Ambassadors are the 4th & 5th grade leadership team of students who agree to represent their families, their local church, and their Savior in areas of witness, service, teaching, and worship. They attend a faith milestone offered each fall then put into practice what they learn throughout the next year. I’ve been honored to collaborate with other kidmin leaders to design a two-year rotation Ambassador retreat to take Ambassadorship to the next level and share the program with other local churches’ 4th & 5th graders.

As the lead for Family Ministry we’ve designed faith milestones specific to students 6th-12th grade. Developmentally appropriate leadership training for high school students will be rolled out as AGENTs.

Ambassador = a representative of someone or an organization

Agent = one who acts on behalf of someone or an organization

A – Ambassador refresher; as new material/opportunities for youth for first-time ambassadors
G – Gospel; learning and practicing sharing the good news of our faith in real-life, as they go about their everyday
E – Explore opportunities to learn skills and grow in relationships with other generations within the local church; recruiting and leading a team to accomplish a goal to the glory of God; practice humbly receiving direction and graciously offering instruction
N – Neighbors; serving our neighbors and defining who ARE our neighbors; designing and implementing a purposeful plan to engage our neighbors in a project
T – Trusting the truth of God’s Word from an apologetic (defending the truth) biblical worldview

The first AGENT project this fall will be Operation Christmas Child led by a rising high school junior who had been an ambassador with me in 4th & 5th grades. We’ve set her goals, scheduled her interest meeting, her fundraiser (to be led by another AGENT + wingman), and discussed all the steps to implement a successful campaign with a clear beginning and a clear end for evaluation.

The AGENT will be the face of the project, I will be her coach throughout the project. Over the next two weeks, she will have recruited her wingman to share the journey (Jesus never sent out His disciples one at a time, but rather two or three or seventy) and confirmed her calendar with her family, her school activities, for the church to begin promoting the AGENT project.

AGENTs and Ambassadors are part of the Nehemiah Project which is the discipleship pathway of our local church for children through youth/young adults to make disciples who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly. An AGENT will define goals, set schedules, calendar with the local church, manage a budget, recruit and recognize a team, and evaluate and celebrate with a team.

What does youth and student leadership look like in your context?

“It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.” Deuteronomy 13:4