Nothing has the power to transform your teenagers’ lives better than an outside-my-comfort-zone mission trip or service project. Outreach is the lifeblood of a thriving youth ministry, and serves as a microwave for life-change.
What You’ll Find
The Missions and Service section provides guidance, inspiration, and ideas to help you find or create life-changing experiences for your youth ministry. You’ll find stories of epic triumphs and epic fails, along with how-to’s that will aid you in planning a trip/project, fundraising, recruiting volunteers and even post-trip follow through.
Once upon a time, going on a mission trip wasn’t about taking a selfie. If you were alive back then, you may remember how boring this was. One or two people on the trip might have been snapping photos through a now-archaic rectangular device that used film.…
In case you haven’t realized it yet, mission trips are messy. Despite all our planning, screening, and noble intentions, every trip involves some really flawed people (including us) who tend to swing from one bit of drama to the next. Even when we’re being leader-like, such as ensuring that people serve for the “right reasons,” we’re pushing values that recipients may struggle with.…
As we walked by, we didn’t hear the woman’s name. All we knew was that the other prostitutes were wishing her a happy birthday. “Hope it’s a good night to make some money!” one said. “Maybe you’ll get lucky like in that Pretty Woman movie,” another added.…
Call me crazy, but I think it’s important to change up your mission trip itinerary every year. I sense I’m in the minority on this topic. Plenty of student ministries regularly travel to the same place to serve the same people in the same way every year.…
“Should I turn left or right?” Eventually I asked that simple question of each teenager who sat in our van’s passenger seat during the mission trip. We had no idea where we were going; instead, we believed that Jesus would use us in accordance with his will anywhere we ended up.…
The introverts are feeling a lack of personal space. The extroverts are tired of being judged as annoying. The “highly spiritual” people are tired of the “not-so-spiritual” people (and vice versa). About halfway into the trip, you’d like to turn around and head back home.…
While traveling on a mission trip, students probably aren’t all that eager to call “shotgun.” After all, sitting up front makes you absolutely visible at all times to an adult leader. I can’t imagine a more rigorous test of any teenager’s attention span than being stuck next to a grown-up when everyone else is goofing off in the back of the van.…
Your mission trip is planned. The forms are in. The parents feel at ease. (Actually, that last one never happens.) Somehow you need to get from “here” to “there,” though. Involve yourself and your teenagers in Group’s upcoming camp experiences. Click here for more information, or you can call us at 800-385-4545.…
Looking for ideas to raise funds for your next mission trip? How much time do you have? No, really. When it comes to fundraising, it’s a question of time. For example, you’re in one of two timelines right now: Time is of the essence. …
Every mission trip is built on a deep truth wrapped in a sticky lie. Although we don’t intend for it to happen, that lie can bury the truth in what we say and hear. For example, try to spot the lie in each of these statements: “You need to come be part of this experience, and Jesus will change your life there.”…
