Stories From the Road - Jake Kampe

Leading a Life Group is a journey.  Those of us that lead Life Groups are on the same journey, but we all take different turns and find ourselves on different roads.  Some of us will make discoveries that others haven’t yet uncovered, and others will face obstacles that `others haven’t come across.  What if we all came together and shared our stories, successes, failures and valuable discoveries that we consider priceless in leading Life Groups?  What would these “Stories from the Road” be worth to you? Here’s a few to get us started!

“We always have a specific plan and purpose: a specific book or study, and we encourage everyone to take turns leading.  We keep the order in which we lead or facilitate very relaxed and don’t push anyone into leading.  However, we’ve found that almost all of our group members have stepped up to lead.  This way we all share in the growth of our Life Group.”

“We begin several Life Group meetings by sharing our life stories with each other. This really helps us get to know each other on develops a more personal level of growth and intimacy within the group.”

“Prayer is a significant part of our Life Group’s health and growth.  We keep tract of prayer requests during each meeting.  At the end of each meeting, we share our prayer requests by writing them individually writing them down and then emailing them to everyone in the group.  Some members are beginning to bring their prayer journals and writing down all the prayer requests to take them home.  This way we all keep a constant running list of prayers during the week.”

“Regular attendance is vital to a successful Life Group.  Each of us try and encourage those folks that miss from time to time and have had a lot of success with that.” 

“When leading a Life Group, don’t be afraid of the “awkward silences” that can develop when discussing a lesson or video.  Feel the freedom of silence and give the question or comment some time to sink in.  Don’t be so quick to break the silence.  This will only encourage others to not share.  Silence is not always a bad thing.”

Great stuff, guys!  The road has its twists and turns, doesn’t it?  But when you think about it, we all come from the same starting point and are all heading for the same destination.  If we continue to share our stories, the journey can become much more productive, interesting, fun and exciting.  Share your stories from your journey as a life group leader!  Stop at all the stupid tourist spots and landmarks!  They make for great Stories from the Road!