At the NATIONAL YOUTH WORKERS CONVENTION, we stopped youth workers from all across the U.S. and asked them to share a 10-second youth ministry tip.
THE 10-SECOND TIP:
“When you are planning a youth mission trip, make sure you ask the question, ‘What happens when we leave?'”
MY ADDED THOUGHTS:
Mission trips have been a staple youth ministry event for decades. But recent significant shifts in the Church’s approach to mission trips have caused youth workers to ask great questions like, “What happens to the community when our mission trip ends?” These questions are helping the Church develop much healthier relationships with communities our students are serving through their mission trips. In turn, our ministry teams are starting to understand that:
- God is at work in the community long before our youth group shows up for the mission trip.
- The people we serve have more to teach us than we can expect to teach them.
- Any projects we take on during our mission trips should be supporting ministries that are present in the community year-round.
- 1 week of a mission trip won’t change the world, but it can change our world-view.
When you’re thinking about the next mission trip, here are a few resources that are designed to help facilitate this kind of healthy relationship between your ministry and the community you serve:
YouthWorks
YouthWorks is our sister organization that provides Christ-centered mission trips for over 30,000 students every year.
When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor
Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert research and outline how to create a healthy relationship with a community through services.
7 Things About Service You Can Learn from Barbie Savor
A look at the truth behind the satirical Instagram account Barbie Savior and what we can learn from it for our mission trips.
Bob Lupton Shares on “Toxic Charity”
Watch Bob Lupton talk through important elements from his book, “Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help, and How to Reverse It.”
YS Explores Service at NYWC
This year’s National Youth Workers Convention will be exploring some innovative approaches to how the Church can serve communities in healthy ways. Join us and be a part of this great conversation.
Join us this year for the National Youth Workers Convention in Cincinnati, OH for way more tips and ministry ideas from the 50+ seminars and training opportunities. Register early for NYWC to save BIG: NYWC.COM.
JACOB ECKEBERGER is the Content Manager at Youth Specialties, an itinerant worship leader, the spouse of a church planter, and a long time volunteer youth worker. You can find him blogging about social media and digital strategy ideas at JACOBECKEBERGER.COM.