Dr. Phil Ng

Ministering to pre-teens and teens isn’t as bad as you think. You should be able to enjoy it [sic] (hahaha) but don’t take my word for it. Try it. I learned it in a convoluted way. Many years ago Alan Hui cornered me to teach Sunday school to middle school boys back in the days when we segregated the boys from girls. I quit a month later because it was so frustrating. Thanks Sam Wong, Isaac Auyeung, Zenas Lam, Ryan Tam! I spent a lot of time pre-study and preparing bible study material but the middle school boys wouldn’t focus and conduct scholarly holy scripture analysis. Instead they were obsessed with Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon cards. I didn’t want to waste any more of my time. Edmund Cheng took over for me. He was more experienced than I because he already went through that phase with his sons Daniel and Eric Cheng. At the time my sons were still cute and gave me hugs on cue! LOL.

When I threw in the towel Alan convinced me to transfer to high school Sunday school. I want to say Alan was a patient leader and knew how to foster & encourage his coworkers but I think he might have cried and begged me not to completely quit because he was shorthanded and desperate for teachers. No experience required. Hahaha.

Fast forward many years later I now realized that back then I took the teenagers too seriously. It’s not that painful to kill time with them. Joke with them and tease them. Feed them a little : popcorn chicken, boba, pizza, etc. Give them rides before they’re old enough to get behind the wheels. Take them out for movies and entertainment. Most of them can pay their own way but it’s really gratifying if you purposely pay for the ones you know their parents wouldn’t indulge them in that way. If you wonder why you couldn’t be as rich as the person you envy, then remember Jesus said “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Most of the time the teens’ problems are exaggerated. It’s the most important matter to them but you as an adult can see a bigger picture and just need to chaperone them safely through their experience and pray they learn and grow from it. Most of the time you don’t have to bring home their problems or lose any sleep. Like grandparents, you always hand them back to their parents. Every so often some teens have serious needs that require professional help. You just have to make sure you don’t pretend to know more than you are trained or experienced to handle and therefore guide them to the right people who can help.

In conclusion, if you work with youth it keeps you younger. If you observe them over a long period of time, you will marvel at how God works. Lastly, working with youth is an opportunity for you to bless God’s children.