Youth ministry at any age.

BY PASTOR TODD SCHIERKOLK

In May, my wife and I reached a significant milestone in our ministry here in Mexico. It was 30 years ago that we started Spanish language school as young missionaries with two of our three little girls in tow. It’s no surprise that we began working with kids and youth. The surprise is that 30 years later, we’re still working with kids and youth.

I sit in the barber chair watching Juanita in the mirror opposite me as she cuts away with the scissors, and chunks of gray hair fall on the floor around me. Tonight, I’ll be meeting with a 16-year-old in distress. That’s after Barb and I drop off his sister from the kids’ club we lead.

It seems like many years ago, when I was already feeling old for this kind of ministry, Pastor Paul Kneeland encouraged me in our work with kids and youth by reminding me of the example of Caleb in the Book of Joshua. “I was forty years old when Moses ... sent me ... to spy out the land,” he says. “And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive … these forty-five years ... I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me” (Joshua 14:7, 10–11). I don’t know what kind of supplements Caleb was taking, but I definitely don’t feel as strong today as I did 30 years ago—I can’t run as fast, or jump as high, or play the high-energy kids’ games I used to play. But I can say with a sincere heart that Barb and I love these kids as much as and more now than we could have back then.

We shake our heads and marvel that they still want to come and hang out with a couple of grandparents. They like being picked up in our old green Suburban and coming along for the ride. They like sitting at a table and playing board games with us (we do have a Foosball table, too). They like reading a section of Scripture and telling us what stands out to them. And they like eating potato chips and ice cream bars and having pizza when someone has a birthday. At our last meeting, there were three junior high kids—and they had the best time. Go figure!

I recently got a chance to visit with Pastor Jason Holt via video chat, and I took advantage of his experience with youth ministry to share with him my disbelief about our continuing ministry with these kids. I wondered how many people in youth ministry he knew of who are as old as I am, and he said, “Well, actually …” Ha! Who knew! And then he affirmed what Barb and I had wondered and assumed—that sitting down with a grandma and grandpa can bring security, a sense of peace, something to rely on, and a place where they feel loved.

A couple of months ago, one of the high school girls was in a dangerous free fall in her life. Things were spinning out of control. By the grace of God and so many people’s prayers, that base of security, peace, and love that Barb and I had been able to build over many years enabled us to speak to her heart. The Holy Spirit helped her to hear us—to hear him. And she broke through to a place of peace and stability again.

So, we’ll keep on playing board games, eating ice cream, and celebrating birthdays with pizza. We’ll keep on reading through the most important stories in the Bible. Because the love of a grandma and a grandpa counts. And the love of God the Father counts even more, no matter who it comes through.

Schierkolk is an AFLC missionary serving in Jerez, Zacatecas, Mexico, with his wife, Barb.

Supporting mission work.

Pastor Todd and Barb Schierkolk have served in Mexico since 1996. They host kids' club, Bible studies, and youth group, and are involved in their congregation. For more information on their ministry and to learn how to support them financially and in prayer, visit their web page: aflcworldmissions.org/todd-schierkolks