding in the area of cutting. this book just came out a few weeks ago.
coming out soon, but not quite yet, is marv penner’s “help! i’m helping hurting teenagers” (actually, that might not be the exact title, but it’s something close to that) is more of a “rough guide” to serious teenage issues, written for the volunteer youth worker.
Marko!
I enjoyed my first year at the NYWC this weekend. AWESOME! I have been wanting to attend for years but for one reason or another have not been able to. THIS YEAR I WENT!
Thank you so much for making us Youth Pastors feel so affirmed and appreciated! Your heart and ministry is greatly appreciated!
Keep up the great work man!
Funky Bunch I also liked
Steve Taylor St. Louis 99.Roaring Lambs
ooh (brian) — i forgot about steve taylor. that was totally one of my all-time favorites also!
Jen –
Also be sure to check out the next YouthWorker Journal issue on “Kids on the Fringe.” We’re dealing with a number of things, and one of the Web articles we’ll be posting specifically deals with the issue of cutting. Kelli Woodard’s article, “Cutting: Understanding the Self-Mutilation of Teenagers,” should be live in about two weeks at http://www.youthworker.com/webarticles
Marko, your general session was my favorite of the weekend. That e-mail from the youth pastor who was questioning his calling had me in tears. But then you affirmed his calling by telling him that the very fact he was suffering with and for his youth group kids was evidence of his calling. And in doing so, you affirmed me in my calling as well. Your challenge to be passionate enough to suffer along with and on behalf of my kids will be with me for a long time to come, and I thank you for blessing me in this way.
Hey Marko, Thanks for a great weekend, and all the hard work you and your staff put into it. I came away refreshed, inspired, and loved. Keep it up.
Aaron