Part of being in ministry is learning to be a good listener. It’s important to understand the context we serve in from other peoples perspective, not just our own. If we fail to understand our context from the perspective of others we miss out on a lot of opportunities on building deeper relationships with the people we serve and we miss out on understanding how we can be more faithful in our service to God and neighbor.
In order to be a good listener and to understand my own ministry context better, I asked members of our youth group and volunteers if they could provide me with a photo of our ministry context and share with me what Axiom (our youth group) means to them. My goal was to gain new and valuable insights about teenager’s and volunteers experience, perspective and values in regards to our youth group.[1] In order to accomplish this goal I used a method of photo elicitation that Douglas Harper refers to as “photofeedback” – “where photographers analyze their photographs with written comments, what might be called photo-self-elicitation.”[2]
You can view a set of photos plus the teenagers and volunteers written comments here:
In order to gain insights into the meaning of the images and comments I received I will draw on Gillian Rose who argues that there are “three sites at which the meanings of an image are made: the site(s) of the production of an image, the site of the image itself, and the site(s) where it is seen by various audiences.”[3] Moreover Rose argues that each of the above mentioned sites has three different modalities all of which can lead to critical insight(s) for understanding images. The three modalities are outlined by Rose as follows: technological, compositional and social. My “photofeedback” project focuses on understanding the meaning of the image and written comments at the site of the various audiences (i.e. those who provided me with photos and written comments). Moreover, I will focus on the social modality in order to gain critical insight about my ministry context.
All the people that gave me photofeedback live in Hong Kong. All pictures are taken in Hong Kong with the exception of a couple of photos that were taken in Beijing China. All photos depict some activity or meeting organized by our faith community.
General Observations:
1.) Women and teenage girls provided all photos and written comments about our youth group. I didn’t receive any feedback from guys.
2.) Nine out of thirteen photos provided are from special events. This potentially speaks to the significance and the value that special events have in our ministry context.
Observations on the photos and written comments provided by teenagers
Teenagers:
1.) I received no individual portrait. All pictures involve at least two people. I wonder if this would be the same in other contexts (I honestly don’t know).
2.) The teenagers are writing in English – this speaks of their education and to a certain degree of their socio-economic status. Most of them are fluent in multiple languages such as (Cantonese, Mandarin, Tagalog, English, Korean, etc.)
3.) In their written comments they use “big words” such as: exegetical and philological. This also speaks of their educational background and their socio-economic background.
4.) Their written comments reflect that they are introspective.
Friday youth group and Sunday worship service:
1.) Our Sunday youth worship service speaks to personal struggles and problems of the teenagers – the message “is applicable to whatever problem I am going through at that time.” Moreover our Sunday service is a place where the youth get challenged “to live your life differently.” Multiple ways of conveying the message are utilized – our video drama’s “help convey the message in a fun way.” The worship and the songs we sing play an important role. This is very encouraging to hear how God is at work in our community.
2.) Axiom is a place “to meet new people and fellowship.” The importance to connect with each other is several times emphasized. The pictures provided also reflect this connectedness with each other. One teenager also describes our youth group as “family” and as a place where God’s love and presence is experienced.
3.) One teenage girl describes the boy with his name “Jing Tai.” The fact that she remembers the name and the story that she retells from the picture show the deep connection she made with this little boy and his story and that she truly cares and misses him.
4.) The written comments reflect that the word of God, from the teenager’s perspective, plays a central role in our youth group. One girl notes that we “learn about God’s word and how to be more like Jesus.”
Observations on the photos and written comments provided by volunteers
Volunteers:
1.) The volunteers also write in English – again this reveals something about their socio-economic status.
2.) None of the leaders chose a picture of themselves or a picture where they are future in. This might point to their other-centeredness.
3.) All three volunteers that responded provided pictures from special events. One of the volunteers provided also one picture of our regular youth meeting.
Ministry:
1.) For the drama team, the video that they produce relates to the Bible – this speaks implicitly of how the word of God is central to our group.
2.) The creative process – the making of the video – is highlighted (from the description the process of making it builds community and a common story – Angel’s epic slap.
3.) The goal is formulated to give the youth space to explore and use their gifts and talents to serve God – this is done in connection with a drama team photo.
4.) One of the challenges to ministry is space – the comment on the gym night exposes this ministry challenge that is typical for Hong Kong. Our activities are limited and shaped by space.
5.) A mother’s perspective portrays me as comforting Lluvia in an uncomfortable situation (water, waves etc.) Moreover, I am portrayed as someone who gives instructions – in this case to Nathan before he gets baptized.
6.) The mission trip is described as a learning experience – particular learning to serve “the least of these” (Matthew 25). She states, “The Axiom youth were given an opportunity to witness God’s amazing grace and love to those who are abandoned.” Moreover, “Throughout the week at Hope, the youth stayed at Hope and were given the opportunity to learn to love and to serve as Jesus had unto us.” A picture that exemplifies this Christ like love - Lluvia loving and caring for three babies – is provided.
Conclusion
Overall it has been encouraging for me to understand better how the youth and volunteers perceive our youth group. I am encouraged to know that it is a place where encouragement through God’s word is found, friendships are build and teenagers are welcomed and can belong. Moreover, gifts are explored and teenagers are challenged to learn and grow in their Christian life. One area that I particularly gained new perspective on is the significance of special events – gym night, mission trip, baptism in community building and spiritual formation. I hope to better understand how to facilitate community, Christian learning etc. through those events.
[1] Roest, Henk de, “Loosing a Common Space to Connect: An Inquiry of ‘Inside’ Perspectives on Church Closure by the Use of Visual Methods,” 1.
[2] Harper, Douglas, “Talking about pictures: a case for photo elicitation,” Visual Studies 17, no 1 (2002): 17.
[3] Rose, Gillian, Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to the Interpretation of Visual Materials, (London: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2007), 13.
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