March 25, 2021
 
LAST NIGHT at PRIME
 
Wow wow wow! We had so much fun at Youth Olympics last night! It’s strange – take me back 3 years and I wouldn’t have turned my head in the youth room if I heard something crash along with the looming silence waiting to be broken by a student shifting blame, “That was YOUR fault!” For the past year, though, the sounds that have been most familiar to that youth space have been construction and silence.  It’s been a long time since our youth room has heard the sound of ceiling tiles breaking, things slam into the walls, drinks spilling, or students arguing back and forth “YOU DIDN’T WIN!” “YES I DID!” “NO YOU DIDN’T!” “YES I DID!”
 
While these aren’t new sounds to anyone’s ears, you can’t hear them without smiling.  Like grandma’s cookies or dad’s Saturday breakfast omelettes, those sounds bring comfort and joy to any adult who works with teenagers because they tell us that the good things in life have survived and they live on. Like old tastes, the sounds of beautiful chaos last night brought the past and the present together, fully convincing me that we have reached a point we have all wished would come: “We’re having youth group activities tonight.”
 
NEXT WEDNESDAY at NARROW
 
Looking forward to spending a night of worship and prayer with the students.  We are going to be focusing on Habakkuk 1:2-5 and Isaiah 50:4-9.  “What the world needs now…is Easter, sweet Easter.”
 
6pm – 7pm in the youth room.  Can’t wait!
 
SUNDAY SCHOOL
 
I have a few video clips from movies that we are going to look at and dissect with a faith-scalpel — i.e. the thief and bishop scene in Les Miserables.  I’m looking forward to it!
 
Sunday school starts at 9:30am, and corporate worship starts at 10:30am.
 
YOUTH BEACH CAMP
 
What // Beach Camp with Student Life
Where // Orange Beach, AL (Gulf Shores)
When // June 13-18
Who // Any student who has just completed 7th grade or 12th grade
How much // $400 + $50-60 for traveling meals and extra spending money
 
 
It’s a good time to be in the youth ministry game, and what an honor it has been and is to be the youth pastor to these students and their families.  If there is anything I can do to support you, please let me or my wife know.
 
 
Dan Venzin
(936) 634-3386
dan@fbclufkin.org
 
Katie Venzin
(for contact information, please see the church directory or contact Dan for this information)
 
 
—
 
March 18, 2021
 
LAST NIGHT at NARROW
 
How often do teenagers get a chance to do stand up improv standup comedy, have a hidden talents contest — consisting of drum solos, dance numbers, burping, and bravery — and go to sonic to talk about Jesus over slushies, mozzarella sticks, and milk shakes?  Among all the good that these students are doin, it is fun be able to acknowledge and celebrate their victories.  Among all the tough things these students are going through, it is good to be able to remind them that hope is still alive.  
 
NEXT WEDNESDAY at PRIME
 
We will be in the youth room for Youth Olympics! Students will team up and take on each other in a series of fun/ridiculous challenges he students who are will be teamed up to take on one another in a bunch of fun and ridiculous challenges.  I mean, how can Coke Can Curling not be a guaranteed fun time for all?
 
6pm – 7pm in the youth room.  Can’t wait!
 
SUNDAY SCHOOL
 
We’re going to be jumping back into Matthew 14:22-36, discussing what does it look like with faith to “play like a champion today”?
 
 
YOUTH BEACH CAMP
 
I never thought I would miss youth summer camp, but boy howdy I’m excited that we’re going this year!
 
What // Beach Camp with Student Life
Where // Orange Beach, AL (Gulf Shores)
When // June 13-18
Who // Any student who has just completed 7th grade or 12th grade
How much // we have not finalized cost (still looking at housing and meals), but expect $400-450
Registration will be up soon — I will send out that link when it’s open.
 
One thing that we always promise is that we won’t let cost be a reason students can’t go to camp.  We have had PLENTY of gracious and generous people at this church over the years who have given money specifically to a fund we have set aside to help students pay for camp who cannot pay for camp. Obviously I’m NOT saying, “Hey don’t worry about paying for camp! Its free!”  What I’m saying is if you can only pay half, then pay half.  If you can only pay 3/4, then pay 3/4.  If you can’t pay anything, we’ve got you. Money is maybe the #1 thing we all worry about in our lives — so if camp adds to that worry, let us carry it for you.  We can’t fix all your worries, but we can try to make it less heavy for a little bit.
 
If you have any questions or need to talk with me, I’m a phone call, text, or email away!
 
 
I’m grateful for the chance to spend time with these students, and I hope that in our time together they get to see what makes Jesus doing something different in a world where a lot stays the same.
 
 
Dan Venzin
(936) 634-3386
dan@fbclufkin.org
 
Katie Venzin
(for contact information, please see the church directory or contact Dan for this information)
 
 
—
 
March 4, 2021
 
LAST NIGHT at PRIME
 
Fact: NO CAP TRIVIA was a ton of fun! And we had our first winners of the “PRIME TROPHY” — which is a toilet seat spray painted gold with the words “PRIME TROPHY” written with a sharpie.  It’s beautiful.  
 
There are always underlying intentions behind the things we do in the student ministry.  Last night, we wanted to give the students an opportunity to feel relief from the pressures of “their worlds.” We wanted them to hear a question be asked, hear themselves give an incorrect answer, and then feel what it is like to receive no consequence for being incorrect.  In their world — at school — mistakes and wrong answers are penalized.  In their world — on social media — mistakes follow you and they can “cancel” everything for which you have worked.  Pressure, while important, is in great supply for them, but relief seems to be scarce for this generation.  Relief is the gift that Jesus gives us so that we can experience rest instead of struggle, and see that there’s more to life than “becoming” something…life is also about “being” something.  Institutions, organizations, corporations and companies exist to put pressure on all of us — pressure to achieve, to produce, to get and to buy…but rarely do they ask us to be still, to enjoy, to hold, and to be content. If the pressure is never taken off a lump of coal, it will never see the diamond that was inside of it all along.
 
Last night seemed to be a relief from pressure for our students,, because if you looked in that room you could see diamonds — teenagers who were given no expectations, no consequences, no demands, but teenagers who were having fun, laughing, joking, and taking a break from “the outside world”…and just giving answers to dumb questions like “What do you call a group of bears?” (answer: a sleuth).  It was a good night.
 
NEXT WEDNESDAY 
 
We will not be having any Wednesday night youth activities during spring break! We will resume on March 17th with NARROW.
 
SUNDAY SCHOOL
 
We will have Sunday school on March 7th, and we will be discussing 3 poems by Fred Rogers:
  • The Clown in Me
  • I’m Glad I’m the Way I Am
  • Who Shall I Be Today?
 
PARENT RESOURCE
 
I had no idea what to expect the first day I walked into Truett Seminary.  I hadn’t ever stepped foot inside a seminary, met a seminary professor, or talked to a seminary student.  I assumed it was the place where all the people who had 15 years worth of perfect attendance awards from Sunday school, or people who thought Youth Summer Camp was way more “aWeSoMe!!” than it really is…but I was wrong.  The people there became the voices I trust and seek for wisdom.
 
At Truett, they have “chapel” once a week and they have started to put their chapel sermons on a podcast called “Truett Chapel.” While none of them may deal specifically with “parenting teenagers,” they definitely deal with something and they deal with that something well. It’s a mixture of professors at Truett and other pastors from around the world.
 
If I could recommend 3 to listen to (all professors I had):
  1. Spring 2021 Convocation — Dean Todd Still
  2. September 8, 2020 — Dr. Joel Gregory
  3. February 9, 2021 — Dr. Robert Creech
 
These are available on Spotify (possibly other platforms but that’s the only one I have).
 
 
Enjoy Spring Break! Katie and I are always available to yall.
 
Dan Venzin
(936) 634-3386
dan@fbclufkin.org
 
Katie Venzin
(for contact information, please see the church directory or contact Dan for this information)
—
 
 
 
February 25, 2021
 
LAST NIGHT at NARROW
 
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?  IT’S FINALLY HERE! What a great first night in our new youth room. As I walked around the room last night and watched students interacting with each other, adults laughing with them, snacks being eaten, and conversations being had, I thought to myself, “I can’t wait to see what this place turns into.” 
 
We are using a different approach to our regular Wednesday night youth schedule.  Every other week we will have a “worship night” (known as NARROW), and the weeks in-between we will have a “fun night” (known as PRIME).  I chose the term “narrow” to symbolize the direction we are trying to point students — to the narrow gate and the narrow road that Jesus tells us we are to travel into and on in Matthew 7:13-14.
 
I have a longer reflection below that you are welcome to read, but for those just looking for information on what’s happening in our student ministry: here it is.
 
NEXT WEDNESDAY at PRIME
 
PRIME nights are “fun nights.” PRIME nights are the nights where our PRIM(E)ary focus is building rapport and community with one another. Students will be placed on “teams” that they will remain on for the entire semester, and the team that “wins” the game that week will get the PRIME TROPHY.  That team will then get to take the trophy with them for a week and have certain privileges at NARROW the next week. 
 
We will be having our first PRIME night on March 3rd from 6pm-7pm in the youth room. Doors will open at 5:30pm and close at 8:00pm.
 
This Wednesday we will be playing “Stressful Trivia.” It’s trivia night, but they’re going to have to answer questions under stressful conditions (i.e. time limits, penalties, point deductions, etc.).  It’s so much fun and I can’t wait to watch the chaos.
 
SUNDAY SCHOOL
 
We are having Sunday school in the youth room starting at 9:15am every Sunday morning.  I asked some of the students to come up with an idea for what they would like to do during Sunday school and they came up with a great idea: whatever topic/verse I address at NARROW, we will discuss further in small groups in Sunday school.  On the weeks that we have PRIME, the following Sunday we will look at poems written by Fred Rogers and discuss as a large group why we think he said to himself, “It’s important that children hear these words.” 
 
PARENT RESOURCE
 
“The Pandemic Population: Eight Strategies to Help Generation Z Rediscover Hope After Coronavirus” by Tim Elmore.
  • This was recommended to me by a friend in ministry, I just started reading this and have already found it very insightful into how I want to approach ministry to students during a pandemic.
 
I’d love to sit and chat with you at any time, so please contact me if you’d ever like to speak with me.
 
Dan Venzin
(936) 634-3386
dan@fbclufkin.org
 
Katie Venzin
(for contact information, please see the church directory or contact Dan for this information)
 
 
TRANSITIONS
 
In June 2016, the youth moved out of what was described as “The Coolest Youth Room” and into some classrooms that had been converted into a “functional youth room.” To the students, parents, and everyone else at the church, the transition from the old space to the new space must have been an adjustment. “What was” was probably not as good as “what is” for everyone involved.
 
I arrived at FBC Lufkin in October of 2016, and I started working with the students of our church in a youth room that I described as “An Awesome Youth Room.” To me, the transition from seminary, where I had spent the past four years preparing myself for a career in youth ministry, to a new space where I was asked to minister to teenagers was an exciting adjustment.  “What was” never existed for me, and “what is” was everything I could have asked for.
 
Over the past four years, that space went through some transitions, each one of them being “intentional” in their execution. As our student ministry grew, we removed some of the temporary walls to make room for “one more.”  We took down the curtains hanging behind the stage, closed in the windows behind them with plywood, and painted the entire backdrop with chalkboard paint.  Students wrote their names on that wall, and every time they saw their name they saw that this was a space where they were welcome. Even the “decorations” that were put up were intentional in their selection.  At our Christmas party one year we converted a beam into a Christmas tree and left up year-round to remind students in July of a time when they each hung an ornament on it as they walked out at the end of the night.  
 
Our youth space was functional for all the right operations – community, grace, acceptance, laughter, and worship.
 

But on February 12, 2020, in a room that was once described as a “functional youth room” but now described by students as “The Most Hospitable Youth Room in Town,” we met for the last time.  There was no formal “goodbye” to it, and a few months later it was torn down to make room for a new space.  For several months, we didn’t sit together as a group, half of our familiar faces had vanished (graduated), and our youth room and it’s activities existed only in memories.

“Transition” is a double-edged sword. While the cut between “what was” and “what is” can hurt, it creates something beautiful: “What could be.” 
 
Transition is what we aim for in our lives and especially for the lives of our teenagers. We hope that students will transition from a life “without Christ” to a life “with Christ.” So I can’t think of a better place or a better place for them to do that than here at FBC First Students. My prayer is that we would take a lesson from this space — as this space allowed itself to be molded, shaped, and transformed at the mercy of our hands, may we allow ourselves to be molded, shaped, and transformed at the mercy of God’s hands.
 
WHAT WAS
WHAT IS
 
 
 
 
—
 
 
October 29, 2020

 

LAST NIGHT

“It is so cold,” “I can’t feel my fingers,” and “It has rained and been freezing every Neewollah” were common phrases from last night, but if I were to pick a word that accurately painted a picture of what Neewollah 2020 was like I would choose: “Normal.”  Every year we have had pumpkin carving, costumes, tons of pizza, mounds of candy, at least one “gross” game, and terrible weather.  What a gift it was for all of us last night for reality to match our expectations.
 

NEXT WEDNESDAY

Youth will be back in our normal space (Mirror room, 2nd Floor of the FLC) at our normal time (6pm-7pm).  The youth team and I hope your teenager will be able to join us! Whether it’s their 100th time, 1st time, or 1st time in a long time to attend – they have a place at First Students and we’d love to help them find it.

November 11th will be our LAST official “at church” youth Wednesday night of 2020.  We will be doing youth activities sporadically in December, so be on the lookout for that information – I will send it to the Youth Parents GroupMe and I will have it on the youth website. 
 
YOUTH T-SHIRT ORDER
 
(back)
(front pocket)
 
Our very own Grady & Sawyer Lowery are making us some AWESOME t-shirts.  
 
Shirts will be $10 each (you can pay online or in person), and feel free to order more than one if your whole family would like to have one!
 
 
 
 
 

BUILDING UPDATE

Check. This. OUT!

 
 
Hope yall have a great weekend, and, as always, give me or Katie a call if you ever need us!
 
 

“You’ve got your show dogs and you’ve got your ranch dogs…which one is your kid?”

 
Dan Venzin
(936) 634-3386
dan@fbclufkin.org
 
Katie Venzin
(for contact information, please see the church directory or contact Dan for this information)
 
 
—
 
 
 
October 22, 2020
 
 
LAST NIGHT
 
Last night was a good night. We talked to one another while making giant paper airplanes out of posterboard, and we laughed together while throwing them off the 2nd floor balcony. We explored together the under-construction youth room, and we prayed together that it would become a good place for students in the Lufkin area to experience the good news of Jesus Christ.  Last night was certainly a good night.

 

NEXT WEDNESDAY

 

0202 NEEWOLLAH | HALLOWEEN 2020

Close your eyes and think of the Halloween/Fall Festival of your childhood dreams. Now open your eyes. Welcome to 0202 Neewollah – First Students annual Halloween party. It’s truly great. We’ll have food, we’ll have drinks, we’ll have candy, games, pumpkin carving contests, costume contests, mystery contests, and more.

And if that didn’t win you over, maybe this will: We will be outside the whole time!

 

What // Youth Halloween Party

When // Oct. 28, 2020, 6pm-7:30pm

Where // Grassy fenced in courtyard behind new church building

Who // 7th-12th grade students (friends are always welcome)

How // Phil. 4:13

For students: wear a costume, bring a facemask, remember to do your best to be courteous of people’s space, and enjoy an 1.5hr of stepping away from expectations.

For parents: You are all welcome to attend this event (you don’t have to wear a costume…but you can). Every year I have at least one true gut-laugh at this party. I will need help cleaning up after the event so if anyone can help with that, please get in touch with me this week/weekend.

 

Parent Resources

Podcast Episode | “Youth Ministry in an Angry World: Part 2”

I was listening to this podcast episode last night This is a great discussion surrounding the question of “If most adults/parents/youth workers have been struggling this year trying to navigate through life, how are students doing?” Worth a listen if you have 30 minutes.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0YZlvMCwVVZqSDH37akAPK?si=bnbnYxa4TwO8YPl6oPVTiQ

 

Orange Leaders

Jane Wilson (youth ministry legend rivaling Solomon in wisdom) recommended this website as a place for anyone – parents/teachers/ministers/etc. – trying to lead teenagers. I have not looked through it extensively, but there is a blog, podcast, free downloadable material, and other interesting reads.

https://orangeleaders.com

Yesterday I sent out a message saying, “If your student has been exposed to the flu, strep, covid, or cooties, have them skip this week so they can come next week to the Halloween party.”

What I did not say or communicate was, “If your student has been exposed to the flu, strep, or covid, please let me know if there is anything Katie or I can do to support you.” Your kids’ health is more important than a Halloween party.

Our shelves are overstocked with frustration, annoyances, and restlessness. Katie and I would like to act as your advocates.  If your shelves are full, we want to stand at the loading dock doors telling the delivery trucks, “No thank you, they have enough product at the moment.” Whatever we can do to support you, we’re here.

“When life gives you lemons…hold up…why?  Out of all the fruits life could have chosen to distribute, it chose the one fruit that no one wants to eat by itself. You could have chosen oranges, pomegranates, kiwis…come on…”

Dan Venzin
(936) 634-3386
dan@fbclufkin.org
 
Katie Venzin
(for contact information, please see the church directory or contact Dan for this information)
 
—
 
 
October 15, 2020
 
We hope you’re all finding rhythm and rest today! I hope our student ministry can be a place where all teenagers feel welcome, cared for, valued, and heard. So if your teenager comes every week, used to come often but now doesn’t, or they have never been, we would love to have them them around! 
 

This Past Wednesday

ACTIVITY : KICKBALL

If you want to learn something new about a person – invite them to play a game of kickball.  Are they as athletic as they appear? How do they respond when instead of catching the kickball it smashes them in the face? How do they react when striking out? At what cost will a person try to win a game of kickball?

We had a GREAT time playing kickball yesterday during youth! No one got hurt or bitten by ants, which I will mark down as a win for everyone. 
 

DEVOTIONAL : PHILIPPIANS 4:13

I believe this verse has often made us believe that Christ gives us the strength to do the things which are necessary receive blessings from him – “God will give me the strength to overcome my sadness so that I live a happy life.  God will give me the strength to be smarter so I can achieve the things that smart people achieve.” This is a form of prosperity gospel that says the more you do the more you receive, and if you are not receiving then you are not doing enough. 

For all of us, and for teenagers especially, the gift and strength we receive from Jesus is freedom from the rat race, freedom from the game that says the winners are those who prove their worthiness by the amount they achieve and the losers are those who were too weak to rise above the real circumstances of life.  It’s an invitation to play a game that says you can be depressed, failing classes, fat, skinny, beautiful, ugly, live in a mansion, live in your car, you can be exactly who you are right now and still receive peace, joy, hope and love. 

Paul says, “I am not saying all this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what It means to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want…I can do all of this through him who gives me strength.”  I can be strong, I can be robust, I can be in sound health in all of this through him who gives me strength. I can find life in all of this beauty and in all of this mess.

That’s what strength looks like and that is what we receive from Jesus.
 
 

This Coming Wednesday

ACTIVITY : Giant Paper Airplane Contest

We will be making paper airplanes out of posterboards, flying them off the 2nd floor balcony and seeing who can fly the furthest.  The catch: everyone else is throwing nerf darts at the paper airplanes.

I can’t wait.

DEVOTIONAL : Jeremiah 29:11

What are these “plans” that God has for us?

 

Sunday School

Where : 1st floor lobby of the Family Life Center

When : 9:15am (ish) – 10:15am

What : breakfast food and bible discussion

Who : 7th – 12th grade students

How : however you can make it happen

 

Parent Resources

Center for Parent/Youth Understanding

https://cpyu.org

Fuller Youth Institute

https://fulleryouthinstitute.org/stickyfaith

 

Building Update

 
 

“The best substitute for life experience is being sixteen years old.”

 

Dan Venzin
(936) 634-3386
dan@fbclufkin.org
 
Katie Venzin
(for contact information, please see the church directory or contact Dan for this information)
 
—
 
October 8, 2020
 

Welcome to The Parents Corner!

 
“What a crazy year this has been” has become such an overused phrase.  It’s getting to the point where hearing it is more annoying than ordering a medium drink at Starbucks and being corrected with, “Did you mean a grande?”  …please… It has been a crazy year, but is it really any different than any other year? Figuring out schedules, last minute school projects, other kid’s activities, your job, your own sanity, etc.
 

My hope is that “The Parents Corner” can act as an adequate stand-in for some of those “unnoticed small things” we rely on to stay connected to one another. Every Thursday I am going to update this page on our church website with what is going in the youth ministry at FBC Lufkin – what happened in the youth group this week, what is coming up in the next few weeks, giving resources for parents with teenagers, updates on the new youth room, needs we have in the student ministry, etc. 

 

Wednesday Nights

  • Next Wednesday we will be back in our regular temporary meeting space – 2nd floor of the Family Life Center in the mirror room.
  • We started a devotional series called “The Pop 5” where we are reengaging with 5 scripture verses that we’ve seen so often that we hardly feel any drive to jump into them again – John 3:16, Jeremiah 29:11, Philippians 4:13, Romans 8:28, John 13:34.
      • Yesterday we looked at John 13:34. We talked about how all of us have deep inner and outer struggles, and as unique as our struggle may feel – we all share a common experience of wrestling with something daily. If we are all working at and wrestling with something daily, we should ask ourselves as individuals and as a youth group: Do people feel better or worse about coming here and being here knowing that I’m here? So if we can be anything as a person and a group, we should strive to be people who are known by the love we have for one another.
  • Next week we will be discussing Philippians 4:13

 

Sunday School

We are meeting in the lobby of the Family Life Center instead of the 2nd floor.  We are going through a series called “A Psalm for Every Occasion” where we read through a chapter and discuss what emotions might have been present in the author when writing these verses and how those emotions effect our daily lives.

 
Parents and Student Group Text
 
Most of my communication comes through the group text.  If you would like to join the PARENTS FBC LUFKIN FIRST STUDENTS group text, and/or your student would like to be added to the group text: 
 
  1. Download GroupMe from the App Store.
  2. Text, email, or call me and I will add you.
 

Building Update

If you haven’t had a chance to wander up to the youth room under construction, your jaw may drop when you see how great this new space is going to be for our teenagers.  I have not seen the other student ministry spaces in Lufkin, but I know that this one will be considered one of the best for years to come. The walls and drywall are up, the stage is being built, the colors have been selected, the sound, video, and light equipment has been ordered, and we’re hoping it will be ready for us to move into by next semester. 

 

If you have not seen the space yet, send me a text and I will send you some pictures.

 

What I’m reading/listening to/watching that is forming me that you might enjoy:

Podcasts:

  • Ask N.T. Wright Anything
  • Youth Ministry Sherpas
  • The Minimalists

 

Books:

  • Between the Dark and the Daylight by Joan Chittister
  • Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything by BJ Fogg, PhD.
  • The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen

 

Movies:

  • A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
  • The Way Way Back

 

Music:

  • Johnny Cash
  • John Mark McMillan – Monsters Talk (feat. Bear Rinehart)
  • Citizens – Join the Triumph (album)

 

“Teenagers to parents are like a car with 170,000 miles on it.  It’s got hundreds of problems, it’s expensive to maintain, you can’t get rid of it yet, but you love it more than it makes sense.”

 

Dan Venzin
(936) 634-3386
dan@fbclufkin.org
 
Katie Venzin
(for contact information, please see the church directory or contact Dan for this information)