adult volunteers | Youth Missions Insider

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts Youth 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.

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.

Add Comment March 5, 2013

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts 2013 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.

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.

Add Comment February 25, 2013

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts Bronx 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.

Add Comment February 19, 2013

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

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.

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.
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.
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!
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.
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…

Add Comment February 11, 2013

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts Leadership 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?

Add Comment February 7, 2013

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts New Things

It’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?

Add Comment February 4, 2013

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts Like a Family Reunion

Last 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.

Add Comment January 24, 2013

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts SYMC Early Bird Registrations Ends Oct 31!

Simply Youth Ministry Conference is a great event for relaxing, recharging, reconnecting with your passion for ministry. It’s one of my favorite youth ministry events of the year.

There are over 190 hours of brand new training this year. Check it out!
Lecrae, All Sons & Daughters, Shane & Shane, and Jordan Howerton Band will all be performing.

To take advantage of the early bird pricing please Register Here. See you there!

Add Comment October 25, 2012

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts Three strikes and you’re out

I’m not a big baseball fan. I grew up in Chicago and when I was young there wasn’t much baseball to root for in either the Cubs or Sox. So, you can understand if I’m not passionate about our nation’s past-time.

I have however been watching a little of the playoffs this year. I’ve really like the winner take all games (the one game Wild Card playoff and the game 5). The pressure. The intensity. The “if I don’t do this now our season is over” feeling you see on the players faces. It’s crazy sometimes how it all comes down to one play…

I remember a similar feeling in my youth ministry. The feeling that every event, every Bible study, every mid-week meeting was that one moment that would give someone a chance to find Jesus or not. It was intense… I felt pressure. It was like every illustration, game, discussion, every talk… every word was going to bring a student closer to Jesus… or not. It caused me to plan and rehearse and schedule and, well, do all kinds of crazy things.

I now realize that Jesus uses any and all experiences to bring people into a deeper relationship with him. It comes during planned times and spontaneous times. Jesus connects with us wherever we are, whenever the time is right. I don’t believe I would plan and schedule and stress the same way with any youth group I was leading. I would want to create an environment in youth ministry where Jesus could step in at any moment – where Jesus was free to break in and change everything.

I guess it would be like a home run in the bottom of the ninth – without the fear of striking out.

Add Comment October 24, 2012

Jeff ThompsonMore Posts Biggest Struggles: The Fear of Failure

Several weeks ago I started a series of blog posts about the biggest struggles I have in ministry. This is going to be the final post in that series.

Failure. I bet I’m not the only person who struggles with this. It’s hard to fail. And I can find so many different ways to feel failure!

I feel like a failure when I let another person in ministry down. It happens. We don’t live up to the expectations people have for us. They wanted us to be like “x” and we ended up being like “y”. They’re disappointed. We’re disappointed. It’s not a good experience. It’s hard for me to know that we failed someone who trusted us.

I feel like a failure when I don’t meet the expectations of the team. I hate it when I don’t meet the expectations of the people I report to. I’m wired with a very high goal-oriented drive. When I don’t reach goals set out for us, I feel like a failure. I also can’t stand to miss the expectations of the people that work for me. I’m a leader. That’s my responsibility. When I don’t lead well or in the ways the team expects, that feels like failure.

Needless to say there are too many ways I can interpret things as failure. But… Here’s the thing… God doesn’t see me as a failure. God doesn’t define me by the “job” I do. God doesn’t define me by meeting goals, or meeting others expectations of me, or by what I consider failure. God defines my by how well I know Jesus. That’s it.

It’s an important reminder that I work hard to keep in mind at all times. I’m God’s. Not the churches we work with. Not my bosses. Not the teams. God’s. How amazing is that!