Lunch Club Resources

Supporting teen moms by hosting a lunch club in their school is a great way to meet tangible needs, serve the school, show love, and build relationships - all at the same time. But what should you teach during that time? If you're hosting lunch club every week of the school year, you need what feels like an endless supply of material! Well don't despair... we've collected an almost endless supply of fantastic suggestions for you!

Got another great tip or suggestion? Comment below so we can share in the wealth!

 

• Discipline from Birth to Three - This parenting book was specifically written for teen moms, with easy-to-read chapters, plenty of pictures, lots of quotes from teenage moms, and helpful tips for parenting, living with multiple generations, making your home safe, and encouraging curiosity. 

• Dreams to Reality: Help for Young Moms - Start fresh without starting over! By rethinking options for money management, relationship issues, and funding higher education, young mothers can learn to integrate their new families into their plans for themselves. Study guide also available.

• HELP! I'm Moving Out on My Own - This "How-To" guide will help prepare teens for essential life skills like developing healthy relationships, opening a bank account, taking care of their car, interviewing for a job, and much more.

• Partnering with Teen Parents by Parents as Teachers - Extensive downloadable curriculum that includes more than 1,100 pages of resources for you, teen parent handouts, and activity pages specifically geared for young parents. Topics focus on development of life skills, parallel development needs of teens and their infants/young children, the important role of the father. The only downside of this is the price tag - $315. It's digital, though, so you can go in on this with a other areas in your region and share the material. 

• We Teach FACS has free printable worksheets, lesson plans, and activities. Topics range widely, and include everything from Child Development and Newborn Care to Reading and Independence. 

• Youth for Christ Parent Life Curriculum - Youth for Christ has produced several sets of downloadable lessons for teen parents. They are available for free on their website. Search for Lean in, Going Viral, Road Trip, Mom Manual, or Green Means Grow, or just search by Category within Parent Life. Although they are clearly written from a Christian standpoint, many lessons can easily be adapted for a school audience.

Here's EVERYTHING You Need to Get Started in YoungLives!

Feeling confused about where to find a YoungLives resource? Can't remember where you found that helpful handbook or video? Look no further - here are links to many of the essential YoungLives tools for camping, mentor training, discipleship, childcare, staff training, supervisor training, and pretty much anything you could possibly need.

CLICK HERE FOR LINKS

Discipleship... Exclusively for Teen Moms!

YoungLives has a great track record for introducing teen moms to a relationship with Christ. But we can't stop there! If we can get the next piece - discipleship - right, then there is incredible potential for seeing lives transformed - and not only the moms' lives, but their children's lives as well. 

So here it is – a practical discipleship tool for teen moms that can be used in groups and and in one-on-one times! Made New: Faith Conversations for Teen Moms explores over 30 relevant Bible stories that challenge teen moms towards a new way of thinking about their identity and the way that they handle everyday issues like friendship, sexuality, conflict, finances and parenting. Lessons include object lessons, conversation starters, video illustrations and even coloring pages to help teens of all developmental, grade, and interest levels to engage with the Bible in a new way. 

The book is broken down into four sections to address the four most important connections in a teen mom’s life:

• Self – growing her relationship with God.

• Child – learning to parent well.

• Others – developing healthy relationships with parents, friends, and baby daddies.

• World – finding her place at church, in school, and in the workplace

Made New: Faith Conversations for Teen Moms is the perfect leader's guide for a small group Bible study or Campaigners group

Made New: My Journal is packed with ways for teen moms and their leaders to apply the group lessons during one-on-one time or on their own

Order your copies here! http://resourcesandsupplies.younglife.org/product-p/1174-made-new.htm

Help! How Do I Talk About Sex With a Teen Mom?

How do you talk about the topic that we dread discussing so much that we can't even name it? You know... the "birds and the bees"? The "facts of life"?

SEX.

It's one of the biggest issues that teenagers are dealing with today, and yet somehow we still have trouble naming it and talking openly about it.

If you are in need of some inspiration and a starting point for your conversations, have no fear. There are resources out there to help you bring it up and get the conversation moving towards healthy perspectives and wise living!

Check out these resources, and then let us know in the comments below if you find other sources that you recommend. 

• THE Conversation (website/conferences/podcast/curriculum/blog) 
• Sex, Jesus, and the Conversations Jesus Forgot (book) 
• The Gospel Coalition: Sexuality Archives (blog)
• "The Truth About Sex" (video series - requires a subscription or login to Young Life Access or RightNow Media)
• The Bare Facts: 39 Questions Your Parents Hope You Never Ask About Sex (book)

YoungLives Resource Guide

Looking for the best of the best in books and websites that address teenage pregnancy, mentoring, poverty, multi-ethnic ministry, discipleship, and other topics related to ministry with teen moms? Look no further!! We have curated a 6-page list jam-packed with resources, sorted by topic, just for you.  Check it out here. 

Children's Books for Growing Up in God

Children's Books for Growing Up in God

Callie Grant, a great friend of YoungLives in Austin, TX has written a series of children's books that help parents teach their children about God. Check them out: http://www.grahamblanchard.com/books/

These would make good gifts for your mamas and babies this Christmas! 

You're Grounded: Rooted in Truth in a Shallow World (Book Resource)

Chris Lassiter – a volunteer leader, Relationships Magazine contributor, and staff spouse in Staunton, Virginia has written a new book called “You’re Grounded: Rooted Truth in a Shallow World”. From Amazon: “You're Grounded is an introductory book to the person of Jesus Christ and the Christian life aimed specifically at the Hip Hop influenced generation. Written in an easy to read fashion, each chapter starts with a story from urban culture - using examples familiar to the culture like Michael Jordan, Tupac, the TV show Good Times - and then transitions to highlight truth found in scripture. This book is ideal for small group and discipleship settings. It's a great resource for high school and college campus ministries, as well as juvenile and adult prison ministries.”

A great resource for working in multi-cultural ministry!

Uncovered: True Stories of Sex, God, and Grace

Young Life Area Director Jeff Pearson's wife, Julia Pearson, has recently written and published a book titled: Uncovered, True Stories of Sex, God, and Grace

The book tells the personal stories of 30 men and women and the decisions they made about sex before marriage. 

The website states, "Each writer candidly reveals raw emotions and often difficult memories. They openly discuss the effects their choices have had on their marriage partners and on them. Through the power of the media, young people know a lot about lust but very little about true love. Uncovered gives an honest look at how intimate choices affect the ability to find real love."

Many of the stories in Julia's book can be used as great discussion-starters about sexuality in Campaigners. To order or find out more, visit http://thebookuncovered.com.

Love Does.

I used to think you had to be special for God to use you, 

but now I know you simply need to say yes. - Bob Goff, Love Does

Does this resonate with you? I know it does with me. When I heard about YoungLives I sensed a stirring but struggled to believe that God could use me. As a young, white, single girl in grad school who was not a teen parent -- or any parent for that matter -- it didn't make sense on paper. I said yes and it's been a crazy journey since!

Bob Goff's stories of authentic faith, love and adventure are contagious. With roots in Young Life, his book drew me closer to the heart of God and illuminated just what this mission is about -- being Christ with skin on and loving others in crazy ways that the world doesn't understand. One of my favorite things about this book is that in each chapter he brings it back to Jesus and the greatest love story of all time. I highly recommend this book as a gift for mentors, committee, donors & yourself (after all, you deserve it!).

A summary of Love Does in two words? Must Read.  

Have you already read Love Does? What did you think? Leave a comment!

Where to Buy

Life of the Beloved

We recently did a Young Lives Divisions Meeting and discussed the book, "Life of the Beloved" by Henri Nouwen. This a great book to use for mentor trainings, devotionals, etc. The content is about how we are taken, blessed, broken, and given. Very inspirational.

"Toxic Charity"

"Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help."


It's a great book to help think through the issues around enabling girls vs. helping them. Some of the ideas include: 

1. Never do for the poor what they can do for themselves
2. Limit one-way giving to emergencies
3. Empower the poor through employment, lending, and investing, using grants sparingly to reinforce achievements
4. Subordinate self-interest to the needs of those being served
5. Listen closely to those you seek to help
6. Above all, do no harm

Unequal Childhoods

Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race and Family Life

Class does make a difference in the lives and futures of American children. Drawing on in-depth observations of black and white middle-class, working-class, and poor families, Unequal Childhoods explores this fact, offering a picture of childhood today. Here are the frenetic families managing their children's hectic schedules of "leisure" activities; and here are families with plenty of time but little economic security. Lareau shows how middle-class parents, whether black or white, engage in a process of "concerted cultivation" designed to draw out children's talents and skills, while working-class and poor families rely on "the accomplishment of natural growth," in which a child's development unfolds spontaneously--as long as basic comfort, food, and shelter are provided. Each of these approaches to childrearing brings its own benefits and its own drawbacks. In identifying and analyzing differences between the two, Lareau demonstrates the power, and limits, of social class in shaping the lives of America's children. 

The first edition of Unequal Childhoods was an instant classic, portraying in riveting detail the unexpected ways in which social class influences parenting in white and African-American families. A decade later, Annette Lareau has revisited the same families and interviewed the original subjects to examine the impact of social class in the transition to adulthood.

Code of the Street

Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City

Inner-city black America is often stereotyped as a place of random violence; in fact, violence in the inner city is regulated through an informal but well-known code of the street. How you dress, talk, and behave can have life-or-death consequences, with young people particularly at risk. The most powerful force counteracting this code and its reign of terror is the strong, loving, decent family, and we meet many heroic figures in the course of this narrative. Unfortunately, the culture of the street thrives and often defeats decency because it controls public spaces, so that individuals with higher, better aspirations are often entangled in the code and its self-destructive behaviors. Writing in the tradition of Jane Jacobs and William Julius Wilson, the author delineates the true workings of city streets. His most interesting characters are not the bullies and dealers, but the decent folks, young and old, who through entrepreneurship and creative self-help strategies are forging a viable alternative, an escape from the code of the street. Winner of the Komarovsky Book Award, this incisive book examines the code as a response to the lack of jobs that pay a living wage, to the stigma of race, to rampant drug use, to alienation and lack of hope. An individual's safety and sense of worth are determined by the respect he commands in public—a deference frequently based on an implied threat of violence. Unfortunately, even those with higher aspirations can often become entangled in the code's self-destructive behaviors.

Hooked: New Science on How Casual Sex is Affecting Our Children

Hooked: New Science on How Casual Sex is Affecting Our Children

Society tells us that sex is an act of self-expression, a personal choice for physical pleasure that can be summed up in the ubiquitous phrase: “hooking up.” Millions of American teenagers and young adults are finding that the psychological baggage of such behavior is having a real and lasting impact on their lives. They are discovering that “hooking up” is the easy part, but “unhooking” from the bonds of a sexual relationship can have serious consequences.

A practical look into new scientific research showing how sexual activity causes the release of brain chemicals which then result in emotional bonding and a powerful desire to repeat the activity. This book will help parents and singles understand that “safe sex” isn't safe at all; that even if they are protected against STD's and pregnancy, they are still hurting themselves and their partner.

Shepherding Women in Pain

The next few posts are going to be about great books I've been recommended... I haven't read them yet but other YoungLives friends have said they're excellent!

Shepherding Women in Pain

Infertility, divorce, domestic violence, eating disorders...all have become part of a day's work for women and men in ministry to women.  Yet, most are not prepared for this aspect of ministering to women in real pain over real issues.  

Designed to give leaders and care givers greater understanding, insights for shepherding, and referral resources, Shepherding Women in Pain is a compilation from contributors who have expertise and experience with women on the given issue.  For examples Stacey Womack, founder and Executive Director of Abuse Recovery Ministry & Services wrote the chapter on domestic violence and Kimberley Davidson, founder of Olive Branch Outreach, authored the chapter discussing eating disorders. 

The reader will be provided concise, practical, and grace-infused information designed to help women deal constructively with the trauma of their life experiences.  This book will serve as a key resource – read and re-read often – to those who serve women in pain.

Mending the Soul

Have girls with abuse in their past? We all do! Have you ever wanted and needed a great way to work through some of that with them? Mending the Soul was uniquely written with the "un-churched" kids in mind. This book is very helpful in navigating some of the really hard stuff that we don't always know how to deal with!

An Easy but Challenging Read

I saw a book at our little public library on the "Recent Additions" shelf that caught my eye. I know we are not supposed to judge a book by its cover...but who are we kidding?! The cover is what catches my attention and beckons me to pick it up and read the back.

Anyway this cover caught my eye:

So I picked it up to read the back. It piqued my interest enough for me to check it out...and then promptly let it gather dust on my nightstand for six plus weeks. You know...between motherhood, a couple of jobs, and life, it is not always the easiest to fit in time for a book!!

Two renewals and 85 cents in fines later (a nickel a day...you do the math). On a side note...I have finally chosen to not feel guilty about fines on library books. I have decided to see it as my contribution to the library's ever-dwindling budget. If you are ever late returning library books, you should try out this attitude...it is liberating! Not that I purposefully keep books longer than we're supposed to, but on the occasions when we do forget to return them on time, this attitude is freeing. Anyway, two renewals and 85 cents later, I finally picked it up.

I must say I expected it to be a fairly dry read...what with it being non-fiction, and the fact that it has a sub-title. If you didn't know, books with subtitles tend to be more dry (yes...there I go again, judging a book by its cover). But once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down! It is an easy read, and every page had my mind reeling with new revelations about how the 'media' shapes the message within it.

Author Shane Hipps takes us back thousands of years and acts a tour guide through the history of 'media' and the interplay of media and faith. I don't want to give the whole book away, but 'media' is not just tv and internet. And while in some circles, especially faith circles, 'media' gets a bad, if not downright evil, wrap, Hipps helps us to see that 'media' is not necessarily bad. Our lack of awareness of how the media affects the message is what causes the trouble.

Throughout the book Hipps takes us through a journey that ultimately leads to the realization that the media is as important as the message. Hipps wraps up with a challenge for Jesus-followers that cannot be ignored. This read was so revealing that I promptly returned the book to the library (and paid my 85 cents...you're welcome library fund!) and went to amazon to buy a copy for myself that I can re-read, mark up and take notes in. Are you ready to see How Technology Shapes Your Faith?

Shared by Amy Bonzon (Enumclaw, WA)

HURT

Ever wonder why our girls are they way that they are? Or curious about their decisions? This book and Chap will help you understand how the adolescents of today think and function, and why it's so important for us to continue to love them unconditionally!

What do teenagers really think about adults? If you think you know the answer, you may be in for a surprise. According to Chap Clark, today's adolescents have largely been abandoned by adults and left to fend for themselves in an uncertain world. As a result, teens have created their own world to serve as a shield against uncaring adults. Based on six months of participant-observer research at a California public school, this book offers a somewhat troubling but insightful snapshot of adolescent life. It will surprise and enlighten parents, youth workers, counselors, pastors, and all who want to better understand the hearts and minds of America's adolescents.

Shared by Erin Kennedy -- Chicago, IL

Praying in Color

A great prayer idea for a mentor meeting or retreat is Praying in Color. Basically the idea is to doodle your prayers!

The idea comes from a book, Praying in Color by Sybil MacBeth (cover art to the left). Basically coloring, doodling and drawing prayers brings a new depth and focus to your prayer life. The website for Praying in Color has many ideas on how to use the concept, examples of people's prayers, as well as links for finding the book.

This would be a great exercise to change things up at your next mentor meeting or retreat. Either take time and lead everyone in the same prayer...or allow them to do it independently. Here is a Color Your Prayers Instructions sheet with four ideas of prayers to color.

Prayer Art © Sybil MacBeth

Life Interrupted, Tricia Goyer

Tricia Goyer was a teen mom herself and wrote Life Interrupted to address the basic needs that teen moms have. The content of this book is relevant to both teen moms as well as adults working with teen moms. There is good blend of stories, resources, advice and application.

Young Life has a 45% discount on this book through Zondervan if you'd like to order a copy to check it out as a resource for your ministry. (see below for ordering)

Back Cover :

One day you’re a typical student. You’re working part-time at McDonald’s to pay for your clothes and car. The next day, you’re a mother-to-be. You’re confused and scared. Emotional and standoffish. You feel like a kid, but now with a huge responsibility.

How could your life change so fast? Your youth wasn’t supposed to be packed with worries and obligations, Lamaze classes and daycare choices—and you’ve still got work and school to deal with. Whatever happened to fun, friendships, and dating? You’d do anything for your baby—but what about you? What about your needs?

Sharing stories from her own experience as a teenage mom and from other young mothers, Tricia Goyer shows you what to do about meeting nine basic needs that all young moms have. Needs such as the need to be appreciated, the need to know your life is not at a dead end, and the need to be loved. In Life Interrupted, you’ll meet lots of young moms just like you. You’ll also meet God, who cares about you very much.

Zondervan
zondervan.com
(800) 727-1309
45 percent discount

To order, call the number above, press 2 to place your order. Then press 0 to speak with an operator. Give the salesperson account number 9082419000 and your mission unit number. Invoice will come to Creative Services for coding. Invoice amount will be charged to your area account. Attention International Staff: To order books online, you will need to set up an international trade account with Zondervan. Simply e-mail Carrie Colter to request an international trade account for your area.