Right now, the youth group from our church is serving on a short term mission in Chicago. So are several others I’ve been following on facebook. More are serving in other cities, communities and countries around the world. One group I know just had a retreat on the beach. Another went camping across town.
The reality, it seems, is that your youth group is going nowhere unless you’re going somewhere. There is power in getting away from the ordinary, whether you’re on a mission, or your mission is just to get away. As a team leader with Orphanage Outreach (now Outreach 360) in the Dominican Republic, as a campus minister with His House Christian Fellowship, and now as the retreats director at SpringHill Camps, I have seen the transformative power of these experiences away from home from all angles.
But how do you leverage the context of the youth group to move your ministry forward? Here are four things that will help:
1. Focus on shared experiences.
Regardless where you’re going or what you’re doing, the important thing is that you’re together. When I work with a group coming to SpringHill, I make sure we’re housing them in cabins in one area of camp, providing meeting spaces that are appropriate to their group size and goals, and choosing activities that will allow them to experience challenges and success together.
Quick Tip: Instead of getting 8 or more parents to drive a string of cars—which may appear cheaper—spend the extra money up front to rent vans or charter a bus. The extra investment in the time you spend together while you travel will pay off in the first few hours of your experience.
2. Make sure no one is left behind.
I’m not saying you should remember to count heads after rest stops. I’m saying you should always be on the lookout for the student who doesn’t have anyone to connect to. While this is important back home too, it’s that much more important when you’re at camp or on a retreat. Ask a student leader, not an adult leader, to put special effort into spending time with that student.
And, keep in mind that it may not always be best to just drag them into a natural friend group right away. Make sure the person you engage knows the first priority is to befriend the student personally first.
3. Ensure the organization you’re working with or visiting knows your goals and objectives.
It’s the first question we ask every youth pastor who calls about a custom retreat: What do you want to accomplish? The natural tendency for many is to start with what they want to do, but we often have new or better activities or different ideas that may be more effective. When the camp or mission organization understands your group, they can do what they do best and your group will benefit.
4. Have a simple plan and clear next steps for going home.
Google maps can give you a great travel plan, but you should make sure you spend as much time mapping out what will happen after you get home as you do mapping out how you’ll get to your destination.
For example, if your goal is to build community among your students, you should have a clear way for them to live out that newfound community in the days immediately after you return home. If you are teaching them to serve, have a plan to support their new desire to serve in your own community.
Quick Tip: Use the question, “What are you going to do or do differently because of the experience we just had together?” My guess is you can anticipate many (but not all) of the ideas your students will have, and at least have an idea of how you can support them as they seek to live them out.
How have camps, retreats, and missions helped your youth group to move forward?
Also in this series: Leveraging the family context for more effective ministry, God at work in and through you, leveraging the staff experience for life change, and There’s no free time at summer camp: leveraging the cabin group.