Search Results for: short term missions

Thinking About Short Terms Missions Again

June 26, 2012 by Tim Leave a Comment

On Sunday, I prayed with one of our mission teams that is serving locally in Cambridge this week. We have a number of teams traveling throughout the summer to different places, doing different things and of course, it involves a number of different type of people. Some are mission trip veterans, some are first-timers, young professionals, young parents, empty-nesters, middle/high school students and many others. I’m a believer of short term missions but every year I am part of conversations that inquire are these trips worth it?

First, I think that’s an important question (that’s why I want to blog about it). It’s part of good stewardship to evaluate what we’re doing as individuals and as a faith community.
Second, I think this question actually needs to be answered because among other reasons, we need to bridge the gap between those who are critical of these trips and those that are supportive. It makes for a stronger mission and a stronger church.
Third, the critique of these trips have led to better trips. And so these conversations bear good fruit.

Last year, I asked this question and tried to answer the financial practicality of it “Wouldn’t it be better to just take that [Read more…]

Filed Under: Missional, Reflective

Are Short Term Student Mission Trips Worth It?

July 17, 2010 by Tim 5 Comments

Primary Target Audience – People in my local congregation
Secondary … – Youth Ministry workers, Missionary workers of any form, and fellow Kingdom builders

Every year this question gets asked around our local church in some variation and it also gets asked all over the blogosphere and twitterverse. And every year I wonder about it too.

The short answer is yes, based on our current western evangelical, suburban climate – yes, while not perfect, they are worth it.

The comments and questions I usually see and get are among the following:
It costs so much money to send a team down there. Why not take all that money and send it to people there and have the work be done by professional workers?
I usually have two responses. Great idea, why don’t we do that all year round, collect money and send it? (insert awkward moment here).
You and I know, that money simply won’t come in to send. You may be able to raise $800-$1000 but not $15,000 (or whatever the trip in question costs). it’s because we tend to give relationally.

Second, for those who insist on seeing this in dollars and cents: Realistically, not only will you raise a fraction of what it would cost to send a team down there, I would like to make the case that money raised is a great investment in the Kingdom. I have seen and been discouraged by some stats on how the “mission trip experience” has offered little lasting help in one’s faith. Fortunately for myself, I am very suspicious of these types of stats and have also seen similar regarding the “effect” of the Sunday sermon. We still do them. Every Sunday. And we have numerous reasons, including the need for preaching and teaching Scripture to the words that can be used by the Spirit to convict, encourage, and offer the hope of Christ.

So, speaking from my experience, many (not all) of our students have been impacted in numerous long term ways. There are certain lessons that only be learned from outside of your zip code. For short-term mission trips, students are taken away from their context, away from their distractions, sharing close space with fellow youth group students and leaders. Then they are faced with situations and challenges that they simply do not get the opportunity to have. These trips create these moments and for many students, they will always value missions having experienced it personally. For some, this alters the trajectory of their lives dramatically.

This is not to say that there is no need for local missions but in fact, the opposite, as there are certain lessons that can only be learned from inside our zip code as well. Many times when seeing the needs of others in distant place we are convicted by the realization that we neglect many very near to us. As a youth ministry, this has led us to do service project weekends, In full disclosure, they are great in theory, we have been blessed by them, but we need to work on a better implementation as they have proven to be very difficult to put on during the school year. I am confident by the Spirit’s leading, we will grow in this practice,

Another aspect I like is the camaraderie that we enjoy on these trips. Students have conversations with people they have “only seen around on Sunday morning”, they reconcile differences, they see each other differently. Similar to the “teen summer camp experience”, being away provides the opportunity for that. This is also important for me as a youth pastor. This is literally the most time that I get to spend with students, the only time that I get to engage in deeper conversations with some and important times for some of our youth leaders to truly connect with the group. Again, the challenge is applying this throughout the year.

Perhaps another reason that is largely ignored is the importance that our teams serve to either a local church or missions organization. I realize this can open an entirely separate discussion altogether but it seems to me that less gets done if we do not send teams. Again because relationships and student involvement create so much motivation and energy. That said, I am very much aware of the stories of some organizations that have used groups as either tourists or as sources of revenue to repaint the same wall summer after summer and these accounts always grieve me. But it seems for the vast majority, these weekly teams serve and build credibility to these local churches and agencies and I love that aspect of the larger Church Body serving in this big-picture way.

Another feature of the trip that I have come to recognize as been the decision-making process that the student and their families go through to commit to the trip. Many choose between summer jobs, parents plan vacations around them, and every time someone asks, “What will you be doing over there?”, the student has the opportunity to search their soul of why they are actually going. The decision making process and the pre-trip reparation should not be underestimated.

There are certainly problems and challenges for student mission trips, believe me I know. Among them are behavioral problems, an inflated sense of ego (“I’m going to save these people”), the danger of categorizing missional-living as only a “summer thing” that can only be done proxy and a few other concerns that maybe I can share another time. But these are not reasons to not do mission trips, they are reasons to do them better.

To combat our collective pride and to maintain focus on why/what we are doing, we have had nightly devotions and debriefings, Scripture and journal reflection times, and have been diligent in creating a servant-hearted culture on these trips. We have even gone so far as adopting a motto, “Me First!!”. When we ask for 3 volunteers to do the glamorous jobs of cleaning the dinner tables, or filling the water coolers, or cleaning the bathrooms, there ought to be a rush of volunteers yelling, “ME!” first. We get the point when we have to turn down five volunteers because three volunteered so quickly.

Are mission trips worth it? Yes, in our current context, they are very beneficial and very much worth the cost, time, and energy expended. For more, I highly recommend the dvd curriculum Round Trip and David Livermore’s Serving with Eyes Wide Open. Please feel free to comment in polite disagreement or add your concern, I have come to enjoy this conversation.

Filed Under: Mission Trips, Missional, Student Ministry

Lessons Learned From Our New Orleans Mission Trip Part 1 – High School Students Can Do Just About Anything

July 22, 2010 by Tim Leave a Comment

High School Students Can Do Just About Anything
I’ve always held this suspicion but like many great truths, I have doubted. My working theory is my perception is due to the “modes” that I find students in. There are many of these modes: apathetic, passionately motivated, committed to missing the point, brilliant, rowdy, rude, and messy, almost behaviorally perfect. There’s many more of course, and they depend on a number of circumstances. It’s interesting to note how this reflects adulthood but considerably more exaggerated in the teen years.

I hold the belief that you need to push, motivate, lead students to do great things*. In ministry it becomes difficult to do this without inflating their collective ego and revolving the group not around God but around them. Sadly, this is among the mistakes that I have made numerous times. My intentions never started out that way but between the frustrations, criticisms, weak attendance, parental complaints, compromises were made and the trajectory drifted off-course.

This was running through my mind throughout our time in New Orleans. When we first walked into the Gathering building and saw the work we needed to, I admit that I felt the feeling of intimidation. But I was not intimidated by the task, in fact, I was confident in that. I knew our team could do it (especially after last year and this year was also a strong crew), but worried our attitudes would struggle and that we would not take the work as seriously as we should. Doubt crept in, I second-guessed myself, and wondered if the numerous criticisms of student short term missions held credibility. Of course, it’s at this point in the reflection that I am supposed to say that I prayed, the heavens opened up and God gave me his divine “thumbs up” and I winked back at the clouds, filled with courage, and gave a Braveheart speech that not only impassioned our students but simultaneously stopped the oil spill.

But nothing dramatic like that happened after my prayer. In fact, I prayed several times, and as a group we prayed regularly. Perhaps the wisest part of our prayers was that we had dedicated the work and time to the Lord and asked that He would bless it. From where I stood, it was that consistent submission to God that helped us maintain focus, kept our unity, provided energy in the forms of physical strength and encouragement in the forms of words, hugs, notes and presence.

Like all mission trips, nothing ever goes as planned. We had equipment problems, transportation glitches, missing lunches, and we constantly rotated students to different job sites (from kids camp, to menial labor like moving bricks, delivering furniture, to hanging insulation). There were days we ran out of work and had too many people and then too much work and not enough people and numerous other potential distractions. We began numerous conversations with, “I can’t do anything with these 5 until those 4 finish that and then …” Then there was the heat.

To their credit, they not only kept it together and we all witnessed moments of growth. Watching that final piece of insulation go up was more than just the pride of physical labor but the result of a youth group serving with good reason (and we had quite a few ranging from Christian service to reaching out to those that are in need). As you can tell I’m very proud of our students and I was reminded to never underestimate them.

* I know some may be inclined to say that it’s not us who do the great things but God. Certainly this is true to some extent but it has some obvious shortcomings. For instance, at car wash fundraisers, when a vehicle is cleaned poorly, it seems ridiculous to shake our fists at the heavens in protest of God’s performance. It’s usually more effective to communicate to your students, “Hey we need to bend our knees and scrub.” I know that may not qualify has a “great thing” but you get my point right? We are to serve and build his Kingdom, and this is truly an extraordinary thing.

Filed Under: Mission Trips, Student Ministry

Our NOLA 2010 Mission Trip – Setting the Context – Post 1

July 19, 2010 by Tim 1 Comment

As a believer of short term missions, each summer our youth ministry goes on a short-term mission trip. Last year we served at the All Saints AIDS Camp in Nassau Bahamas with Next Step Ministries. It was an unbelievable experience. Throughout the years, I have led teams to Estonia, the Czech Republic, and our beloved New Orleans. It was here in 2008 that we worked with a local church plant called The Gathering in Chalmatte, LA which is just east of the lower 9th ward and an area that was also completely flooded by 8-20 feet of water.

The 2008 trip was a difficult one for a number of reasons. Many of our team members were first-timers (which is wonderful too), it was extremely hot (as you would expect), our accommodations were rough (we stayed in an abandoned elementary school that was scheduled to be knocked down a few weeks after our trip). My “trip lows” included driving through the Chalmatte neighborhoods looking at all the “For Sale” signs. It still felt like a ghost town, very few businesses, no grocery stores, not even Wal Mart had moved back at this point. The few businesses I saw were a Burger King, Home Depot, a Walgreens, and numerous establishments selling daiquiris.

I also remember never being able to cool off, except during a cold shower, but immediately, the humidity reminded you that there was no refuge. I think my biggest “trip low” was on our last work day, the team made chicken pot pie as a celebratory feast. We ate at picnic tables “inside” where the cafeteria was. It was after 8pm by the time we ate, I was starving and since I wasn’t in the shower, I was of course, sweating. Being hungry, I tried to eat the pot pie, but it too was extremely hot. And between the sweat from the heat and the pot pie, my face was literally sweating into my food. It was at this point that I remembered thinking, “Who’s dumb idea was it to make chicken pot pie?” followed by “Why couldn’t Katrina had hit Maine?”.

The better moments …
… we had a great team and were joined by a few students from the church Evan Curry was serving at the time.
… we got a lot done, mudding, priming, cleaning out abandoned houses.
… realizing the enormous need of New Orleans and the entire Gulf region.
… meeting the fine people of the Gathering.

The Gathering is a church plant by a team from various parts of the US – Phoenix, Louisville, to name a few. The lead pastor, Matt and his family moved in February ’06. They were a young couple with two kids and they lived off generators for 18 months. I would have loved to have heard some of these conversations when they were asked, “Why move there … now???” But you and I know the reasons why.

For me, one of the most important parts of the trip was meeting Aaron Johnson. He’s one of the pastors of The Gathering and the way he was trying to do pastoral work really connected with me. His church office is his donated white pick-up truck and his pulpit is his tool belt and cell phone. The Gathering had just completed the purchase of an old bowling alley that had been gutted after Katrina. Their vision was to convert the building into a community center. The Phase One (of Three) vision is to have have a day care center, coffee shop, counseling center, and include a space for worship.

After our week there, we knew we had to come back and committed to returning every other year. And so on July 6th, we left Montvale to return to Chalmatte.

Filed Under: Mission Trips, Missional, Student Ministry

Monday Morning Brief 8.3.09

August 3, 2009 by Tim Leave a Comment

What I’ve Been Enjoying –1. I’ve loved being home. All is well with Susan, Nathan, and all is well in the womb with Baby G. Just went to another appointment and all is pretty good. To the right is a fairly recent 4-D sonogram pic. I’ve never been so happy to see my nose. Not worried, he’ll still get enough of his mom’s genes to be cute. 2. Still enjoying the afterglow of our mission trip and trying to apply what I’ve gained from our Nassau experience.

What I Was Disappointed By – I know I shouldn’t be surprised but every time I hear about steroids or performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), I get frustrated. I think part of it is that people like myself have sought refuge in sports pretending it’s the last place of purity but we’ve always been kidding ourselves, nothing is pure. Speaking as a Yankee fan, I can’t help but think of Game 4 in the 2003 ALCS. I know a lot of baseball was on something but Mariano wasn’t and if you know baseball, you know that’s true.

What I’m Reading – Still reading the last half of 1.2 of Barth’s Dogamtics that should have been completed almost 2 weeks ago for our independent study. Just found Enough last night and plan on finishing that soon. About to start Rob Bell’s Drops Like Stars.

What I’m Listening to – new Derek Webb, new Wilco, Homebrewed Christianity Podcast with Robert Wright and catching up on Relevant podcasts.

Student Ministry Update – It’s been great to hear all the wonderful things said about our mission trip. A lot of time, work, prayer, support went into that and I am not taking these good things for granted. A lot of positive things were expressed by our students, one I hope to share about one day, and while I still have concerns for short term missions (they are not an end), I’ve been really moved by our last couple especially. Now on to planning the new year, cleaning out files, catching up on all the stuff before the mayhem begins again!

Filed Under: Baseball, Christianity, Reflective, Student Ministry

Reflecting On the Nassau’ Mission Trip 2 Months Later

September 26, 2011 by Tim Leave a Comment

This past Sunday, the students and leaders from my previous church shared about the week that we spent in Nassau serving at the All Saints AIDS Camp. Though I wished I could have been there to see and be a part of the presentation, I was confident that the MEFC community were going to have a great morning together.

Not too many days go by when I don’t think about the “All Saints AIDS Camp”. I think of the residents, I think of the missionaries Tim and Felicia, I think of the organizations that are serving there, namely Next Step Ministries (but I know there are more), I think of the various staff people and mission teams (Minnesotans!) that we got to connect with as well and a host of others. I remain unmoved by how important short-term missions are. While there are bugs to work out in these types of missions and while there are numerous bad stories out there, these experiences are extremely powerful and they do so much good on numerous sides.

So here’s what I am thinking about today. My hope is that residents of the camp think of the couple hundred people that came through this summer and remember that many care about them. I love that they post our pictures in their cabins and I hope they remember the prayers, the laughs, the hugs, the awkward moments and the kind gestures – I know I do.

I hope we never forget what we experienced through our senses – the smell, the heat, the dirt, the sounds and the things that our eyes see that don’t come through our pictures.

I hope my young little family serves together on a mission trip (like our friends did from Minnesota). I am among those that could not care less if they make it to the “Big Leagues” and I don’t care to see their names in lights. I know Susan and I would be grateful to see them choosing to live a life that is faithful to the unique calling they received from the Lord (whatever that means, accounting, the NHL, non-profit work, whatever). As we hope to get there I pray that we are always involved in the mission of the Kingdom of Jesus. I hope we are always loving and serving “the other”.

I hope our leaders lead their own trips. I’ve recently filled out recommendations for two people who will be serving in a leadership position with a missions organization next summer. I can’t tell you how excited that makes me feel. And while I know the Lord would have led them to this one way or another, it’s so good to be a part of it.

I hope our students never just see this as an “amazing trip” as if it were a sight-seeing adventure. I hope it continues to shape them. I hope they always wrestle with the superficialities of the world and the realness of what they encountered. I hope they struggle with that feeling of wondering if they are the only one who cares and I hope that moves them to action, sharing the message, and praying to the Lord for strength. I hope their character grows, their humility deepens and their faith grows. And I hope they are always willing to labor for those that God cherishes.

Filed Under: Missional, Reflective, Student Ministry

Reflecting on Our Sr High Mission Trip to the All Saints AIDS Camp, Nassau Bahamas – Post 1

July 19, 2011 by Tim 3 Comments

We just got back from our student mission trip to the All Saints AIDS Camp located in Nassau, Bahamas and I have to say it was fantastic. We had a great experience the last time we went as well and deep down inside, a few of us feared that it wouldn’t be as special as last time. But we also knew that we don’t go on mission trips to simply “get special feelings” and I think that’s why we ended up with one. That makes sense right?

If this is your first time reading about this here’s a bit of context. About 15 miles from the beautiful beach resorts sits this camp for about 30 people who have HIV/AIDS and/or have no other place to turn. Their conditions are deplorable and a couple of organizations like Next Step Ministries and missionaries (like Tim and Felicia who arrived a couple years ago) are committed to improving their living standards while serving in the name of Jesus. (You can check out my other posts for more starting here).

As I have been thinking about the trip these last few days, I find myself grateful that a number of concerns that I had been praying for worked out as well as they did. As mentioned, our group was here two years ago and it was such an incredible experience that I know I was not the only one who was afraid that the glory of old would potentially become a stumbling block for us. I am grateful that it wasn’t. It seemed to me that the returning students were intent on letting this year’s trip be this year’s trip.

Another concern was our first-timers. They’re usually young, idealistic, and I still like them. It’s exciting to have them but there is always concern if they believe the trip is going to be something that it isn’t. I am grateful to say they came ready to work and build relationships.

Then there was my concern/hope that all would work out with our leaders. Because of the way things went, we ended up bringing 7 leaders. Each of them are wonderful and have great hearts. Each of them different, each of them opinionated like most Northeasterners (yeah we definitely lack that friggin’ Midwest charm), and then add me to the mix :). All I know is that we have the best leaders a youth pastor and his students (and a church family) could ask for. Amazing and wonderful people and I continue to be so grateful for their sacrifices and hearts.

I get very sensitive regarding short-term missions. I was not always a believer of them and I understand the concerns/objections some have towards them, especially if the trip is reduced to a form of “poverty tourism” and the theme becomes, “We don’t have it so bad where we are from – aren’t you glad you’re not them.” (But if you are not careful, you might be even worse off – more on that in a future post that might morph into next week’s sermon). But that didn’t happen either, instead I felt that we were truly broken for the hurt we saw as we asked God to help us see everyone the way He saw them (and may we have the courage to see ourselves as He sees us).

We absolutely loved the Next Step Staff. The recruiting they do is pretty impressive. A bad staff could potentially hurt a trip but between their talents and their hearts, they really were an incredible blessing to all of us. I hope they have a great rest of the summer and find ways for God to continue to use them so powerfully. What was also great about it was there was 8 of them this year (as opposed to 4 the last time. And for the record, the 4 last time were amazing and I know the Lord multiplied their efforts. But a bigger staff was really helpful, especially since there more than 50 us this time as opposed to 17). So fellow youth pastors, please consider this a strong endorsement for Next Step Ministries – check them out here.

Then there was the “other youth group”. Raise your hand if you have ever served with another church and that be …. hmm … looking for the right word … “interesting” experience (I have a few of my hands raised ;) and I am sure we can be that group for others too). That said, a very special aspect of our trip was sharing this week with the youth group from Minnesota. They were a great bunch of students and they had a wonderful leaders as well. We were broken up into crews and our projects included roof work on two cabins, demolishing an old one, cement mixing for a parking lot, painting, and construction of a handrail to make the new sidewalks safer (I was on the handrail crew). All of us felt a great connection serving and talking with each other. The only lamentable thing about them was that they are Twins fans – Oh well :)

There were a few other things to highlight and I’ll begin there tomorrow as I can not wait to write a good bit about the residents, the missionaries, and the video series Next Step created and showed us this week. Thanks for reading!

Filed Under: Missional, Reflective, Student Ministry

Our Student Mission Team Is Returning to an AIDS Camp

July 8, 2011 by Tim 1 Comment

If you know me or if you have been following this blog for a while, you know I am a believer of short-term missions. While I see some of the shortcomings of these trips, I have also experienced the virtues of these weeks.

This year, we are returning to the All Saints AIDS Camp with Next Step Ministries. We will be headed to the Nassau, Bahamas this weekend and be there until the 17th. Our main objective is to do what we are told to do cheerfully and effectively in the name of Jesus (If you have worked on a short-term trip, you’re probably smiling and know exactly what that means). What I believe we are actually doing is building cabins for the residents of the camp. Two years ago, we worked on cabins and spent the other half of the time destroying sidewalk and repaving a new one. The sidewalk was completed last summer and most of the projects are focused on cabin building, a new bathhouse, kitchen-cafeteria and perhaps a chapel.

It’s always been interesting to me that the All Saints AIDS Camp used to be a leper colony. The camp sits on a ridge on the opposite side of the resorts, down a long winding dirt road overlooking a cliff and a cemetery. There is a little bit of electricity and access to water. Other amenities include a picnic table.

Still, we found most of the residents to be cheerful. One woman we made a connection with frequently asked us to read Scripture to her and she would love to sing hymns. There were many like her which we found to be incredible. There has always been a Christian presence in the camp and many of the residents are professing believers. After our trip, the camp received resident missionaries whom we have been praying upon hearing the incredible news. I am curious to how the camp feels since their arrival.

Upon hearing the possibility of this place (at the National Youth Workers Convention in Pittsburgh of ’08), I was quick to dismiss it. I mean taking high school students to an AIDS Camp and hearing all the jokes of a mission trip to the Bahamas is a tough sell. That day, had you told me that it would have been one of the most meaningful experiences of our lives, I probably would not have believed you.

It’s become a very special place to me. You pray very different when you’re at a place like that. Last time I was there, my wife was pregnant with Dylan and she’s now pregnant with a little girl. I’m telling you, you think differently about life when you’re there. It’s a special place and our students were very moved by the experience. And one moment I’ll always remember is one of our girls turning 16 there.

There are countless things to remember but one of my another highlight was getting a tour of the island on our free day by one of the residents … who was blind. I’m eager to meet up with him again and though I expect that he won’t remember me, we certainly remember him and his story of God’s deliverance.

If you would remember to pray for a few things that would be great.
– Pray that we would be “agenda-free” and only focused on serving in the name of Jesus. One of our collective concerns is the temptation to recreate our previous experience (which would be like us making an idol and worshipping that memory instead of God).
– Pray for our safety and health. It’s extremely hot and we’re building cabins, tools are sharp, wood is heavy, and though we are very safety conscious, please pray for God’s hand to be upon us.
– Pray for those we will be serving and serving with. As wonderful as it is for Americans to come and help build a new home for you, it must get a bit exhausting talking to a new group each week. We do our best to communicate to our team that we are not tourists but there is obviously a relational element to these weeks. And so we pray that those who we are serving would be blessed in many ways by us. We will also be serving with another church (from Minnesota) and we’re looking forward to meeting them.

I’d like to think that post a thought or two next week but I’ll be more committed to being there, so we’ll see.

For more context, you can about our trip two years ago here and here.

Filed Under: Christianity, Missional, Reflective, Student Ministry

Youth Ministry and the Future of the Church Part 6

February 18, 2011 by Tim 3 Comments

Primary Audience – Local Context
Secondary Audience – Fellow youthworkers and Kingdombuilders

This is probably my last post in the “Youth Ministry and the Future of the Church” series for a while but I have enjoyed putting these thoughts out and have especially appreciated my local context friends expressing their thoughts (and at the very least … reading! – Seriously thanks). Be warned, I’ve tried to not be too provocative on these but I am finishing this post while listening to the new Radiohead album (really good).

Had I finished this series without the mention of the word “Missional”, it would only be a matter of days that someone from my beloved seminary would have contacted me for failure to apply practical objectives. But even with that lurking threat, ;) I sincerely believe that youth ministry will need to evolve and become more missional.

Before we dive in to that, a brief recap – My hope is that we will always support parents in the raising of young followers of a more Biblical Jesus with theological integrity. I hope we always provide opportunities for worship, community, learning and serving. Ultimately, I hope that the church will strengthen for the sake of the Kingdom.

That said, there’s only so much parents and youth workers can do for students, and there are some things that a student must see and do for themselves. At some point, students need to read the Bible for themselves and not just be taught about it. At some point, students must pray for themselves and not just be prayed for. And at some point, students must participate in mission and not just be the object of it.

It’s been my experience that if you want to convince a student to become less self-absorbed, you need to show them the physical/emotional/spiritual poverty of others. It’s among the reasons we believe in short-term missions and trying to create a sustainable and more consistent missional culture. This has been among the better aspects of our ministry.

To be completely honest though, I join the many who have always been concerned with the virtues of the short-term missions experience. Looking back on the last five years however, I think our response to the concern has been part of what has made these opportunities helpful. We tell students that they need to share their summer with others. We tell them to be faithful with the opportunities provided on the mission trip and to allow their hearts to be broken. We tell them later, that they can’t care for the homeless in New Orleans or the HIV patient in the Bahamas and curse their mother under their breath and ignore the socially marginalized in their school. In leaving our zip code, God has taught us a great deal about the people in it.

Now “being missional” is more than participational, it’s formational and communal as well. But among our problems is that our youth ministries are limited by the participational aspects of joining in service in the Kingdom.

We use a fair amount of sending language in our youth ministry. We even have students who say things like, “I am salt and light on my team/group/band.” That’s a great starting point for a young Christian and my hope is that we serve our community as individuals, families, and as a local church. To do this, I think a few aspects are needed.

One we need to be missional church-wide. Like many things, it must be part of our culture to serve and not just a “hobby” that the students do.

Two, we need to confront and dismiss the consumer culture that exists in many of our suburban churches. There’s a lot written about that on this blog and so many other places but consumer culture is suffocating us.

Third we need a new metrics of measurements. I know of some larger churches that are doing great things, some not so much. I know a few mid/small being very faithful and powerful and many not so much. Large/Small expired a long time ago, it’s about fruit, power, transformational difference. Instead of “How many are attending this week?” It needs to be more like, “How many new are coming in this year? How many are being sent out? What are they doing/saying/thinking/worshipping in here/out there?” etc. What is the fruit of our discipleship from our homes/churches?”

Finally, and I know how general this sounds, we must collectively pursue the mission of the Kingdom in the way Jesus modeled – liberation, provision, healing, sacrifice, forgiveness, redemption, all in the name of God’s love.

In the ministry I am serving in, we have had some amazing moments, some terrible ones, mediocre seasons and some real beautiful ones too. We are praying that we are on the Spirit-led road in being a strong church following Jesus. I truly believe that what we are doing today not only matters for now but for the evangelical church 30, 40, 50 years from now. Thoughts?

Filed Under: Missional, Student Ministry, The Church