YMS Episode 54 -- Find Your Tribe

No man (or woman, or youthworker) is an island.

For us (Mathew and Steve), this whole podcast idea was born out of our friendship, which began when we met through our local youth network. In the 15 years since Mathew responded to Steve's cheesy flyer invitation to come and pray (as described in Episode 00), we've benefited in incalculable ways from the mutual encouragement and support we've found through our network. We've gone to conferences together, hung out around the campfire, swapped stories for hours on end, and seen each other through some tough times. These are the relationships that have kept us in the game for all these years. We wouldn't have made it this far without each other.

Fifteen years after that first meeting, we still gather every month with our local youth worker tribe to pray for the students in our area.

So it's fitting that episode 54 (which we meant to release in May but never finished) is about networking. We recorded it at the Youth Leader Summit in New Jersey, where we were hanging out and talking youth ministry with some great folks. While attending the Summit, we had the chance to sit down with Wayne Morgan of the National Network of Youth Ministries, and two of the guys from the network he leads (Chris McNaney and Bryan Krauss). We had a great chat about the irreplaceable value of finding brothers and sisters in arms for the youth ministry journey. It's not always easy to find our tribe, and there are always some challenging personalities to overcome (like "Flyer Guy"), but it's worth it. We know from experience.

Is this the final episode of Season 3, or the first episode of Season 4? We aren't really sure, and it doesn't really matter. All that matter is that we are still here. "We" meaning Mathew and Steve, this podcast, and youth workers everywhere. Longevity matters, and having friends in youth ministry is the most important thing to getting there.

EPISODE 54 -- Find Your Tribe