Twelve Steps to Sponsorship

TWELVE STEPS TO SPONSORSHIP

  1. Plan. Plan with other sponsors to sponsor more than one young person from your church, if possible. They will have friends with whom to go and with whom to share their next steps. Plan especially to sponsor those whose leadership and involvement will vitalize the youth group and church.
  2. Pray. Pray about those you would like to sponsor and others God would lead you to sponsor. Pray for the young people’s openness to God’s call to discipleship, not for how to get them to go on a Chrysalis three days. Trust God to motivate the young people.
  3. Set an appointment. Share with potential participants the purpose of Chrysalis, its benefit for you, some of the positive aspects of the Chrysalis three days, and the follow-up dimension. Also make an appointment to share in more depth with the parents or guardians the basic elements and value of Chrysalis. Alleviate their concerns. Provide the information and assurances they may need.
  4. Extend an invitation and seek a commitment. Explain the cost. Have the attitude that you are giving young people a wonderful gift rather than that they “need” to go. Ask them to make a commitment by filling out the application.
  5. Collaborate as cosponsor. Work with another young person or adult as cosponsor, if that will help. Sometimes it takes more than one sponsor to get the job of sponsorship done well. Young or inexperienced sponsors often need to work with a mature co-sponsor. If you are a Conference Room Team member, find a cosponsor to bring the person to the Chrysalis location and to pray during Sponsors’ Hour.
  6. Make preparations for the young person. Continue to pray for him or her. Enlist the support of the pastor. Personal gifts are not given on the Chrysalis three days. Collect ten to twelve personal agape letters. Do not ask the team to deliver personal gifts to the young person from you or from anyone else during the three days. Make sure the person being sponsored knows what to bring, what clothes to wear, and that he or she will be expected to stay on-site throughout the three days.
  7. Make sacrifices for the young person. Plan to handle whatever responsibilities need attention on behalf of the young person during the Chrysalis three days, such as feeding the dog, mowing the yard, changing the tires, babysitting, etc. Think about things you can do that will really help the young person and even make it possible for him or her to go to Chrysalis.
  8. Support Chrysalis during the three days. Sign up for the 72-hour Prayer Vigil, be present at Sponsors’ Hour, Candlelight, and Closing. Invite the young person’s parents to Send Off, Sponsors’ Hour, and/or Closing, where appropriate. Prepare the parents for the nature of the Closing experience.
  9. Encourage new Butterflies to join Next Steps groups. Give them an opportunity to talk about their three-day experience and what it meant to them. Help the new Butterflies find a group. Start a group with them, if necessary.
  10. Take your Butterfly to Rushes or Gatherings. Invite new Butterflies to go to Rushes or Gatherings with you for a couple of months or more. Help them feel that they are a part of what’s going on. Help your Butterfly know how he or she can participate in the Chrysalis Community, support upcoming Chrysalis three days, and perhaps someday be on teams.
  11. Help new Butterflies act on new commitment. Encourage them to share their experience with their pastor, youth group, and youth leader. Invite them to become part of your church and youth group, if they don’t have one. Encourage them to follow through on fresh hopes and dreams, decisions and changes they feel God is calling them to make.
  12. Help new Butterflies be sponsors. Assist them the first time they sponsor someone else. Make sure they know the responsibilities and expectations of sponsors. Above all, be a model sponsor yourself. Set a good example.

Copyright © 2000. Reproduced by permission of Upper Room BooksTM.