Youth Missions Insider | How The Power of Missions Can Make A Difference That Lasts Forever

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts “I don’t think I can go on the trip…”

“Hey, can I talk to you? I don’t think I can go on the mission trip.” Words every youth leader dreads! You’re busy finishing up all the plans for a summer mission trip and one of your students drops this bomb…

Here’s a couple ideas to help the follow up conversation and help that student see how much they will be mission out by not going.

Try a personal invitation instead of asking “Why?” Sit down, talk with her or him, and tell them specifically why you want them on the trip. Focus what you see in them – what you believe they have to offer the trip experience. Their gifts, talents, skills, and abilities. Each one of your students has something that any mission trip will miss if they don’t go.
Help them understand what they will get out of the experience. A mission trip is a life changing event. There are life skills that are built into the mission trip any teenager will benefit from learning. Students gain new abilities to understand people and increase their relationship skills as they meet new and different people. They will learn leadership skills as they take on new responsibilities. Sometime during the trip they will discover their ability to learn new skills. They may get the chance to build something for the first time including using tools they never thought they’d use. They could learn to share their faith with a complete stranger giving them confidence to speak in front of others. A mission trip is a stretching experience far more than whatever is competing with their time and keeping them from going.
Don’t forget the fact that they will miss out on encountering Jesus in new, fresh, and powerful ways. There is no experience that connects us to Jesus like a mission trip. None of us ever want any student to miss out on that. You’ve been praying for them. Praying about what God wants to do in their life as part of this mission experience. Tell them that.

These are not “magic” answers to the problem of a student backing out the mission trip. There are no easy answers. But, these will most likely be more effective then telling them they made a commitment and they have to keep it or guilty them into still going. If you believe that God has a reason for each student attending the trip (and I believe that you do), believe that God will use your words and passion and care in a conversation like this to help a student remain engaged and go on your trip.

We’re praying for you! God bless your mission trip this summer.

Add Comment May 30, 2012

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts Missions Article: I misunderstood missions

Our friends at youthministry.com posted a good article about mission the other day. It’s a good read with good thoughts about missions and how easy it is to forget the reasons we serve.

I misunderstood missions

It’s very easy to forget why we go on mission trips – especially for me. I get caught up in all the “work” of organizing trips. The details. The tasks. The stuff. All of that is necessary to make a trip happen. But obviously it is not why we go. We go because there is need. We go because God has called us to. We go because we know that we will encounter Jesus there.

Add Comment May 29, 2012

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts Last Minute Fundraising

It’s always hard when you get to the end of your mission trip preparation and you’re still short of money. There is so much work that goes into getting ready for your trip. You’ve gone through the process of deciding which students go. You work hard to chose great adults to attend with you. Then you have pre-trip meetings, devotional material, team-building times, and of course… fundraising. It’s all a pretty big job. A job that is very time consuming. All that work and to come to the end a little short on money can be really hard. Here’s a post from one of our discussion boards just a couple weeks ago.

Just had a fund raiser on Saturday- Car Wash- no price- love donations only. Did you know people will gladly throw a $20 in a bucket to watch the kids work their tails off to wash a car? Raised $877.14 (214 pennies from under the floor mats) in 4 hours! Next up- large Yard Sale!

Sometimes all that is needed is a little more energy and trying the tried and true one more time. Car Washes and Yard Sales are not new fundraising ideas but who cares if they’re new and innovative. If they work, then they work. You can’t argue with $800.

Give one of these a try. The nice thing is they don’t require a lot of planning. A car wash needs a couple hoses, some buckets, some rags and soap. And a Yard Sale might be just as easy if there are people in your church who are planning on having garage sales.

I hope you’ve finished with all your fundraising. If you haven’t, try these last minute ideas.

Add Comment May 25, 2012

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts Even one day can make a difference!

A couple weeks ago a youth leader took his group on a one day service project with The Big Day of Serving. He wrote a “review” blog post afterwards.

Review of Big Day Nashville

I appreciate how this youth leader understood the connection between service and the spiritual growth of his students. And it’s neat how a single day serving now has his group excited about serving longer term.

Add Comment May 24, 2012

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts 2013 Simply Youth Ministry Conference

The 2013 SYMC website is live! Check it out and consider registering early for this amazing conference that’s planned for youth workers by youth workers.

Add Comment May 18, 2012

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts GUEST POST: So… What do you do each summer?

“You do WHAT over the summer?” Regardless of where I’m at, whether it’s at the post office, grocery store, or walking down the street, it seems that I am always confronted with the question of what my plans are for the summer. I think the question, “What are your plans for this summer?” is often times used with college students to break the ice or make conversation out of nowhere. People expect the usual, “Oh, I’m working at a grocery store. Or – especially in Iowa, “I’ll be detasseling corn.” Usually at this point, the conversation is over, however, when people ask me- and I would assume any other summer college mission staff- this common question – the conversation is hardly over.

Sometimes I think people regret asking me what I do over the summer months. “So Gabe, what are you doing this summer?” I’ll casually respond, “Oh, you know, just traveling all over the country helping to put on mission trips that bring thousands of teenagers and adults together to grow in their relationship with Christ, and at the same time rebuild communities in need.” There is generally a long pause here.

You see, people have a hard time wrapping their head around why thousands of teenagers and adults all over the U.S. would choose to pay hundreds of dollars to serve others, and why hundreds of college students would devote their entire summers to traveling around to help make these trips possible. For me, these camps have been a huge blessing. After serving on six mission trips all over the country with my youth group, becoming a part of summer mission staff seemed like the next step. I completely believe in their mission and have grown closer to God and have truly been changed for the better through my participation. The truth is, when I applied to become summer staff, my idea of what it would be like didn’t even scratch the surface of how blessed I would be after a summer of service.

For me, I hardly think of being on summer staff as being a job. I feel strongly that I have been given this opportunity by God to be able to serve other people. My specific role is Program Manager. At each camp I set up, maintain, and run all of the projection, lighting, and sound equipment. I work with the speaker to put on quality worship and devotion programs. In addition, I get to travel to each project during the week and take photos of all of the mission trip participants to include in evening slideshows. This position allows me to not only work with technology, but also interact with people. In just one summer I have met hundreds to people who have each touched my life. I get to serve alongside three other summer staff for an entire summer who act as my family. We share our joys and concerns, challenge each other in our faith, and hold each other accountable. I meet dozens of volunteer staff at each of my camps who all share a fervent passion for mission and a heart for service. I interact with dozens of residents from all walks of life, some of whom believe in God, some of whom don’t. Some of my most memorable moments from being involved in mission trips comes from when residents come to know Christ through the work that all involved in these mission trips do for them. Lastly, I get to interact with hundreds if not thousands of junior and senior high school students and their adult leaders who have a heart for service and a longing to know Jesus Christ more deeply.

You see, being involved with mission trips doesn’t just end with the trip. The experiences and people you encounter stay with you for the rest of your life. You grow deeper into a relationship with Jesus regardless of the way in which you serve and he blesses that and gives you even more hunger for service. These trips change you and I definitely would not be who I am today without them. The best part is when you return after a summer of service, people start asking you, “how was your summer?” You get to share with them all of the people you met, and all of the life-changing experiences you encountered which in turn lights a spark in other people to serve. What did you do last summer?

Gabe Schott is 20, hails from Iowa, loves mission trips and is serving again this summer with Group Mission Trips

Add Comment May 17, 2012

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts There’s a Buzz in The Air or Maybe it’s a Duck?

I know for sure that the buzz is not bunch of wasps or bees… But sometimes that all I’m sure of.

The activity level around our office has just been cranked up a notch (or 20). Stuff is happening in earnest.

Final details or being, well… finalized.

Youth Groups are starting to send their forms into our office.

Lodging stuff is coming together. Food, who’s preparing the food, who’s buying the food, where’s the food going to be stored?

Projects are in their final stages of preparation. The organizations we partner with are making sure everything is ready for when we show – ready to serve.

The last touches on the spiritual growth programing and worship are being made. Presentations being put together. Tech equipment being tested. All the outlines of the worship programs are gong to print.

There’s a lot going on. Maybe we’re just cranked up to 11 (that’s for you Spinal Tap fans). But it feels like we’re giving it all she’s got (Star Trek reference).

And we know for you out there in youth ministry world, it’s just as crazy.

You’re busy wrapping up a another school year of ministry.

There’s graduation Sunday to plan for.

All your summer plans are now just weeks away (no longer months) and everything needs to be ready for summer camp, summer retreat, your mission trip, etc…

It’s busy and details for flying around your office also, just like ours.

Sometimes it feels like we’re all Iron Man (in the first movie). Those first flight scenes where he’s bouncing off of everything and crashing more than flying or landing. That’s how it can feel. Controlled chaos… just barely.

And yet…

Isn’t that ministry. All the hard stuff is done so no one else has to know. All the crazy detail tracking and mountains of paper and sleepless nights – that’s because we just want to see our youth encounter Jesus and their lives to be changed because of that encounter.

The former leader of Group Mission Trips, my boss for 8 years, had a great, goofy analogy for all this. He said we’re like ducks. Ducks look like the smoothest, coolest animal in the world paddling around a calm lake. But in reality, it’s a complete craziness of motion under the water. Feels really true sometimes in ministry.

So to all you ducks out there – Paddle on! God bless all of us as we scramble to get all the “stuff” done.

Add Comment May 16, 2012

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts Saying Goodbye is Hard

Andy Brazelton has been the leader of youth ministry at Group and Simply Youth Ministry for the last several years (Group, SYM and Group Mission Trips are part of a family of ministries that help youth workers with what matters most). I have had a great time working with Andy figuring out the best way to serve youth leaders. It’s been one the best times of ministry in my entire life. Today is Andy’s last day on the job.

I’m going to miss sitting and dreaming with him about the future of youth ministry and how to best serve youth workers.

I’m going to miss coffee on Monday mornings (I’m not going to miss him telling everyone I never buy him coffee, not true btw).

I’m going to miss coming up with crazy, stupid promo ideas to get more stuff and events in youth workers hands.

I’m going to miss struggling together to build great organizations that do real ministry, pay their employees, and have enough money left over to keep creating awesome new stuff youth workers use to help students encounter Jesus.

I’m going to miss praying with him for you folks (youth leaders) – the reason we do all this.

I’m going to miss my friend.

God bless you ab.

1 View Comments May 11, 2012

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts GUEST POST: I’m Kinda of a Planner… she’s not kidding :)

I’m kind of a planner. That might actually be an understatement to some in my church. I start planning for trips at least a year out. When we returned from our mission trip last year, I was online signing us up to early registration a week after we returned.

Planning early comes in handy at some points and other times makes for great jokes…or maybe just jokes at my expense.

After preparing groups to attend mission trips for the past few years, I have found it helpful to:

Plan ahead. Really. Get the information out to parents and youth over the summer to be prepared to put their deposits in by as early as possible. The summer can prove difficult to get information to parents and teens as many are thinking of that summer, not the following summer when they are making their plans. I begin before we go to on the current year’s mission trip by telling people to expect the information about next year’s camp sometime in July or August.
Make room for the new kid. Inevitably we always have new kids that come over the summer and into the fall and don’t know about the crazy-planner-youth-director who has been preparing for a trip 365 days out. Plan for the new kids and communicate with new parents about the opportunities for the mission experience the next summer.
Allow God to work. Each year I am praying and fretting (I know, those two shouldn’t go together-no fretting!) about the adult leaders, numbers on the wait list and how much money we will be asking for to support the youth. What I’ve learned (and keep learning!) is that God knows who is supposed to be on which trip. God knows the adults that are good to bring and those that would be a detriment to the ministry. God knows the money figure and since He is Lord of all, He will provide in His time and in His way.

There are many more things I have learned over the past few trips. However these are my top 3 as I begin to prepare…a year and a half out from the trip. To God be the glory!

Tara Wolf has been in youth ministry for the past 12 years and lives in Williamsburg, VA with her amazing husband and Hungarian hunting dogs. Her first youth mission experience was in 2006 and she continues to encourage the youth and adults in her congregation to connect with God and His people through mission trips.

1 View Comments May 10, 2012

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts Above and beyond…

We received this email in our office a couple weeks after one of our one-day service events, The Big Day of Serving, in St. Louis, MO. This is what you, you crazy youth workers, do all the time. You share your heart and passion and serve those in need in ways that are above and beyond what anyone could realistically expect or imagine.