For the last four years, I have been working as one of the adults who help behind the scenes at Dynamos, the diocesan wide high-school retreat, as well as working with the teenage leaders at Camp Araminta in the summer. For those unfamiliar with Dynamos, it is a renewal weekend run for teenagers by other teenagers. The adults, like myself, are there as a support to the team, helping them grow into young leaders, but it is the teenage team that actually runs the weekend.

 

I have long had a passion for diocesan-wide Anglican events. One of the things that fascinates me is being part of something on a bigger scale than my individual church. In fact, a youth minister from Redeemer Jacksonville first asked me to be a part of a Dynamos weekend in the spring of 2014, a semester before any of my children would be old enough to go to the weekend. Dynamos has two weekends a year, and on March 2-4 of this year, I attended my ninth straight Dynamos, on which my son Kieran Caspian Kirby led as Rector in his eighth straight Dynamos.

 

I also am passionate about working with high schoolers. I teach high school and relate strongly to that age group. One of the things that I have learned through the years of teaching is that you learn a subject so much more when you teach it than when you are just studying it. For me, that is even truer when offering spiritual guidance to teenagers.

 

These teenagers in leadership never cease to surprise me with their ability to take on a weekend like Dynamos and really connect with other students and guide them along the path to the Lord. I have seen teens bring other teens to Christ and lift each other up in their deepening spiritual relationship. They also challenge me to deepen my relationship with Christ, and that is especially true of working so many teams with my son.

 

Kieran has grown from a young high schooler unsure of his leadership skills into an individual that the entire high school Dynamos community turns to for leadership. Obviously, as his papa, I get to see behind that curtain complete with all his insecurities about leadership. However, his consistent willingness to listen and pray to the Lord about what he is supposed to do far supersedes mine. I sometimes move with too much confidence in my own decisions without fully keeping myself grounded in the Lord. Watching my son has helped me become a better follower of Christ.

 

Finding the right ministry for yourself is not always easy. In fact, there is a force consistently working to keep people from God. Through the years, not just with Dynamos, my wife and I have often found that other side tends to come with spiritual attacks in and around times of renewal weekends and summer camps, because that side wants to shake from their purpose those who are trying to work for God. Recently, I read a verse that really helped me with this. It comes from 2 Kings 6, and it is Elijah explaining to his servant that though the king is sending an army his way, the Lord’s army, though usually unseen to the human eye, is bigger.

 

 

Directly after this Elijah asked for his servant’s eyes to be opened, and suddenly he could see they were surrounded by horses and chariots of fire. Though they could not see them, and all seemed lost, they were never in the minority. That is how the tough part of ministry always seems to me, like the enemy is out in force and I am all alone. It is never true. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Always.

 

 

 

Jamey Kirby