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.
If a summer mission trip is in your future, you’re probably in the middle of planning, fundraising, team-building, and parent meetings. Whether you’re traveling far from home or serving just around the corner, every trip is a great catalyst for young followers of Jesus to understand that service is a lifestyle, not an event.…
Looking for ideas to raise funds for your next mission trip? How much time do you have? No, really. [tweet_dis]When it comes to fundraising, it’s a question of time.[/tweet_dis] For example, you’re in one of two timelines right now: Time is of the essence.…
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about evangelism, it’s that I have a lot to learn about evangelism… but not really. That sounds arrogant. Let me clarify. I recently took part in a rather intriguing peer panel on the subject at the Simply Youth Ministry Conference.…
Efrem Smith on Embracing a Missional Passion Originally published in the March/April 2015 issue of Group Magazine by Rick Lawrence EDITOR’S NOTE Efrem Smith began his long journey in youth ministry as a teenager attending two strong, urban churches in Minneapolis that called teenagers into significant roles in ministry.…
A huge part of the youth ministry rhythmic year? THE SUMMER TRIP! It’s one of my favorite things about working with students. Taking a trip together has multiple purposes and benefits, the greatest of which is the growth that God fertilizes within each of us during the time away from normality.…
Recruiting Adult Volunteers for Your Mission Trip Adults are crucial to the success of the mission trip, in fact, it’s required. So, how do you get adults as excited about your mission experience? Here are some of our favorite tips for recruiting awesome adult volunteers: Ask them individually – Pick out adults in your church or adults who are connected to your youth group who qualify to be leaders, and take them out for coffee or ice cream.…
Here’s a disclaimer: I’m in the process of thinking through what this looks like for my youth ministry. I don’t have all the answers, but I do believe the Holy Spirit has been pressing on my heart to start the conversation, which I’ve done with my Impact leaders.…
I looked over the crowd of students as they stared at me blankly. My hope had been for a reaction filled with excitement and wonderment, and that overwhelming number of students would raise their hands when we asked who would want to sign up for a local service opportunity.…
I’ve had the same love-hate relationship with service projects that you have over the years. On one hand, we love how a single day of selflessness can wake students up to Jesus-centered priorities that their normal routine stifles. On the other hand, we hate how easy it is for youth to get a circumstantial high off the event and stop just short of tuning into Jesus through the event.…
The other day I decided to go into Starbucks for a refreshing drink on a very hot day. I sat down in the shade outside to take a break from a busy day and catch up on some paperwork. This is when HE showed up.…
