‘Listen In’ personal reflection journal for youth/kids leaders review by Becky Lawrence, Youth & Kids leader St Mark’s MK, and Founder Youthwork+

 

Listen In, is a journal full of exercises to help you listen in, featuring tools for personal theological reflection.  It features 40 exercises in fact – to help you grow, self reflect and develop new spiritual rhythms for your life.

There are 90 pages in this booklet all designed to help you self reflect and listen in to what God might be saying to you – in your life and your ministry.   Personal reflection is a really important practice for youth and kids leaders as it helps keep us grounded and in tune with what God wants us to do and keeps our relationship with him fed and watered.

Youth and kids leaders are usually always serving and leading ministry and it’s not always easy to find or make a lot of time for growing our own spiritual journey.  This is where this book comes in as a great tool for doing just that.  You can use it to do one exercise a day over 40 days, or do an exercise or two each week for 40 or less weeks, or designate a whole day or two as retreat time to work your way through all the pages, and the self reflection and ‘listening to God’ tasks within.   You could also use it as a team as part of debrief sessions or team times.  The exercises are varied and include prayer, relfecting on highlights, fasting, hopes and dreams and more.

The journal is £12.99 but I would say is well worth it as there is so much material within the 90 pages.  For those who went to Youthscape’s National Youth Ministry Weekend this was one of the many resources we got given for free at the conference.  It’s well worth going to the conference not just for the awesome quality freebies!

Here’s what Youthscape have to say on their shop about this resource:

“Defined simply, theological reflection is any process or activity that seeks to connect faith and life. For some, this can involve any reflective activity, like pondering the reality of the universe on the bus or talking with fellow youth workers about their ministry. For others, it’s a more structured and intentional, drawing out specific implications for our youth work and theology and changes the way that we think and act.

The purpose of theological reflection is to connect our experience with our Christian faith. It helps us to draw the dots between what we believe on the one hand, and the interactions, challenges, and highs and lows of everyday life on the other. Theological reflection can bring a fresh perspective, and can challenge us to see things in a new way. As we take the time to ponder deeply about our lives and ministries, it can also shed light on our theological presumptions, and can begin to change our perspective.

 

 

The journal activities include:

• Diverse types of prayer
• Explorations of simplicity, lament, gratitude, and community
• Engaging with the Bible in new ways
• Spaces for creativity and self-reflection
• Exploring hopes and dreams for young people
• Questions for God”

You can get hold of a copy for yourself or your team in the Youthscape shop here… https://www.youthscape.co.uk/store/product/listen-in