I just returned from Denver and time with the YFC/USA national board.  If you’ve been involved on a local board you understand that meetings can often be tedious and,  at worst, drift into minutiae or what is called “micro management” (board members trying to do the work of the staff or Executive Director of the organization).  I’ve had the privilege of serving as a Field Trustee (field representatives from each YFC geographic region) for the past several years and this board meeting was one of the best I’ve attended.  What sets it apart?

1) Focus on the 30,000 foot view: Micro management, or doing the job of the staff, often takes boards down to the 10 foot level in managing results.  Board members need to be in tune with the ministry that is happening on the front lines of YFC work, but our main focus should be on the big picture, the vision of this movement, whether nationally or locally (like the Tacoma YFC Board). During our 2 1/2 days together we heard of unique, creative, niche-type ministries the Lord has built in local YFC chapters such as foster care, Point Break (a day long workshop for high school and middle schoolers helping them deal with bullying, prejudice,  fear, etc.), tutoring, YFC World (online YFC ministry), Deaf Teen Quest (ministry to deaf and hearing impaired young people), and mentoring.  It was fun to hear from frontline YFC staff the difference Jesus is making in young lives through these ministries…and how each fits into the mission of YFC/USA.  For some of these ministries, the next step is to simply raise  “visibility” across the country for this option, for several of these ministries the next step is to help chapters see it as a vital “tool” in their ministry “toolbox” to reach kids for Jesus.  Throughout the meetings, our leader, President Dan Wolgemuth, and Board member/facilitator extraordinaire, Bud Moeller, brought us back to the big picture as “keepers of the vision” of YFC/USA.

2) Common passion: On the final day of meetings Dan Wolgemuth was reflecting on what has made this Board so unique and this set of meeting so special. He summed it up well by saying, “We all want the same thing”.  By that he meant, “we all want to see kids meet Jesus…everykid, everywhere, in all walks of life, no matter their circumstance”.    A phrase that Dan used in his State of the Mission address to the Board was “No young person too lost, no environment too broken, no community too disconnected.”  I love that!  No one is beyond the reach of God’s saving grace…we all, staff, board, volunteers and donors/ministry partners need to remember that truth and keep that as our common bond.  That is a vision that ignites passion and compels us to get involved.

3) Fellowship and challenge:  I look forward to these YFC/USA Board meetings because I love to see what God is doing around the country through YFC but I also genuinely appreciate the friendship and challenge of each Board member, the 11 Lay Trustees and 8 Field Trustees.  We laugh alot,  stop to pray often after every presentation or problem presented, and enjoy each other’s fellowship (we all enjoyed the cheap seats in Coors Stadium “Rockpile” to watch the Rockies on Friday night). Yet, to a person, we’re not afraid of challenging each other for the good of the mission.  We understand our role as followers of Christ (to love and challenge each other to serve the Lord) as well as the burden we carry as nat’l board members.

In the midst of very challenging financial times, I’m encouraged at how God continues to open new doors for the ministries of YFC, provide excellent staff and how His Spirit is bringing new, fresh, cutting edge ministries to share the great news of Jesus with young people.