I don’t have an iPhone, but if ATT serviced my area, I probably would. I’ve been using an iTouch recently and believe me, it makes it very hard for me to go back to using my old Windows Mobile Phone every day. I can’t wait to get rid of that phone. As soon as my “New Every Two” comes up, you can bet I will “drop it like it’s hot”. At any rate, I’ve been thinking about the effects of the iPhone(and other smartphones like Android and Blackberry) on ministry (Youth Ministry in particular). I’ve found some pretty sweet stuff out there. It’s really true…. there IS an app for that.
5. Not Your Typical Polaroid Scavenger Hunt
If you’re old enough, you remember being in youth group, divided into smaller groups, given a Polaroid, a list of stuff and an adult with a car. The goal was to run around and take quick pics of everything on the list. When you got back to the church, you would compare photos and give out prizes for the best ones. Bring it to this generation with an iPhone and the Facebook app. Just make sure there is at least one student in each group with an iPhone and the Facebook app (or actually any other phone with a camera and Facebook app). Send them out with a list of stuff to take snap shots of and have them post each one to their Facebook. When they get back to the church, look at each team’s list of photos on their Facebook pages on the big screen. With a little creativity, you can convert all sorts of old standby icebreakers into modern day treasures.
4. Keep Up With Your Reading
All the youth ministry greats will tell you reading HAS to be a part of your daily discipline if you want to be effective for God. One of the big influencers in my life is Mike Calhoun who says he started by just committing to read 7 pages a day. I think that’s a good goal, but even then, sometimes its really hard to find the time. One way I make that happen is to try to always have a book within arm’s reach. With the advent of the Kindle, that’s become even easier. (not that I have one…. are you kidding, i don’t even have money for an iPhone. Don’t cry for me. I will be ok.) However, Amazon has released their Kindle Reader app for iPhone/iTouch/iPad/Blackberry and it is SWEET. My wife and I have been reading James MacDonald’s When Life Is Hard on the iTouch. It has become absolutely the EASIEST thing in the world to ALWAYS have a book at your finger tips. Check out Amazon’s Kindle Reader App.
3.Take Payments for Your Events
As youth workers, there’s always stuff we need to collect money for. Camp, Friday Night bowling, Quiet Time Devotional, Bake Sale, Car Wash, whatever. As our society gets more cashless all the time, it’s getting more and more painful to keep track of cash/checks. I’ve personally spent so much time rolling coins, adding up checks, worrying about protecting some cash box with my life…. It’s way too much stress. And that’s for the people that ACTUALLY REMEMBER TO BRING MONEY…. which you and I know is like so rare! Anyway, this appears to be the solution to it all. Checkout SQUARE UP. You can use this with iPhone, iTouch, iPad, and Android. You can swipe credit/debit cards and take money for whatever you need! Sweet huh? Forget the paper and get the cash. And the rates are even competitive!
2. Lead Worship
This is just cool. I can’t get over how cool this is.
1. Quiet Time
UPDATE: The online quiet time is currently in beta testing and will be unveiled to our Word of Life Local Church Ministry Staff this next week (Dec. 3-9, 2010) at our National Staff Conference. It’s on its way to the general public soon! Can’t wait!
Drum roll please! Here at Word of Life, we’re well known for the Quiet Time Diary. It started way back in the beginning at Word of Life and since then it’s been a tool for challenging children, students and adults to spend time in God’s Word and Prayer every day. This diary has taken many forms over the years and has come to be a well designed journal that is published every year accompanied by varying levels of commentary. I’m very excited to share with you that we are right now in the middle of a HUGE project to bring the Quiet Time ONLINE! We’re creating a web application that will allow students and adults to login, read scripture, journal their thoughts, track prayer requests, share with their friends, get help, read commentaries and MUCH MORE. We’re so pumped and it’d due out this next fall (2010). Part of that application will be apps for the iPhone and other smart phones that will allow you to interact with the site. This site has been a dream of several of us here at Word of Life for many years and it’s so exciting to be a part of the process that is bringing it to fruition. I hope to post further updates on this project here as work progresses. Also, you can check out our Quiet Time Website for more info on the Quiet Time, access to some free tools we provide right now, and also information on how to buy a physical journal from our store. We also have some small group/sunday school bible study material that interfaces with the Quiet Time and you can get access to that as well.
