COURSE RATIONALE

I grew up on an old farm in East Central Indiana in an old farmhouse that didn't have running water. We had an outhouse and took baths in a water basin that was filled with a kitchen pump that looked a lot like the picture to the right. That old pump was the only source of our water for cooking, brushing teeth, and taking baths. However, sometimes that pump wouldn't work.  It wouldn't pump any water.  You could lift that handle over and over and there would be no water coming up from the well.  So we had to prime the pump by pouring a little bit of water down the top that would create the right suction so that the water could flow and meet our needs as a family.

That is what YM202-PRIMER does for the Youth and Family Ministry Program.  This six-week supervised ministry experience is to help you, the student, to create the right conditions where a life of ministry will flow from you.  It is a time to evaluate if the youth and family ministry program is for you, what kind of ministry that you best fit in, to create motivation for in-class learning, and to prime you for years of kingdom service.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

PRIMER is a supervised, six-week-long pre-internship experience (completed during the school year or summer) prior to the junior year (or 65 credits) where all youth ministry majors gain real ministry world experience, are assessed, evaluated and provided feedback on their lives and service by a mentor, and personally identify key areas on which to work over the remaining years of college.

LEARNING EXPERIENCES

• Engage in supervised and mentoring ministry