  Home Group Last night I was having an online conversation with a girl who was a member of a youth home group I used to lead. Because of work, I had to stop leading this group in the middle of last year, and I have missed the people in the group.
When I started leading the group I was not sure what I was doing, I had no experience, and felt way out of my depth. For quite a while I tried my hardest to get the kids to listen to studies, to do the stuff I wanted them to do, and I got no response. I wondered why, wondered what I was doing wrong. Didn’t they like me? Did I not know how to lead a group? Did others have this problem? I was on the point of giving up leading, handing it on to someone with more experience. Then I went to a youth leader’s training weekend, and talked to other youth leaders. To my amazement, and relief, I discovered that other people were having the same difficulties I was. From then, I changed my approach. Rather than concentrating on what I had planned, and my agenda, I started to listen to the members of the group more, tried to see where they were at, and what was going on in their lives.
I concentrated on building relationships with them, on being there for them, and encouraging them to know that they could talk to me about anything. Last night, one of the kids was asking my advice on something she was facing. It was great to be asked, to have her feel that she could approach me with concerns.
It has taken a while to get to that point, but all the work I put in is worth it, when someone comes to you for advice. What am I trying to say here? I guess my advice to anyone who is working with youth, or with anyone, is that it may seem sometimes like you are getting nowhere, like they don’t listen to a word you are saying, but stick with it, one day the work may pay off, when you least expect it 
