My friend Toby and I had the chance to lead a round-table discussion at Simply Youth Ministry Conference about the State of Youth Missions.  About 20 people came and we had a great discussion for about an hour and a half.  There were a lot of opinions expressed and people got the chance to express what they believe is working with youth mission trips and what really isn’t going that well.  I really enjoyed the entire conversation.

The most intriguing interaction that happened was with a couple guys that work with a youth ministry on a First Nations reservation  on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.  They were not only interested getting their youth group involved in serving but they also received American youth groups on mission trips each and every year… hundreds of kids each year.  They had a lot of important things to say about how they felt as people came to serve in their community.  Not everything they shared was positive.  Not everything they has to say was good…  They had a chance to express their frustration with people coming each and every year and no real change.  The community felt like American churches were coming to do what they wanted to do, maybe not what the community truly needed.  At the same time they saw the transformation that did happen in some people’s lives.  They expressed that it felt both good and bad.

I thanked the guys for the honesty and vulnerability.  It took guts to share from their heart about their struggles with missions.  It was meaningful for everyone involved.  What they had to say was very sobering to hear, as someone who works all the time bringing youth groups into communities to serve.  But important for all of us hear if we’re taking a mission trip.  Who are you working with?  Are you serving in a way that is truly needed?  Just some of the questions we all should ask before we go…

Please check out this great article from my friend Eric Iverson.  Good thoughts to consider whenever you’re taking your group on a mission trip.

Fuller Youth Institute – Youth Missions Article

What do you think?  Is Eric right?

Great last full day at the Simply Youth Ministry Conference. We had many, many good conversations with youth leaders who want to get their kids serving.

It’s very refreshing to discuss service with people that already know & believe how important it is. It’s exhausting when you need to convince a person that youth missions are an important part of a student’s faith development. I love talking with a youth pastor who loves kids and loves seeing them serve others.

The last day is tomorrow. We get to do one more seminar. It’s basically Missions 101…all you need to know to plan your next mission trip.

Wow, what a day! The first day and night of Simply Youth Ministry Conference was amazing.

We led a discussion on The State of Youth Missions. It was a great time discussing the amazingly good things that are youth mission trips. And we talked openly about where we still need to improve. Thanks to all who attended.

And then…

Doug Fields helped us launch 1 By Youth from the main stage at the opening General Session. What an honor to have Doug involved with this new ministry. He set the vision… 1 Million Serving! After the General Session, we hosted a Kick-Off meeting for anyone interested (we were “competing” against a screening of To Save A Life, a performance by The Skit Guys, denomination receptions, etc.) and over 100 people came to find out how to take this new idea to a movement. Awesome!

Check out www.1ByYouth.com and let me know what you think…

My thoughts have been with everyone in Haiti for the last several days.  As many of yours have as well.  What a horrific tragedy.  The questions are already coming in to our office, “Are you going to have any trips to  Haiti?”  And that poses a dilemma for us.  We didn’t have any ministry partners in Haiti before the disaster.  And it doesn’t feel right to try and connect with people at this point who have way to much to do besides take calls from us…

So here’s what we are doing and I encourage you to do the same for now.  We are giving as individuals and as an organization to our friends at World Vision.  World Vision was on the ground from the beginning and is doing all that it can to bring aid.  We also have a relationship with Compassion International and I know that they have been involved from the beginning as well.  The people at World Vision and Compassion are amazing, passionate followers of Jesus that will be doing everything they can to bring healing and hope to Haiti.  Please consider supporting them during this incredible time of need.

There will be time to go and help in Haiti… and that time will last for years!   The ability to travel there and help will start very soon.  My suggestion to all of us would be to offer financial support to those best positioned to help during this time.  And consider going to help when things become more stable.

I’ve been a part of lots of conversations about mission trips.   The toughest convesations alway center on the idea of ”what is a mission trip”.  In these conversations someone is making the point that “something” is not a mission trip.  And it’s always things like…  If you don’t share the message of salvation, it’s not a mission trip.  If you don’t serve those with the biggest need, it’s not a mission trip.  If you don’t go to the part of the world that has the most important issue, it not…  You get the idea.  These conversations are interesting and even necessary to make sure that all of us are doing our best to truly reach out to anyone that God is calling us to…  but… these conversations have always frustrated me.

Those who are most aggitated during these conversation appear to be far more concerned about what a mission trip cannot be rather than all the amazingly good things that they could be…  I’m far more interested in attracting as many people as possible into the amazing experience of serving someone else.  So, admittedly my definition of what a mission trip is may be a little more “open-minded” than even some of my friends who organize mission trips.  For me – any trip or event where we, as Christians, are serving another person is a mission trip.   So, with my definition, the following would qualify:

• a  2 week trip to Kenya to lead a VBS in the slums of Nairobi
• a 1 year assignment teaching English to Chinesse students in a government shool
• a week spent in a town in West Virginia repairing homes
• a weekend serving as volunteer staff in a homeless shelter
• a day spending time with elderly in a local assisted living facility

These are all “missions”…  What do you think?

Here’s a quick, wacky, free Thanksgiving game for your group meeting this week.  It’s from your friends at Group Week of Hope.

Turkey Ball Game!

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Cool tradition. Youth trade these crazy hats all weekend at this national youth conference. What fun!

I had an interesting conversation with a Youth Minister yesterday. She has been taking her youth group on mission trips for over ten years. But she’s experienced a huge level of frustration on her last two trips. Her problem… adult volunteers from other youth groups.

Adults from other churches have made a girl in her group cry, sat around and not help in the service at all, or worse – bosing kids around like a dictator and doing everything for then because it wasn’t good enough. She has reached a point that if it doesn’t get better – she was thinking of doing something completely different with her group.

Her question to me was. “What can you do to help me?”. And I was at a loss… Our ministry provides a “guide” for all adults attending a trip, a pre-trip meeting for all adults, a video that walks adults thru what is expected of them, and a Code of Conduct just for adults. We strive to help all adults feel prepared to serve and yet there is, unfortinately, nothing we can do about an adult leader that chooses to have a bad attitude while on a trip…

Do you have ideas? What does your group do to prepare adults? Share a comment and help a struggling fellow youth leader out…

I’m off to a BIG youth conference this weekend. And I can’t wait! There is something about the energy of 20,000+ Sr Hi students all in one place. All there to learn about, grow closer to, maybe even discover God for the first time.

I don’t know any mission trips that are as big as this event… but still, there are similarities. Those reasons mentioned above are some of the same reasons you take students on a mission trip aren’t they? We want our kids to learn about who God is through the experience of serving others. Our prayer is that they might grow closer to Jesus by being His hands and feet. It would be a dream come true if one kid discovered who Jesus truly is for them for the first time through a mission trip.

I know that I have a good, fun couple days ahead of me. I’ll see some old friends, meet some new people, but my mind will drift towards the thousands of teenagers around me – wondering what God is saying to them… And praying that they would have the experience that will change a lifetime…