Jeff ThompsonMore PostsSpring 2013 Big Day of Serving

Youth Leaders, inspire your students to be part of something amazing…

This spring, your students can serve people in need at the Big Day of Serving….a nationwide tour of “day of service” events created just for students. Christian teens in local communities unite to serve and transform neighborhoods in need. You’re receiving this email because there’s an event in a town near you.

Bring your students and watch them discover the joy of serving in their own community. They’ll paint, tackle minor home repairs, clean city blocks and parks, landscape, and more. Expect a high-energy, Jesus-centered event where your students discover their actions truly can make a difference in the world.

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Sign up today for an event near you!

Check out all the Big Day of Serving Locations here.

TagsComments Add Comment March 9, 2013

Jeff ThompsonMore PostsYouth Ministry Do’s

So much of youth ministry seems to be about what “not” to do.  Don’t spill Kool-Aid on the carpet.  Don’t play games in the sanctuary.  Don’t get on the wrong side of this committee or board.  Don’t do this.  Don’t do that…

The following post by Josh Griffin (with help from Kurt Johnston) does a good job of focusing on what we should “do” in ministry.  The post is from Josh’s blog, More Than Dodgeball, and was originally part of the Simply Youth Ministry Today free newsletter.

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Youth Minsitry Do’s

More Than Dodgeball and SYM Today are great idea resources for you.  I encourage you to check them out as often as you can.

 

 

TagsComments Add Comment March 5, 2013

Jeff ThompsonMore PostsChange Is The Only Constant

change-is-the-only-constant

Change is one of the only things that is always present in our work with Group Mission Trips.  I’ve had at least 6 job titles in my 11 years working with this ministry.  I can’t tell you how many different job descriptions I’ve had during that time.  We’ve gone from doing only one kind of mission trip, Workcamps, to 3 different mission trips (Week of Hope & Lifetree Adventures) and a single-day of service youth event (The Big Day of Serving).  Things have changed from a single team of people focused exclusively on organizing and supporting mission trips to combining forces with our partners Group Youth Ministry/Simply Youth Ministry to help bring everything we can to support youth workers.

But…

Change is hard.  Change isn’t easy.  Change can cause pain.  For some people change is welcome and they jump on board fast but don’t fully take stock of the potential trouble spots.  For others change is difficult and they seemingly fight against it every chance they get.  And many people fall in the middle of those two extremes.

It’s not any different in church ministry than in a mission organization.  How you manage change is just as important and dreaming and thinking of the change.  Here’s three great ideas for managing change in your ministry:

  1. Make sure everyone involved in the change is part of the process.  One member of out team is constantly preaching the message of communication to the rest of us.  And he’s right!  Especially when it comes to change.  You cannot communicate enough.  Before the change is even finalized.  When you announce the change.  While the change is being implemented.  After the change is now the new normal.  Communicate.  Communicate.  Communicate.  And the biggest part of communicating – listening.  Listen to what people are saying.  And try to hear what they are not saying.  Involving everyone will help to give people a chance to make the change theirs.
  2. Help people understand how the change will benefit them.  In every change there are good things for everyone.  New opportunities.  New ideas.  New responsibilities.  New working relationships.  New results to shoot for.  New.  New.  New.  And new can be very unnerving unless you help people know what is in it for them.  Even in ministry, your team will want to know how this change will benefit.  Them as an individual.  The ministry as a whole.  The youth who area  part of your ministry.  Giving everyone an understanding of how the change is good will go a long way to navigating the process of implementing the change.
  3. Regardless of how good a change is, someone will be negatively affected – at least in their mind.  Seek those people out.  If a team is getting a new role in the ministry because of the change, spend time with them as they adjust.  If it means there isn’t a spot for someone, give the the space and time to grieve the loss and give them your time to process.  If possible, implement change in stages or steps so that those affected the most have time to adjust.  If the change you are implementing has a bunch of negatives (even small ones), spacing out the change will allow those most affected to move through the process with grace.

Change isn’t always easy (I know) but it can be incredibly good.  Keep these steps in mind the next time your team and ministry go through change.

TagsComments Add Comment February 28, 2013

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts2013 Simply Youth Ministry Conference

Starting this Friday you’ll be able to see pretty much every member of the Group Mission Trips team at SYMC in Indy.  We’re helping in tons of different ways at the conference.  There will be members of the GMT team checking you in when you arrive, helping with getting the general sessions ready, working in the resource area, and well… I can’t remember everywhere else.

Toby Rowe and I will be leading several workshops as well.  If these topics interest you, we’d love to have to participate in one of these.

Saturday afternoon – “Using Service to Create a Servant’s Heart”

Sunday afternoon – “Making the Most of Your Mission Trip”

Monday morning – “Fundraising for the Big Event”

In addition to all this, you will not want to miss Toby (and a bunch of us) on Sunday Late Night after the general session!  He’ll be leading “Games We Never Should’ve Done”.  It’s going to be a fun crazy time of reliving some of our best “mistakes” from all our years of Mission Trips and giving other youth ministry vets a chance to share theirs.  It will be a night you won’t soon forget.

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If you’re not registered yet for SYMC, it’s not too late.  We are nearly Sold Out but we are not there yet.  There is room for you.  Go here to register.

TagsComments Add Comment February 25, 2013

Jeff ThompsonMore PostsBronx Webinar for Big Day of Serving!

Making a Difference in the Bronx! A Webinar about the Big Day of Serving.

Join Jake Rasmussen Wednesday, February 20 for a LIVE CHAT about the Big Day of Serving in the Bronx.

Tune in to this Webinar and discover answers to all these questions and more:

  • What IS this event?
  • Why will your students LOVE it?
  • How do you SAVE big bucks when registering?

This is a fantastic opportunity to learn all about our work in the Bronx this spring!

Check in out Here.

TagsComments Add Comment February 19, 2013

Jeff ThompsonMore PostsNot too late. Really I meant it! It’s not…

not too late

To plan a mission trip.  It’s really not too late.  It may seem like it is.  It might be scary.  You might think, “I’ll just wait for next summer.”  Please don’t.  If you’re not planning on getting your group engaged in service away from home this summer.  It’s not too late.

Here’s 5 things you could do today or this week to still plan a trip for this summer.

  1. Contact a mission organization to help with getting your trip together: An organization like our, Group Mission Trips, would love to help you organize and plan a life-changing experience for your group.
  2. Connect with the mission pastor/director/leader in your church: These folks have many contacts and lots of information about needs that could be met and maybe even trips for your youth group to join.
  3. Ask a fellow youth leader (in your town/denomination/network/etc.) if they are going on a trip: There’s a good chance a friend of yours in ministry might have room in their group for you and several of your students to join their group.  What a great way to get some of your group involved!
  4. Find out if there is church plant or inner city ministry or rural community center (some kind of ministry that is different from your own) within a days drive: Ministries like these can often use help.  Many may even be set up to bring in groups for summer ministry.  All you have to do is ask.
  5. Stay at home but serve!  Find a local ministry you could truly bless with a week of no-strings-attached service.  Get a bunch of tents.  Camp out in someone’s back yard.  Use the church kitchen to cook meals.  Make your own local mission trip.  But serve, please!

I believe there is something amazing God does when you go away and serve people.  It’s a great thing to help your students leave their comfort zones and see God work in them and through them.  Please don’t miss out.  IT’S NOT TOO LATE!  I promise…

TagsComments Add Comment February 11, 2013

Jeff ThompsonMore PostsLeadership in Flux

A couple months ago I came across this article – “The Secrets of Generation Flux.”

I found it fascinating and very applicable to ministry life today.   These younger leaders and the description of how to lead a new generation speak directly to who we serve and lead with.

I would love to know what you think?  Did you find parallels to your ministry?  Did the article ring true for you?  Or did it seem too far fetched for you – off base?

generation flux

TagsComments Add Comment February 7, 2013

Jeff ThompsonMore PostsNew Things

new thingsIt’s scary to start new things.  They’re different.  They might not work.  They might actually work and grow and become bigger than you could’ve imagined or prepared for.  Starting new things is hard…

And yet… don’t we need to?  Jesus basically started new things every day for the years he was working publicly and developing his disciples.  Everything was new.  And it was excited.  It was impossible to prepare for.  It failed and succeeded in ways that no one involved could predict.

The scary process of starting new things is part of the history of Group Mission Trips.  For almost 30 years we only did one kind of mission trip – our Workcamp program.  And we new exactly how that worked.  How to prepare and plan.  How to lead.  Bu then several years ago we felt God leading us to start a new ministry.  A new direction for us.  A new way to serve those with needs.  That’s how Week of Hope was born.

The crazy, fun thing is since the moment we chose to start something new (Week of Hope) we haven’t stopped.  From that choice Lifetree Adventures, Leading Edge Outreach, and The Big Day of Serving have all come (and gone).  One of those was a “failure” in the sense that it didn’t work for us and the churches we serve.  But we still tried and there are even more new things on the horizon now.

What about your ministry?  When the last time you dared to venture out and start something completely new?  Change the night of your main youth group meeting?  That’s crazy talk.  Stop doing your favorite outreach program for something new?  Impossible.  Take your students on a mission trip far from home?  Just too difficult.  Or it it…

What “new thing” could God be calling you to if you listened?

TagsComments Add Comment February 4, 2013

Jeff ThompsonMore PostsA new devotional for your teenagers

simple truthOur friends at Simply Youth Ministry have created a great new resource for your students.  I wanted to share it with you.  Imagine empowering your students to spend just a few minutes each day discovering a life-shaping, thought-provoking, Jesus-centered truth that can transform them into the kind of people God crafted them to be.

Sounds like a worthwhile investment, doesn’t it?

The Simple Truth Bible features 366 daily devotionals—each one a tasty, bite-size morsel that powerfully reveals what it means to deeply love and trust God, to lead a Jesus-centered life, and to lean on Scripture for guidance and wisdom.

Teenagers will discover how to experience hope in the middle of tough times, how God deeply and passionately loves them, how to build an authentic friendship with Jesus, and how they were created to lead a life of impact in this world and for eternity.

Each devotion includes:

  • Thoughts on a specific passage of Scripture and how it relates to students’ lives
  • Insights to help teenagers turn their thoughts into prayers as they spend time with God
  • Ideas to follow if students want to spend more than a few minutes each day with God
  • Perspective on how that day’s passage fits into the big picture of the Bible

 

TagsComments Add Comment January 25, 2013

Jeff ThompsonMore PostsLike a Family Reunion

familyreunionLast week we gathered with youth leaders from around the country.  It was a great time of thinking, analyzing, and celebrating together our love of youth mission trips.  Sorta like a family reunion (but not like the cheesy family reunion photo I chose for this post).  I love times like that.  It was our second year of hosting this meeting and just like last year I learned new things.

Here’s some of my insights:

  • This group was pretty representative of youth ministry as a whole.  There were more volunteer youth leaders than paid.  There were just as many women as men.  And many of these leaders were responsible for more than just high school ministry at their church.
  • No surprise, but these leaders believed that involving youth in service was integral to their developing a healthy relationship with Jesus.
  • The relationship we have with these leaders means they are willing to share honest, real feedback with us.
  • These leaders want to grow and develop.  They do not think they have it all figured out.

When you read this list do you think of your team, your ministry?  We consider these leaders part of our team.  We create the mission experiences we create for them.  They are on our team.  My prayer and hope for you would be your ministry would be made up of these kinds of people.

  • People from every walk of life, age, level of involvement, levels of experience, both women and men.  All of them interested in working with you to help students grow in their relationship with Jesus.
  • People who understand that involving students in service is an integral part of their development.
  • People to give you honest, real feedback.
  • People who want to grow and develop.  Not happy with what they know or worse believe they have nothing to learn

If you already have a team like this, consider yourself blessed.  God is going to use you to change lives.

 

 

TagsComments Add Comment January 24, 2013
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