I am the guest blogger over at Simply Insider today.  I share our hopes and dreams for 1 By Youth.

Check it out here.

During Simply Youth Ministry Conference 2011 two weekends ago, I was part of a peer panal called “Epic Fail”  – our biggest mistakes in youth ministry (I had my share of stories…).  It was a good, funny, encouraging time of helping all of us that attended focus on what’s important in ministry.  But there was one interaction that will stick with me for a while.

I shared that my biggest regret from my time in full-time church ministry was my attitude towards the parents of the students in my ministry.  If I’m honest, I considered them a necessary evil.  I basically was just glad they dropped their kids off so I could do “real” ministry with them.  I was young and over-confident and dumb.  I regret not involving parent more.  Not engaging them more as part of the ministry.

After the panel, a young couple just into their first ministry found me and wanted to chat.  They had the some concerns about parents.  They’re young.  They’re not parents themselves.  They’re intimidated.  All the things I remember feeling.  I hope they felt like we had a good chat about how to work with parents.  To bring them into the ministry.  Communicate with them often.  To engage them and support them.  I pray that they listen to their own concerns and work with parents now and not have the same regrets I do…

The same ideas are true for parents of kids attending your mission trip.  You need to engage them in conversations.  Give them more than just what they are asking for when it comes to information about the trip.  If the parents of the students going on your trip are excited and informed, your trip will be that much better than if you fail to keep them in the loop.

Our friends and partners at Simply Youth Ministry have just launched a pretty amazing resource to help you stay on top of almost everything you need to “do” to manage your ministry.  You can keep track of all the students and people involved, communicate with them, help support your volunteer team, etc…

Here’s how they describe it…

If you’re looking for a great new tool to help keep everything together, please check out Simply Youth Ministry Tools.

Deciding who goes on the mission trip can be just as difficult as deciding where you’re going.  Sometimes it hard to get enough kids to fill all the spots you reserved (that’s another issue we’ll deal with in another post).  But choosing the students that actually travel can be very key to the success of your mission trip.

Here’s a little secret — there isn’t a right answer…

There are a couple things to consider to consider.  So you’re not completely off the hook.

1. What  is the nature of the service you will be providing?  This can make a lot of difference concerning who you choose to attend.  Are you leading a VBS for a sister urban ministry hoping to expand their evangelistic outreach into their community?  Probably shouldn’t bring kids that don’t have a relationship with Jesus.  Is your group working on homes in Appalachia?  Then it might be perfectly fine to bring teenagers regardless of where they are in their faith journey.
2. How do you define “mission trip”?  Is it an experience designed for your group to develop relationships and build community -or- do you think of it as faith-stretching experience for those already committed to following Jesus.  Whatever your definition, only bring students that match your ideal.  Or else, you’ll set yourself of up for a lot of frustration.

How do you choose?  Do you use criteria or come one come all?  I would love to know what your process is like…

Group Week of Hope and Group Workcamps are offering a tremendous opportunity for churches who have never served before!

We understand choosing your summer youth mission trip is a big decision – so many choices! We asked Workcamp veterans how our camps are different and they said “it’s awesome, but it’s something you have to experience to understand…” They also said, “Make it easier for first-timers to try a camp!”

We think that makes a lot of sense. So until February 28, bring your ADULT VOLUNTEERS to camp for FREE (you get one free adult registration for every five youth you bring to camp.)

Last year, 98% of kids said they connected to Jesus through serving others. Your youth can too… With 30 years experience and over 300,000 people served, you can count on an organized, life-changing mission camp for your kids…one that continues to impact them long after you return home.

Here’s what one youth told us after he returned from camp:
“I can honestly say that is was one of the best experiences of my life. I grew much closer to both God and everyone in my youth group and I worked the absolute hardest I ever have for free but the end result felt so good that I would do it a hundred times over. If you want to grow spiritually and help a lot of people along the way this is where you should be.”

Watch our Workcamps video and our Week of Hope video to see youth in action serving others and connecting to Jesus. Then give us a call at 800-385-4545 to get your group serving in 2011!

Your friends in youth ministry,
Group Workcamps & Group Week of Hope

Mission trips come with many challenges and many rewards.  One of the greatest rewards that I’ve seen happen consistently is that young people and adults grow closer to Jesus Christ through the experience. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. Attributed to a variety of sources the adage ‘To know a man you must walk a mile in his shoes’, explains, in part, how missions grow us closer to Jesus.  At this time of year we reflect on what is, essentially, the ultimate mission trip.  Jesus left the comforts of heaven, traveled to a different – and often hostile – place to bring peace, love, joy, and hope to the neediest of people. His bed was a pile of cattle feed and the aroma was a pile of processed cattle feed (think about it).  He expressed his compassion and care for humanity in hundreds of ways. He talked to groups small and large. He built friendships. (Can you imagine sitting around a campfire with Jesus just talking about the day, life, philosophy, struggles, joys and challenges. Just like you do with friends.) He healed, confronted, taught, raised the dead and sacrificed his life.

Anyway, IMHO when you go on a mission trip you’re walking in Jesus’ sandals. You’re getting a glimpse of the hardship he chose to endure in order to see all humanity get a chance at eternity. It’s even possible that when you choose to go on a mission trip you’ll do greater things than Jesus did. Doubt it? Listen, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” – John 14:12. (emphasis mine)

Anyone still have a compelling reason not to take young people and adults on mission trips?

Tim Kurth has served God and thousands of people on Group’s mission trip team since 2005 helping to organize trips in the US, Puerto Rico, Peru, and Kenya.

When you return from a mission trip the talk is often about the fun times had within the group, the projects that were completed, the lives touched and changes that happened in people’s lives.  What you may not realize is that the “change” goes far beyond what happens to your group and even the specific people you serve.

One of our great partners, Rob Dyer and his church in Mount Vernon, IL, has several examples of how the mission trip changed the community and the “behind the scenes” folks just as much as the recipients of the service and the participants of the mission trip.

- A local volunteer, Bill, helping on the worksites fell over a ladder that was on the ground and cracked several ribs.  As a result of the “injury” and a scan used to diagnose the cracked ribs a large aneurysm was found in a major artery.  Surgery was performed and Bill has experienced a full recovery.  Bill still credits Workcamps with saving his life.

- The church considers the entire mission trip partnership as one of the most significant experiences of the church’s history in the community.

- The church is also in the process of developing a further outreach that will help teach local teenagers carpentry/building skills as a result of their mission trip partnership.

- Rob also has a great blog post about the life-changing blessing of the “work” done by a group of students on a mission trip.

Please remember that the life-changing effect of a mission trip is so much more than just what happens that week or within your group or even all groups part of the trip.  God uses these experiences to change more lives than we could ever really know.  Praise God!

Last week, Josh had a great post about conflict being a good thing.  It was a good reminder that dealing with things head-on, right-away is actually positive and not harmful.  Please check it out…

But…why is it so hard to actually “do” that – to go through conflict (no matter how small).  There always seems to be someone who thrives on conflict (but it’s never that healthy) or those of us that feel the desire to avoid conflict at all costs (also not that healthy).  The crazy thing is one of the first definitions of the word conflict is “to be at variance.”  Just off a little.  Two people, two ideas.  Just at variance with each other.  How often does that happen?  Probably a lot.

It happens all the time in a mission trip setting.  What you thought you’d be doing is just a little off from what you are actually experiencing.  The other youth groups at the mission site are just a little off from how you like your group to be.  What we (as a mission provider) were told would be provided by our local partners is just a little off from what we believed and what we told all the youth groups to expect.  None of these were done purposefully.  There wouldn’t appear to be any hurtful intention.  Each of these are just at variance with each other.  At conflict.

None of the examples above seem all that drastic.  All that earth-shattering.  But I’ve seen examples just like these derail an entire mission experience because of how the people involved chose to handle them.  There are times where our staff hasn’t done the best job looking into a situation and leading people to a great compromise or solution.  Other times the people affected by a conflict (variance) react in very negative ways that make it hard to understand and find a solution, together.

Why does conflict have to be negative?  Why is it so hard to work through?  Read Josh’s thoughts again.  What do you think?  Why is conflict so hard?

For a good bit of September this year I was in Kenya. Does that seem strange and exotic to you? There was a time when it did to me, too. Even today when people talk about mission work the iconic reference is always Africa. As in, ‘Lord, I’ll go where ever you want, but please not Africa!’ Actually, more and more I’m running into people who are asking the Lord to send them to Africa. Even if only for a week or two. But many think that’s a far away, and most likely impossible, dream. After all, how do you get to Africa.

Well, the short answer is…by plane. Seriously, though, if you’ve done mission work in the U.S. and have thought about taking it to the next level the best way to do that is to find someone you trust and go with them. When I was in youth ministry we went all over the U.S. with Group Workcamps. The first time I took an international trip I found someone I trusted in Africa and went there. I modeled the trip after what I’d learned from my Group Workcamp experience but really hoped someday I could actually go with Group.

After I retired from full time youth ministry and joined the team at Group in 2005 the chance came to be part of the team that created Lifetree Adventures. It was what I’d always wanted. An international short-term missions opportunity driven by the expertise and passion of the folks at Group Workcamps. It was the chance to take the life changing impact my youth had experienced here in the U.S. to a global level. And this past September my dream of going to Africa on a Group Mission Trip came true. We worked with indigenous ministries…a standard for Group Cares no matter where they go…to serve children in the slums, orphans and the blind. It was amazing. And I can say with certainty that it was life changing for the team.

If you’d love to go to Africa, or elsewhere in the world, but don’t know where to start, I suggest you contact the team at Lifetree Adventures and see how they can help turn your dream into reality. One thing I’ve learned through the years is that finding the right partner can help you make a difference in the world!

Tim Kurth is a member of the Group Cares team.  He helps people, organizations and ministries understand how to partner with us to bring a Workcamp, Week of Hope or a 1 By Youth to their community.  He did an amazing job leading the trip to Kenya.

A very special Happy Christmas-gram from Group Mission Trips and Simply Youth Ministry. Enjoy… or play at your own risk…