Here’s a link to a good, basic, easy fall fundraiser for your group.
Fall Fundraising Idea
It got me thinking about fundraising. I wonder when you begin your group raising money for their summer mission trip.
Jeff ThompsonMore PostsServe Las Vegas
Our ministry is launching a brand new location for our Week of Hope program – Las Vegas, NV. We consider it a great privilege and honor to bring this service experience to this city with such real needs.
Beyond the glitz and glam of Vegas, there are 2 million who call “Sin City” their home. Vegas is viewed to the outside world as a tourist’s Mecca, where people come to win big, elope, and indulge in a variety of shows and entertainment . Beyond the Strip and out in the suburbs of Henderson and Boulder City, those who call Las Vegas home see it in a whole different light.
Nevada currently leads the nation in unemployment at 14.4% . They currently lead the nation in foreclosures. What those numbers cannot tell you is each individual story of hardship from people and families who call Las Vegas their home.
Take for example the tiny suburb of Boulder City, NV, located 20 miles outside of the Las Vegas Strip. “Boulder City was initially created to house the workers who built Hoover Dam, and as such, was a significant and integral part of the successful completion of the Boulder Canyon Project. Constructed in 1931 in the midst of the Great Depression, Boulder City was conceived by the Federal Government as an ideal town, a “model” city to which the American people could look for hope of a better future.”
Today tourism from the Dam fuels the local economy. Last year, 1st Baptist Church of Boulder City, NV closed their doors and donated their building to Hope Baptist Church in Las Vegas. Hope Baptist Church has teamed up with Week of Hope to serve this wonderful community summer of 2011. Hope Baptist will be working with area ministries and partner organizations in need of volunteers to bring hope and light to those who cannot seem to get free from the darkness and despair.
Our local ministry partners, Wes and Ariane, are a committed Christian couple who live and work in the Las Vegas area. Wes works is sales and Ariane is a school teacher. The love their community and can see the real needs around them everyday. They are going to have youth groups partnering with several local ministries – most likely this would involve painting a school, running sports camps, crafts for children, all at the same location with each group rotating assignments every day.
If your group is looking for an amazing service experience this summer, we’d love to serve with you in Vegas this summer. Visit the Las Vegas location page.
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November 3, 2010
Jeff ThompsonMore PostsThe Volunteer’s Back Pocket Guide to Youth Mission Trips
The Volunteer’s Back Pocket Guide to Youth Mission Trips is a great new resource for any adult leader who is going on a youth mission trip. It is specifically written for the volunteer adult going with your ministry on your next trip. Toby Rowe, a member of the Group Mission Trips staff and a contributor to this blog, wrote the book with the nervous and unsure adult volunteer in mind (because he used to be one…).
You can pre-order now and it’s at a great price. What about getting one for each and every adult serving on your mission trip this summer? A simple, easy investment in them and in your group. Click the image below for all the details…
Unlock the secrets to a successful mission experience with The Volunteer’s Back Pocket Guide to Youth Mission Trips. This useful, practical book will guide you through the sometimes rough but always rewarding waters of a short-term mission trip. You’ll discover how to connect with your students, how to prepare for the unexpected, and how to savor those priceless moments you only find on a mission trip.
Jeff ThompsonMore PostsWhat about the “after”?
I came across this article that talks about leveraging social media to help your group process their mission trip experience and continue the conversation long after the trip has ended. There are some very helpful suggestions and thoughts in the article.
I believe that integrating the mission trip experience into the conversation and ongoing activities of your youth ministry are just as important as what you actually “do” or what actually happens while you are on the trip. A mission trip can be a life-changing experience. One that simply will not be internalized by a teenager through 5 handy post-trip devotions.
I’d like to give a challenge to each youth worker who is planning a mission trip for the next year. Think about what you will do for the students in your ministry after the trip – now. Before you ever go on the trip.
There are also a lot of other interesting, thought provoking articles in the archives of The Fuller Youth Institute.
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October 26, 2010
Jeff ThompsonMore PostsBest summer job… maybe ever
Each summer Group Workcamps and Group Week of Hope hire about 100 college and graduate students to take key leadership roles on our staff. These roles have real responsibility for hundreds of students and projects across the country. We give each team vehicles, equipment, top-notch training and a tremendous amount of trust to lead the ministry for the entire summer.
Read this info sheet and go here to apply if you are interested.
Oh, by the way… it’s just about the best ministry training experience you could ever have. And… you’ll make about $3,000 for the summer. Not bad at all.
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October 23, 2010
Jeff ThompsonMore PostsSimply Youth Ministry Conference
Simply Youth Ministry Conference is an amazing event for everyone in youth ministry. It’s designed to give you and your team a chance to recharge, relax, and learn a little along the way. The early bird deadline is fast approaching. If you’re interested, please check it out and register by October 31 to get the best price!
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October 19, 2010
Jeff ThompsonMore PostsCongratulations!
Below is a video of Doug Field’s announcing the winners of the [doug's] Dumb Idea Contest.
Congrats to all the winners! Those who “won” are being contacted. Hope to see everyone at a Week of Hope or SYMC this next year.
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October 14, 2010
Jeff ThompsonMore PostsShould you use a mission provider for your next trip?
Here is an article I wrote for our newsletter.
Should you use a Youth Mission Provider
I hope you find it helpful. Please feel free to let me know what you think.
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October 12, 2010
Jeff ThompsonMore PostsWhy should you take your group on a mission trip?
This is one of my favorite stories from our entire summer of ministry. It’s a story from a youth leader and it’s full of great reasons to take your students on mission trip…
The kids and I grew in ways we haven’t even begun to be able to name yet.
First of all, for me, the experience was far enough out of my comfort zone or “box”, I don’t feel like I have a box anymore. I feel like God can and will develop in me those skills or traits He needs to use me as He wills. I learned what it means to pour out my life to the Lord in service, to my youth group, to the kids on my crew and to the kids we worked with at the playground work site. I also learned I should probably have paced myself, that pouring yourself out like that on very little sleep takes a huge physical toll.
I was terrified going into the mission trip that I’d be in over my head, called to doing something I was uncomfortable doing and wasn’t equipped for. Praying with my co-leader before the first night’s meeting helped, but I was still literally trembling. When we got our assignments, I was going to be working with 3 kids, going into grades 8, 9 and 11 playing with kids at a playground. We were paired with my co-leaders crew and he had all highschoolers. I was so relieved, God was having me play with and , as we say, “love up on” some kids at a playground. How perfect for me and how easy.
Through the week, I learned it wasn’t so easy, but incredibly rewarding. The first day, I forgot I’m 50 and not in the best of health. I played hard all day and was in real pain that night and the second day. On the third day we had a really cool experience of talking with one of the staff at our playground and finding out not only was it her birthday, but she was going to be baptized that Sunday. We asked her if we could pray with her and she was happy to pray with us. One of the kids was watching and she came up to me in the pool later and asked if I’d pray with her. We talked about what she’d like to ask God about and then we prayed. The next day the same girl had an episode and had to leave the camp. Her friends were understandably quite upset as was I. I hugged two of them while they cried and we talked. At our crew devotions, I was overwhelmed emotionally at what these kids were carrying with so few emotional resources and so little support. It was really hard to know the next day was our last with them and there was so little we could offer them but a few days of love and our continued prayers. It was more brokeness than I’m used to seeing and it broke my heart. Later that day I was walking with another little girl and we found lots of linden tree leaves that looked like lace. They were really beautiful. We looked some more and saw that beetles were chewing all but the veins away. To me, they were a sign from God that He could bring beauty out of brokeness. They were so much what I needed at that moment. The little girl and I gathered bunches of what we called “Lacy Leaves” and gave them to all the campers and the week of hope crews. When I came home, we shared with our church, a God sighting as a way of thanking them for their support and prayers and of honoring God. I shared about Lacy Leaves. Our last day at the playground was easier than I expected. I got to talk with the step mother of the girl who’d had the episode and to hear her incredible story. I was able to encourage her and to promise to pray for her. I expected the goodbyes to be harder than they were though some tears were shed. It is still a little hard, thinking about the kids at the playground, wanting things to be easier and better for them and not being able to do more than pray.
It was an amazing week. The kids and I are already looking forward to next year’s trip. Thanks for all you and your staff do!
In His service, Lynn
I could only pray that you and your group would have as impactful a week as this youth leader and her group did. If you can, please take your kids on a mission trip this next year.
God bless.
Jeff ThompsonMore Posts1 By Youth – Detroit
I’ve mentioned 1 By Youth a couple times and wanted to give an update on how this new ministry is doing. We’ve had two 1 By Youth events so far this fall and both have done exactly what we hope – transform a neighborhood!
But don’t take my word for it…
Here’s a great blog post from Tom Roepke of New Hope Community Church about his youth group’s experience at 1 By Youth Detroit.
There is one more 1 By Youth event still this fall in New Orleans on November 6. If you live any where near New Orleans, please consider bringing your group and helping to transform a neighborhood!
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Jeff Thompson, a veteran of youth ministry, serves as the Director of Youth Missions for Group Mission Trips - Workcamps, Week of Hope and The Big Day of Serving.
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