ThereforeGo Ministries

Inviting Gen Z to SERVE

Amanda Roozeboom — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 16:24:55 +0000

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By Amanda Roozeboom, SERVE Director

Many believe that short-term missions trips cause more harm than good to the people and communities where they occur. All too often, this is true, but better models exist. ThereforeGo Ministries is a short-term missions organization rooted in long-term partnerships. We believe short-term missions trips remain an important way to foster young people into belonging, believing, and being welcomed into missions.

We’ve created a unique short-term mission model, called SERVE. This one-week domestic mission trip for teens in the U.S. or Canada introduces students in grades 7-12 to spreading the gospel through missional living and confronting justice issues. Unlike other short-term mission trips for teens, all ThereforeGo SERVE sites are hosted by a local church.

We believe short-term missions works best when it happens through the local church. We want to empower local churches to live missionally to reflect Christ’s love. This helps show young adults how a church should and can be alive and living outside its walls. Finally, this philosophy ensures that when groups leave, the people being served are not left behind; the local church remains to continue the relationships.

I recently spoke with Beth Seversen, author of Not Done Yet, and discussed what qualities local churches’ have that have teens and emerging adults as a significant part of the congregation. Her research shows that members of Gen Z want to be invited to serve – in meaningful ways – and contribute to the life of the church without the typical strings attached.

Faith communities that allow teens and emerging adults to belong before they believe and contribute before they commit, see this demographic stay and embrace the Christian faith. In a time when so many churches lament the departure of Gen Z-ers and Millennials, this is no small accomplishment.

Something similar happens when a participant attends a SERVE trip. The students are not second-tier volunteers. Each day, they contribute in meaningful ways. They are seen as people who belong and have a significant role within this temporary community. Yes, the adults drive the vans, facilitate evening small group discussions, and ensure safety on all worksites.

However, the students are in charge of completing the tasks at the worksites and building relationships with those receiving assistance. Through active engagement and learning the stories of others, the root causes of inequality become visible, and participants grow in their biblical justice conduct and consciousness. As participants discover a broader answer to, ‘What does your/the church do?’ we pray they can connect the dots and respectfully engage with their local church leadership to serve at home the rest of the year.

SERVE is a unique blend of community outreach and discipleship, with spiritual transformation as the goal at every level. With relationships at the heart of everything we do, we have seen this brief experience become a significant part of the lives of all who participate. Most importantly, the SERVE model provides spaces for Gen Z to belong and come to believe in their own time and place. Because SERVE is connected to the local church, when critical faith questions or doubts are expressed, Christian mentors are available to point them to Jesus each step of the way.

Teens are searching for security, significance, and strength. Throughout the SERVE week, teen participants ask themselves: am I okay outside my comfort zone, do I make a difference, can I make it through challenging experiences?

Members of Gen Z are searching for open doors and safe spaces to answer these questions. The local church has the extraordinary opportunity to welcome and walk alongside them as they make their way towards a faith commitment through acts of service and a sense of belonging. Jean Vanier, Founder of L’Arche Communities, believes,

“To love someone is not first of all to do things for them, but to reveal to them their beauty and value, to say to them through our attitude: ‘You are beautiful. You are important. I trust you. You can trust yourself.’ We all know well that we can do things for others and in the process crush them, making them feel that they are incapable of doing things by themselves. To love someone is to reveal to them their capacities for life, the light that is shining in them.”

Too often, people of faith are quick to exclude others. Gen Z is waiting for an invitation. Welcoming them in and giving them meaningful work to do can be risky. However, missions have always been a little dangerous. Fully embrace the risk. The relationships formed and the transformation experienced are worth it.

Originally published by EMQ a Missio Nexus publication in 2022.

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Hope & Collaboration

Rick Zomer — Wed, 24 May 2023 17:54:04 +0000

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By Rick Zomer, Executive Director of ThereforeGo Ministries

Earlier this month, I was a part of a group of 35 individuals invited by the Fuller Youth Institute (FYI) to come to Pasadena, CA to discuss findings from their most recent research initiative. Their project is focused on discipleship initiatives with young adults, and FYI’s goal for the event was to share initial findings with church, denominational, non-profit, and young adults from different contexts. I was honored to be included in this event as it clearly aligns with ThereforeGo’s mission statement to help “churches challenge youth and emerging adults to commit their lives to Jesus Christ and transform this world for him.”

I’ve been in my role with ThereforeGo for 5+ years and in that time, I’ve had the privilege of meeting with hundreds of church leaders across the United States and Canada. While each interaction is unique, I can say without hesitation that there are two shared themes that have emerged from these conversations. The first is that many churches are struggling to maintain and/or build connections with emerging adults in their congregational contexts and the second is that many churches feel alone or isolated in this process.

While I believe that FYI’s research is important, upon reflection I would say hearing their findings wasn’t my biggest takeaway from the event in Pasadena. My learning can best be summed up by two words: “hope” and “collaboration.” By showing up, the leaders who gathered in Pasadena demonstrated hope that the church can be a place where emerging adults and their gifts are welcomed. By gathering with others, they demonstrated that learning happens best through collaboration as it gives the opportunity to hear and learn from others.

I encourage you to spend a few moments reviewing our website for ways your congregation might collaborate with ThereforeGo and other churches in our shared ministry to youth and emerging adults. We’d be happy to connect to answer questions or talk about next steps.

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Intergenerational Ingenuity

MacKenzie Knoll — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 13:42:25 +0000

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By Will Southard, a pastor in Lynden, Washington

Even before COVID, Gen Z was the loneliest generation on record. But now, in the aftermath of the pandemic, the need for connection and belonging is greater than ever. This is especially true for the emerging adults in our churches. We have a tremendous opportunity before us, to speak to that need. In Christ, we belong; we are fully known and fully loved. And we experience that belonging that we have in him as we gather with his people.

One of the ways that my church, Third CRC Lynden, has been seeking to further embrace our emerging adults is through a renewed focus on intergenerational gatherings. We’ve found that, especially after COVID, that’s what our church craves. We’re hungering to be in community together, so we’ve made space for that to happen through regular events, called “Family Fun Nights,” that the entire church is invited to. We’ve had pumpkin carving contests, trivia nights, and talent shows. At each of these events, we’ve experienced the beauty of fellowship.

Our emerging adults in particular have expressed how these events have helped integrate them into the life of the church and helped them get to know members of their faith family better. That has encouraged us as we continue moving forward with our long-term goal: cultivating deeper, more intentional relationships between generations. We’re seeking to do that in two new ways this year – through Faith Forward, and through Generation Spark.

Faith Forward was an idea that our Family Ministry Team developed while participating in a mentorship network last year, led by ThereforeGo Ministries and Faith Formation Ministries. We surveyed our church to see what some of our common interests are and created small groups to help gather them around those interests. We started with four – reading, cooking and baking, worship, and games – and have invited anyone who is interested, regardless of their age, to come and participate. Our hope is that, as we gather in these smaller groups, relationships will continue to develop and deepen in an organic way.

Faith Forward is helping us build a bridge to Generation Spark which is a collaboration between the CRC and RCA that is focused on cultivating intergenerational mentoring in churches. When we begin Generation Spark later this year, our emerging adults will have the opportunity to meet regularly with members of our faith family they’ve already gotten to know through Faith Forward or other intergenerational gatherings. They’ll spend time working on spiritual formation and continue to share and experience life together.

Ultimately these are the kinds of relationships that we want to see formed in our church. We want our emerging adults to experience what it’s like to be named and known, loved, and embraced. We want them to experience what it’s like to belong, as members of our faith family, learning and growing together. In many ways, we’re already doing that. We want to recognize that and encourage people to lean into what they’re already doing and invest in the next generation.

Stepping into intergenerational ministry can be uncomfortable – even scary. But, as my church has experienced, the best way to do it is by simply trying something. Create an opportunity for all ages to gather around something they enjoy. It will look different based on your context, and that’s the point! The more you know your people, the more you’ll know what will bring them together. Find that thing, and use it as your starting point. The desire for belonging is there. So try something together and, as you do that, you’ll begin building a foundation for lasting, intergenerational relationships to form.

Bio

Will is the Pastor of Family and Youth at Third Christian Reformed Church in Lynden, WA. He first got connected with ThereforeGo Ministries through their mentorship network, which he and a team from Third participated in last year and would highly recommend (especially if you can get Rick Zomer to be your coach).

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Dynamic Denver Discipleship

MacKenzie Knoll — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 14:26:21 +0000

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Interview with Myriam, an emerging adult in Denver, Colorado

Nestled in a tree-lined neighborhood in Denver lies First CRC of Denver. First CRC is one of many churches in North America that is pioneering new programs to involve emerging adults in their congregation. What is First’s solution? A program called “Enfold” that repurposes their unused parsonage into a discipleship house for the next generation of congregants and leaders.

According to First CRC’s website, “The Enfold program is a year-long residency program for recent college graduates and emerging adults who seek to serve God in their careers and to find their place in his family, the church.”

Each year, three to five residents are selected to live together rent-free in church-provided housing. Enfold’s vision and mission for its residents is threefold: that they “…engage the community as Christ’s representatives… discover their place in God’s family through participation in the church… and be discipled by the pastors through vocational mentoring.”

Myriam, a nurse and recent graduate of Dordt University, was eager to talk about her journey to Enfold and Colorado.

“During the spring of my senior year, I went on a service trip to Colorado. I mentioned to the person we were volunteering with that I was looking at jobs in the Denver area, and she told me about the Enfold program that First CRC was starting,” she said. “I wanted to work in the US for a year or so while I worked on transferring my nursing license home to Canada.”

“When I first heard about the opportunity, I thought it would be a great way to make connections in Denver. It was nice not to have to choose a church to attend. I was able to get involved with the church faster than I would have otherwise.”

As she settled into her new life, Myriam has had to figure out what it means to be an adult seeking out a relationship with the Lord separately from required chapel or religion classes at school.

“It was suddenly on me to make sure I was growing my faith and staying close to God,” she said. “I have been meeting with someone from the church who is also a nurse. She has helped me understand how I can express my faith at work.”

As opportunities similar to Enfold begin to emerge, other churches may take inspiration from programs that intentionally build relationships and community around their emerging adults.

One thing that Myriam thinks churches could do better to engage her generation is inviting them into leadership.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been asked to lead a program. I know there is a need, and most young adults would be more than willing to help, but they aren’t inclined to do so if they aren’t asked.”

Myriam’s thoughts and experiences are a compelling call to action for present church leaders. There is a younger generation standing by, ready to lead, if only someone would ask.

Bio

Myriam is an ICU nurse originally from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, reading, skiing, and spending time with friends.

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Embracing the Elderly

MacKenzie Knoll — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 17:09:27 +0000

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Interview with Leah, a Cadillac SERVE leader

One of the worksites that the Cadillac SERVE participants spent time at this summer was an apartment complex for low income senior citizens. The teams spent time washing windows, vacuuming, dusting, and sweeping porches.

“Most of the seniors were super appreciative, but some were uncomfortable having us in their space and having to accept our help,” said Leah, a leader from Minnesota. “It was really good for us to experience their discomfort.”

While these tasks may not have been the most exciting ones the teams completed all week, the impact they had was large. Not only did they work on tasks that might be difficult for seniors with disabilities or decreasing mobility, but they were also able to get to know the seniors as they worked.

“We were able to learn their stories and pray for them,” Leah said. “It was really impactful to see how having someone to talk to lifted their spirits.”

People that age are often very lonely and can feel secluded, especially if their physical health is declining. Assisting and, more importantly, visiting the elderly is a great way that our SERVE sites and participants engage with the community around them.

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SERVE-ing as a Family

MacKenzie Knoll — Thu, 11 Aug 2022 14:07:48 +0000

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Interview with Emily, SERVE Cadillac participant

“I’ve heard so much about the amazing things that happen on SERVE,” Emily said. “So I wanted to see it for myself!”

Although she is only a freshman, Emily has heard firsthand about the impact that SERVE has on both participants and the impacted communities.

“I have three cousins who have come on SERVE before,” she said. “This year, my aunt came as one of our leaders!”

Emily’s group traveled to Cadillac, Michigan. Throughout the week, they cleaned out a river, sorted clothes at a mission-based thrift store, and built a wheelchair ramp at a Habitat for Humanity house.

“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not have all the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”
Romans 12:4-5

As impactful as it was for Emily to participate with her earthly family, it is even more exciting that our fellow believers that we meet on SERVE are part of our eternal family – The Body of Christ!

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You Can’t Pour from an Empty Cup

ThereforeGo Ministries — Mon, 01 Aug 2022 14:15:00 +0000

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When I was asked to chaperone our group from Platte, South Dakota, I wondered what I could bring to the table for these kids? I had no experience or formal education to give them; I only knew the basic commandments and a couple fruits of the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, that was enough for God to call me to SERVE.

In the midst of personal struggles I was facing, I wasn’t sure how I could encourage my team’s growth. After all, you can’t pour from an empty cup! However, I was encouraged by a passage in John that talked about living water.

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” John 7:37-38 NIV

On Thursday, my team helped at an equine therapy center, assisting in basic farm labor. The Holy Spirit let streams of living water flow from my heart as my group bonded over horse manure and hay bales.

On our last day, I received hugs from all three girls in my small group, each one so grateful for how I displayed God’s love for them. One hundred percent of what we did was really Christ working in them. What a marvelous lesson from SERVE at Park Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan.

By Melissa Sybesma

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Summer SERVE

Ron deVries — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 14:56:00 +0000

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For many of us, the summer season brings the smell of hotdogs cooking, s’mores burning and the enjoyment of sipping a cold beverage on the deck. (And those of us in the north, where winter climates often prevent us from enjoying the outdoors in shorts and t-shirts, are particularly excited for summer.)

Summer also brings along excitement for teens and leaders to experience doing something we call missions. For decades, SERVE has been the name associated with just this type of experience. SERVE, (a ministry of ThereforeGo Ministries) has worked with many hosting, local churches and hundreds of sending churches over the years. Thousands of youth (aged 14-18) have been impacted by the transforming work of Jesus Christ through these events. What’s more, many of these same teens later followed the Spirit’s leading and entered ministry later in life—God is good, all the time!

And the work that He has begun in our communities is often realized through these temporary communities of grace, mercy and hope. Over the years and decades, students and leaders alike have experienced the transformative power of God when they serve. Those days are often filled with moments of:

Working with people who have been marginalized
Hearing stories of God’s redeeming work in communities
Worshiping together and singing with the angelic voices that Heaven produces

All done on SERVE. For the Kingdom.

If you would like to hear more about these opportunities, please contact me at Ron@thereforego.com

If you would like to hear stories about what God is doing in this work, ask one of your students who has gone or visit thereforego.com/stories.

If you would like to help, please pray:

for the hundreds of students who are going this year.
for the leaders who accompany them.
for the hosting communities who, coming out of COVID, are hosting for the first time in 3 years.
that our Lord’s transforming Glory is experienced first hand.

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Trusting Wise People

ThereforeGo Ministries — Fri, 20 May 2022 17:00:00 +0000

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“Plans fail for the lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” Proverbs 15:22 NIV

Back in my youth I had a lot of plans, visions, and ideas, but I became reluctant to share them due to people laughing, teasing, or making fun of me. Later in life it became evident that I was a visionary or good at casting vision. It was a gift and part of my make up, but I still held back due to the lack of confidence and influence.

Years later my brother and I started a business, and I gave a presentation to a flourishing company. After that meeting the business owner took me aside and said to me, “you are one amazing presenter.” He told me he loved the idea I presented and wanted to be a part of our organization. Mostly, he wanted to counsel me to give me advise and constructive criticism about our plan. This excited me and built my confidence immensely. Twenty years later that man still influences me today.

Plans and ideas are good but if we don’t share them to get someone else’s perspective and wisdom we will most likely set ourselves up for failure. I think it is imperative to follow the wise counsel of the writer in Proverbs 15:22. Seek good, wise, and trustworthy advisers so that your plans succeed. Wisdom is found in other people’s life experiences.

“Igniting” your day,

JR Pittman
Pastor | Evangelist

JR Pittman is a Motivational Speaker, the Lead Pastor of Ignite Fellowship Church, and the President and On-Air Host of Ignite Radio. Learn more at www.ignitegr.org

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My Plans vs God’s Plan

ThereforeGo Ministries — Fri, 13 May 2022 17:00:00 +0000

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“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans.” Proverbs 16:3 NIV

One of the most exciting things to do in life is make plans for your life. Dreaming about your future can be fun but to write it down could be scary to some. Yet, in the back of our mind we always wonder, “Is this God’s will for my life?”

I love the verse where it states that we need to commit our plans to the Lord. You may be asking yourself, “How do I commit my plans to the Lord?” Simple! You pray. You can either do this by yourself or with your parents, uncle, aunt, teacher, or youth pastor (include someone you trust that has your best interest). Here’s a sample prayer:

Dear Lord, today I want to commit this plan to you. I trust you placed this on my heart, and I need your confirmation so I may have your peace. I truly desire to be in your will to serve you. Keep me humble and open hearted for whatever you show me. In Jesus name, Amen.

Once you commit your plans to God your humanity will kick in. It can be very difficult waiting on the Lord to give you an answer. Just ask God to give you patience as you wait on Him. I guarantee it will be worth the wait.

“Igniting” your day,

JR Pittman
Pastor | Evangelist

JR Pittman is a Motivational Speaker, the Lead Pastor of Ignite Fellowship Church in Grand Rapids, MI, and the President and On-Air Host of Ignite Radio. Learn more at www.ignitegr.org

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Crock pot or microwave?

Rick Zomer — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 12:00:00 +0000

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Have you ever prepared a roast early morning and then let it cook in a crock pot throughout the day? Have you ever placed the ingredients in a bread maker and set it to be ready at dinner time? If so, you know what it is like to have your space fill up with the smell of food cooking for hours and the anticipation that it creates for the food you’ll enjoy later in the day. In fact, it is the pace of the cooking that adds to your enjoyment of your meal. On the other end of the spectrum, a hot pocket that is heated in the microwave for a couple of minutes might provide a hungry person food. However, it is doubtful that its’ flavor or your anticipation would match the quality that comes from a slow cooked meal.

So, what does crockpot cooking have to do with mentoring? I believe many of us choose to employ a microwave approach to how we structure our expectations for building intergenerational connections: we are willing to invest a minimal amount of time, but for some reason are surprised if the relationship that develops isn’t what we hoped it would be.

We would do well to be reminded that an impactful relationship takes time. In fact, time is the very thing that helps build connection, depth, and meaning in mentoring. In the same way crockpots create enjoyable meals, a slow, deliberate, and patient approach to forming relationships continues to be the best way to building meaningful intergenerational connections.

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Posture

Rick Zomer — Fri, 08 Apr 2022 12:00:00 +0000

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Many of us approach mentoring with the idea that it is a process that is based within a specific context: two people sitting across a table from one another engaged in a guided conversation. While that may be true in some instances the posture of mentoring doesn’t have to be limited to a face to face meeting. In fact, initially it might be better if it doesn’t.

Sitting directly across from someone can be an intimidating posture for individuals as they begin to get to know one another in a mentoring relationship. While a table may provide a physical buffer there may still be a sense of vulnerability that comes from being in a person’s direct site of vision for an extended period of time. To help ease that anxiety, it might be helpful to consider the physical posture we employ as we seek to build intergenerational connections.

Rather than starting face to face, consider changing your posture so you are shoulder to shoulder during your initial interactions. Look to do things together that might create space for conversation without having to stay in a fixed location like taking a walk, or meeting outdoors in a park or location with a shared view. This shift in posture may create a more casual atmosphere that sets a foundation for the deeper conversations that are often part of a long-term mentoring connection.

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Perspective

Rick Zomer — Fri, 25 Mar 2022 17:30:00 +0000

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Over the past few months, I’ve had the privilege of working with several churches that are interested in developing intergenerational mentoring connections in their congregation. While each situation is unique, there are some common themes that emerge in these conversations. Over my next two posts, I’ll deal with two of them specifically: the first will focus on a perspective that might be helpful at the beginning stages of a mentoring relationship, and the last will deal with the idea of posture.

So, what does perspective have to do with mentoring? For many of us, we may be hesitant to begin meeting with a student or emerging adult unless we have a clear idea of what it looks like to be a “successful” mentor. Or we may begin a mentoring connection with someone only to lose momentum if we find our initial conversations to be challenging or even awkward. In doing so, we are experiencing the impact our personal perspective can have on our ability to connect with a younger person. From an “older” person’s point of view, a challenging or awkward beginning to intergenerational connection might be viewed as evidence that they aren’t equipped to be the perfect mentor to an emerging adult.

The good news however, is that young people aren’t looking for their mentors to be perfect, they are merely looking for them to be present in their lives. An older person who is able to shift their perspective to reflect this reality will find that students and emerging adults are simply seeking authentic relationship. All they are looking for is an older person who is committed to journey with them as they move into their next stage of life.

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Ready. Set. Wait???

Rick Zomer — Fri, 28 Jan 2022 18:00:00 +0000

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I don’t like airline travel. It isn’t because I’m afraid of flying, it’s because I’m annoyed by waiting. To me nothing is more frustrating than packing a bag, arriving at the airport at the recommended time, checking in and going through security, only to arrive at my gate to discover that the plane isn’t there. There’s nothing I can do but wait.

That description of airline travel is similar to the experience of many emerging adults and their attempt to stay connected to the church. Many of them have participated in everything the church offers: Sunday school, mission trips, youth group and profession of faith. They have “completed” everything the church has asked of them and many of them are looking forward to the next step in their faith journey. These emerging adults are eager to lead, to serve and to contribute to their church community in a meaningful way.

The problem is when they’re ready, the church often tells them to wait. They might be told to wait until they’re older, married, have kids or are “more settled” in their careers before assuming a position of influence or leadership in the church. These messages can be either directly or indirectly communicated to them but they are certainly received. Some of us “older” members of the congregation might feel that this is the way church is supposed to work, after all when we were that age we may have experienced the same thing. That being said, if we are also part of the church that looks around and asks where all the emerging adults have gone we should consider this question: maybe they got tired of waiting.

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Is There More To Supporting Student Mission Trips Than Writing A Check?

Rick Zomer — Fri, 14 Jan 2022 18:45:00 +0000

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My wife and I have been part of a small group for the last 20 years. We started out as five couples but the size of the group has grown to 22 as kids have entered our lives. As a result, I’ve been asked by several of them for support as they’ve gone on mission trips.

On some level, it’s an easy task: write a check and a young person has an experience that will impact their life. However, I began to ask what role I should play beyond simply providing funds. So, when the next kid from our group asked for support for her high school trip I agreed, but only if she agreed to meet with me when she got back. She agreed, and we met for coffee when she returned.

When we met I asked her two questions: what was her favorite part of the trip and what was she surprised by? Then I sat and listened. When she was done speaking, I told her what I had heard: that she loved the Christian community that developed on her trip and she loved working with kids. I confessed that I didn’t know what that might mean for her as she discerns what God is calling her to, but I hoped she’d consider her responses in that process.

I’m a big believer in mission trips and I do think they have the potential to change a young person’s life. That being said, if an adult’s involvement ends with writing a check, it seems to me the potential power of that experience in a young person’s life might be lost. After all, if I’m a young person and I’m told that a mission trip is important, wouldn’t it be important enough for an adult to ask me about it when it’s over?

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#GRATEFULL

ThereforeGo Ministries — Sat, 01 Jan 2022 17:00:00 +0000

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The 2022 SERVE Theme is GRATEFULL! Read Mary Hulst’s reflection on service, gratitude, and her inspiration for this year’s theme.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Key Thought:

Have you ever heard of “sin, salvation, service” or “guilt, grace, gratitude”? These are often presented as the three moves of faith. First, we realize our sin or our guilt, then we receive the gift of salvation or grace, and finally we live our lives in service and gratitude. Service and gratitude go hand in hand. Both are responses to what God in Christ has done for us!

By looking at different bible texts, by trying different things in prayer, and by keeping our eyes open to what God is up to, we are going to discover the beauty and joy of gratitude. Also, psychologists tell us that the two ways to lift us from anxiety and/or depression are…service and gratitude! It’s like our Creator knew exactly how we need to live in order to thrive.

The Gospel as reflected in the Theme:

Christians throughout history have been known for their service. In the early days of the church, a plague swept through Rome. Those living in Rome who had the resources to flee to the country did, leaving the sick and poor behind. Included in the group that left the city were the pagan priests. They were considered elite, and they had the money to get out of town.

The Christians, however, stayed. Wealthy Christians opened their homes to those who needed it. Church members tended to the sick and dying. They shared their food, they shared their water, they took care of orphaned children. But they didn’t just do it during the plague; they did it all the time! Serving others was simply part of the Christians’ life. Service was so much a part of the early church that one of the pagan emperors who wanted Rome to return to their traditional gods was annoyed at the Christians’ practice of serving others because it made those traditional Roman gods and their priests look so bad!

Here’s what he said:

“Why do we not observe that it is their benevolence to strangers, their care for the graves of the dead, and the pretended holiness of their lives that have done most to increase atheism (non-Roman religion)? I believe that we are really and truly to practice every one of these virtues…. For it is disgraceful that, while no Jew ever has to beg, and the impious Galileans support not only their poor but ours as well, all men see that our people lack aid from us.”
—Emperor Julian “the Apostate” as quoted in Resilient Faith by G. Sittser pp. 138-13

Wouldn’t it be amazing if those who participated in SERVE this year were known for their compassion and kindness? Every SERVE host site is in a community that needs people. They may need help with the kinds of things that SERVE teams can do: gardening, painting, cleaning, sorting. But what they really need is the love and grace you can show them. They really need Jesus.

We do, too. Maybe you’ll show up at SERVE tired, or discouraged, or regretting the choice to come. Maybe you’ll be feeling pretty empty. Maybe you’ll need some folks who serve you through meals, or prayer, or worship, or just hanging out and playing cards. Can you look for how God will bless you through the service of others?

Or, you may be full of energy and ready to rock! It’s easy when we are full of joy to run right by someone else who may be hurting. During SERVE, pay attention to others and pay attention to God. Your zeal may rise and fall over the course of the week, but the practices of service and gratitude can keep you steady regardless of how you feel. Wouldn’t it be great if your heart for service and gratitude not only blessed the community you’re in, but also made you healthier and happier? Doesn’t that sound just like something God would do?

Service. Gratitude. They change the world. They change us! #GRATFEFULL

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Inspire Light

ThereforeGo Ministries — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 17:17:00 +0000

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Transcript of a Presentation by Rick Zomer

We’re going to be talking about empathetic listening, why posture matters when engaging with youth and emerging adults. And to start us off, I thought I’d tell you a little story about a trip I took to the doctor about 10 years ago.

I went to see him for an annual physical. Now, I know it’s not the most exciting appointment, but it typically begins with my doctor taking my vitals. They take my pulse, my blood pressure, and then they ask me to step on the scale. Now, over the years, I’d become accustomed to what to expect during this part of the routine. The first number on the scale was usually a two. And so, that wasn’t an issue. The surprise came, however, when the second number turned out to be a three and the third was a five. I wasn’t prepared for the fact that the scale told me I now weighed 235 pounds.

Now, upon receiving that information, I did what many of us might do, I blamed the scale. I told the doctor that it must be broken because there is no way I could weigh that much. My doctor, however, told me that the scale was routinely calibrated, and as a result, it was accurate. In essence, what he was saying was the data wasn’t lying. He said my weight had been creeping up over the past few years, and as a result, I now had a decision to make.

My first option was to simply do nothing. I could continue my current diet of pizza, burgers, French fries, I could continue to avoid exercise, and in doing so, I’d have the opportunity to watch my weight climb along with the fact that the likelihood I would develop high cholesterol, heart disease, or other health issues would increase.

The other option he gave me was to change what I was currently doing. He suggested I become more acquainted with salads, fruits, and vegetables, and become more active, and consider spending less time on the couch. According to him, the decisions I made now, at this point, either positive or negative, would impact my health over the next 30 to 40 years of my life. What he told me next, however, was even more direct.

He said, “Most people look at their health data, decide they don’t like the negative impact future an action might lead to, but decide they don’t want to do anything different.” Put another way, he was suggesting that most people don’t want to experience negative consequences that come from doing what they’ve always done, but they also don’t want to do anything different. As I’ve had time to reflect on this interaction with my doctor, I’ve come to believe that he was unknowingly describing the reality many congregations are facing in regards to their connection with emerging adults and their involvement in their church.

We see the data and we notice that young people are leaving the church when they finish high school and enter college, then the workforce. Our first response might be to doubt the data, it’s not accurate, or we’ll find some other reason to find fault with the numbers. Our second response might be to acknowledge that our church has an issue in regards to emerging adults and their connection and engagement with their congregation, but we decide that we don’t want to do anything different in response. After all, that age group has always drifted from the church during that timeframe in life. They’re the ones choosing to leave. We can do what we’ve always done because they’ll always come back.

The first approach would have us believe that there isn’t an issue, while the second acknowledges it, but it says, “It’s not my problem to solve.” I want to suggest that neither of these approaches are helpful to the reality many of our congregations are facing. Instead, I’d like to make the case that a better response might be to approach emerging adults with empathy. To do this, I want to consider three specific questions. First, how do we, the church, often approach emerging adults, those ages 18 to 25 years old, and their experience in the church?

Secondly, why is it this approach helpful? And thirdly, why might empathy be a more appropriate approach or strategy? How does the church often approach emerging adults and their experiences? The question is often asked of me and others who work with this population, why are they, they being emerging adults, why are they leaving the church? Or sometimes, even more boldly put, why are they leaving my church? The assumption is often made that they’ll come back whenever they reach a certain milestone, be it getting married, starting a family, or whatever the case may be.

Also, the question about emerging adults is often rolled into conversations related to the long-term health and vitality of the church. “If we don’t figure this out, we’ll no longer exist.” Put another way, the focus is placed on what impact this will have on me, not what impact this is having on the life of emerging adults. Why isn’t this approach helpful?

I believe it places primary responsibility for the current reality on emerging adults while minimizing accountability or responsibility for older members of the church. “They’re leaving, so it’s their fault.” To emerging adults, it can feel like they are a problem that needs to be solved, rather than a person that is valued. The discussion focuses on solving the emerging adult problem so our church won’t be impacted.

Churches often look around and notice the number of emerging adults who are no longer attending. I wonder how often does this conversation begins with the names of emerging adults who we don’t see in our pews and throughout the week. If the congregation’s working assumption is that the reality is the fault of emerging adults, it’s unlikely that a congregation’s response will focus on what they, as older adults, might need to do differently. It’s equally unlikely that our response would be rooted in empathy or compassion.

However, if older adults like myself begin to think about our responsibility in this conversation, we might view things differently. By that, I mean what if we began to think about why emerging adults are no longer part of our congregation as a response to what they’ve experienced in the church? You might ask, “What might have they experienced?” Maybe some of these statements are realities. Well, when I was your age, I had, and tick off whatever you want to put, I had a career, I had a house, I had a family. When I was your age, I was told to wait to be involved, to lead, that there wasn’t a space for me to be a leader in my church.

An emerging adult may have experienced a faith formation model built on staff, programs and curriculum, but with limited interpersonal interaction with other members of the congregation. An emerging adult may have experienced a church as a place with limited space for their questions or doubts. And lastly, they have experienced a church as a place where no one noticed when they left. If this is true, why might empathy be a more appropriate strategy or approach in this situation?

Now, I’ve heard several older adults say that they can’t relate to the world emerging adults live in, and as a result, they don’t feel able or equipped to connect with younger people. I believe empathy provides a pathway to building connections with emerging adults. Let me explain by offering a quote about empathy from the author, Brene Brown. She says, “Empathy doesn’t require that we have the exact same experiences as the person sharing their story with us. Empathy is connecting with the emotion that someone is experiencing, not the event or circumstance.”

What might that look like for older individuals? Let me offer some suggestions. First, rather than offering comparisons to what you had to come accomplished at a given age, ask what it’s like now for young people just starting out. You might hear that the ability to get a full-time job with benefits now requires a graduate degree, and to achieve that, young people are having to take a significant amount of debt and time to complete their education.

You might hear that the current housing crunch has led to a spike in home prices and significant increases in rent, which means emerging adults, who might prefer to have their own place, can’t afford to move out of their parents’ home. You might hear that these realities have created an environment where emerging adults don’t feel financially prepared for marriage and starting a family. You might hear that emerging adults want several of the things you’ve accomplished at their age, but they simply aren’t available to them.

Put another way, they’re trying to address some of the same issues you had at their stage of life, for example, questions around calling, family, giftedness or career, but these questions just take longer to navigate now than they did 25 years ago. You might consider asking them how that feels, listening to their responses, and asking how you can help. Secondly, rather than responding by saying, “I had to wait my turn to be considered a leader in my church,” I would consider you think about how that made you feel when you were in your twenties. My guess is, at that time, that response made you feel excluded, frustrated, angry, or maybe even disinterested in the church. I’m wondering why we’d want emerging adults today to feel that way.

Thirdly, rather than relying on a church’s program and curriculum, things like youth group, gems, cadets, catechism, all well-intended, other staff, children’s pastors, youth pastors, volunteers, consider what reliance on this model might be saying to an emerging adult. When you age out of our programs or staff structure, we don’t have people who connect with you or build relationships with you.

One of the things the church can provide emerging adults, which is often absent in other parts of their lives, is carrying older people who are willing to listen to and support them as they navigate a challenging life stage. Rather than saying, “I don’t have the answers to your questions or issues being raised, so I’m not going to say anything,” consider how silence might be received from an emerging adult. Let me start with this brief example.

For older individuals, a well-known phrase about silence goes like this. No news is good news. Put another way, silence is golden. That is not the world emerging adults inhabit. A world of silence can be unnerving to them. Technology has created a reality where they’re able to give and receive feedback from each other and receive answers to their questions in an instance. So, what might it say to them if they find their church as a place where questions are treated with silence, or worse, a response like, “We don’t talk about those things here.”

Let me suggest to us that it shouldn’t be surprising if they stop looking to the church for wisdom and insight on the issues they’re facing, and they begin looking to the numerous other sources available to them. To an emerging adult, no news is not good news. Silence from a person or community can simply be a reason to find a new source of information or answers to their questions. Let me suggest that oftentimes older individuals in the church are hesitant to engage with an emerging adult’s questions because we might feel ill-equipped to give an answer or struggle with the same questions ourselves.

The good news is that many of the emerging adults I know aren’t expecting older people to give them the answers. They’d simply appreciate a more experienced person of faith to say something like, “That’s a good question. I struggle with that too. Let’s explore that more together.” They’re looking for an empathetic response.

Let me conclude by saying I’m hopeful about the future of the church and the presence of emerging adults in our faith communities. I say this because of the conversations I’m privileged to have with emerging adults who share a longing to grow in their faith as they move through their late teens and into their twenties. I’m also hopeful because of the theology of the Christian Reform Church, specifically when it comes to the sacrament of baptism.

In our context, when parents bring a child to be baptized, through questions and answers, we acknowledge that every member of the congregation has a part to play in the faith formation of a young person, not just paid church staff or Christian school teachers. I believe that emerging adults are eager to have older adults enter into mentoring and discipling relationships with them. It might require those of us in our forties, fifties, and beyond to do something new and learn how to build these types of connections. The good news is when it comes to building discipling relationships, emerging adults aren’t looking and for us to be perfect. They’re just looking for us to be present. Thanks.

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What SERVE Means to Me

ThereforeGo Ministries — Fri, 29 Oct 2021 17:14:00 +0000

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by: Patty Schuurman, Youth Leader, on behalf of the Planning Team at Crosspoint CRC and ClearView CRC in Ontario, Canada

SERVE has been a staple in our youth group for over a decade now. Every July, students pack up their bags, jam some sugar/snacks into their pockets, triple check to ensure they have their passports, get commissioned by our church family, and pray together with leaders and parents before boarding a van and embarking on an adventure. Whether that adventure leads them to the states or another area in Ontario, our youth have found this trip to be invaluable.

SERVE has been a combination of fun and fellowship, boisterous activities and quiet reflections, hard work and leisure, silliness and seriousness, singing and sleeping. It’s been an opportunity to grow in relationship with our God, with each other, and with new faces as we seek to love our neighbor. The churches who’ve hosted us have done so with generosity and kindness, modeling how to love abundantly, live intentionally, and laugh ceaselessly. And the impact of this experience is noticeable years later as youth and leaders reflect on what SERVE means to them:

“SERVE is a place where teens serve others in a community while also deepening their relationship with God and with the people around them.” – Natalie Rekker, former youth

“SERVE is an opportunity for participants to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the community where the job sites are located.” – Marja Mol, former youth leader

“SERVE is a beautiful experience where youth can make a positive difference in the community and grow in their faith at the same time…and that’s a beautiful thing!” – Cindy Schreutelkamp, youth leader

“SERVE is a great experience for both students and leaders. It’s a time of spiritual growth as well as a great time of building new friendships all while learning how to serve others within the community.” – Carolyn Kaldeway, youth leader

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Serving Together at Home

ThereforeGo Ministries — Fri, 22 Oct 2021 17:12:00 +0000

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by: Molly Honcoop of First CRC Lynden in Washington

Perhaps most importantly, be an example. Remember how often Jesus left the crowds for silent prayer, verbalized gratitude to his Father, expressed compassion, and even met

Well into our planning for the year, we knew switching to SERVE@Home was going to be a challenge, but we never could have predicted the incredibly positive response we got from our church afterward.

Because the intergenerational aspect of our congregation at First CRC is so important to us, we wanted to make SERVE@Home an intergenerational experience as well. To do this, we decided to spread the experience out over two weeks (accounting for the busy schedules of families), encouraged family groups to sign up for the workdays, and even created devotional boxes for the younger kids that included a fun craft.

Once our SERVE@Home experience began, our pastor preached out of the typical SERVE “evening sessions”, and we sent the morning devotionals out to our congregation via email. On the workdays, it was so exciting to see family groups working together. Kids who are usually too young to participate were weeding and working with their parents and grandparents. It was also a unique opportunity for the people from our congregation to be able to go out to the worksites our SERVE teams have been working at these past few years and see what’s been done there and the difference our church can make for these organizations through SERVE.

We had such a great response to SERVE@Home these past two years that some of the church members have asked if we can do something similar next year when we have a full, traditional SERVE experience with students again. Our SERVE team and the congregation have really embraced and enjoyed SERVE@Home, and we can’t imagine having not made the switch despite the challenges it posed!

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Ministry in the Anxious Age

ThereforeGo Ministries — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 12:49:00 +0000

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by: Irene Kraegel, PsyD, TheMindfulChristian.com

It’s an anxious age. Between the rising flood of negativity, people spending decreasing amounts of time with one another, and institutions (such as churches) losing credibility, it’s getting harder for people to feel belonging anywhere. Loneliness looms large for many, and these challenges are especially impactful on young people.

Scripture tells us, “do not be anxious” (Philippians 4:6), so how can ministry leaders help anxious students and families during these times? Here are some places to start:

Expect stress – it’s normal! Our flight/flight/freeze response is a God-given alarm system to keep us safe. Normalizing this and reducing “stress about stress” keeps us from escalating anxiety, and we can trust that the God-given relaxation response will kick in (as it always does) to calm us down.
Create calm spaces as you facilitate interpersonal connection. Be aware of the power of music, lighting, and colors to calm our mood. Choose words that validate students’ fluctuating emotions (“it’s okay”) while highlighting God’s constant care for them (“God is here”). Support young people in setting limits around their consumption of media and in cultivating positive, in-person connections with one another.
Incorporate mentally healthy practices into your programming. When you provide opportunities for quiet meditation, gratitude journaling, receiving (and giving) compassion, physical movement, and other self-care practices within a Christian framework, you are teaching students to honor and care for themselves as God’s precious creation.

Perhaps most importantly, be an example. Remember how often Jesus left the crowds for silent prayer, verbalized gratitude to his Father, expressed compassion, and even met his physical needs? These are all effective, God-given ways to manage anxiety and other uncomfortable emotions. As you care for your own mind and body, you serve as an encouragement for others to do the same.

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Faith In Action

ThereforeGo Ministries — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 13:00:00 +0000

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By: Alex Monsma

My history with ThereforeGo Ministries can be traced to many formative moments in my faith as a student, but when I first led a group to SERVE in 2016, I was surprised by the lasting impact it made on me as a leader as well.

Student ministry leaders spend countless hours planning meetings, leading youth groups, spending time with students in coffee shops, and cheering them on at events. So often, this natural routine cultivates relationships with Jesus in our students. It’s time well invested and a big portion of how students experience and know Christ.

Then, there are experiences like SERVE. SERVE gives students the opportunity to step outside of what is routine and experience God in new and deeper ways. They step into situations they wouldn’t otherwise find themselves in, serving at an inner-city community center, entering the home of a single mother to help rebuild and paint, re-roofing a garage, or playing games with residents of an assisted living center. Each one of these places is an opportunity for students to put the pieces of faith they’ve established over the years into action.

At the end of each day, we unpack what we saw. We talk about how God was there and how he does abundantly more than we can ask for. Our hearts break together as we lament the brokenness of the world very near to us. And our faith grows as we look, together with hope, at Christ’s promise for restoration.

I’ve come to realize the importance of SERVE not only in the lives and spiritual development of my students but mine as well. My call, as a leader, to help students find a real relationship with Christ happens when I also serve and remember to put my faith into action.

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Creating a Mentoring Culture that is Lifelong and Life-Giving

ThereforeGo Ministries — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 12:58:00 +0000

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By Lesli van Milligen

This fall, ThereforeGo Ministries along with the Faith Formation Ministries office of the Christian Reformed Church in North America have decided to partner together to respond to an issue that churches in Canada and the United States are facing: building a congregational culture that includes emerging adults. We have done some experimenting with both in-person and online gatherings of churches to explore the area of mentoring. Here is what we have learned so far.

A congregational emphasis on mentoring responds to current ministry shifts.

Renegotiating Faith, Growing Young and other studies speak to changes in youth ministry. Historically, youth ministry has utilized an approach where there is one adult connecting with every 5 students or a 1:5 ratio. Best practices in youth ministry have changed to a model that suggests each youth and young adult is surrounded by a web of 5 to 7 adults who speak into their life and support their faith formation in various ways. Creating a mentoring culture helps to support this kind of life on life interaction and encourages members to see themselves as significant parts of a young person’s faith web.

Secondly, there is a growing need to shift from age and stage-based model of ministry to an intergenerational model. Many congregations are finding an age-based ministry to be an increased challenge as the numbers of both youth and volunteers continue to decline. A mentoring approach is more inherently flexible and doesn’t rely on large numbers to be successful, it also allows for flexibility in meeting the individual needs of each mentee while inviting the entire congregation to share in mutual discipleship and faith formation.

So, why should my church consider joining a mentoring network?

Networks offer a supported learning environment where member churches learn from each other’s experiences. This is combined with a strong personalized coaching component that helps teams take risks they would not take on their own. We will be offering three opportunities for churches to join a network during the 21/22 ministry year and we pray that you would consider this as the next faithful step in your church’s ministry. More information about networks can be found at https://www.thereforego.com/mentoring-networks/

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The 3R’s Part 3: Volunteer Restructuring

ThereforeGo Ministries — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 12:33:05 +0000

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Full Transcript:

Amanda:

Hi. Thanks for joining us. I’m here with my friend, Brian, and we’re going to talk about volunteer restructuring.

What does it look like when seasons of youth ministry are changing and maybe your volunteers who were there are no longer, or you’ve got a new mission or vision, or you’re taking youth ministry in a different direction, what does that look like? I think in order to determine what dysfunction looks like, we have to determine what health looks like. So what does a good healthy youth ministry team look like, and how do we achieve that in youth ministry?

Brian:

It was interesting. We were just talking, some of us youth leaders, about how our youth team can often feel like our small group because we spend a lot of time together, we have similar interests in student ministry, those sorts of things, and so it can feel a lot like a healthy small group. In terms of how we care and connect with the students though, I think you’re often going to find a variety of volunteers. So you’ll have some folks that are the life of the party and the kids gravitate toward their energy. You’ll have other folks that are the ones that are going to make sure all the trains run on time during your events and that things aren’t forgotten when you head out for that weekend retreat.

Just in our own youth group, it’s funny, it’s well known that I am not a sports person, so I don’t even know who’s playing in the Super Bowl until we get to our youth group Super Bowl party, but I know I have other leaders who cover that and can connect with the kids and talk sports and do all of that. So just having a variety of people, ages as well. I’ve had some older volunteers I’ve recruited and they’ve said, “We love what you’re doing. We love the student ministry, but I just don’t know. Can you really use somebody my age?” And then they get in there and it’s amazing how the kids connect with them.

Amanda:

That’s right. Having a good, diverse group of people that have a variety of interests, that are a variety of ages, demographics, that’s a key to a great healthy youth ministry.

What happens when things change and that great group of people leaves? I do want to point out that change in youth ministry isn’t always a crisis. A lot of times you’ll have youth ministry volunteers who will step down because of an illness or because of a new job or things in their lives that have changed. It’s not always a crisis. When you are looking to restructure your youth group, you have three buckets that you categorize things into. Tell us a little bit more about those buckets.

Brian:

Yeah. The question I ask myself as I think about my teams is, is there anyone that I need to either move up or over or out? Those are the three things that I think about.

I might think about it, I have a person that perhaps is new to my team and they’ve jumped in with both feet. They’re doing a great job at the tasks that we’ve given them, but I’m seeing some potential there. I notice this person ask really thoughtful questions during small group or maybe goes out of their way to connect with kids outside of the program and mentor them, or maybe has really thoughtful things to say during a Bible study. So I just wonder, and I ask that person, “Would you be interested in doing the teaching section next Sunday? Is that something maybe you could try out?” And maybe you can disciple them in that direction where they’re able to do more of the teaching. Something maybe they didn’t think they were able to do when they joined the youth team, but we see a gift there and we can move them into a more substantial role.

Amanda:

All right, your second bucket.

Brian:

The second one is moving somebody over. So that could be a situation where they came on, let’s say to your senior high program, and they’re finding out it’s a big-time commitment and it was a little bit more than they anticipated. They had said yes to it at first. They saw the job description, it looked good, but now that they’re in it and feeling it and experiencing it, the time is just large. So maybe the middle school program is a better fit where you don’t have as many weekend trips or a spring break service trip isn’t there and it fits their schedule better. They’re great leaders, they’re great at connecting with students, but there could just be something where it makes sense for them to slide over to a different ministry that still is similar.

Amanda:

That’s good wisdom. As leaders, we’re there to lead and God has given us the wisdom to manage the pieces of our youth ministry.

Brian:

Another example of moving over, I had some middle school leaders once, who connected extremely well with a group of eighth-grade girls that we had. It was just this beautiful group. The students were from all different schools. So it was neat to see them coming together, and the sense of community here. There were some leaders that really connected them and led a small group with them. Just in that circumstance, we felt like it made sense to move those leaders from the middle school to the high school group with those students just to keep that connection going because it was such a unique thing. We wouldn’t do that all the time, but in this case, it made sense.

Amanda:

Sure, being aware of what’s happening in those ministries and those relationships that are being formed and built in the mentorship that’s happened. To not disconnect that is important.

Brian:

Yeah. It was another time it made sense to move people over to a different ministry.

Amanda:

And your third bucket.

Brian:

We shouldn’t end on this. This is the sad one or the negative one. I don’t know. It’s something we deal with in ministry. There are times where there’s a vibe that’s not good within a team. There are times where somebody is not living into expectations. There are really bad times where people break the rules that we have, and depending on the severity of that, they may be moved out quickly or over a season. This is just the reality of managing a volunteer team. If we have somebody who is adversely affecting the chemistry of our leadership team, that’s something we need to pay attention to, have some conversations, do some training with that person. But there may come a point where we think this isn’t fixable and we’re just going to ask them to step out for a season, maybe find a place where they can serve that’s not so people-focused, those sorts of things.

We talked at the beginning about a healthy team, and part of that is just having good chemistry together. It’s your small group. These are the people I would hang out with, even if we weren’t doing a ministry thing. So if that’s being affected by an individual, then we need to address that.

Amanda:

Sure. And the students will pick up on that. They notice those things. I want to just bring up a good point that you said is if we’re having some trouble with the volunteer leader, we talk to them and we pour some training into them. I think these conversations can be done in a way that’s clear, in a way that’s filled with grace, in a way that is very caring and loving towards people. It doesn’t have to be a fight. It doesn’t have to be dramatic. We’re pouring into people. I think a lot of times we don’t do people favors when we keep them in a spot where they’re not growing, where their gifts aren’t being used. And the more gracious thing is to say, “Hey, this isn’t working. Let’s find someplace that is better for you.” It all comes down to being empathetic and caring for the people that are around you.

Brian:

It does.

Amanda:

As leaders sometimes the conversations are hard, but often the conversations are really good. Those check-ins, those trainings, they can lead to really great stories and tremendous growth, and amazing perspective changes in people. It’s good for our students to see that.

Brian:

It is.

Amanda:

Thank you so much for sitting down and having a conversation with me. I really appreciate your time. Thanks for joining us.

Thank you for taking the time to invest in your leadership development and your volunteer team. During our time together, we discussed volunteer recruitment, inviting others to join you in youth ministry. We talked about volunteer retention and how to holistically appreciate the people that God has put with you. And in our last video, we talked about volunteer restructuring, when you need to reorganize your team. We gave you three helpful buckets, three categories to use in your ministry context. We hope that there’s some helpful advice that you have found or a nugget of truth that you can apply to your youth ministry context.

May the Lord continue to bless your churches, your communities, and your youth ministry. And whenever you feel overwhelmed, our prayer for you is that you would be comforted by the words of the psalmist. In Psalm 55:22 it says, “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.”

We pray that this has been a time of growth and encouragement for you. If you have any questions or would like more information about ThereforeGo Ministries, please visit us at thereforego.com. Thanks for joining us. And may you continue to love and serve the Lord.

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The 3R’s Part 2: Volunteer Retention

ThereforeGo Ministries — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 12:54:28 +0000

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Full Transcript:

Amanda:

Hello. Thank you for joining us. I’m here with my friend, Michael, and we’re going to talk about volunteer retention. So what does it look like? You’re in youth ministry. You have got a team of people around you. What does it look like to keep those people involved and actively engaged in youth ministry and build something that lasts longer than a month or two? So Michael, just share a little bit about your thoughts on volunteer retention. How do you keep your volunteers around once you’ve got them?

Michael:

Growing up and being in youth group, I always noticed that I felt like youth pastors and youth leaders really made you feel like this was the only thing that God was ever going to ask you to do and this is the most critical moment of your life right now, whether or not you’re here serving or not. So if you had other things going on, it always felt like, wow, I’m really letting the Lord down or I’m really letting this ministry down. And I feel like that can be really harmful. I feel like what’s important is recognizing that people are there because they want to be there. It is on purpose.

Michael:

Some people show up because they have a passion to pour into kids. Some people show up because they simply just want to give back. Some people are in spaces where they are like, the Lord has called me to do ministry with this youth ministry, with this life. And that’s just where I want to be, whatever that looks like. And you have to really understand them, and where they’re at and what that looks like. And I think that the spirit of the Lord shines through that. I think that as we’re sensitive to the spirit and really see other people, we allow the spirit to move and do the things that it wants to do.

Amanda:

Yeah. And when you’re in step with the spirit, you’re going to stay where the spirit is. You’re just naturally going to be in that place. And we want people that are engaged. And engagement, it starts a little bit with expectations. So I have found that when the expectations are clear, people know what’s expected of them. They stick around. So tell me a little bit, let’s talk about volunteer expectations that you have. What sort of expectations do you place on a volunteer?

Michael:

I think that for us, what’s most important is, again, bringing it back to how do we get to know the people that are serving? So for us, whenever we start with new volunteers, we all sit down in a circle and we really ask people, who are you? What’s bringing you here? And as you build a culture to where people really, really recognize that you want them to be there, you can start to say things like, hey, we want there to be some form of consistency. What can you do? How can you be consistent? Or we say, hey, this is something that we believe in. This is something we’re passionate about. What does that look like? How does that line up with where you’re at? How are you bringing the Lord into that? And so, I think that starting there and figuring out where the expectation can be and not be, is the most important piece to that.

Amanda:

That’s a really great way to bring it in, to find out who they are and what brought them there makes it easier to delegate. Because you want your volunteers to be engaged and involved in some of the dreaming and the planning, and so the way you do it is you figure out, hey, what are your passions? What are your gifts? And then how can we plug you into what’s going on here in this youth ministry?

Michael:

I think that the moment that you make people feel locked in, you kind of decide for them in some capacity what their life in ministry looks like or what their moment in time looks like. And I think that whenever you really care about what brought them there and care about who they are, it creates a space where you can pour into the part of them that wants to be there, not in a manipulating way, but in a way of empowerment and encouragement. I think that when you give people options and say, hey, this is not the only space for the Lord is going to pour in and use you. I think that people feel comfortable to really be all in in the season that they’re in.

Amanda:

Absolutely. A lot of our volunteers have families, and full-time jobs, and other things that they’re engaged in. And so it’s not necessarily setting low expectations for your volunteers of, do whatever you want and show up when you can, but it’s just being realistic with their time and with the expectations that you put on them.

Michael:

And I’ll even say that, just to go a little bit further. So for us, a little bit about what our youth ministry looks like and what our volunteers look like. We have one couple that has been there forever. They have about six kids, no older than 13. Another individual is married, has a great husband. Very awesome person runs a nonprofit. And so we have another individual who is my wife, and she works for our pantry. And we have another individual who is about 70 years old and brings a lot to the table and used to be a teacher. My co-leader is a little bit older than me, does homeschooling right now in this season. And then another person who is in their mid-20s, just married, about to have a baby.

And so I would not feel comfortable saying, hey everybody, this is when you need to be here, this is what this looks like. But saying, what does it look like to say to the couple with all the kids, how often do you feel like you can be here? What do you feel like you can commit to? These are some of the things that we would really ask of you as you’re here, what does that look like? If they’re like, we can be here and playing games, but we can’t always show up. We might email you the game structure. And so they’re pouring in regularly in the space that they committed to, but we’re also allowing them to live their lives. And so that’s really kind of a more organic and immediate example.

Amanda:

There’s a lot of freedom in Christ. And Christianity isn’t just rules. We’re here, and we give and we share out of the excess that we have. So let’s talk a little bit, I think a big piece of volunteer retention is in appreciating your volunteers. And I’m going to start by saying, if you’re watching this video and volunteer appreciation is not in your budget, then find a way to put it into your budget. It’s so important and it’s so crucial for your volunteers to feel that encouragement and that acknowledgment. And whenever possible, to make that appreciation specific, make it personal. Michael, you have a great approach to volunteer appreciation. You don’t call it volunteer appreciation. Like everything that you do in youth ministry, it’s very holistic. So you would call it Amanda appreciation or Michael appreciation. Tell me a little bit more about your holistic approach to volunteer appreciation.

Michael:

First of all, I can’t see Paul, the Apostle, walking up to someone in the church and saying, hey, you’re a great church member. You did a good job. That feels weird. I couldn’t see Jesus walking up to someone and saying, hey, thank you, disciple. You are awesome. I think that he would literally name them, and speak to them and really get to know them as people. But rolling into some of the logistics, I really believe that, again, as people are seen, people know that they are cared for because as we seek the Lord and as we walk in who the Lord has called us to be, it calls us to have empathy. It calls us to recognize people as who they are. And doing those things allows us to better minister, to better care, and to better empower people.

And that’s great for those who don’t know the Lord and that’s great for those who do. When it comes to volunteers, I think it’s important to find little things. What do they like? I try to regularly say and use language, and remember characteristics of volunteers and speak those directly to them because I don’t want volunteer appreciation to happen whenever we have a volunteer appreciation event, but I want them to regularly be experiencing appreciation. Just like the Lord’s not like, hey, someone accepted Christ under your leadership. You’re awesome. It’s like, no, that 10 weeks where I was crying, and did not care and was having a rough time, the Lord was like, hey, thank you for being you. How can I grow with you? How can I love you in a deeper way? How can I serve you? How can we do this together?

Amanda:

Sure. Let’s talk about check-ins. Check-ins with volunteers. That’s a great way that you can get to know all the other things that they’re doing in their life, apart from youth ministry and apart from youth group. What do check-ins look like for you?

Michael:

I always have three things, three or two things that I absolutely want to know. That’s how are we doing and how are we supporting you? What can we do better? So that’s three. And so, when I go into a check-in, it’s not like, let’s rattle off all these things. It’s sitting down, having the conversation. Where are you at in life? I share where I’m at in life. We just talk and build rapport and build relationship. And from there, I like to just say, you’ve been really consistent. You’ve been someone who has been here. What do you feel like we could do better? Because stop right there. What you immediately have done is you have encouraged someone, you have recognized them and you have seen them. And you have also said, hey, you must have some sort of input. You have ownership in this. What do you feel like I can do better in my role? And so there are ways to literally do those things very well.

Amanda:

I love your holistic approach, and just always be pouring into them, and who they are and all that God has called them to be. So, thanks. Thanks so much. This has been great.

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The 3R’s Part 1: Volunteer Recruitment

ThereforeGo Ministries — Sat, 11 Sep 2021 00:14:41 +0000

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Full Transcript:

Amanda:

Hello and welcome. Today I’m here with my friend, Michelle, and we’re going to talk about volunteer recruitment. We don’t do ministry alone; we do it with others. And so, what does it look like to invite others into youth ministry alongside us? So Michelle, share with us a few things. Volunteer recruitment starts and ends with this idea that God puts people in place and whom he wants to be there; he’s going to raise up to be with us.

Michelle:

Being sensitive to the spirit of the Lord and whom he is encouraging and developing and wanting to be in these spaces is really important. It’s my job to draw that out of people when I see that they’re interested, when I have conversations with parents, with other people that go to the church, just keeping my eyes and ears open for those that are being called by the Lord. We need to not forget about the youth that are involved in the program as well. Having them recommend people or talk about people that would be good additions to the ministry is always an excellent thing as well. We know it’s not necessarily the gift of everyone to work with youth. So it’s also my job to create a hospitable, welcoming environment. When people say yes to volunteering with our youth ministry, it’s really important that they feel loved, and welcomed, and valued and that their piece of the contribution is important.

Really being sensitive to the spirit of the Lord, praying for the people that are already involved, praying for the future people that are going to be involved as well is really my number one responsibility when looking for new people. I mean, anyone can put an announcement in a bulletin, or anyone can get up in front at church and say, we need volunteers for all of these ministries. But we really want people that are specifically being called to work with youth in the very interesting season of life, which is middle and high school.

Amanda:

Absolutely. Absolutely. You brought up some really great points. First, prayer is so important, to constantly be in prayer for the leaders you have and for the leaders that are coming, that are yet to be. And another thing that you brought up was it’s easy to stand up and say, we need a volunteer for all of these things. It’s important as a church staff to be collaborative in who you’re bringing on board and to be sharing those resources. We’re not competing for that one person in the congregation. And we don’t want people to be serving everywhere. It’s more than just getting a warm body in the youth room. You want to be strategic and find the right people for the right fit, I think. What are some of the things that you look for when you’re recruiting a volunteer?

Michelle:

We’re looking for people with an open mind, a teachable spirit, a servant heart. Those that obviously enjoy being around youth and educating them, walking with them, talking about the more difficult things as well, that are comfortable in those conversations that are necessary if you’re going to be working in groups with youth. So definitely look for all of those things in people that really want to be involved in this particular ministry.

Amanda:

It’s a lot of fun, but it can be intimidating for some people. And so I have found that in order to get over some of that intimidation, where, what do I have to offer a teenager? It helps to, like you said, ask the students who they may want to be a part of the youth ministry. That’s a great entry point when you’re talking to adults to say, hey, our students have noticed you and they want to learn more about you, or they want you to join us on some of these fun activities that we do. So when we’re recruiting, we also want to be recruiting with a mindset with sustainability, longevity. Tell us some more about that. What does that look like for you?

Michelle:

This ministry, as all ministries, should not revolve around one person, should not fall to the ground if one person leaves or is called to do something else. So we’re looking for sustainability. I really have enjoyed learning from the purpose-driven series all about how systems need to be put in place and ideals need to be laid down so that you can pass this on to others. Not that they would do it exactly how you’ve done it, but that there’s a framework in place. So when I took over our youth ministry, there was no mission, vision, and purpose written down on paper. I mean, I know there were things in people’s minds and hearts that they were following.

But being able to write those things down collaboratively with my co-leader and some other people really has helped to just unify that piece of it, we’re all on the same page in that way. I am a big person for organization schedules anyway. I think that that’s really important. The Lord obviously deviates us from those things sometimes, but it’s nice to always have a framework in place to go back to. In that interest, I have worked with my co-leader to develop a three-year teaching curriculum, and we have the opportunity to put new pieces into the lessons, current events, or entertainment things, or anything that we can use as a-

Amanda:

Pulling that pop culture in is so critical to youth ministry and youth culture.

Michelle:

Oh my, yes, very critical. So that we have that core lesson in place, but we can always change it up with those different things and keep it fresh and new. But everybody is on the same page there. And with all of those topics, we develop those by a lot of prayer together, a lot of discussion. We each came with lists and had to take some of our things away and add to some things as the spirit of the Lord was moving us. But again, just having those frameworks in place that if I had to step away tomorrow, another person could slide into my position. They would do it their way with their flare and their specific gifting from the Lord, but there’s somewhere to start. And we’re blessed to have a team of nine adult leaders, and it’s just been really nice to take all those different personalities and giftings and be on the same page together.

Amanda:

Absolutely. It makes it easy for somebody to come in and join wherever you are in that three-year plan. And they can see where you’ve been and they can see where you’re going, which is a good perspective for a new recruit. In this three-year plan, what things have you found that create relationship? So when you get a new person that comes in, how do you help make them feel like they’re a part of the team?

Michelle:

Sure. So obviously sharing with them where we are and where we’re going. We have a structure where we try to alternate large group and small group sessions to do teaching on the bigger ideas involved. And then to sit with smaller groups, we find that a lot more sharing takes place there. That’s a great place for our new volunteers to really be able to get to know a cohort of students. I mean, you can’t walk into a 20, 30 member youth group and get to know everyone at the same time. So that structure allows our new volunteers to jump right in with certain groups of youth. And that’s really nice. We have a focus on service in our group, service to one another, service outward to our community at large. And those aren’t just quick things that we jump in and do.

They’re long-term relationships that we’ve made both within our congregation with specific people in ministries and outside of our congregation and the community as a whole that kind of give a variety of opportunities for the youth and for leaders to engage in. That’s another great place for new adult volunteers to get to know the youth better. When it’s in a more structured setting, like our regular meeting, that can be more difficult. But if you’re just hanging out doing a service project together, serving the community together, you get that opportunity to have those conversations that are very comfortable, very organic, very natural. So I really encourage new leaders to not be afraid; we’re fortunate because most of ours are not, but do not be afraid to delve into service, to delve into smaller groups with the kids, because that’s what’s going to really allow them to start forming relationships in the group.

Amanda:

Service is such a great way to build relationships. And we always are trying to be mindful of being intergenerational, particularly with gen Z. We have noticed that they really crave mentorship relationships. And when you’re doing a service project, when you’re sorting clothes, or when you’ve got something that’s keeping your hands busy, it makes people more comfortable, and they relax, and you begin to share things. And not always big things, but those little things. The little, daily, mundane, everyday activities can do so much to build strong relationships with students with each other, as well as with those leaders. Service is also a great way to give adults just a little peek into what youth ministry is like. It’s a one-day commitment. It’s a few hours. You get to know these students; you get to know the other leaders as well. I think it’s important for those leaders to be a good team.

Michelle:

Not only are they great relationship tools, but we want to foster a lifelong love of service. And that’s why we try to offer a variety of things and make them regular. And yeah, it’s a great tool for that.

Amanda:

This brings us back to where our conversation began, of volunteer recruitment is really all about relationships and partnerships and doing ministry together because we cannot do it alone, and we’re not called to do it alone. We need others to come alongside and to join in the joy, and the fun, and the work that’s youth ministry.

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12 Ways Youth Can Serve at Home

ThereforeGo Ministries — Thu, 13 May 2021 20:04:56 +0000

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In Galatians 5:13-14 we read “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

To love and serve our neighbors, this command is as crucial today as it has ever been. However, with the ongoing struggles of a global pandemic, our traditional service trips and many of our service projects have been put on hold.

Below, we are sharing some of our favorite ways to continue having a mission trip experience, while staying at home or in your community. These are great mission opportunities for individuals or your next youth group community service project.

Serve in Your Church

SERVE@Home in your local Church

1. Call or visit congregation members

Talk to your pastors or elders and get a list of congregation members who could use a little company. This is also a great way to encourage your students to get to know the older members of your congregation.

2. Write cards/notes to older individuals

Everyone likes to get mail! Write to the older members of your congregation or find a nursing home that you can bless with some handwritten notes!

3. Run a class or book club

Find something you or your students are interested in and start a small group about it! Maybe there is a book you are all interested in or a topic that you can focus a scripture study around.

4. Help with cleaning or gardening

Students at Ripon SERVE@Home working in a Community Garden

Churches are big spaces and it’s not uncommon to have a few spaces that don’t get cleaned very often. Cleaning and gardening are easy school student service project ideas.

Serve in Your Community

Students Serving at Edmonton Alberta BBQ

5. Help your neighbors with home projects

Take this opportunity to partner with your community and get to know your neighbors a little better, and offer to lend a hand while you’re at it.

6. Clean out your closet

There are a lot of organizations that would love donations of gently used goods.

7. Reconnect with friends near and far

Phone calls, letters, or even a simple text message can brighten up a day. Take this opportunity to reach out and reconnect. Maybe offer a listening ear to someone who you know is struggling.

8. Share something you love

Do you love hiking, biking, gardening, painting, photography, board games, or really any other hobby? Start a group to participate in these things together! You could even look around your congregation or community for people in mentorship networks who may do these things professionally. Ask if they would willing teach a class about the topic and be part of a social service program.

Serve in Your Home

SERVE@Home doing extra work around the house

9. Help with extra chores

Take the extra step to do a chore that isn’t usually your responsibility. This is a simple way that you can serve at home.

10. Help a sibling with their homework or spend some time doing something they like doing

A great way for students to see service on many levels encourages them to look for ways to serve their parents and siblings differently.

11. Collect your family stories

Ask your parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles about the history of your family and document the stories in a fun way. This is a great way to learn about your personal history and connect with your family in a new way.

12. Pray

SERVE@Home in prayer with a group

We know that prayer is powerful and that praying for our churches, communities, and families can be an act of service.

Acts of Service are All Around Us

Service opportunities are all around us, we just need to be creative when looking for new ideas.

Interested in a more intentional service event for your church this summer? Check out the ThereforeGo Ministries SERVE@Home kits. Filled with service project ideas, t-shirts, curriculum, and pre-recorded encouraging messages, it’s everything you need to bring a service trip to your backyard. Each kit provides enough supplies for 10 students and 2 adult leaders. Learn more at thereforego.com/servehome.

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ThereforeGo Announces SERVE@Home For 2021

ThereforeGo Ministries — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 19:00:00 +0000

The post ThereforeGo Announces SERVE@Home For 2021 appeared first on ThereforeGo Ministries.

ThereforeGo will now offer churches and youth ministry teams the opportunity to do missions at home with the SERVE@Home program. The ministry created the program due to travel restrictions and considerations, limiting youth mission trips, due to the pandemic. The Serve@Home kit includes guides to help Christian leaders in their mission programs. It includes access to online resources such as recordings and playlists.

ThereforeGo hopes that this will help equip local churches and student ministry teams. The plan is to bring about spiritual momentum in local communities. The SERVE@Home program will build local partnerships and nurture long-term relationships. The ministry also hopes that the program will enhance personal relationships. The program will foster better communication, regardless of generation.

Organizations may purchase the program through the website. The kit will also serve ministries based in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada. Each kit will have enough supplies for two adults and ten students.

“The impact that a 16-year old like me [can have] can lead to change,” said one student. “When talking to people, I like to hear their stories, and when they share I feel like it builds a better community.”

Many of the participants in SERVE share testimonies of their closer connection to God and within the local community. It equips many of the youth today with the capability to reach out to others in need of the gospel.

The 2021 edition will feature a different theme and logos from the previous year. Each kit has t-shirts, string backpacks, a hosting manual, and spiritual life guides. It will also give access to an online resource where speakers will walk the group through each session.

SERVE@Home kits will begin shipping in April for those who pre-ordered. Orders that come after April 1st will ship within two weeks.

Youth Unlimited, headquartered in Grand Rapids, MI, is a non-denominational, non-profit ministry organization with the focus of assisting the Church and its many local congregations with their ministry to our youth. Through events like SERVE mission trips and SERVE@Home, Youth Unlimited partners with youth leaders to provide faith-forming experiences to middle school, high school, and special needs students. Visit www.thereforego.com for more information.

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Better Mission Trip Podcast

Elizabeth Bosscher — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 18:11:33 +0000

The post Better Mission Trip Podcast appeared first on ThereforeGo Ministries.

“Who knew when we were doing short-term mission trips, we were training to serve at home?” -Tory Ruark, Standards of Excellence

Amanda Roozeboom, SERVE Director, sat down with the Tory at Standards of Excellence (SOE) to talk about how we rethought missions, during the COVID-19 pandemic, through the creation of SERVE@Home.

Listen Here!

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Garden Dirt and Cheeto Dust

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 14:13:34 +0000

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by Adam VanderStelt, Youth Leader at Trinity Church in Grandville, MI

Written October 2020

“I’ve got to be honest. If I want to have fun, I’ll just call my friends and order my own pizza,” said Sam as he sawed away at an overgrown sumac tree, “But this is something I don’t do on my own.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean I don’t think my friends and I would just decide to do something like this.”

We were clearing 10 years of weeds and garbage out of our new friend Kathy’s garden. It used to be her mother’s, but Kathy inherited it when her mom died of cancer early in life, when Kathy was in her teens. It had fallen simultaneously into disrepair with Kathy.

“Are you telling me you guys figured out how to order pizza and have fun without me?” I ribbed Sam.

“Yeah, we did,” he shrugged nonchalantly, “But I really like doing this. This means something.”

Well there you have it, I thought. Youth ministry clearly has shifted from what it was when I was a kid—from isolated church basement ministry, to relational ministry, to here in this gross overgrown garden— to what I might label “disciple while serving” ministry.

“I’m kind of glad we’re not doing the group thing in the basement anymore. No offense, but it just seemed so forced sometimes, like we had to be friends,” chimed in Elise, a typically tough-to-crack teenager. “Plus, I’m just more interested in doing my faith and not talking about it all the time,” she added.

“Gotcha.” I chuckled, easing a familiar inner tension that arises every time I ask myself what is youth ministry. Most of these kids have heard Bible lessons and stories their whole lives. Most Bible study nights are full of yawns and eye rolls. And every fun game I tried from the book has never, in fact, been any fun.

Thinking abnormally fast on my feet, I formulated a better response.

“Why does what we’re doing right now seem more meaningful than just talking about our faith?” I asked.

It got quiet. Oh no, I thought. They’ve spotted me trying to casually sneak a meaningful question into their fun. As you were, weird, churchy Bible guy.

“This is like that whole ‘faith without works is dead’ thing, from the Bible,” said James, passing by me, dragging a rusty garden fence he’d unearthed. I was floored. This was the first non-snarky thing this kid has ever said to me.

Kathy came out of her house in tears, so I began walking over. Last month, she walked into her house that she shared with her sister to find she had died on the couch alone while Kathy was away. Unearthing the family garden was also revealing the deep family wounds she’d covered with loneliness, television and cheap gas station food.

Before I reached her, one of the shy homeschooled girls, Faith, put a hand on her shoulder, and listened, fully attentive, to Kathy’s heartbreak. And then she led Kathy in prayer. Kathy cried and hugged her, covering Faith in Cheeto dust from her days-old blouse. Faith was beaming.

“Well, this is different,” whispered my co-leader, as she stuffed another bag full of trash.

“Yes it is,” I nodded.

This is what I am sticking with for now in this weird time: disciple while serving. I can’t bring them in the building, and from what I’ve found out, they didn’t love being in there anyway. I’m scheduling service events around our community, sneaking in a meaningful question once in a while when they don’t suspect it and worrying a lot less about trying to make interesting the same stories and values they’ve heard countless times.

Here’s the weird thing. It actually works so much better for us. This challenging time is making resilient followers of Jesus who are eager to get in the garden dirt and the Cheeto dust and throw their hearts and hands into his Kingdom work.

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5 Most Impactful Youth Mission Trips

ThereforeGo Ministries — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 21:59:21 +0000

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Many youth pastors and leaders have had a number of mission trip experiences either as a student or as a leader, so who better to ask about which ones have been the most impactful?

In this blog post, you’ll find:

Local Mission Trips
International Mission Trips
Mission Work in a “Big City”
Youth Summer Camp Missions
Mission Trip to Alaska
Bonus: Words of Advice

1. Local Mission Trips

Local mission “trips” or service projects have recently increased in popularity due to travel restrictions and caution from COVID-19.

Many teens are eager to help where they can, and oftentimes they don’t have to go far. In fact, sometimes working with local communities can be the most impactful mission trip. Being able to see the impact the teens have made in a neighboring community on a day-to-day basis is unforgettable.

The coronavirus pandemic has also lead many churches to only consider domestic mission trips (service trips in their home country). In 2021, ThereforeGo Ministries is only offering domestic mission trips or at-home mission trip opportunities; even though normally, we provide mission trips for teens to destinations in both the USA and Canada.

Student Ministries Director Lucas Johnson from Pillar Church, finds his youth have been most impacted by this type of trip.

“I like to believe all the mission trips we do are impactful. However, two local trips stick out the most: a trip to Detroit, working with Youthworks and a Younglife trip to Timberwolf Lodge, babysitting for teen moms while they got training and time away. It was awesome to see the students making an impact in their own state and feeling led to serve.”

Find Mission Trip Locations for Youth Groups »
Get Help Planning Your Youth Group’s Mission Trip »

2. International Mission Trips

Sometimes it is all too easy to become comfortable in our daily lives, with everything at the tips of our fingers. Many other countries don’t have the same accessibility that we have. This makes international mission trips some of the most humbling experiences.

When it comes to an international trip, the possibilities are endless. So many countries can benefit from the spiritual guidance and efforts of members of the Christian community.

Student Ministries Pastor Chuck Zook from Summit Church, says his trips to build homes in Mexico are the ones that have left an everlasting impact.

Sometimes called “overseas mission trips”, the possibilities for these are endless.

“Some of the most impactful trips I have been a part of were with the group ‘Casas por Cristo.’ They are an organization based in Texas that builds homes for those who need them in several locations such as Juarez and Ciudad de Acuna, Mexico. I have been in both communities on a few different trips. Your group builds a home, from the foundation all the way up over four days.

“These trips were impactful for me (as a student and a leader) for a few reasons. First, Casas is efficient and their leaders lead by example – everyone is included in the building project. Second, during the week, you work directly alongside the family who is receiving the house. This last part is incredibly impactful. When you work alongside the family, you see how much this means to them, because they work their fingers to the bone. You also build a relationship with the person you are serving (despite language barriers). This often is overlooked on service/mission trips in my opinion. The emphasis is put on what ‘I’ learn, and what ‘our’ takeaway will be versus the people who need caring for. How can we pour ourselves out to fill up others and not worry about our ‘life change’ or what we are getting from the trip?

“Don’t get me wrong, the learning, perspective change and growth from these trips are important. I just think, if we aren’t careful, we put more emphasis on what’s in it for us then the people we’re serving.”

Find Mission Trip Locations for Youth Groups »
Get Help Planning Your Youth Group’s Mission Trip »

3. Mission Work in a “Big City”

City mission trips are popular for both domestic and international mission trips (or even just a service project within your local area).

Cities across the country are often laden with individuals and families who struggle to make ends meet – many who don’t even have a home. Taking part in a mission trip in a large city can be a real eye-opener and a great opportunity for spiritual growth.

There are tons of opportunities to be part of teen mission trips to cities, such as SERVE with ThereforeGo (formerly Youth Unlimited) or Revolution’s Big City.

Student Ministries Director, Aaron Damjanovich from Eagle Brook Church, says the youth from his church have been deeply impacted by the work they have done in cities over the last few years.

“Every summer for the past five years, we’ve taken around 200 high school students on a mission trip called, “Big City.” We work closely with Rich Gibbs from Cutting Edge Ministries to locate a city and work with the local churches to find how we can best serve them – whether that be VBS or work projects. Every day each group of about 20 students gets sent out to a different site to work, and in the evenings we gather as a large group for worship and a message. This past summer we served in St. Louis. Like every trip, students grow very close in relationships with each other and we see significant impact, spiritual growth and life change.”

Student Pastor, Ty Hogue from Overisel Reformed Church, said he is always driven back to ministry work in Chicago because the opportunities in a big city are endless.

“I started going to Chicago in the summer of 1999 and have gone all but two summers since. We have worked with day camps, community gardens, thrift stores, lunch and dinner ministries and food banks and have assisted in upholstery, yard work, basement clean-ups, roofing, plumbing, painting, carpeting and so much more throughout the neighborhood and at several of the ministry buildings. Most of the impact comes from the relationships within our group, with their church and in the community. There has also been the satisfaction of working hard and getting things accomplished, but there’s nothing like relationship building and seeing a more diverse and unique expression of God’s creativity amongst his creation.”

Find Mission Trip Locations for Youth Groups »
Get Help Planning Your Youth Group’s Mission Trip »

4. Youth Summer Camp Missions

Youth summer camp service projects can be in your own community, elsewhere in your home country, or international.

Every teen looks forward to the summertime and the freedom to break out of their normal routine. This makes summer the perfect time for them to experience the impact of a mission trip – or more specifically, a youth summer camp.

Youth summer mission camps tend to be short-term, one to two weeks long, and teens can make the most of their time by serving those in a new community in a variety of ways.

Paul Galbraith, Pastor of Missions & Student Ministry from Brandywine Church, says of the youth camp his team attends every year:

“We take our youth to Mountain T.O.P. every summer to their Youth Summer Mission Camps. Our kids connect with Christ through service, worship and time away from daily routine. It increases their awareness of needs around them and challenges them to sacrifice for others daily.”

5. Mission Trips To Alaska

The culture and landscape of Alaska will make you feel like you’re in another country.

Alaska is a place unto its own, and it is often overlooked. Life is different there – it’s slower, tougher and more unforgiving. For those who have reservations or concerns about international mission trips, Alaska can be a great alternative. The culture and landscape of Alaska will make you feel like you’re in another country, without needing a passport (for US citizens). Alaska is also a popular destination for neighboring Canada.

Youth Pastor Kurtis Ritsema from Graafschap CRC, believes visiting Alaska with his youth team has been the most impactful trip.

“Our trip to Alaska with Eaglecrest Alaska Missions to the community of Sutton has been the most impacting. The work primarily consisted of log splitting (wood as a heat source for winter), basic home repair and landscaping projects. The work was good, but what made this trip most impactful was the location, the weather, the time of year (land of the midnight sun) and the youth group time around an evening campfire each night.”

Words of Advice

It’s important to remember to keep your mission trip focused on relationships.

Many youth pastors and leaders believe there are two things that are key to having a successful and impactful youth mission trip:

A Relationship Focus
Preparation

Keep Your Trip Relationship Focused

Mission trips are only as valuable as the relationships that are formed and lives that are changed through discipleship. This may be either with the individuals in a community or members of a team.

Student Ministries Pastor Brad Bullock of Pathway Community Church, says:

“Our teams have strong bonds and are well equipped before the trip through mandatory team meetings and a two-night team retreat. And our partners are strategic so we can experience a win-win – ministry that advances the work of the local mission and also advances our students down the road to becoming disciples who make disciples.”

You Can Never Over-Prepare

7 Things to Do When Planning a Mission Trip for Teens

The destination of your trip is not nearly as important as the time put in prior to leaving. It is necessary to prepare your hearts, minds and even physically prepare. Whatever you will need on an upcoming mission trip, there is no way to over prepare.

Youth Pastor Fig VanderMolen of Messiah CRC, says:

“I think the best advice I could give any leader planning a trip is to not skimp on the prep. No matter where your group is going, no matter what the length, meeting ahead as a team helps with everything from attitude on the trip, knowledge of the work or service, understanding of the people you are going to be working with and so much more.

“We’ve used some material from the book Deep Justice Journeys by Kara Powell and some other team building or strategic planning type activities. I also ask all of our students and adults to attend all fundraisers, even if they have raised enough money for their trip on their own. It helps us get used to working with one another! I’m not sure that specific places matter as much. I think that with good prep and a good group, you can have success at any site.”

Are you planning a youth mission trip?

Get a FREE copy of the Complete Guide to Planning a Youth Mission Trip. This complete guide will help make you plan your youth mission trip from beginning to end!

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Browse mission trips here. Here’s 5 examples of impactful mission trips:

Explore trip locations »

Two key pieces of advice:

They certainly can! Here’s just some of the ways mission trips within your own country can be impactful.

ThereforeGo (formerly “YouthUnlimited”) provides opportunities for youth group mission trips in the USA and Canada.

This means we provide both domestic and international youth mission trips (because of COVID-19, all 2021 trips require groups to stay in their own country – learn more).

Specific destinations (we call them “SERVE sites“) include everything from larger cities to smaller towns in rural areas. And in 2021, we even have a mission opportunity for serving your own local community (called SERVE@Home).

Explore trip locations »

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SERVE 2021 Theme: The Unshakable Kingdom

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 16:00:52 +0000

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THEME: The Unshakable Kingdom: For the King and the Kingdom

THEME PASSAGE: Hebrews 12:25-29

^“25See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? ²⁶At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”²⁷The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

²⁸Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, ²⁹for our “God is a consuming fire.””

Jesus loved teaching about the Kingdom of God. There are 31 parables in the Gospels. 23 (nearly 75%) of them are about the Kingdom of God! When his disciples asked him how to pray, he taught them to pray for the kingdom of God to come. And after Jesus’ resurrection, before he ascended to heaven, he spent 40 days talking about the Kingdom of God.

This week at SERVE, we are going to dive into learning more about the Kingdom of God that was clearly so important to Jesus and gave fuel to his ministry here on Earth.

In the book of Hebrews, we read that the Kingdom of God is unshakable!

“There are very few things in the world which can accurately be described as unshakable, or unmovable. Today we can dynamite them, blast them into oblivion, or if they are immaterial, we apply pressure to get something or someone to change. There is no such thing as an immovable object meeting an irresistible force so when something is described as unshakable or unmovable, you had better pay attention.”[1]

In a world that can feel so shaky and unstable, we need to be reminded that the God we serve invites us into a Kingdom that is unshakable and secure. This week at SERVE we will learn more about the qualities and habits of those who are called to participate in The Unshakable Kingdom!

The Unshakable Kingdom we receive from God is not just something that affects our future. It affects our here and now as well. It’s not just something we experience when Jesus returns. It is a part of our everyday, mundane life. It’s not just something we participate in on Sunday mornings or at youth group. It shapes our work, our play, our being.

Theme content written by Ashley Patton

[1] https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/an-unshakable-kingdom/

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Youth Unlimited Becomes ThereforeGo Ministries

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 09:00:00 +0000

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Dear Friends,

We wanted to share some exciting news with you about our ministry. As of Tuesday, September 1, 2020, Youth Unlimited has officially changed its name to ThereforeGo Ministries. This announcement is the result of months of prayer and discussion on the board and staff levels of our ministry and we are excited to share with you how we came to this decision.

Introducing

Clearing Up Confusion and Expanding Our Ministry

There are two significant reasons why we felt called to change the name of our ministry. First, for a number of years, there has been a growing confusion with other ministry initiatives in Canada who were also operating under the name Youth Unlimited. We believe that the transition to ThereforeGo Ministries will provide clarity for our friends and partners in Canada who have faithfully supported us through the years. The second reason is that while we remain committed to our mission of collaborating with local churches in their youth ministries (through SERVE and other programs), in recent years the scope of this work has expanded. Churches are reporting an increasing struggle to remain connected with their students and emerging adults as they move beyond their high school years and into their late teens/early 20s. We are eager to collaborate and resource churches as they minister with this age cohort but increasingly found that having the word “youth” in our ministry’s name created the understanding that our efforts were focused exclusively on individuals under the age of 18.

Based in Scripture

One reason we love the name ThereforeGo Ministries is that it reminds us of two important scripture passages.

Matthew 28:16-20

“Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Hebrews 12:1-3

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

The Transitional Reality of Ministry

This name also reminds us of the transitional reality of ministry and the transitional reality of the lives of youth and emerging adults. As a ministry we have a rich 100-year history of working with churches, therefore we have the confidence and expertise to continue creating meaningful experiences and valuable resources. For youth and emerging adults attending ThereforeGo Ministries programming, they are often on the verge of life decisions and changing realities. We want to help them see the confidence they can have in the legacy of faith that generations before them have shown and how that confidence can prompt them to therefore go and follow the calling of Christ on their lives.

Will You Partner With Us in This New Season?

We ask that you continue to pray for our staff and ThereforeGo Ministries. We remain committed to our mission statement of “helping churches challenge youth and emerging adults to commit their lives to Jesus Christ and transform the world for Him.” We are also committed to continuing to offer SERVE and ask that you continue to pray for this ministry.

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A Reflection on SERVE@Home

Ron deVries — Sat, 15 Aug 2020 17:05:34 +0000

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We have been living in a time when plans have been canceled or postponed at the speed of sound. One day we were sorting out the details about going away on SERVE and excitedly coming home from the Leadership Summit, then a week later, we were hunkering down for a 6-month lock-in. We didn’t foresee this.

It was/is hard, this new world. If there was a glimmer of hope for ministry during this time, it came in the form of SERVE@home as a hands-on practical way to, within a COVID reality, still be a model of creative Kingdom hospitality and compassion.

As a SERVE team at Covenant CRC in Edmonton, Alberta, it was important to remind our church community that in spite of the world seemingly shutting down, the needs of our surrounding communities were still real. 15 students and leaders experienced that first hand.

Each morning we gathered for devotions, listening for what Jesus was saying to each one of us through Matthew 5, the Beatitudes. Powerful messages absorbed through personal reflection to set the pace for the day.

Each reflection tied into what that day had in store for us. Between moving a young family from one home to another, preparing meals for those shut-in and who could not afford food that week, delivering these meals, hosting a COVID-safe BBQ, sorting clothes and toiletries for those in need and the list goes on. As Jesus once said after seeing the crowds of people in need, “the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few”.

At the end of each day, we listened to each other. The stories of where we saw God and His amazing work in action.

SERVE@home was an answer to prayer for our church. A community that desperately needed community. Where grace and compassion revealed itself through God’s redemptive story that is as real today as it was when He promised to Abram, “and all nations will be blessed through you”

About the Author: Ron deVries lives in Edmonton, AB, and is the ministry ambassador to ThereforeGo as well as a Regional Catalyst for the office of Faith Formations of the CRCNA.

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Anti-Racist Resources For Your Youth Group

Elizabeth Bosscher — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 18:25:25 +0000

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As the events in the US over the past few weeks have brought to light, once again, the ways in which we are failing our black brothers and sisters we, the staff of ThereforeGo Ministries, are heartbroken. We do not want to turn away from this pain, but instead, we would like to do a better job of pointing you towards resources to use with your youth group or during your SERVE experiences.

The reality is that we are a staff of white individuals who are nowhere near experts on the topic of anti-racism. So, we will not be writing think pieces or attempting to develop resources of our own, but instead, we have compiled a list of organizations, curriculum, media, and other materials that may help you bring this conversation to the surface with your teenagers.

CRCNA Race Relations
- The CRCNA has and is continuing to develop resources about racism through their office of Race Relations. Not only do they provide education and practical ideas for churches in both the US and Canadian context but they also offer workshops on racism, leadership and race, and the history of whiteness.
- US Website: https://www.crcna.org/race/resources
- CAN Website: https://www.crcna.org/race/dismantling-racism-canada
Be The Bridge
- This Christian organization has been working to empower people and culture toward racial healing, equity and reconciliation for years. On their website, bethebridge.com, you will find countless resources including a section specifically designed for teenagers.
- Website: https://bethebridge.com/
CCDA Justice Initiatives
- Website: https://ccda.org/justice-initiatives/
Video Series: The Next Question
- https://www.tnqshow.com/
Austin Channing Brown
- Book: “I’m Still Here”
- Newsletter: Role Call
Jamar Tisby
- Book: “The Color Of Compromise; The Truth About The American Church’s Complicity in Racism”
- Book: “How to Fight Racism”
- Website: https://jemartisby.com/
The Witness
- Website: https://thewitnessbcc.com/
Resources listed by Robin DiAngelo: (Categories include: General, for White Parents, and Handouts, Education System)
- https://www.robindiangelo.com/resources/
Andre Henry
- Website: http://andrehenry.co/
- Newsletter: Hope & Hard Pills
Ally Henny
- www.allyhenny.com
The Witness
- Website: https://thewitnessbcc.com/
Emmanuel Acho
- Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man; on Facebook.
Harbor Kids: Resources for families to support conversations on race and equality
If you would like a more detailed list that was compiled by and for Social Workers and parents in the United States check out the link below.
- bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES This list includes books, movies, podcasts, articles, social media accounts and other resources about Anti-Racism.

Additional Justice Resources

Curriculum: Seek Social Justice
- This is a free 6 lesson study on poverty and compassion
- https://compassclassroom.com/shop/product/seek-social-justice/
Curriculum: Letter to the Exiles
- Website: https://www.letterstotheexiles.com/

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COVID-19 Creates Opportunity For New SERVE@Home Outreach Program

Elizabeth Bosscher — Fri, 01 May 2020 20:15:33 +0000

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Every spring season, Youth Unlimited is preparing to mobilize thousands of teens and volunteers to participate in SERVE – weeklong mission trips across the United States and Canada. SERVE is a unique approach to mission experiences because it allows students to partner with churches in communities and spend a week each summer serving, worshiping, and sharing the love of Christ with the host church’s home community.

However, this summer is going to look quite different for SERVE. Due to the impact of COVID-19, Youth Unlimited has launched a new mission opportunity called SERVE@Home. Rather than sending students across the country to serve, SERVE@Home equips local churches and home congregations to serve in their home communities.

“This certainly isn’t what we thought SERVE 2020 would look like,” says Rick Zomer, Executive Director of Youth Unlimited. “But, that doesn’t mean we’re any less excited for our busy summer season. SERVE@Home is an incredible opportunity for congregations to minister within their own communities, and we believe it will introduce more churches to the work of Youth Unlimited and the impact of SERVE,” he adds.

Groups who participate in SERVE@Home will receive resources from Youth Unlimited to make the week more than just a community service project. “Churches who register will receive everything they typically would on a SERVE trip, including curriculum, t-shirts, and other helpful insights,” says Elizabeth Bosscher, Communications and Events Coordinator for Youth Unlimited. “In addition, we will provide each group with pre-recorded speakers’ sessions, Spotify playlists, tips to develop worksites in their communities, and more,” she adds.

COVID-19 is preventing students from traveling to SERVE sites, but it can’t change the heart and mission of Youth Unlimited. “SERVE@Home aligns perfectly with our mission at Youth Unlimited – to encourage, equip, and partner with local congregations across North America to reach this generation for Christ,” adds Zomer. “That is accomplished whether we travel 3000 miles from home or serve those in need in our own backyards.”

To learn more about SERVE@Home and how your church group can participate, visit thereforego.com/servehome.

Youth Unlimited, headquartered in Grand Rapids, MI, is a non-denominational, non-profit ministry organization with the focus of assisting the Church and its many local congregations with their ministry to our youth. Through events like SERVE mission trips, Youth Unlimited partners with youth leaders to provide faith-forming experiences to middle school, high school, and special needs students. Visit www.thereforego.com for more information.

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Go Do Good – Do It

ThereforeGo Ministries — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 20:13:30 +0000

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by Angie Klooster

SERVE 2019 was one of the most influential weeks of my life. Seeing the broken state some people live in is one thing but having the opportunity to help them and change their way of life is entirely different. We made a difference, even if all we did was weed a few rows of a community garden or paint the walls of a non-profit organization. And making a difference made a difference in me.

I was cautious to go on this trip. It was very out of my comfort zone. Then, when I found out no one from my church was in my SERVE small group, I was even more discouraged. However, as soon as I met my small group and spent one day with them, I knew I was here for a reason. The people I worked with and got to know were some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met, and I quickly realized God sent me on SERVE to do good.

God sent me to a small church in Muskegon, Michigan both to help people and to grow, myself. I learned more about myself in those seven days than I have in my entire life. I learned to not take things for granted. I learned that God works miracles in the strangest of ways. I learned to get out of my comfort zone and talk to people. And I learned to make friends, even if it’s just for a week and I might never see them again.

With each service project – every time we handed out yogurt at the church or cleaned a lot – we made a difference, and I was so encouraged. It might not have been much, but it was something, and it was hopefully enough to encourage others to follow our footsteps, too.

One little nudge can make a change in someone’s life, like the way my life changed at Muskegon SERVE. If the people of Muskegon saw us planting a garden and growing food, it shows them that it’s possible. If the kids at Muskegon Heights High School saw that people were willing to help them, it shows them they can help people, too.

Muskegon SERVE was just one week, but the people I worked with have been doing this for years. They have dedicated their lives to helping their community and are very passionate about what they do. They work so hard with so little. I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to see, and talk to, and help these people. It’s changed who I am, and I hope everyone gets a chance to have a similar experience. If you ever get the opportunity to go do good, do it. It will be beyond worth it.

[This is an excerpt from the Fall 2019 Magazine. To read more stories CLICK HERE]

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Forever One; SERVE 2020 Theme

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 13:08:50 +0000

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For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 100:5 (NIV)

The Bible is full of stories. These stories, or narratives, give us a glimpse into the nature and character of God, as well as God’s relationship to humanity, in a way that informs how we should live. They tell of people, places, and events from particular times and cultures and yet speak to each of us right where we are at today.

The stories in the Bible are not standalone accounts of people, places, and events though; the Bible is one cohesive grand narrative of the Triune God who created all things, loves all things despite brokenness and sin, came down in flesh to redeem all things, and is weaving a master plan to bring all things back to himself. All stories of all people, places, and events in the Bible are part of this grand narrative. At first read, biblical narratives may seem to tell the story of a prophet, or a country, or a miracle but really Bible stories are only a little bit about these things. They are mostly about God.

It has been almost two thousand years since the most recently penned stories in the Bible were recorded, and no written texts will be added. And yet, the grand narrative of God, the story God is unfolding through time and space, is far from complete for God is still at work in, among, and through God’s people.

In a world where we are so busy and things around us often seem so wrong, it can be easy to miss how our stories are woven into the grand narrative of God. Many days most of us are just trying to do the best we can to get work done and hold things together. We don’t give much thought to where we fit into the overarching story of how and where God is at work in the world because our lives are full and our minds are preoccupied. Together at SERVE mission trips for teens, we have a chance to take a step back and consider the bigger picture of the story of God.

Over the next week, we are going to live deeply into stories from the Old Testament. We are going to learn about interesting characters in the Bible and how God used them to bring about his salvation and the restoration of all creation. We will explore how this hope of restoration was made perfect in Jesus, how Christ was the fulfillment of all of God’s promises. We will witness how the early church faithfully lived into the good news of Jesus. Finally, we will ponder how God is still at work bringing each of us back into relationship with him through Christ, and inviting us to join in the work of the Holy Spirit as participants in the story God continues to write.

Find a 2020 summer mission trip location here!

Registration opens at Noon (EDT) on November 1st, 2019. For more details and to fill out Step One CLICK HERE!

The SERVE 2020 theme was written by Chad Pierce and Jen Rozema in partnership with Youth Unlimited.

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5 Events to Raise More Money for Your Next Youth Mission Trip

Elizabeth Bosscher — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 18:00:11 +0000

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Convincing people to give you money isn’t always easy – even if it’s for a life-changing youth mission trip. You need to get creative to inspire your youth and make them excited about raising money for the trip. We’ve created a practical list for youth workers and pastors to help make your next Christian youth mission trip a financial success.

1. Text-to-Tithe Campaign

A text-to-tithe campaign can be incredibly useful because people can give whenever or wherever they want. Your youth group is already well-versed in communicating via text message. You’ll need to do some upfront work to get the campaign setup, but after that, let your youth lead the charge demonstrating how the campaign works to the congregation.

Promote the text-to-tithe fundraiser in multiple channels, including social media and the church’s newsletter. Tap into your teens’ enthusiasm and have them make announcements at the end of sermons about why the fundraiser is essential.

2. Charity or Silent Auction

A charity auction or silent auction is a reliable fundraising method for a reason. Guests can bid on their favorite or most unusual items, and the highest bidder receives the item. While this event may require the most planning out of all the options on our list, it also had the potential to raise the most money.

Encourage your youth group to think of different services they can offer, such as yard work, painting, shopping, deliveries, babysitting, cleaning or snow removal. Or they can reach out to local businesses to donate items. If you have ample space, you can save a lot of money by hosting the auction at your church.

3. Crowdfunding Campaign

Tap into the growing trend of online fundraising, specifically crowdfunding, to raise money for your youth group. Use your congregation’s expansive social media network to help spread the word about the youth mission trip to existing and new supporters.

You’ll need to create a mobile-optimized fundraising web page and make room for great visuals like images and videos. Lean on your youth to utilize their strengths to tell the story and encourage them to share the campaign. The best part is crowdfunding can be used together with countless other fundraising events.

4. Parents Party

A parents party is an excellent way to give the parents a night out and also raise money for your youth mission trip. You’ll need to put together a party planning committee and start selling tickets. In exchange for tickets sold, the teens in your youth group can be made available to babysit that evening free of charge.

Time the event around a holiday for maximum promotion. Parents would love a night out during the busy Christmas season or even Valentine’s Day.

5. Teach a New Skill

Mine your congregation for people with skills others have always wanted to learn. Maybe you have talented sewers, website developers, crafters, photographers or carpenters willing to donate their time. You’ll need to sell tickets and provide the materials and space required for the lessons. In no time, you’ll have funds for your youth mission trip and a congregation armed with a new skill like how to build a simple shelf or hem a pair of pants.

Youth group fundraising doesn’t have to be complicated or tedious. Use these ideas to get your youth group and congregation excited about raising money for your upcoming youth mission trip.

Are you planning a youth
mission trip for High school students?

Get a FREE copy of the Complete Guide to Planning a Youth Mission Trip. This complete guide will help make you plan your youth mission trip from beginning to end!
Get The Free eBook

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5 Reflection Questions to Ask After Your Mission Trip

Elizabeth Bosscher — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 21:51:06 +0000

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Coming home from a youth mission trip can be much like falling off a mountaintop and walking away very disoriented. You have experienced so much in such a short time that coming back to real-life can be a letdown.

One way to prevent disorientation is to spend some time in reflection and share your experience with others. Below are a few questions to ask yourself and your trip companions as you try to process your experience and integrate what you learned into daily life.

1. What are the top three things I will miss from my mission experience?

Mission trips often come with new friendships, a new love for the location you were in and a spiritual high. While we know that the trip can’t last forever, it is okay to think about what you will miss about being there. Recognizing things that will be missed is also a good way to think about what you may do differently at home.

2. What are the top three things I’m most thankful for at home?

Maybe you are really thankful for your family, your home church, the school you go to or that you have a stable place to eat and sleep each day. Spending some time to reflect on these things will help you have a greater appreciation for all that you have been blessed with!

3. What is one thing I want to remember from this experience?

We hope that we will remember it all but we also know that our memories can fade over time. It’s important to think of some of the highlights and make note so that you can hold onto this impactful experience for many years to come.

4. What do I feel like God was communicating to me during this time?

Do you feel like you learned a big lesson or felt a little nudge? Are you leaving with a renewed conviction to spend more time in the Bible or to get connected with a non-profit at home? Sometimes you don’t even realize what God was trying to tell you until you take a little time to process your experience.

5. Who will I share with when I get home so I can be held accountable for continuing this growth?

We are not meant to go through life alone. Talking about your experience and the things God communicated to you throughout the trip with someone you trust can be a great way to follow through on the promises you have made yourself.

Take the time to reflect on your mission trip

As you ask these questions really reflect on your experience. You may notice lessons that you learned without even being aware at the time. Maybe you want to write down some notes about the benefits of your experience and your answers to these questions so that you can look back on it in a few months.

After you have spent the time reflecting on your experience and preventing the disorientation, you will want to think through the conversations you will have with people at home. You’ll want to be ready to share one story about how the week impacted your life. When people at home ask, “What did you do?” they often really mean, “Whom did you serve, and how did the week impact your life?” Be ready!

Above all, don’t let all the transformation that you experienced during your mission experience fall away when the trip is over. Be intentional about bringing it home with you and always remembering the lessons God was teaching you.

Find Mission Trip Locations for Youth Groups

Are you planning a youth
mission trip for High school students?

Get a FREE copy of the Complete Guide to Planning a Youth Mission Trip. This complete guide will help make you plan your youth mission trip from beginning to end!
Get The Free eBook

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A Time For Reflection

ThereforeGo Ministries — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 18:36:35 +0000

The post A Time For Reflection appeared first on ThereforeGo Ministries.

This magazine is probably landing in your mailbox in the midst of the beginning of a new ministry year. Youth groups are meeting after summer breaks, fall programs have started back up and summer can seem like a distant memory. As a result, the section of this magazine that might appear to be the most interesting is the preview of the SERVE 2020 theme. Let me encourage you to resist the temptation to jump straight to those sections that focus on next summer and instead, begin by spending some time reading the stories and testimonies from SERVE 2019.

This past year, over 1,400 individuals participated in SERVE at 23 sites across Canada and the United States. Students spent the week considering Paul’s message in Titus 2:14 to “Go Do Good.” They were challenged to reflect on how this verse could impact their life beyond their SERVE experience as they return to their homes, churches and schools. Now, they’re back in their communities and our prayer is that they are trying to discern how a SERVE experience impacts their day-to-day lives.

Many of you know one of these students. You may have encouraged them to attend SERVE, prayed for them before they left, organized a church fundraiser or written a check to cover registration costs. Their experience might not have been possible without the support you provided before their SERVE week.

Now that students are back home, the tendency might be to let their memories of summer 2019 fade into the background. You, too, might spend some time with this magazine, reading SERVE reflections, but the tendency may still be to shift focus to next summer and a new theme. Before that happens, let me encourage you to continue to support students you helped hear the challenge to “Go Do Good.” There are two articles in this magazine that can be used to help students reflect on how their summer mission experience might impact their lives. Look for ways to connect with a 2019 SERVE participant and use these resources to begin a conversation that helps them consider how their experience might deepen their faith in Jesus Christ and his call on their lives.

If no one asks a student about a significant experience in their life, they might assume it doesn’t matter and move on.

Rick Zomer

Executive Director

This is an excerpt from the Fall 2019 magazine

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7 Ways to Empower and Encourage Youth Before a Youth Mission Trip

Elizabeth Bosscher — Fri, 20 Sep 2019 21:04:32 +0000

The post 7 Ways to Empower and Encourage Youth Before a Youth Mission Trip appeared first on ThereforeGo Ministries.

Beyond the details of planning for a youth service trip is one of its most essential elements: building enthusiasm. A youth mission trip may be one of the most positive and memorable experiences a young adult encounters. We need the youthful gifts of passion and creativity to align the church in the mission of God.

Here are seven ways to empower and encourage your youth as you partner with them on your short-term mission trip:

1. Make a list of the people (or the person) they most admire and their qualities.

Once they have this list, urge them to strive to achieve the most essential qualities. The list of distinctive attributes stimulates interest and propels them toward goals they can accomplish. Keeping these qualities top of mind can make for a more meaningful mission trip experience.

2. Spend time in prayer.

One of the most uncomplicated methods to deepen your youth ministry is to increase your commitment to prayer. Students, youth leaders and adult volunteers alike can all benefit from extended times of worship before, during and after their trips.

3. Reduce fear of failure.

Encourage teens to step outside their comfort zones. The critical element of the youth service mission is to get to know the people they are helping. It’s okay to ask questions. Remind them they might make a mistake. Guide them to continue on in a new way rather than seeing it as defeat.

4. Share and reflect before sleep.

Take time at the end of every day to think deeply about the day. Share accomplishments, tell stories, ask questions and answer concerns. Give a brief update on the next day’s schedule to set expectations for the morning and build excitement.

5. Develop a student leadership team.

Recruit highly determined teenagers with raw skills and train them to use their gifts as leaders. This responsibility builds confidence and shows them their opinions and ideas matter.

6. Plan after-hours activities.

When the work is done, encourage your youth to collaborate and create. Encourage them to pair off or form groups to create a skit or dance, write a song, play a game or do something else creative to share with the rest of the group.

7. Formalize reflection and feedback.

Recommend everyone keep a short journal to reflect and record thoughts during the trip. Or instead, send your youth group home with some open-ended questions to reflect on. Meet a week after the youth mission trip to celebrate and formally share the trip’s outcomes, new knowledge acquired and insights. You could also create an online survey to gather more information about your group’s experience during the mission trip.

Mission trips can be life-changing. Whether you attend a SERVE mission trip experience or another kind of short term mission experience, giving your youth group some preemptive things to ponder steers them from spiritual apathy and self-absorption and into a deeper relationship with Christ. During the trip, and after, keep up the reminders to focus on God and keep their eyes open for what he’s doing in their hearts and lives.

See all SERVE Mission Trip Locations

Are you planning a youth
mission trip for High school students?

Get a FREE copy of the Complete Guide to Planning a Youth Mission Trip. This complete guide will help make you plan your youth mission trip from beginning to end!
Get The Free eBook

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9 Benefits of Youth Mission Trips

Elizabeth Bosscher — Thu, 01 Aug 2019 17:00:53 +0000

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Through our 100 years of ministry, we have learned a lot including the fact that our youth mission trips are a powerful way to remain active in church and grow in your faith. Through a faith-forming, short-term mission trip experience, you will serve God and learn about what it means to get involved in the community and be a good neighbor. The participants, community and the churches involved all benefit in ways that will continue to guide and shape their lives years later.

Here are nine benefits to expect after taking part in a short-term mission trip:

1. God will change you.

You’re not going to change the world in the short time you spend on your mission trip. There’s so much going on around you that it’s challenging to make a significant impact in a week. You are there not for adventure, but for obedience. You are going because you know that God has commanded all of us to serve the world and love our neighbors. That is the main point of this trip. Soak it up and pray God will change your heart in extraordinary ways.

2. You build relationships with people.

Finishing a project is only a small part of a successful youth mission trip. The rest is all about building deep and meaningful relationships with the people around you. The people you cross paths with deserve to be treated with care and respect no matter their circumstances, no matter their level of education, no matter the color of their skin, no matter their language and no matter their needs. Be willing to ask questions. Go simply to learn and communicate. Come back with stories and the names of all the new people you’ve met, not just a photo album of nameless people and mission trip selfies.

3. Your comfort zone will be challenged.

Many of us get stuck in the sameness of our spiritual lives. It can be useful to step out of your comfort zone and allow God to stretch you. You’ll experience physical, mental and spiritual change during your week as you learn about the new place and build relationships with other Christ-followers.

4. You are taught faith in ways you don’t expect.

Sometimes God uses a short-term mission trip to reveal your purpose and God-given strengths. Sometimes on mission trips, people discover they want to start non-profit organizations, get degrees in social work or serve as a full-time missionary. The experience is a time and place to allow God to work in and through your life. Use the trip as an anchor in your faith, and it will propel you forward, deepening your relationship with God.

5. Your compassion grows.

Pain, suffering and poverty are not just things you learn about in the classroom or read about in the news. Behind these things are real people with names and families. Learning compassion through service on your teen mission trip can be a powerful form of knowledge.

6. You practice patience and flexibility.

Rarely on a mission trip does everything go as planned. Be ready to forgo things you enjoy in your day-to-day life to serve others. Requests you may think are simple may end up taking a lot of work. Be patient and trust in God, even when things don’t happen in the way you’re used to.

7. You become more globally aware and better understand the world.

Expect to encounter the world in a way you never have before and may never again. Despite language or cultural differences, all humans are fundamentally the same. We all have a need to be known, cared for and to have lives steeped in meaning and purpose. A short-term mission trip can open your eyes to the reality of life and make you turn to God in humility.

8. You commit to servanthood.

It’s easy to believe youth mission trips are about you and what you will gain. This list focuses on many of those very benefits. But these benefits should be the byproduct and not the main focus. Use the trip as a time to take your eyes off of yourself and look for the needs of others. How does God want you to help other people meet their needs? Continue your commitment to servanthood by serving in your church and community at home.

9. The benefits don’t end when the trip is over.

After the experience is over and you’re brimming with passion and stories, it doesn’t have to end. Continue to focus on seeking justice in your own neighborhood. Keep trying new things. You don’t have to fly on an airplane to serve others. Take what you learn and find a way to apply it in your day-to-day life.

If you’re considering a mission trip, either with Youth Unlimited or another organization, remember they can create dramatic shifts in how you view the world. After all, God uses short-term mission trips to make a long-term impact on the lives of those who serve.

To learn more about how you can serve communities in the USA and Canada in missions, head on over to our SERVE Missions Trip page for a list of trips and testimonials.

See all SERVE Mission Trip Location

Looking for more benefits of a youth mission trip? Check out this great resource!

The Many Benefits of a Service Trip Infographic

Saturday

Registration, welcome, community-building games.
You will usually be introduced to your small group, which consists of six to eight students and one adult leader from different churches.

Sunday

Breakfast, personal devotions, commissioning service at the Host Church. (Interested in hosting a mission trip as a “Host Church”?)
Lunch, team building, orientation, and organized fun.
Dinner, session with a speaker, worship, and small group discussions.

Monday through Friday

6:30 AM – Wake up
7:00 AM – Breakfast/prepare lunches
8:00 AM – Devotions
8:45 AM – Leave for work sites
4:00 PM – Showers/free time/organized games
5:15 PM – Leaders’ meeting
6:00 PM – Dinner
7:30 PM – Evening session with a speaker and worship
9:00 PM – Small group discussion
10:00 PM – Snack and free time
11:00 PM – Lights out

Saturday

Pack up and head home to serve in your own community!

Other:

Recreation/Sightseeing: At some point during the week, a half day or full day is set aside for recreation (organized by the Host Team). Expect to visit a local attraction, such as beach, theme park, do some sightseeing, etc.
Detailed schedules are set by the local Host Team and may vary from what’s described here. Please be flexible, and follow the schedule set by the Host Team.
Middle School experiences may start on Saturday or Sunday, and typically wrap-up on Friday.

We get this question a lot: “How old do you have to be to go on mission trips with ThereforeGo?”

High School SERVE Mission Trips: Any student who has completed grade 8 through graduating seniors in the spring of 2021. *We are making a one year age exemption for class of 2020 graduates who were unable to attend SERVE 2020, due to COVID restrictions.

Middle School SERVE Mission Trips: Any student who has completed grades 6 through 8.

Adult Leaders: Adult leaders must be 21 years or older. See more information under the question “What are adult leader expectations (and how many are needed)?”

Do I have to be in a youth group or can I come by myself?
Our current SERVE model does not accommodate individual participants. For more information contact us.

Find a mission trip destination here »

Find SERVE mission trip locations here on our trip locations page.

When choosing a mission trip, we recommend taking the following factors into consideration.

Dates: It’s important to figure out what dates work for your church and the largest number of people in your youth group.
Location: Do you want to drive? Are you willing to fly? Transportation can be one of the most complex factors to a mission trip so it is important to factor in how far and by which method you are willing to travel.
Capacity: If you have a large group (more than 15 people) we recommend that you look for a SERVE site that has a capacity of 60 or more. We have found that SERVE sites are more successful if we can place 3 or more different churches at any one site.

Browse trip locations here »

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5 Ways to Pray for Your Upcoming Mission Trip

Elizabeth Bosscher — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 18:23:53 +0000

The post 5 Ways to Pray for Your Upcoming Mission Trip appeared first on ThereforeGo Ministries.

Mission trips are often a life-changing experience. When planning to attend a mission trip there is more to the preparation than making sure your bag is packed with enough clean clothes for the week. You also want to prepare through prayer for all that you will experience.

Here are 5 ways you can pray in preparation for your upcoming mission trip.

1. Pray for the relationships that will be formed and strengthened by this experience…

“Lord, I pray that during this experience you would fill me with compassion, generosity, kindness and respect as I interact with the people I encounter. Teach me to look at the heart of people – the way you do – instead of judging by outward appearances. Give me sympathetic ears and observant eyes to be sensitive to the needs of those around me. Lastly, help me to remember this is a temporary community, cherishing the time I have with others while holding the knowledge that we will all go our separate ways soon.”

(1 Samuel 16:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:11; Proverbs 17:17)

2. Pray for your time at the worksites…

“Dear Father, enable me to understand and appreciate the situations I am walking into at worksites this week. Give me humility, wisdom and respect as I interact with others so that I will not offend anyone involved. Empower me to work with all my heart for you, Lord. Guard me against laziness, inattention, frustration, unrealistic expectations and other attitudes that can get me off course.”

(1 Corinthians 10:23-32; Colossians 3:23)

3. Pray for the times of worship and spiritual encounters during the week…

“Jesus, grant me a renewed joy in knowing you this week. Strengthen me to speak God’s Word boldly and to be prepared to explain my hope in Christ. Speak to me during devotions, through my small group and at the evening worship. Help me to grow in the fruits of the spirit during this week and carry these lessons home so that my faith would continue to grow and strengthen in the months to come.”

(1 Peter 3:15; Galatians 2:20; Galatians 5:22-23)

4. Pray for safety in the travel to and from the mission trip…

“Lord, I praise you that you do not sleep as you watch over me. Keep me and my group physically safe and healthy as we travel. Please provide me with patience and flexibility if things do not go according to the plan.”

(Psalm 121; James 4:14-16; Philippians 4:6)

5. Pray for the leaders on the trip…

“Heavenly Father, I pray that you would provide encouragement to the leaders and organizers of our mission trip. Help them remain faithful with the things you’ve entrusted to them. Let them set examples in speech, life, love and faith. Give them discernment to deal with any problems that may arise.”

(1 Corinthians 4:1-3; 1 Timothy 4:12)

We believe prayer is always impactful and hope that these prompts help you find a healthy state of emotional and spiritual well-being before you set off on your experience. Also, don’t forget to continue praying during your trip and as you head home.

Other resources to help you prepare for a mission trip include:

When Helping Hurts, book by Brian Fikkert
“Prepping Students for Missions” article by ThereforeGo Ministries

Find Mission Trip Locations for Youth Groups

Are you planning a youth
mission trip for High school students?

Get a FREE copy of the Complete Guide to Planning a Youth Mission Trip. This complete guide will help make you plan your youth mission trip from beginning to end!
Get The Free eBook

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Youth Worker Survey- Top 3 Report

Elizabeth Bosscher — Wed, 03 Jul 2019 13:00:15 +0000

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A few months ago we distributed a survey aimed at youth workers of all kinds hoping to get a feel for some of the current trends in Youth Ministry. We will be using this data to share some recommendations periodically. Today we thought we would start by just telling you about the most popular responses to a few of the questions.

Top 3 Recommended Books

“Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry” by Doug Fields

“Sticky Faith” by Chap Clark and Kara E. Powell

“Growing Young” by Brad Griffin, Jake Mulder, and Kara E. Powell

Top 3 Podcast Recommendations

Youth Ministry Answers

Rethinking Youth Ministry

CPYU Podcasts

Honorable Mention: Download Youth Ministry Podcasts

Top 3 Websites for Youth Ministry Resources

Fuller Youth Institute

Right Now Media

Download Youth Ministry

Top 3 People to follow on Social Media

Doug Fields

Tim Keller

Andy Stanley

If you would like to view the survey or fill it out yourself CLICK HERE!

Disclaimer: The content in the above books, podcasts, websites and from the noted public figures do not necessarily reflect the views and theology of Youth Unlimited. To view our statement of faith and values please CLICK HERE.

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Youth Unlimited Celebrates 100 Years of Ministry

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 16 Apr 2019 20:16:07 +0000

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2019 marks the 100th anniversary of Youth Unlimited serving students, churches, and communities through mission experiences and events.

Here’s how God has used Youth Unlimited since its founding:

Established in 1919 as the American Federation of Reformed Young Men’s Society, Youth Unlimited has evolved and grown into what it is today. “Youth Unlimited has a long and storied history of partnering with the local Church to deepen students’ faith and assist youth ministry workers in relevant and exciting ways,” says Rick Zomer, current Executive Director of Youth Unlimited. “From our first Convention event in 1920 and first summer mission trip in 1960 through today, we stand in awe of the work God has done through Youth Unlimited and the number of lives impacted,” he added.

Currently, Youth Unlimited primarily serves students and churches through weeklong mission experiences across North America. Each summer 1200+ students and volunteers mobilize to minister in communities through the United States and Canada through SERVE, which has long been a flagship program of Youth Unlimited. “Youth Unlimited is more than mission experiences for teens, but SERVE has proven time and time again that the experiences and lessons learned are truly life-changing,” noted Zomer.

Youth Unlimited has also successfully developed and launched various ministry support tools and curriculums, staged large-scale events for teens and youth ministry leaders, and partnered with other ministries to increase their reach in sharing the gospel with teens. “Our experiences have been wide-reaching over the years,” said Zomer, “but everything Youth Unlimited has done has been with the same primary focus – supporting church youth leaders to more effectively speak truth into teens’ lives and share the love of Christ with them,” he added.

With much excitement, Zomer noted, “During our 100th anniversary, we celebrate our past and all God has done to and through Youth Unlimited. But, we look forward with great anticipation as the Youth Unlimited team prepares for new and exciting ways to continue our ministry and, ultimately, continue impacting our world for Jesus Christ.” To celebrate the 100-year milestone, Youth Unlimited is planning several special events throughout 2019, including a golf outing, convention appearances, and two celebration dinners.

Infographic: A History of God’s Faithfulness to Youth Unlimited

[sc name=”embed”]

About Youth Unlimited

Youth Unlimited, headquartered in Grand Rapids, MI, is a non-denominational, non-profit ministry organization with the focus of assisting the Church and its many local congregations with their ministry to our youth. Through events like SERVE mission trips for teens, Youth Unlimited partners with youth leaders to provide faith-forming experiences to middle school, high school, and special needs students.

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How to Plan a Mission Trip

ThereforeGo Ministries — Fri, 08 Feb 2019 17:00:00 +0000

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7 Things to Do When Planning a Mission Trip for Teens

If you’re planning a mission trip for a youth group, it can seem overwhelming. Based on our experience, here are things to consider when planning a mission trip for youth:

Check dates with parents early in the process.

Even before October 1 of the year before the summer mission trip, begin asking parents if they have a family vacation planned or know of camps/activities in the summer you should plan around. Don’t just ask the students to ask their parents. Go to the parents directly. This gives you a good contact with them and avoids miscommunication.

Consider distance and destination.

How far do you want to travel? Will a long road trip build your group unity for the rest of the year? Does it fit the budget? How does the host church/community fit into the progression or rhythm of your mission strategy? Are you looking to move your students outside their typical environment (rural, urban, suburban, ethnicity, etc.) or teach them how others in a very similar environment love their community? Check out this list of mission trip locations for teens in the US and Canada or this list of 5 different types of impactful teen mission trips.

Budget carefully.

If you do not have a budget worksheet for your mission trips, ask your church treasurer to help you create one or call a youth ministry veteran. This is essential to your planning and fundraising. Raising funds is an important work of missions. Here’s some fundraising ideas for youth mission trips.

Raise prayer support.

Every summer there are over 1,500 students and youth leaders who go on SERVE, and we estimate there are more than 5,000 adults who support them in prayer. You might even put your vision, the intended outcomes and a bit about your team and your Host Church in your church bulletin before and after your trip.

Plan your post-trip process in three parts:

Debrief, follow up and follow through. This will help students understand what they think and how they feel about the trip and also help them integrate what they learned during the trip into their everyday life. See the SERVE Post-Trip Plan in the Resource Box for this process.

The Resource Box is full of great helps!

Check into it before you even start promoting. There is a planning timeline, a parents’ letter, pastors’ letter and promotional items to help you cast the vision.

Find Mission Trip Locations for Youth Groups
Get Help Planning Your Youth Group’s Mission Trip

Most importantly, change the thought from “Where should we go?” to “Let’s make disciples!”

When thinking about mission trips for teens, don’t get caught in the short-sited thinking of just planning a trip. Start with your heart to disciple your students in missional living that lasts a lifetime. Add to that your desire to serve and submit to the host church or ministry, and consider the 7 standards of excellence.

Whether you’re looking to start a mission trip for teens or organize a service trip for them, as you ponder the mission trip being one aspect of discipleship, consider the following:

A progression:

How can your students plug into the existing community outreach of your church or help advance it?
What experiences will teach your students how to minister in their own back yard?
How can they see the strengths and needs of your own community?

Consider planning a mission trip this summer that will help expand their understanding of how God works through churches to reach a community.

Then, build toward that trip with some late winter and spring service projects in your own backyard.

Plan to go back to those service projects in August – October to follow up relationally, and perhaps continue through the rest of the school year.

For more help on planning a specific trip, contact us or feel free to call our office (1-616-241-5616).

A rhythm:

You might consider a very local mission trip for your students in middle school, then a regional one for grades 9 and 10, and a longer distance trip for your older students. Or, keep them all together and go local, regional and long distance progressively.

You do not have to leave the country to learn about another culture!

No matter where you live in the United States or Canada, you can find first/second generation immigrants (or possibly first nation people groups) to learn from and serve with. In fact, Youth Unlimited has some customizable mission trip locations in the US and Canada that include cross-cultural learning.

Find Mission Trip Locations for Youth Groups
Get Help Planning Your Youth Group’s Mission Trip

Your teaching:

Your mission trip and service projects are like fence posts. They won’t do much good without the rails of ongoing mentoring relationships (in missional living) and solid week-to-week Bible teaching.

Add into your curriculum Bible content on missions, missional living and stories of those who live life on mission. The Youth Unlimited Resource Box has suggested pre- and post-trip teaching sessions. Talk about, or even bring in and interview, the business leader who sees their career as missions,\ or the pregnancy center director or the prayer warrior for your missionaries, etc.

Are you planning a youth mission trip?

Get a FREE copy of the Complete Guide to Planning a Youth Mission Trip. This complete guide will help make you plan your youth mission trip from beginning to end!

Get the FREE eBook

For help on planning a specific trip, contact us or feel free to call our office (1-616-241-5616).

SlideShare Version

How to Plan a Mission Trip from Youth Unlimited

This post is an edited excerpt from the Youth Unlimited Magazine (Fall 2015).

We believe that whether mission trips help or not depends on the type of mission trip you have. Real lasting impact is never accomplished in a week. This is why we partner with local churches to provide our SERVE mission trips! All our sites are run by volunteers who live and work in these communities all year long.

We believe that SERVE mission trips provide a two-fold impact:

On the individual involved in SERVE. We hope that each student and adult:
- Become doers of the Word and not hearers only
- Become justice conscious, meeting needs while being introduced to the root causes and concerns
- Grow in their personal faith
- Continue serving others when they return to their home church and community
On the relationship between the church and the community. We hope that the week of SERVE helps them to:
- Identify community assets and needs
- Provide an infusion of energy to their mission, vision, and outreach efforts
- Help deepen personal relationships and partnerships within their local community. Our host sites are encouraged to partner with ministries that they have an existing relationship with and allow this group of teenagers to bring energy and excitement to the long-term partnership.

Keep It Safe: Make photocopies of your passport’s identification page and/or of your identification cards, and keep the copies separate from the original when you travel. For added security, leave a copy with a friend or relative at home.

Traveling with Minors: Any adult who is not a parent or guardian should have written permission to supervise the child from the parent or guardian, as well as the child’s identification, and carry it with them. A letter would also facilitate entry for any one parent traveling with their children. This permission letter should contain addresses and telephone numbers where the parent or guardian can be reached. (Example Consent to Travel Form – find more forms and resources here) It is strongly recommended that the letter is notarized.

There are numerous resources for your church to use in the planning and preparation for your trip. Visit our online Resource Box!

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The Sacrifice of Service

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 20 Nov 2018 15:54:33 +0000

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by Andrew Rennie, Lynden SERVE Host Team Member

My second year on the Host Team of Lynden SERVE felt different from the first. The first year left me wishing I could have done more or been more involved. I was inspired by the work of the students, by witnessing their comradery and unity, and by watching our church come together and work purposefully to the glory of God. Still, it seemed to me that my part in this sacrifice of service was missing something.

Reflecting on the old sacrificial system, I realize pleasing sacrifices are rarely spontaneous. The spotless lamb doesn’t walk up to the alter on its own. The firewood must first be collected and seasoned before it’s burned, and the poetry of praise doesn’t just float in on the wind. Each sacrifice is created through availability and intentionality.

For me, the biggest stumbling blocks to serving were having the time to do it (the idolatry of availability) and only wanting to serve in ways I was comfortable with (the idolatry of success).

I know, deep down, that I must say “Here I am, Lord,” and then be willing to listen to his calling.

This year I decided to plan ahead and take the week of SERVE off work. By giving this sacrifice, it kept me available, freeing my mind from work worries and letting me focus on SERVE. I could cheerfully give my time flexibly, offering help wherever it was needed. Being willing to listen to his calling beautified the sacrifice.

As a Christian, I no longer rely on the old sacrificial system our Heavenly Father instituted for his people to enable and restore their relationship with himself. I know Christ accomplished it all on the cross. There is literally nothing I can add to his highest and most holy sacrifice, and yet, I am still called and compelled to live my life as a fragrant offering before his throne.

I want to bring a sacrifice of praise and I want to bring a sacrifice of service. I desire to love God more wholly and abide in him more deeply. Approaching SERVE as a love offering to the Lord this year made all of the difference.

“Here I am, Lord.”

[This is an excerpt from the Fall 2018 Magazine. To read more stories CLICK HERE]

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Letting Go and Loving

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 30 Oct 2018 14:48:37 +0000

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Written by Megan Schouten

My church had gone on many SERVE trips over the years, one of which I was a student participant myself. I’d heard and been a part of so many great stories, but still, SERVE 2018 made me worry. This time, I would not just be a participant, but a leader.

I was worried that being a stranger to the students in my SERVE small group would prevent me from being able to relate to them. As a youth group leader in church, I had lead small groups before, but I already knew those students. I was also worried about the students we would be taking with our own youth group, several who had never participated in SERVE before. I questioned if I would be able to help them process their experiences and grow in their faith while doing so.

But despite all the worry and self-doubt, I knew from my own experience that SERVE is a powerful way for youth to encounter Christ. I didn’t want to miss out on what God had in store for our students at Gallatin Valley SERVE.

Once we arrived, God quickly began to show me all my worries had been in vain. Our theme for the year was Love God, Love the World. That was all I had to do. My sole purpose for the trip was to show the love of God to those around me and let him handle the rest. And he sure did!

Through God’s incredible grace and a fantastic speaker, the students and leaders were challenged to be loved by God, to love him in return and to be an example of that love to others. As always, God showed up and brought some incredible breakthroughs during SERVE.

I was so humbled to watch as the Holy Spirit would lead students to walk up to the front to receive prayer, pray for one another without being prompted and then encourage and engage with one another in small group discussions.

At the worksites, it was the same thing. The students really were the hands and feet of God, showing love to complete strangers, and offering them assistance and kindness without one word of complaint while expecting nothing in return.

I am so grateful to have had SERVE as a part of my story both as a participant and a leader. Both experiences have left me challenged, encouraged and completely amazed at the goodness of our loving God.

Witnessing so many young adults open themselves up to the love of God and seeing a powerful movement of the Holy Spirit in their lives has affected my own faith so, so deeply. If I could say one thing to any SERVE leader or volunteer, I would encourage them to let go and let God. Let go of any worries, concerns or doubts that would keep you from participating in this great ministry and let God do his thing; you’ll be amazed at what he does in and through the students, and even in you.

[This is an excerpt from the Fall 2018 Magazine. To read more stories CLICK HERE]

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What’s New In 2019?

ThereforeGo Ministries — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 19:17:19 +0000

The post What’s New In 2019? appeared first on ThereforeGo Ministries.

Registration for the SERVE 2019 teen mission trip season is about to open NOW OPEN and we wanted to let you know about some new things!

If you ever have any questions don’t hesitate to contact us.

New SERVE Youth Mission Trip Sites for 2019
- Along with many of our loyal returning sites, we are so excited to be adding a few new ones this year. Click on the links below to see their full site descriptions!
New Background Check Policy
- In year’s past, we have required that all Adult Leaders (21 and over), as well as host team members, have a background check on file with their church. This year, in order to have better accountability and peace of mind at our sites, we are requiring that a copy of each background check be sent directly to our office.
- We are also changing our definition of “current” to three years instead of five. (For the 2019 season the background check must have been completed after June 15, 2016)
- For more information and details on how to get a background check CLICK HERE.
The Cost of SERVE
- For many years, we have been able to keep the cost of SERVE steady at $360 USD. Because the cost of living continues to increase we have raised our price to $375 USD* for 2019 youth mission trips. This price increase will allow us to continue providing you with quality experiences as well as increase the amount our host teams receive in order to cover their costs for the week. *These reflect the cost of a high school SERVE site before April 1st. Please double-check the site description page of the site you are attending to confirm the price.
Revised 3 Step Registration Process
- Step One: Save Your Spots!
- Step Two: Complete Your Online Paperwork. This must be done by March 31, 2019, or there will be late fee charges.
- Step Three: Payment Due. Payment in full for all SERVE Sites is due on May 15, 2019.
- Learn more and complete step one HERE.
Sending Leader Training
- We are excited to be piloting a sending church leader training program for the 2019 season. These short videos will help your Adult Leaders prepare for the SERVE week, covering topics such as what it means to be a small group leader, leading with integrity and modeling a safe culture.
- More details about this program will be released later. Make sure to follow along with our monthly newsletter and social media (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) for details.

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Keep Seeking

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 14:28:11 +0000

The post Keep Seeking appeared first on ThereforeGo Ministries.

by Travis Deur

Nearly ten years ago, I heard the testimony of a man who had come to faith later in his life. He shared with me how surprised he was to find out so many Christians he talked to as a new believer were not reading their Bibles on a daily basis. I shrank deep into my chair. I was playing the part of a Christian. I was at church every week, going through the motions and outwardly doing the right things, but I honestly wasn’t doing much in the way of seeking God.

“Keep seeking!” seems to answer many of the faith questions I’m regularly asked or asking myself. Not sure about this whole God thing? Keep seeking! Bought in, but you don’t feel very close to him at the moment? Keep seeking! Stewing in uncertainty and doubt? Keep seeking!

The more consistently I read and the deeper I dug after that conversation, the more the dots connected. It was amazing how many times my daily devotions, the Sunday sermon, my Bible study group’s weekly lesson and the song that caught my attention on the radio were all saying the same thing to me. More seeking lead to more seeing. More time encountering God and discussing the Word in more places fed my faith in ways it never thrived in the decades before. I was participating in my faith journey instead of following along.

The road to and through faith has also been more meaningful as I surround myself with a larger and more diverse group of seekers. New life is breathed into the same conversation topics when you connect them to other people’s stories and the moments they’ve encountered God. You hear about their struggles, their questions, their lightbulb moments and see your personal reflections in a new light. You also begin to wonder if other people, who have not yet found God, feel the same way.

The testimonies of other believers coupled with examples from faith-based books have shaped my understanding of others whose faith journey follows a different map than mine. Someone in my youth group, my church or my neighborhood may not connect with my personal story, but can I connect them to God through someone else’s. And then there are the moments you hear about someone’s walk with the Lord and you realize, “That’s me!” and you find clarity for your own struggles and shortcomings.

I believe each of us has a story tailor-made for reaching certain people, and the more stories I collect the more opportunities I have to borrow from one experience to build up another. God starts to find you in all the places you’re living if you just keep seeking.

Travis is the Director of Youth Ministries at Faith CRC in New Brighton, MN

[This is an excerpt from the Fall 2018 Magazine. To read more stories CLICK HERE]

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Middle School: A Key Age

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 25 Sep 2018 14:20:42 +0000

The post Middle School: A Key Age appeared first on ThereforeGo Ministries.

Interview with Scott Post

“I would say youth who have participated in SERVE go on to be more regularly involved in local service opportunities, both while they are in high school and beyond.”

In a cultural climate which tells us our youth are leaving the church and faith in God is declining, Scott believes middle school is a key age to engage students in faith formation.

During the year, Scott encourages his middle schoolers to go past just reading their Bibles and praying every day. “We’ve spent a lot of time in the context of our community intentionally building spiritual practices that help us live out the gospel.” SERVE, for his group, becomes an extension of that goal. “SERVE is a spiritual practice of trying on, for a short period of time, what it means to live out the gospel. Because they had a good feeling or a good experience serving people in these other contexts, they have an easier time thinking, oh, maybe it would be ok to spend my time and my life serving people here, right where I live.”

The students on these trips cannot always see for themselves the impact SERVE has. “[If this is their first time signing up], they are expecting this is going to be an enjoyable trip, most likely with their friends, where they are going to meet new people, learn about God, serve some people and probably have a lot of fun. In the process of reflection [after the trip], they start to see how the experience of SERVE is deeply connected to what they believe about God or what we believe about Jesus or what it means to live out the gospel story.”

There is no doubt in Scott’s mind that bringing both middle schoolers and high schoolers on SERVE is valuable and worth it. He encourages others to “trust the results” and says, “Our church has seen the fruit of [SERVE] play out in these kids’ lives and years down the road. Easily.”

Scott is the Youth Pastor at CrossPoint CRC in Brampton, ON

[This is an excerpt from the Fall 2018 Magazine. To read more stories CLICK HERE.]

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110 Youth Mission Trip Fundraising Ideas (FREE LIST)

Elizabeth Bosscher — Fri, 03 Aug 2018 05:00:16 +0000

The post 110 Youth Mission Trip Fundraising Ideas (FREE LIST) appeared first on ThereforeGo Ministries.

Looking for fundraising ideas for a short-term mission trip or church youth group?

Your church group is going on a mission trip. That’s exciting! But, it can sometimes be difficult for leaders to brainstorm ways for your group as a whole (or individuals going on the mission trip) to raise enough money to go.

We’d like to help you easily come up with some ideas.

Here’s a free list of 110 creative fundraising ideas for youth mission trips or other church group mission trips to get you started.

P.S. Want to print this list or read it as an eBook on your Kindle?
Download our entire list of mission trip fundraising ideas as a free PDF here »

1. Online Fundraising

Sign up on an online fundraising website. Numerous sites allow potential donors to conveniently contribute to your cause. Example: GoFundMe.com.

2. T-Shirt Sale

Design a t-shirt and host a sale for your friends, family and members of your church community.

3. Movie Night

Host a movie night at your church and encourage admission by donation.

4. Use Social Media & Email

Online social media (ex. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), blogs and email (yes, really!) are great ways to not only increase awareness of your efforts but also many of these outlets provide their own ways to raise funds or contribute to your cause.

5. Partner with a Restaurant

Many local restaurants offer fundraising opportunities, with a portion of the sales going to your cause.

6. Garage Sale

Ask friends, family members and members of your church community to donate items and host a garage sale (yard sale). You could host this in your church’s gym or fellowship area.

7. Hold a Competition

Sporting events are great ways to get the community and youth involved in an exciting way. Small prizes for the winners can foster the competitive spirit.

8. Car Wash

Get permission to host your car wash in a safe, moderately trafficked area. Buy supplies and make signs to promote the event.

9. Wall of Giving

Using index cards, fill a wall with numbered cards for people to select and donate the amount from the card.

10. Wrap Christmas Presents

During the Christmas season, some stores will allow you to set up a gift-wrapping table by donation.

Download Entire List for Free »

11. Loose Change Collection

Contact local businesses and ask permission to set up a change collection jar near the checkout area.

12. Host a Party

Themed parties are a fun way to attract large audiences. An entrance fee is all you would need to aid in your fundraising goals.

13. Silent Auction

Ask members of your church community or local business to donate items to be auctioned off. Each item has a sign-up sheet, where bidders walk up and place their bids on the sheets.

14. Support Letter

Writing a letter asking for support is a classic fundraising idea. Be sure to answer the 5 most important questions: who, what, when, where and why.

15. Partner with Other Local Organizations

Animal shelters, fire departments, your local YMCA and other local organizations are often good places to coordinate fundraising efforts with.

16. Coffee House

Host a coffee house in your church, or pair with a local coffee house to have part of the proceeds go to your fundraiser.

17. Valentines Dinner

Host a Valentine’s dinner open to members of the community and charge an admission fee.

18. Spaghetti Dinner

Who doesn’t love spaghetti? Hosting a spaghetti dinner is a great way to raise money and provide a meal for the community.

19. Recycle

Set up bags for collecting cans and bottles at your church, school or sporting events. Take the recycled items to a center and collect the refund.

20. Host a Charity Concert

Find a talented band or bands that are willing to play for free or cheap and host a charity concert. Charge an admission fee and sell concessions during the event.

P.S. Want to print this list or read it as an eBook on your Kindle?
Download our entire list of mission trip fundraising ideas as a free PDF here »

21. Hair Cut-a-Thon

If you know any hairdressers, hosting a cut-a-thon is a great way to raise funds. Ask him or her to donate a day to volunteering to cut hair for donations.

22. Pancake Breakfast

Host a pancake breakfast at your church for the community to come to, and have the funds contribute to your cause.

23. Service Board Day

Create a service board, where church members can post jobs they need done, with the price they are willing to pay. Other church members can then select and complete the jobs, with the proceeds going to your fundraiser.

24. Dodgeball Tournament

Host a dodgeball tournament with a small fee, and have your youth students invite their friends to it, for an enjoyable and exciting activity.

25. Talent Show

Encourage the members of your church to come forward with their various talents, and put on a show for the community to raise funds.

26. 5k Run

5k Runs and Fun Walks are great ways to raise money for your cause while also encouraging the church body and local community to stay active.

27. Chili Cookoff

Host a chili cookoff, with members of your congregation competing for the title of best chili chef! Make sure they cook extra, as the remaining chili can be sold off for more proceeds.

28. Mystery Dinner Theatre

Have your youth students put on a performance, while hosting a dinner for the guests. The dinner-and-a-show combination can even double as a great outreach to your community.

29. Christmas Tree Lighting

Have a tree-lighting event at Christmastime, with a by-donation entrance fee.

30. Craft Sale

Every community has their fair share of craftsmen! Have members of your church body put on a craft show, with the proceeds from the items sold going to your cause.

Free Download of All Ideas »

31. Trivia Night

Host a trivia night at your church, with snacks and refreshment s. It can be Bible trivia, general trivia or whatever category of trivia you prefer! A small entrance fee and charges for refreshments could make a very successful night.

32. Book Sale

Ask members of your congregation to donate books and then host a book sale, open to the community, at your church.

33. Karaoke Night

Host a karaoke night at your church and charge an admission fee or ask for a donation. This is a great event to pair with a raffle.

34. Envelope Fundraising

Set up a display of envelopes numbered 1 – 100. People choose an envelope and put that amount of money into the envelope

35. Lemonade Stand

Set up some lemonade stands in your local community for those hot summer days, with youth members rotating shifts. Encourage homemade lemonade for a more meaningful experience.

36. Carol Sing

Have your church choir, youth worship band or various church members organize a caroling group around Christmastime and carol through your local community. Ask for a small donation after each house you stop at. Or, host a Christmas carol sing-along at church.

37. Recipe Book Sale

Collect a list of recipes from friends, family members and your congregation. Compile the list into a recipe book and sell to members of your community.

38. Sub Sale

Hosting a sub sale is a great idea for around the Super Bowl! Take orders from members of your congregation and your group can make and deliver pre-ordered subs.

39. Rake Leaves

When fall comes around, offer to rake leaves for local homes, and contribute the proceeds to your fundraiser.

40. Work For It!

Have youth members look for part-time or full-time employment, with part of their wages going towards the outreach.

41. Thanksgiving Dinner

Host a Thanksgiving dinner open to members of the community and charge an admission fee.

P.S. Want to print this list or read it as an eBook on your Kindle?
Download our entire list of mission trip fundraising ideas as a free PDF here »

42. Mow Lawns

Offer to mow local properties in the spring and summer to raise funds.

43. Ice-Cream Social

Host an ice-cream social at your church, with a small entrance fee.

44. Gift Card Raffle

Host a raffle, with the prizes being gift cards to local establishments.

45. Parent’s Night Out

Parents can drop their kids off at the church for a night out. The mission’s team members plan activities and snacks for the kids. Participation in this night can either be donation based or an amount per child.

Free Download of All Ideas »

46. Online Shopping Fundraiser

Consider using an online shopping fundraiser. Certain sites will offer deals and bargains for online shoppers, with a percentage of sales going to your cause.

47. Dog Walking

Have youth members offer to walk dogs in your area, and contribute the proceeds to your cause. Similarly, when someone goes on vacation, offer to be a dog sitter.

48. Fun Fair

Host a fun fair, with food, drinks, stands and games! Advertise through your local community, and use it as a local outreach.

49. Pledge A Mile

Divide the cost of your missions trip by the number of miles to your destination, and have church and community members pledge to buy a length of the trip.

50. Sports Concession Stand

Ask to set up a concession stand at your local high school, college or professional sporting events, and contribute part of the proceeds to your cause.

51. Get The Full List Below

For more fundraising ideas, download our FREE complete list of 110 Fundraising Ideas for Youth Mission Trips below!

Browse mission trips here. Here’s 5 examples of impactful mission trips:

Explore trip locations »

Two key pieces of advice:

They certainly can! Here’s just some of the ways mission trips within your own country can be impactful.

ThereforeGo (formerly “YouthUnlimited”) provides opportunities for youth group mission trips in the USA and Canada.

This means we provide both domestic and international youth mission trips (because of COVID-19, all 2021 trips require groups to stay in their own country – learn more).

Explore trip locations »

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Authentic Community

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 17:40:37 +0000

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By Jacob VanDam

Before attending Gallatin Valley SERVE, I didn’t have a framework for what would take place at SERVE or how Christ’s would connect me with two influential communities. Once I arrived, strangers from across the country quickly became family. One of the main topics was community, which I initially thought was just simply “making friends”. But it wasn’t just that; it was having a spiritual bond with the whole community and everyone there.

A few weeks after SERVE, my family received the news that my dad has stage four colon cancer. This was a blow to the huge spiritual high I was on through the week in Montana. I continued devotions every night, hoping God had my dad in his hands, but every night it kept feeling like the things said at SERVE were just thoughts and ideas that were never actually going to happen, and that bothered me.

Soon after, I got a text from one of my best friends I met at SERVE. They were bringing everyone from Montana back here to Minnesota. This mini weekend retreat helped me realize the ways I could make a difference in my own community. You never know what it’s like until you actually witness it done in your own community.

These two SERVE trips have affected my life like no other. These experiences have helped me see the hope in my dad’s battle with cancer and other family tragedies I have witnessed. My dad going with me on these two trips, as weak as he has been with chemotherapy and other operations, helps me see how many easy obstacles I have turned into hardships in the past years.

My dad has battled cancer and fought with it for seven months now as I’m writing this. He’s conquered a twelve-hour surgery on his birthday and is an inspiration to any battle I go through in my life. What SERVE has done for me through this, is allowed me to see the authentic community right here in our small town. We have received so many cards and prayers, and it’s my goal to give others the same support I got.

I love talking to people and being there for anyone who needs me. I don’t ever want anyone to be alone for any battle they are going through in their life, and I learned this through SERVE. Without the two trips, I wouldn’t be where I am now. I wouldn’t have been able to take my dad’s diagnosis the way I did and translate it to the way I live my life right now.

About the Author:

Jacob was a student participant at Gallatin Valley SERVE 2017.

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Engaging Youth

Elizabeth Bosscher — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 19:38:58 +0000

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by Kevin VanderVeen

As a youth pastor, I find myself praying for young people in the church often. I pray young people will discover the depth of God’s love for them and know that they are fearfully and wonderfully made. I pray they will take joy in God as the greatest treasure of their life. I pray they will become increasingly aware of how God has uniquely gifted them to serve in his kingdom. I pray the young people in the church may experience a sense of urgency to use and develop their gifts for God’s glory.

At Covenant, we are blessed with young people of all ages, and we’re learning how to approach our ministry to young people in a way that is strategic and developmentally appropriate. As we wonder about what this looks like, we find ourselves asking questions like:

How do we engage young people meaningfully so they will grow and develop spiritually? And what congregational practices lead to spiritual maturity in our young people? In my experience, we are not alone in wrestling with questions like these. The fact is, ministering to young people is an area of concern for the church, and we are all trying to learn how to do this well.

Each ministry context is different, which means ministry will take a different shape in each of our church communities. I would like to suggest, though, that there are some things we can do, regardless of context, to strengthen our ministry to young people. Strengthening our programs or making programmatic changes is not one of those things. If we are going minister to young people in the church effectively, then we need to think bigger; we need to begin thinking about the culture within our church communities. Young people want to feel as though they are a part of the church, and they want to be embraced by the church as a valued part of the body of Christ. To me, that suggests that we, as churches, need to enfold young people into the life of the church.

What would that look like?

Fuller Youth Institute put together a list of common characteristics that are present in churches engaging young people effectively. Here are four of those characteristics:

Cultivating authentic community through peer and intergenerational relationships.

Relationship is key, but youth need both peer and intergenerational relationships. Many churches offer opportunities for peer relationships but struggle with intergenerational relationships. I wonder what it would look like for us to get together, intergenerationally, to share our faith stories. We encourage young people to reflect on their faith stories, but do we ever share our stories with them? I have been blessed by hearing stories from the older members in our community. We have all experienced God in different ways, and sharing those experiences helps build relationships.

Treating parents as active partners in discipleship.

Youth ministry is always youth and family ministry. As churches, we need to find meaningful ways to encourage and equip parents as they partner with us in discipleship. Many parents want to be a part of their children’s spiritual growth, but they’re not sure how, so they hand off the responsibility to church leaders. We need to find ways to give parents the tools they need to partner with us in discipleship.

Intentional engagement with wider culture with a redemptive focus.

Perhaps the greatest gift that we, as churches, can give to young people is the capacity to think critically and theologically about the world around them. Our approach must be twofold: first laying a theological foundation, and second, engaging with broader culture with a redemptive focus.

Corporate worship that is both engaging and intergenerational.

In our context, one of the most celebrated times is corporate worship, and young people love being involved. We have young people leading worship, reading scripture and running our technology. Our young people love having leadership in worship, and the Covenant community has been blessed by their leadership. When worship leading and planning is intergenerational, young people are drawn in and engaged.

As a pastor, I pray for the young people in the church today, but I also pray for the church. I pray God may lead and guide us forward as we seek to be faithful to his calling for us. I pray the church may foster intergenerational relationships, partner with parents, engage the world well and worship in inclusive and meaningful ways.

When the church engages young people meaningfully, church ministry thrives. We are on a journey of learning how to engage young people effectively, let us learn together.

Kevin is part of the Niagara, ON Host Team as well as the Pastor Of Community at Covenant CRC in St. Catharines, ON.

[This is an excerpt from the Fall 2017 Magazine. To read more stories CLICK HERE]

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The Name Of Love

Elizabeth Bosscher — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 19:31:24 +0000

The post The Name Of Love appeared first on ThereforeGo Ministries.

By Gil Clelland

Love has a name.

We were out on an educational walk in our city’s core learning about poverty. Six SERVE students and I were engaged in a good conversation, trying to understand how people can end up on the streets and what we can do to respond. And then we saw him.

He sat there alone. People walked by. Perhaps they did not notice him. Perhaps they did not want to notice him. Grey, weathered clothing blended into the grey, weathered sidewalk. An empty hat opened expectantly to offerings from passers-by. A cardboard sign – “Any help will do.”

I knelt down to speak to him. The youth gathered with me. He looked at us all, and his hauntingly empty eyes met mine. “New to the city?” I asked.

“Just passin’ through…off to Toronto…soon, I hope”

“My name is Gil. Good to meet you,” I said, and I offered my hand.

“Yeah…” No hand returned.

I withdrew my hand and sat down. The youth knelt in close. We talked for a bit. Small talk was tough. I tried. Dave, a 14-year-old youth from a small farming community tried to share a bit. This man did not respond much. Sometimes, trust is hard to build for someone who has seen so much. After a few minutes, we got up to leave. We excused ourselves and turned away.

“I’m Ken…” I turned back. His hand was out. I shook his hand, caught his eyes and a moment of connection occurred. Ken felt safe enough with us to share his name. He looked at each one of the young people. In order, he shook their hands. “Thanks for stopping to say hello.”

We walked on for some time after that in silence. We each knew that we had just experienced something sacred. Then I reflected about the homeless memorial in Toronto. Thousands of people are listed there. People who have died on the streets. By far, the most common name among those dead is John Doe. John Doe is the name the city gives to people when they don’t know their real name. In other words, many of those people named and listed as John Doe died alone. They didn’t even have their name. And that is the biggest problem with homelessness. People are home-less. They do not have all the things we think of when we think of home. Sometimes, not even their name.

Jesus commanded us to love our neighbours as ourselves. The question I ask is, “How can we love our neighbours if we don’t know their name?” It is only when we get to know people by their name, by their story, seeing them as truly human, that we can begin to love them.

At SERVE, we try to break those barriers. We try to get to know others by their name. At SERVE, we get to hear their stories. We share our stories. We sit for a while. It may be tough. Small talk may seem wooden and uninspired for a while, but we learn to keep trying.

Love begins with “hello.”

Gil is the speaker at London, ON SERVE as well as the pastor of Sanctuary London.

This is an excerpt from the Fall 2017 Magazine. To read more stories CLICK HERE.

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Faces of YU: Elizabeth

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 05 Dec 2017 15:02:48 +0000

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Get to know Elizabeth Bosscher from Holland, MI

What is your role at Youth Unlimited?

I am the Canadian SERVE Coordinator, which means I handle all the administrative details for our Canadian SERVE Sites. I am also the resident technology help and troubleshoot any technology issues we may have.

Where are you from, and what brought you to Youth Unlimited?

I grew up in Mankato, Minnesota and just moved to Michigan this last August so my Husband could attend school in the area. I searched for a job for a few months after we moved here before I happened to meet one of Youth Unlimited’s board members who told me about the open position. I had an interview the next week and ended up feeling like this was the job God had been telling me to wait for.

When you were a student, what was the most faith-formational experience you had?

I think the most faith formational part of being a student wasn’t one experience for me but instead it was a youth pastor who saw potential in me and was constantly encouraging me to get past my comfort zone and learn to take my faith on as my own. He showed me what it looks like to live passionately for Christ in everything you do, not just at church on Sunday.

What were you most excited about for SERVE 2017?

I was so excited to visit SERVE Sites and see what this is all about. I knew SERVE in theory before this summer, but since I had never been on a SERVE trip I was excited to see it in action.

If you were a student now, what would be your favorite thing about SERVE?

My favorite thing about SERVE would be that I would get to experience the community and friendships that come when you spend all week focused on serving Christ together. There is something about hard work for a good purpose that bonds people together and often results in a lot of fun and joy that you don’t always find in everyday life. It’s amazing what can happen when you put aside your selfish tendencies and focus on tangibly showing Christ to others.

What’s your favorite youth group game to play?

I used to love “Bigger or Better”. We would start with a penny and go around town with our small groups and knock on people’s doors asking if they had anything bigger or better than the thing we currently had that they would be willing to trade with us. This game is how our youth group acquired most of our youth room couches.

When you were a student, who was your greatest mentor and why?

Apart from the youth pastor I mentioned earlier, one of my greatest mentors was my cousin. She moved into my hometown for college when I was 10 and she became one of my best friends. She is so intentional about asking me how I’m really doing and she helps me process life. I have had the privilege of getting to watch her go through college, get her first real job, get married and have kids. I have learned a lot from watching her go through those milestones and she has passed her wisdom on to me when I have faced some of the same milestones.

What’s your favorite late night snack?

Depending on the mood I am in I will either go for some chips and salsa or something chocolate.

What type of service project do you love so much that you could do every day?

I have always been a fan of painting. I loved how such a simple act could make a house or a room or really anything feeling refreshed and taken care of.

What is your favorite vacation spot?

I love exploring new cities and places! So, I guess that means my favorite is the place I have never been before.

This is an excerpt from the Fall 2017 Magazine. To read more stories click here: https://www.thereforego.com/magazine/

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SERVE Shoes

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 21 Nov 2017 15:42:47 +0000

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by Kyle De Boer, Gallatin Valley SERVE Host Team Coordinator

“The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same” (Luke 3:11).

For a high school student from the Gallatin Valley, a Tuesday at Grandma’s house turned into a life altering encounter with a servant of Christ.

Johnathon had just finished his sophomore year of high school. Since his brother and mom were working, he had to keep an eye on his little sister who broke her arm a few days earlier, so they ventured down the road to Grandma’s house.

As they arrived mid-morning, a group of students and adults with Gallatin Valley SERVE were hard at work, repainting and repairing Grandma’s house. Johnathon and his sister began to get to know this group of strangers from across the United States. Lunch time came quickly, so Johnathon brought his outside to join this group from SERVE.

Tyler, a senior from South Dakota, connected with Johnathon as they ate their sandwiches under the hot noonday sun. Tyler was curious about life in rural Montana. Johnathon had questions about SERVE. The conversations continued as they picked up the paint brushes for an afternoon of work. The singlewide home began to take on a new look after a coat of paint and repairs to the fascia.

Before departing, Tyler asked Johnathon, “Do you want to join us on a hike tomorrow for our day away?”

Johnathon was hesitant, unsure of how to respond. During the pause, Tyler noticed the ripped and tattered Converse shoes that Johnathon wore.

“Do you have any other shoes than those?”

“No, this is my only pair.”

Tyler walked over to the 12 passenger van, pulled out a pair of gray and black Nikes and handed them to Johnathon. “Try these on.” Surprisingly, they fit perfectly!

“You can have them,” Tyler said, “These are my extra pair and I have sandals along.”

The message of the gospel was communicated clearly to Johnathon when Tyler gave him a pair of shoes.

Nearly one year later, those gray and black Nikes have just been replaced, but that act of gospel generosity is clearly etched in Johnathon’s mind and informs how he lives today!

This is an excerpt from the Fall 2017 magazine. To read more stories click here: https://www.thereforego.com/magazine/

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Looking Forward to 2018

ThereforeGo Ministries — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 16:07:00 +0000

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It’s hard to believe SERVE 2017 is behind us and the planning for SERVE 2018 is under way!

We are excited to unveil the theme for SERVE 2018, Love God – Love the World, in this issue of the Youth Unlimited Magazine. In Luke 4:18-19 it says, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Through our SERVE sites next summer, we long with great anticipation to see students discover Christ for the first time or in a fresh new way and then empower them to reflect his love in this broken world!

However, before we dive too far into SERVE 2018, we’ll take some time in this issue to reflect on a few of the moments of transformation that have already happened to students at SERVE. You’ll read about when the Holy Spirit moved in a student’s life at SERVE through the article SERVE Shoes and when the Holy Spirit visited a man living on the streets through a group of students in the article The Name of Love.

When you think about all the students who participate each summer, all the volunteers at each SERVE Site that plan the week and all the

adult leaders that take the students on a SERVE week, it is clear that God really does use SERVE to make a great impact on this world each summer.

Youth Unlimited is blessed to partner with you through SERVE to connect students with Christ, the Church and the Community.

Serving together,

Jeff Kruithof

This is an excerpt from the Fall 2017 magazine. To read more CLICK HERE.

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5 to Thrive

Elizabeth Bosscher — Mon, 13 Nov 2017 16:00:56 +0000

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Matthew 14

¹⁷“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

¹⁸“Bring them here to me,” he said. ¹⁹And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ²⁰They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ²¹The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

#GivingTuesday

Giving Tuesday is coming up and we are dreaming big and small about what that means for Youth Unlimited. We know that every organization you know is asking for money, time, and resources from you. It’s a lot of pressure, but if its ok, we would like to add one more opportunity.

We want to dream small and have faith in big results.

In the same way that Jesus stretched those loaves of bread and fish, he is still multiplying our investment daily. That’s where our big dream comes in. We are trusting him with a $5 investment and he is changing lives forever.

What is $5 worth?

A Latte, a pack of batteries, a pizza, a student subscription to Spotify. At SERVE $5 buys a student a week full of personal devotions and a learning experience that can develop into a lifelong habit of studying God’s word. This Giving Tuesday please consider dreaming small with us and dreaming big with God, helping instill the habit of daily time with God.

Donate Today!

$5 provides one student the 7-day devotional book for a week of SERVE.

$25 provides the devotional book for 5 students.

$50 provides devotional books for a whole youth group! *based on an average group size*

#GivingTuesday | #GivingTuesdayca | #5toThrive

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Faces of YU: Ron

ThereforeGo Ministries — Thu, 09 Nov 2017 15:42:39 +0000

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Get to know Ron DeVries from Edmonton, AB

What is your role at Youth Unlimited?

I am the Canadian SERVE Director.

Where are you from, and what brought you to Youth Unlimited?

I am from Alberta, Canada. For the last ten years, I had served as the Youth Ministry Consultant for the Christian Reformed church, Classis Alberta North. Following many conversations with Jeff at Youth Unlimited, we could see how a Canadian Director could be a blessing for Youth Unlimited, who would be working alongside a US Director so we said, let’s try it.

When you were a student, what was the most faith-formational experience you had?

I had grown up in the Christian Reformed Church where our youth group experiences began at age 16 and ended around the age of 25 or when you got married. At the age of 22, I had a friend who died in a car accident and this hit home for me. The fragility of life became so clear and Christ became so powerfully real to me in those days.

What were you most excited about for SERVE 2017?

I was most excited about the possibility of seeing youth from across North America experience the Authentic Communities that God has laid out for our teams.

If you were a student now, what would be your favorite things about SERVE?

The SERVEant and the SERVE 2017 Authentic Community Blend coffee would have been my favorites for 2017. Oh, and the shirts were awesome this year!

What’s your favorite youth group game to play?

Four on the Couch – The purpose of the game is to get everyone from your gender in the four seats on the couch (or position on the floor).

Players sit in a circle. One chair, or spot, in the circle, should be open.

Have everyone write their name on a piece of paper. Collect the papers and pass them out again so that everyone has a paper with someone else’s name on it. Players should not show anyone who they have.

The player to the left of the open spot says someone’s name. Whoever is holding onto the paper with that name must get up and move to the open spot. Then the player who moved must trade papers with the person who called the name.

The player sitting to the left of the new open spot then says the next name and the process continues.

By memorizing who has what name and what the names are of those on the couch, players try to get their gender to occupy all four seats on the couch. When one gender does this successfully, they win.

When you were a student, who was your greatest mentor and why?

My dad was my greatest mentor because of how he lives for Christ.

What’s your favorite late night snack?

Peanut Butter sandwiches.

What type of service project do you love so much that you could do every day?

Working in places that reach out to those who are on the fringes of life. It is hard work, but all of God’s children are important to the kingdom

What’s your favorite vacation spot?

Hawaii.

This is an excerpt from the Fall 2017 magazine. To read more stories click here: https://www.thereforego.com/magazine/

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Does SERVEant have a first name?

Elizabeth Bosscher — Thu, 02 Nov 2017 15:00:50 +0000

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When we brought the SERVEant back we talked a lot in the office about if we should give it a name or not. We thought that some people might ask so we should come up with a plan. We decided that we would take all of our 2017 student registrations and find the most common name of the year and that is what we would pick for our ant.

However, before we tell you what that name is we have something else to say. The spirit of the SERVEant is that there cannot be just one. Ants live in community and so do we. That being said we are only naming our office SERVEant. What you call yours is totally up to you. Below you will see a link to a printable SERVEant. We would love to see how you are serving at home throughout the year! Go ahead and print one off, give it a name of your own, and share pictures on social media with #SERVEant. Let’s see our ant community at work!

Are you ready for the big reveal?

Now that SERVE 2018 is on the horizon we cannot wait to see what Emily will accomplish next. Download and name your own SERVEant HERE!

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SERVE 2018 Theme | Love God, Love The World

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 18:00:07 +0000

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This summer at SERVE 2018, the Theme for our youth group mission trips will be Love God, Love The World. Below are our Key Passage and Key Thought behind this curriculum.

>> Key Passage:

Luke 4:18-19

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

>> Key Thought:

Jesus begins his ministry in Luke’s Gospel by going to the synagogue where he reads from the book of Isaiah. When he finishes, he calmly sits down, and tells those sitting there, “All of this is being fulfilled right in front of your very eyes.” For Luke, this passage from Isaiah is a snapshot of God’s mission to the world. In Jesus Christ, God has come to save us from our sin, to restore our relationship with him, but the good news is more than that.

The gospel is good news for those who suffer, it is good news for those living in poverty and racism, it is good news for people struggling with slavery and bondage in every form. In that synagogue, some 2,000 years ago, Jesus tells us that he has come to reveal God’s love for a world that desperately needs to be reminded of who we are and who we were created to be.

In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus tells many parables that imaginatively tell us what it looks like when God is in charge. These are stories that show us what God is like, how much God loves us and how much God cares about our lives in this world. They also show us that Jesus asks all of us to become his disciples so we can participate in this mission by showing others a small sign of God’s love.

In each of the parables, we will read this week, we see how loving God always leads to loving our neighbor. Within the parable of the good Samaritan, we’ll see how loving God means “coming near” to those in need. In the parable of the prodigal son, we’ll encounter God’s reckless love that runs out to meet his children. We’ll hear about what it means to “eat” with sinners and tax collectors and how it is in loving our neighbor that Jesus most often appears. After all, this is what this week is all about—participating in God’s mission to the world by loving our neighbor. This week, we invite you to follow Jesus by coming near to those who need to hear the good news of God’s love and grace. Our hope is that Jesus will appear to you in ways you never expected!

See all the sites available in 2018 HERE.

This year’s theme was written by Jason Lief. Jason is a Theology Professor at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa.

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Hurricane Relief: St. Thomas SERVE!

Elizabeth Bosscher — Tue, 10 Oct 2017 06:00:31 +0000

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As I’ve heard it said many times, God’s timing is always perfect. I found this true once again through an email from Nicole Jackson, the Youth and Retreat Center Coordinator at St. Thomas Reformed Church (STRC) in the US Virgin Islands. Their church has just completed building a retreat center and they are excited to begin hosting groups. Having received SERVE postcards in the past, she sent an email earlier this summer to explore the possibility of hosting a SERVE in St. Thomas,

Through several emails, Skype conversations, and prayer, we feel God has brought us together to partner through SERVE in 2018. Little did we know at the time of our initial conversations that two hurricanes would hit St. Thomas with such devastation. Below is a note from STRC following the hurricanes on September 25:

“St. Thomas Reformed Church has been coordinating on the ground relief efforts. Our church undercroft that had just been renovated flooded not once, but twice. Yet miraculously, all roofs remained intact and our sanctuary, offices and new retreat center remained usable and dry (relatively!). Our sanctuary is being used as a staging ground, storage area and distribution site for essential supplies that are extremely scarce on the island right now. We have partnered with the Salvation Army and My Brother’s Workshop (MBW) in a free feeding program. Originally, the goal of MBW was to serve at least 500 meals a day. One day last week, MBW staff and volunteers served 957! (You can check out more info about MBW by visiting their website at http://www.mybrothersworkshop.org/ or their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MyBrothersWorkshop

On the Sunday immediately following Hurricane Irma, our church gathered to worship – no power, no sound system, no printed bulletin, but many, many grateful hearts and hands ready to serve. Still with limited gas, impassable roads, horrible traffic, limited cell service and an island-wide curfew it took days to locate and check on all of the church’s families. Miraculously the church has regained power but for most of the island’s residents, it will be 9-12 months before they have electricity and running water. Supermarkets can only be open during certain hours resulting in outrageous lines. Coupled with the tremendous blow to our tourism-based economy, many on the island literally cannot access supplies and resources needed to survive including water, food, infant needs and basic hygiene items.”

Even with all the devastation from two hurricanes, STRC is committed and excited to host SERVE this coming June. An experienced SERVE host church will be sending their youth group in June to assist STRC in hosting their first SERVE experience, hopefully setting them up well to host many more groups in the future! As I observe and listen to all that STRC is doing under such adverse conditions, I’m confident they will have much to teach and share with Youth Unlimited and those who head down to the island for SERVE, just as each of our other SERVE sites do!

If your youth group is looking for a way to care for and support the work of a local church ministering in the wake of the hurricanes, you can learn more and partner with STRC as seen below:

Ways to Donate (any monetary donations to St. Thomas Reformed Church are tax deductible):

Through STRC’s website (this will take you to a PayPal link. Add in Memo: Hurricane Relief) http://www.stthomasreformedchurch.org/giving-relief-efforts/online-giving/?view=mobile
Mail a check payable to St. Thomas Reformed Church – PO Box 301769, St. Thomas VI 00803. Please add in Memo: Hurricane Relief.

Also, STRC is humbled by the outpouring of support and offer of volunteer crews. If you have a desire to come to St. Thomas and work on this effort, please contact Nicole at youth@stthomasreformedchurch.org.

I know many of you may not be on Facebook, but I encourage you to visit their page periodically (it is a public page, so you don’t even need a Facebook account to view it). On the page, you can follow their transformational journey, fully replete with highs and lows and just as many miracles. Here is the link for that: https://www.facebook.com/stthomasreformedchurch/

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SERVE | The Highlight Of Every Summer

Elizabeth Bosscher — Tue, 26 Sep 2017 14:37:40 +0000

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by: Jenifer Buikema

For me, SERVE was the highlight of every summer. In my life I have been on four Youth Unlimited SERVE trips; Sioux Falls, Port Perry, Brighton, and Gallatin Valley. I have also helped host two trips at my home church in Holland, Michigan. I love to travel, so hopping in the 15-passenger van with my youth group and driving to Canada or across the country was always a great start to the week! Then, when you arrive, the host team is always super excited to welcome you and invite you into their community. Being welcomed that warmly really sets you up to have a great week.

The work days, day-away, worship, and small group times are completely transformative, and they go by way too quickly. Before you know it you are on your way back home. However, you never leave a SERVE trip empty handed. The incredible changes that my faith went through on every trip left me energized and my soul on fire for the Lord.

After a SERVE trip, all you want to do is continue serving your community back home. That joy of serving has had a huge impact on my life. Having just graduated from high school, I had to make some pretty big choices about college, the work force, and future plans in general. When considering colleges I tried to find a school that would foster my passion for ministry and mission work. That is what lead me to the Bridge Street House of Prayer.

The Next Season

This fall instead of attending a college or a university I will be living on the West Side of Grand Rapids. Through the Bridge Street House of Prayer, I will serve that community in any way I can. In the winter the other students and I will travel abroad for two months and step into a life of global missions. Being a missionary has been on my heart since a young age, and my experience with SERVE over the last four years has grown that passion into a reality. I am so thankful for all the small group leaders, worksite coordinators, kitchen staff, worship teams, pastors, and other SERVE participants that have worked together for my spiritual success. In the end, Jesus’s guidance and the encouragement of others were always what set my SERVE experiences apart as high points in my life.

To learn more about Bridge Street House of Prayer click here.

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The Year I Went To All The Canadian SERVE Sites

Ron deVries — Tue, 19 Sep 2017 15:06:49 +0000

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By: Ron deVries

The summer of 2017 will forever be etched in my hard drive (and human brain) as the year I thought it would be a cool idea to visit every Canadian SERVE site.

I knew it would be a lot of traveling and although some things prevented me (I am reminded of the two and half hour delay waiting somewhere in the seemingly far reaches of highway between 427 and 403) from spending more time with each of these incredible sites.

Here are a few highlights for me.

Watching our host teams in action made me swell up with Christian pride. I witnessed Kingdom people doing Kingdom work and truly reflecting Authentic Community.
Visiting various work sites and being inspired by the “Hands and Feet” of so many who GAVE UP a week of their summer to GIVE OF their hearts to God’s children. Amazing!
Worship leaders and speakers who ran with this year’s theme using a variety of voices and then collectively, shared a message of hope in all areas of this great land.
Finally, hearing stories of God’s sovereign nature and love for this world through students who will forever be changed by these faith forming experiences.

Thank you to all the host teams for a job well done.

God is good.

About Ron:

Ron is the Canadian SERVE Director. He lives in Alberta with his wife and enjoys sailing, motorcycling, hockey, and talking about youth ministry. To learn more about the Youth Unlimited staff click here.

About SERVE:

SERVE youth mission experiences are all-inclusive, five to seven-day trips for middle or high school age students. More than just a short trip, SERVE is a faith-forming experience where the communities, congregations, and students involved all experience lasting transformation. If you are interested in learning more about SERVE and signing up for SERVE 2018 click here.

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The Many Benefits of a Service Trip for Your Church Youth Group (Infographic)

ThereforeGo Ministries — Mon, 18 Sep 2017 17:51:17 +0000

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If you have ever been on a SERVE trip (or really any kind of service trip), you can testify that it is a life changing experience. But, have you ever tried to explain that to someone who hasn’t ever experienced a mission trip themselves? It’s hard. You want to tell them all about the feelings you felt and the gratitude you received and all the lessons you learned; however, sometimes it’s too difficult to put those things into words.

So, what do you do when you want to take your youth group on a service trip and you need to convince some of those critical people in your church why it is important? Maybe we can help! Whether you are planning a SERVE mission trip, a trip through another organization, or organizing it yourself, below is an infographic with some facts and words to help you explain how a service trip can impact your youth and church as well as the community you are going to serve.

Find a Service Trip

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Stepping Up

ThereforeGo Ministries — Wed, 16 Aug 2017 17:28:01 +0000

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by Don Koops, Youth Unlimited Board Member

During my years of youth ministry, I helped take groups on 12 SERVE trips to the states of Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota and Virginia, as well as three trips to Ontario, Canada. I’ve also coordinated seven weeks of SERVE at my own church.

The church I attend is a relatively small fellowship, so when we have hosted SERVE we have enlisted the services and assistance of churches in a broad range of denominations within a 25-mile radius. This has brought us all closer together for a united purpose and opened our eyes more fully to ministry opportunities around us.

My time spent on SERVE has enriched my life so much, as I have met a lot of great committed people, who have a passion for teenagers. In those times, I have seen the transformations of many students in one short week that have been life changing and I’ve grown in my own faith walk as well.

I have also had the privilege of experiencing so many varied cultures through SERVE. Even though I come from a rural background, I’ve noticed more similarities than differences in life experiences and people. It has been a real blessing for our youth group and myself to assist others in need through the different worksites we have encountered.

Over the years there are several SERVE experiences that stand out in my mind. My first SERVE experience was in Battle Creek, Michigan where my group, along with another work group, led by a Canadian leader, dismantled a large roof and rebuilt it for an elderly gentleman.

When we started to take off the roof in the reconstruction phase, we noticed that there were Rubbermaid pans everywhere to catch the rain water that still managed to filter into the home, which was badly in need of repair. It was more of a challenge than anyone of us had ever imagined taking on, as we needed to rebuild rafters, re-sheet the roof and shingle it all in the space of a week. The high humidity and temperatures of the season made it an even larger undertaking. Obviously, it was a bigger job than we could accomplish by ourselves, so prayer for God’s leading and wisdom was enlisted many times throughout the week.

As I have been made aware of time and again, the themes for the week of SERVE fit the circumstances, and God places just the right people in his timing and place within the group. So many times at SERVE I have encountered projects that appeared overwhelming, and each time our God has shown up to accomplish his plans and purposes.

The theme for our week in Battle Creek, was “Stepping Up”, and it definitely called for that mindset. Most importantly, we were able to complete the project just as late Friday afternoon arrived, which was no small miracle in itself.

This and many other moments from my SERVE experiences will forever be etched in my mind as reminders of what SERVE is all about! God’s plans and purpose always prevail.

As the newest member of the Youth Unlimited Board, I’m now looking forward to the opportunity to serve in the broader scope of the organization.

This is an excerpt from the Youth Unlimited Summer Magazine. To view the whole magazine, click here.

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Spread Shalom

ThereforeGo Ministries — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 17:13:15 +0000

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by Annika Bangma, Whitinsville SERVE Host Team Coordinator

In June of 2014, our town of Northbridge (of which Whitinsville is a village) had just voted down a hefty tax override that would give the local public school additional resources. Although there are many reasons why the override failed, a writer in the opinion column of our local newspaper argued, “The major obstacle we continually face is that an “organized” subgroup of voters does not feel the civic need to invest in things that enhance our public school system and town services. This subgroup of voters isn’t the only obstacle, but certainly the major one…. We understand that this subgroup has their own private school in town and does not rely on the public school system to educate their children. But we also know that it is our moral obligation to care for the concerns of others in a community.”

He goes on to suggest, “They also own many great businesses that we enjoy spending our hard earned dollars at. Let’s work diligently to bring this relationship to a win-win for everyone, so those of us who want the town to invest in our children and the public school system don’t have to become an “organized” subgroup of buyers and take our business elsewhere.”

Although many believe that the writer was looking for a scapegoat during a frustrating time in our town, it was not difficult to read between the lines of his insinuation. There is one private school in our town: the Whitinsville Christian School, founded by Pleasant Street Christian Reformed Church. Our church.

Essentially, our church was being accused of not caring for the concerns of others in the community, of not investing in things that enhance our public schools and town services and, in general, neglecting our civic duty. There was a clear misconception in our town about our church and our care for our community and town. We had an image problem on our hands.

Fast-forward to January of 2016. During our very first Host Team meeting, our leaders spent time talking and praying about what we hoped God would do through SERVE. Looking through the list of possible outcomes supplied by Youth Unlimited, we took particular notice of using SERVE to grow “personal relationships in the local community with gospel centeredness” and “Organizational/government relationships [thereby] expanding the congregation’s reach into the community.” Consequently, we made a very intentional decision to partner with as many town services and organizations as possible throughout our week of SERVE.

Our worksites would include the Police Department, the Fire Department, painting fire hydrants for the Northbridge Department of Public Works and the Northbridge Senior Center. We made the decision to use the showers at the Northbridge Public Middle School, instead of using the facilities at Whitinsville Christian, and worked to expand our relationship with the Superintendent of Northbridge Public Schools. In addition, we worked with the Blackstone Heritage Corridor, Inc/National Park Service to tackle one of the biggest jobs they have ever had volunteers take on.

After our week of SERVE was over, the front page of the local paper headlined: “Teens ‘SERVE’ a Week in the Blackstone Valley” – complete with a color photo, and two-part article about the “scores of students” that had been at work in town during SERVE, while being hosted by Pleasant Street. The town manager was quoted as saying “I can’t say enough about these kids. It’s been a real positive experience. All the department heads were positive about it. Oftentimes you hear the negatives; this puts hope back in what youth can do.” In addition, at least four other newspapers ran the photo of the signing of a three-foot-wide check, made out to the National Park Service’s Volunteers in the Parks Program as a symbol of the 3,168 hours of service that the Blackstone Valley received on behalf of SERVE, which the NPS considered to be worth a dollar value of $73,085.76.

Just as our Host Team was starting to regroup to start meeting regularly again to plan 2017, we received a phone call inviting us to an awards night in December, hosted by the Blackstone Heritage Corridor Inc/ NPS. At the awards, we were blown away to be designated the “Outstanding Special VIP [Volunteers in the Parks] Project Award” for 2016.

On the award certificate, Suzanne Buchanan, NPS Volunteer Coordinator, had scribed “They came to visit, not to stay, but their impact is felt here every day.” Those words, which were written to acknowledge the drastic results that the visiting students had achieved on the worksites, are more true than Suzanne Buchanan will ever fully understand.

The impact of SERVE is not just felt through the physical work the students and leaders accomplished on the various worksites. It is felt every day in the way our church is understood in our community. It has enabled us to continue to grow relationships with town department heads, the Police Chief and the public school system. It has helped us to learn, communicate effectively our motives and efforts, further recognize gaps in the way our town is run and help fill them. It has helped set a trajectory of spreading shalom within our local community, and gaining momentum in other year-round efforts that our church seeks to follow Christ into. It has been the definition of a “win,” and we feel we cannot thank the visiting churches, leaders and students enough for helping us transform our community, and the role we, Pleasant Street Christian Reformed Church, have in it.

And this was only the first year.

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Park Rangers

ThereforeGo Ministries — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 17:06:16 +0000

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The following is an excerpt from our Youth Unlimited Summer Magazine. To view the whole magazine, click here.

The opportunity to have been part of the “Park Rangers” group at my church has drastically changed the way I look at and interact with my church today.

Planning to host a SERVE trip with a congregation of our size didn’t seem possible, but I was amazed to see the abundance of support from the members of our church and community. People were signing up to lead games, cook meals, help out with job sites and be a part of the main Host Team. The Park Rangers group, in particular, became a very tight knit group as we spent the whole week on site together. We ate together, worked together, organized together and if we were ever seen without the others it was very rare!

Being at our church for a week straight was odd at first, but that mentality quickly changed as we made new relationships within our church community. As a group, we got to know many of our staff members better. For example, our cook on site, Donna, became like a member of our family after the week was over. People we never used to talk to at church were quickly becoming people we wanted to be around all the time.

Hosting SERVE was a huge undertaking, but the reward was well worth the effort put in. For the Park Rangers, our group walked away from a week of SERVE with a feeling of genuine community, and many new relationships formed within our own church walls.

-Park CRC Student

______________

As a volunteer youth leader and a member of our SERVE Host Team, it has been such a blessing to work with our Park Rangers and watch them develop into team members and grow as church volunteers. The experience has been incredibly positive in that the students were able to use their talents and energy for God. Relationships between the “Park Rangers” grew and friendships that were not there before blossomed.

As the week progressed and everyone became tired, I was able to see them dig their heels in even deeper to make sure the experience for those at our site was not just good, but great. Members from our church who volunteered throughout the week were able to see our Park Rangers in action, setting things up, tearing things down, playing games, cleaning bathrooms, hauling food, carting supplies, motivating students at worksites and enjoying serving others.

This has allowed many other relationships within our church to grow. I often see our youth talking with some of the people that volunteered in the kitchen or at the worksites. A sense of community has grown that spans all ages. I believe it is so very important that the youth feel valued as church members and I think Park Rangers helps them to be just that. By using their gifts to glorify God, they are a valued member of the Body of Christ.

-Park CRC Volunteer Youth Leader

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Seeing Jesus In the Brokenness

ThereforeGo Ministries — Wed, 05 Jul 2017 16:58:13 +0000

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by Laura, High River SERVE Participant, 2014

In the summer of 2014, a group of students from my church, Maranatha Christian Reformed Church in Edmonton, Alberta, embarked on a SERVE mission trip to High River, Alberta. High River had been hit with a disastrous ﬂood one summer earlier, and as a result, the entire city had to be evacuated for 10 days. Our mission on the SERVE trip was to assist the town in cleaning up any damage that had come from the ﬂooding… and there was a lot of it!

We painted battered fences, rebuilt decks and houses, landscaped, built gardens, etc., but we did so much more than just the physical labour. We also listened. We listened to numerous accounts of disaster and strife, and we listened as locals cried when they recounted the emotional aspect of the ﬂood.

One of the most amazing parts of the trip though, was when we were honoured with the opportunity to listen to the miraculous things that Jesus had done during the ﬂood. Amidst houses being torn to pieces, and lives being turned upside down, it was beautiful to see that people were so aware of what God was showing them and what he was accomplishing in the storm.

A particular story that stuck out to me was told by the pastor of a local church. The church had been hit just as hard as every other building, so when Pastor Paul was allowed back into it, he expected to see everything in the basement in disarray. As predicted, everything in the room had been knocked down, forced into different places or broken, but the table that was holding the Bible was solidly standing where it belonged.

For me, this was an incredible and direct message from God. When you feel knocked down, like you’re in the wrong place, or when things in life seem broken, God is never failing. He doesn’t leave us when our lives overﬂow with sin or when we keep falling down. When I heard the story, and was reminded of this aspect of God, it made me feel so secure in my relationship with him, like I was seeing Jesus in a very direct way.

I look forward to hearing, experiencing and sharing many more miracles as I daily strive to live for Christ, and I’m so thankful that one of the places I could do that was on my SERVE trip to High River.

This is an excerpt from the Youth Unlimited Summer Magazine. To view the whole magazine, click here.

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Christian Community

ThereforeGo Ministries — Mon, 19 Jun 2017 14:44:53 +0000

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by Adrianna Wimmers

Stress is mental or emotional strain caused by demanding or adverse circumstances. Stress can come from many different situations and can be overwhelming, leading oneself to not know where to turn to or what to do about the stress they are experiencing. Balancing school, friends, relationships, extra-curricular activities, jobs and everything in between can add unnecessary and often unwanted stress.

Stress and being overwhelmed can blind us to many things like the people who can and are willing to help us get out of our hole that we have stressed ourselves into. Our stress can also blind us to the other people around us that are stressed too. We become unable to see the world around us; we become too consumed with what we ourselves are dealing with.

We often take stress out on those around us, instead of turning to them for support and comfort. We believe that isolation is what we want, but we do not have to be alone.

Community is the feeling of fellowship with others as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests and goals. Building community is important to do, and a supportive community is helpful in so many ways. God even tells us this in Galatians 6:2 “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.” We can share our stress and burdens with our community and turn to them for support and comfort. We can also look around at those in our community and show them our support, show them that they are not alone and that others have felt what they have felt as well.

Community is where you can turn in all circumstances, not just in times of sadness or stress. We can rejoice with our community and celebrate together.

Romans 12 says, “Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble and keep praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other.” Stressed and overwhelmed or joyful and prepared to celebrate, community is where we can turn to.

Turn to the community, build community and invest in community. Our God did not create us to live in solitude, but with people, who can help, love and support us.

Our God loves us so deeply and will never leave us, he will always give us strength for what we need, whether that be strength found within ourselves or strength gained from the support of our community.

Students this summer are learning and growing in Authentic Community. To find out more about what they’re learning, click here.

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Pray Like it Depends on God

ThereforeGo Ministries — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 15:56:42 +0000

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The following is an excerpt from our summer magazine. To view the whole magazine, click here.

I’ve heard the saying, “You work like it depends on you and you pray like it depends on God.” I’m not sure about the theology of that statement, but it sure does reflect the past nine months of activity for Youth Unlimited.

The Youth Unlimited staff and our 28 SERVE teams are in full preparation mode for SERVE 2017. 1,500 students and leaders will converge at 28 host churches to serve their communities on behalf of God and that local church. Throughout their week, students will worship, study scripture, see a broken world in need of Christ and love the people in those communities. In the process, they will discover the Holy Spirit is also wanting to connect with them, often times changing the course of their lives forever!

When SERVE is done right, it is a win/win/win scenario for students, connecting them to Christ, the Church and communities. In this issue of the Youth Unlimited magazine, you will read stories of God’s blessing on each of those. You will also get a behind the scenes view of the preparation being put in by our SERVE teams in order to better create a space for those connections to be made.

Though I am already looking forward to sharing the amazing stories that develop through SERVE 2017, would you join me and the Youth Unlimited team in praying for the participants, churches and communities involved this summer? Would you pray for the participants to remain safe and in good health, for local churches to build lasting bridges to their communities, for spiritual growth and maturity of everyone involved and, most importantly, for Jesus Christ to be glorified through SERVE 2017?

We know SERVE can be an integral part of a student’s faith formation, and we look forward to the countless opportunities ahead for students to find God at their SERVE experiences. This is why we take our work so seriously, and, more importantly, this is why we depend on God.

Grateful to partner in ministry with you,

Jeff Kruithof

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Meeting Jesus

ThereforeGo Ministries — Mon, 05 Jun 2017 13:25:25 +0000

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The following is a testimony of a youth leader who experienced SERVE in Toronto last summer.

This was the first SERVE experience this group of youth group kids ever had and it was such an amazing experience! We brought a bunch of country kids to the big city, and while none of them are planning on moving any time soon, they embraced the experience and learned so much from it!

I loved the many ways that we learned about homelessness and that homelessness is not just a result of laziness.

The best part was our nightly worship. I’ve been on a handful of trips like this, and the worship can be pretty awkward, which it was the first couple of nights, but then it just all clicked and I truly believe we met with Jesus every night during those times of worship.

Just recently one of my youth group girls was talking about the letter she wrote herself and how it made her cry when she received it in the mail. I asked her what she had written to herself. She said that she’s always believed she was a Christian, but Toronto SERVE was the first time she encountered Jesus.

Thank you to Toronto SERVE for providing opportunities and experiences for us all to met with Jesus that week!

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Forever Changed

ThereforeGo Ministries — Mon, 22 May 2017 13:19:15 +0000

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The following is a testimony of a student who experienced SERVE in Gallatin Valley, Montana in 2016, which forever changed her life.

Gallatin Valley SERVE 2016 showed me what it’s like to be a true Christian. Through my experience at SERVE, I was able to deepen my relationship with Christ by giving Him complete control of my life during the message that took place at the day at the lake.

My life is now forever changed. Christ is taking me places I could never go on my own. SERVE helped me realize God’s calling for my life. I am now planning on attending a Christian college in pursuit of a degree in youth ministry. I am also going on a six week mission trip to Southeast Asia this summer.

Thank you so much for forever changing my life! God bless!

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Coffee and Life

ThereforeGo Ministries — Fri, 12 May 2017 17:27:22 +0000

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It’s the Month of May, Sip, Sip, Hooray!
Have you ordered your SERVE 2017 Authentic Community blend coffee yet? Share some community with others when you SERVE this specialty blend from our friends at Good Neighbour Coffee. A portion of all proceeds will give students the opportunity to experience Authentic Community at a SERVE mission trip in a way that will change their lives forever, encouraging them to impact this world for Christ. C lick here to order your 1 lb bag today!

Read below to learn more about Good Neighbour Coffee and the amazing things they have been doing there!

We had no idea that the farmers who, today, grow the coffee beans that we now roast were the very people who were our Honduran friends 9 years ago.

In 2008, my wife and our four children lived in Catacamas, Honduras for four months. Having served as a youth pastor for 20 years in North America, I was granted a sabbatical. We decided to live in a Spanish speaking country for no other reason than to live and learn! I have led more than my share of mission trips and spoke on several SERVE trips, but now I wanted to simply go with my family and nestle deep within another culture.

When we returned from the sabbatical, roasting coffee was something we did as an experiment with neighbours and friends. Eventually, our family began sinking money into some better roasting equipment at about the same time my friends in Honduras began exporting coffee beans with the help of a group who we met while in Honduras called, “The Carpenteros and Friends.”

Meanwhile, my pastoral role in the church included some heavy experimentation in a mission that helped people love their neighbours called Neighbourhood Life. Three years later, I resigned from the institutional setting to begin a full time missionary position which seeks to transform lives and communities in Christ, focusing on our immediate neighbourhoods. This approach takes seriously a theology of place in which we are called to “bloom where we are planted”. At the heart of this model is the call to love our neighbours, with the certainty that God desires to draw our neighbours to himself and longs to see their lives transformed and the assurance that Christ “dwells among us.” I am now in my fourth year.

As the mission increased, so did the coffee roasting. People began asking where they could buy bags of Good Neighbour Coffee, and the number of visitors who stopped by the roasting shop also began to increase. Since I was well acquainted with fundraising for SERVE and various other parts of youth ministry, I approached the increasing sales as the ongoing fundraiser for Neighbourhood Life.

In fact, I also began harvesting stories from the authentic community developed in the various neighbourhoods in which I worked. Those stories were powerful and found their way onto the backs of the coffee bags. This was starting to get interesting. The direct trade coffee not only impacted the farmers in Honduras (currently we impact 55 farmers), and various families who work alongside them (around 250 families), but it impacted neighbourhoods where we live! Crazy, eh?

Well, with the benefit of our direct trade relationship, three of our friends/farmers flew from Honduras to Alberta and ended up at our Good Neighbour roasting shop’s open house this past October. They toured the small roasting facility that also stores the organic beans they so carefully harvested. They were the featured guests, who, through a translator, spoke over a half hour on the blessings the partnership had on their communities. As if that wasn’t enough, some of the other guests (neighbours and store owners) began to ask questions. The owners of a large grocery outlet heard enough and walked away while telling me to bring a case of all the products I roast, so he could sell this to our community.

Today, we have recognized the support of Rio Olancho coffee in Honduras and our Neighbourhood Life mission as the catalyst for creating authentic community. Call it a win, win, win situation! Not only have we increased our purchase of beans, but we are about to open our first, “Good Neighbour CoffeeHouse.”

To learn more about Good Neighbour Coffee, visit goodneighbourcoffee.ca or rickabma.com.

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Satisfaction in Giving

ThereforeGo Ministries — Mon, 08 May 2017 13:16:14 +0000

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Several years ago at Alamosa SERVE in Colorado, my work group was given the assignment of building a wheel chair ramp for a retired Air Force Veteran on limited resources who was caring for a disabled friend in his home. The project involved taking out steps and part of a front porch, and figuring out a way to adapt the ramp into the existing structure. On my first SERVE, back in 2001 in Michigan, I was assigned the same task, and I recalled the time it took and how overwhelming that assignment seemed.

Through lots of prayer and some outside assistance it was completed back then. This time, thanks to the learning experience and others like it on prior SERVE’s, plus being blessed with some very talented youth in my group, we were able to finish the basic structure in just one day. The rest of the week was spent putting on the finishing touches, applying a fresh coat of paint where needed, and constructing a staircase on the back side of the home.

In our experience, we saw that although Fred, the retired vet, didn’t have much in terms of possessions, he was willing to open up his home to help a friend in need. When we were given $200 to look for someone that week who we could bless the money with, our group chose to give it to Fred, because he had shown the sacrificial love for someone else just as our Lord did while on this earth.

Even though we didn’t meet that friend, since he was receiving treatment in Denver hundreds of miles away, we were able to experience his joy through the smiles of pride and tears of joy that flowed from Fred’s face when the project was completed. I will never forget the sense of satisfaction we all felt in giving back our time and talents for someone who had also served his country. I don’t remember much about the first wheel chair ramp installed in Michigan, but I know even though it’s been years since then, I had the same feeling and blessing, which is what SERVE is all about.

-Don Koops, Youth Unlimited Board Member

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Don’t be Afraid of the Big Ideas

Elizabeth Bosscher — Mon, 24 Apr 2017 18:23:18 +0000

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Do you ever feel too small for your big ideas? God loves to use people who don’t seem important enough to do his most important work. Consider these examples from the Bible:

Elijah- He spent some serious time in prayer and it changed the weather for THREE YEARS! You know the weather, that thing everyone acknowledges is totally out of our control… Elijah affected it through the power of prayer and he was just a guy like us.

“¹⁷Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. ¹⁸Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.” James 5:17-18

Moses- This guy got asked to do big things by God and had some serious doubts about his own ability.

“¹⁰But Moses said to the Lord, ‘Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.’”- Exodus 4:10.

But when he put his faith and trust in the Lord’s power working through him, he was able to lead the Israelites out of Egypt through the Red Sea which he separated to make a dry path. Wow, that is a big dream that God used “un-eloquent” Moses for.

Gideon- Gideon was from a small clan that was being ruled and terrorized by a bigger clan, the Midianites. He was scared and felt hopeless when an angel appeared to him and told him that if he went and stood up against the enemy the Lord would make sure he won! Crazy.

“¹⁵And he said to him, ‘Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.’ ¹⁶And the Lord said to him, ‘But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.’” Judges 6:11-16

SERVE is a big dream sometimes. I mean, we are talking about taking close to 2,000 students and youth leaders and having them travel away from their home, sometimes even to a different country, and housing them in churches and schools so they can put in hard work all week on service projects that are often far from glamorous. What could go wrong? Well, a lot. A lot can go wrong and there have been plenty of problems throughout the years; but with God’s help and his power working through us, SERVE can be more impactful and life changing than we could ever imagine.

So, are you ready to dream big with us?

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The Expanse of SERVE

Ron deVries — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 19:27:54 +0000

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It is amazing how a word conjures up images and memories for us. SERVE seems to do that. For churches who know this ministry, when they hear the name SERVE, they bring up stories of God showing up in the places and challenging the participants to be stretched for the Kingdom in powerful ways. Many students carry these faith forming experiences with them for a life time, often as a highlight moment.

I hear stories like this often – students who are now young adults, parents who came along as leaders, pastors who shared in an experience with their younger members, all carry with them these nuggets of Kingdom stories.

God uses SERVE experiences to reach beyond the sending church and the hosting community. It touches the broader community through fundraisers, through shared experiences, through the essence of bearing one another’s load. These are powerful life building moments and we at Youth Unlimited are privileged to walk alongside these communities, sharing with you in those moments of what and where God is working in this world.

This really does feel like Authentic Community.

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Mission Trip Self-Care

ThereforeGo Ministries — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 19:50:58 +0000

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I have a confession; I am terrible at self-care. I have a suspicion that I’m not the only one. Too often female youth leaders are the worst offenders when it comes to neglecting rest. We care for our families and then turn around and care for the leaders and students in our churches and communities. There is always so much to do and too few hours in the day. And yet, God in his wisdom, requires us to rest, to Sabbath every week.

It’s often during our busiest times that we need to rest the most. And while every week is busy, the busiest week of the year, in my experience, is always the week of the Youth Group summer mission trip!

So, how does a person sneak in a little self-care during a week that demands so much and allows for zero alone time? I discovered a little trick, by accident at first, but it has now become a self-care mission trip habit!

Before leaving on the mission trip I make a quick visit to a store that sells my favorite soaps (LUSH), shampoos, conditioners and lotions (AVEDA). You know, the stuff you normally don’t buy because it requires a little more time and money. I only purchase the small travel size bars and bottles and immediately pack them into a suitcase. Since the only 5 minutes of alone time any adult gets on a mission trip are the 5 minutes spent in the shower, I turn those precious few minutes into a spa visit!

Come mid-afternoon, when it’s finally time to hit the showers, I eagerly pull out the special occasion spa products, take five minutes and deeply breathe in the natural aromas of calming lavender, invigorating mint and cleansing citrus! It’s just enough time to clear my mind and rejuvenate my soul… because usually the next task is dinner – and dinner with 75 teenagers is no joke!

Special shower products may seem like a trivial detail in the scope of the entire week, but I have found that this small act of self-care allows me to be more fully present during all the other minutes of each day. By filling up my own cup, I have something available to pour out and give to others.

Before you leave on your next youth group mission trip, think about ways that you can sneak a little self-care into the week and be intentional about making it happen. I am confident you will notice a difference, and so will everyone else!

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Marion SERVEant

ThereforeGo Ministries — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 19:22:30 +0000

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We’ve been talking a lot about ants around the Youth Unlimited offices. They are amazing creatures, but there is one specific ant story that I love to share.

It was a summer evening, and I was participating in a Youth Unlimited mission trip in Marion, Indiana. Everyone was at a local water park enjoying a little downtime when I noticed a colony of ants in crisis. A puddle of water formed in the exact spot where a line of ants was traveling. In the middle of this ant catastrophe, I noticed one little ant kept swimming out to the middle of the puddle. It would push an ant to the water’s edge and then go back into the middle to save another….and another.

As we at Youth Unlimited prepare for another summer of SERVE mission trips, we have been digging into our theme of “Authentic Community”. The Bible has a lot to say about community and how we ought to treat each other. Galatians 6:2 says, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” During a SERVE trip we are often eager to “carry another’s burden”, but are we eager to dive into the puddles of life and help carry someone else’s burden when we’re not at SERVE?

The Youth Unlimited staff is already praying that God would prepare churches, communities and YOU to bring life and hope to those around you during SERVE. But don’t wait until this summer to be Jesus to your friends and neighbors –look for ways you can be a SERVEant all year long!

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What Kind Of “SERVE”-Ant are you?

Elizabeth Bosscher — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 14:04:28 +0000

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When you go on a SERVE trip, it’s pretty obvious that you have to work as a team in order to get anything done. One example in nature of God’s design for teamwork is that of ants. Ants have to work as a team to get anything done, and when the team works together, well, they all get to succeed! But in a team, not everyone can take on the same role, even ants have different jobs. What kind of “SERVE”-Ant are you?

Fire Ant- Fire Ants are passionate about their service. They are often so excited and determined that their passion can rub off on their team members. Fire ants are hard to miss and hard to ignore. If you are a fire ant, remember to use your passion to gently encourage those around you. We love your excitement and energy; every site needs a few Fire Ants.

1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Carpenter Ant- Carpenter Ants are the really hard workers of the group. They may stay in the background but they know how to get work done. They love to work with their hands and aren’t afraid to get a little dirty. If you are a Carpenter Ant, keep up the good work and try to use your skills to help others work with excellence as well. We love your determination; those service projects would not get done as well without you.

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.

Queen Ant- Every ant nest has a queen. These ants are the leaders of the group. They keep everyone together and make sure everyone is ok. The Queen Ant may have a lot of power over the group but they also have the most responsibility. If you are a Queen Ant, strive to lead your group by example with humility and hard work. We love your leadership and caring attitude; the week would be a mess without you.

Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

God has created us all with unique skills and abilities. How will you use your uniqueness this summer to help your team at SERVE?

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Life Together – A Book Review

Mandi Grasmeyer — Mon, 20 Feb 2017 16:03:00 +0000

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“The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer.”

As a freshman in college, I was assigned the reading of Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Like most 18 year-olds, Bonhoeffer’s writing was far beyond the grasp of both my attention and my comprehension.

Years later, now, while working on the SERVE 2017 theme materials, I fell more and more in love with the very concept we’re trying to reiterate, Authentic Community. Seeking other resources that speak into Authentic Community, I naturally landed back at Bonhoeffer’s Life Together, The Classic Exploration of Christian Community. Older and hopefully wiser at this point in my life, I gobbled the book up like a good meal and started using quotes from it, asking questions about it and encouraging others to read it.

While Bonhoeffer faced trials that appear to be much different than those we face today (living during the Nazi regime and, ultimately, becoming a martyr) many of his thoughts, musings and observations collected in Life Together are still eminent today.

“In the community of the called you bear your cross, you struggle, you pray.”

The book ventures through four different aspects of Christian community; the day with others, the day alone, ministry and confession & communion. Each aspect is broken down into timeless pieces of advice that lead us back to our call to live in community and how we are to execute doing so. When reading, my constant thought was yes, this is what I want to be a part of. I want to be a part of a community who’s faith is so deeply rooted in Christ that it is all that matters.

“The more genuine and the deeper our community becomes, the more will everything else between us recede, the more clearly and purely will Jesus Christ and his work become the one and only thing that is vital between us.”

We so often get caught up in the media, soaking up every truth and falsity that comes our way without remembering our place in this world as Christians. Bonhoeffer’s book is a reminder that we’re a people who are called. We’re a part of a bigger story than what’s on the news, a part of the story of Christ on earth. Being a part of that story calls us to live, respond and interact in certain ways, and Bonhoeffer repeatedly points out that the Scriptures are very clear about what those ways are.

“We are the reverent listeners and participants in God’s action in the sacred story, the history of the Christ on earth.”

Because of its connectedness to the theme of SERVE 2017, the Youth Unlimited staff took the time to read through Life Together as well and to discuss together its many implications for SERVE and the experience students have during that week of their summer.

We’re so grateful to be able to give students the opportunity to experience Christian community at SERVE – the opportunity to begin each day in God’s Word, to worship together, to work for the Kingdom, to share meals together and to genuinely do Life Together. We’re grateful to be able to open the space for students to enter into koinonia, and we can’t wait to see the impact of SERVE 2017!

So would I recommend the book? I’d give the book 5 stars out of 5, so I would definitely recommend you read it, and then I’d say to be sure to follow along on our Facebook and Instagram pages this summer as our students study, grow in and learn Authentic Community. It’s going to be a special summer!

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How to Play Life Size Pac-Man Game (Easy Guide)

Elizabeth Bosscher — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 14:00:20 +0000

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Are you trying to find group games to play at your SERVE youth mission trip site or even just with your Youth Group?

I worked at a camp for a few summers, and one of the games we played was life size Pac-Man (also known as “Human Pac-Man”). This quickly turned into one of my favorite games and is not too hard to pull off!

Here are instructions on how to make life size Pac-Man happen at your event.

Supplies:

Tape
Pool noodles
2 Baskets or containers of some sort
A sheet or some kind of costume for a “Ghost”
A big room or outdoor space

Set-Up:

Make a maze on the floor with the tape. Make sure the lanes are wide enough for someone to walk through comfortably. Pick two spots somewhere on the edges to be entrance/exits. Put a basket or container at each exit.
Cut the pool noodles into little slices to act as the pieces the player will pick up along the way. You could also use coins or some other round object but we found pool noodle pieces were a good size.
Choose two Ghosts (we found it best if a leader took on this role) and dress them up. We just used white sheets and wrapped them around ourselves.

Psst… Have you checked out our summer youth group mission trip locations for this year?

Rules:

There is 1 Pac-Man and 2 Ghosts in the maze at a time.
Pac-Men can go any direction and turn whenever they want as long as they stay within the lines of the maze.
Ghosts can only move forward, unless they reach a dead end (then, they can turn around).
Ghosts have to move at a consistent speed. It’s also more fun if they make beeping noises as they move.
A Pac-Man can deposit the pieces they have collected into their “bank” if they make it to one of the 2 exits. They can than re-enter the game to continue collecting pieces.
If a Ghost catches a Pac-Man, they lose a life and have to sacrifice all the pieces they are holding.
How to Win / When the Game Ends
- The Ghosts win if the Pac-Man loses all their lives (you can choose how many lives they will have to vary the difficulty).
- If a Pac-Man collects all the pieces before they lose their lives, they win.
Keeping Score:
- If you want to play more than one game of life-size Pac-Man (ex. a tournament) or want to figure out who came in 2nd and 3rd place, you can count up the pieces each Pac-Man collected at the end of each game and use that as the score for that individual.

Speaking of fun things for youth groups to do, check out our summer youth mission trip locations in the USA and Canada!

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I’ve Never Been on SERVE

Mandi Grasmeyer — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 20:10:08 +0000

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I’ve never been on SERVE, yet I work at ThereforeGo Ministries (formerly known as Youth Unlimited). Sometimes that seems weird, and sometimes it makes complete sense.

When I was in college, near the end of my freshman year, I had an intriguing epiphany. After a year with a “just okay” Resident Assistant, I knew I could be a Resident Assistant with greater intentionality, and maybe have a greater impact on my fellow students in that position than my RA had on us. In that moment, I realized when people choose to follow in someone’s footsteps, to pursue a passion that may not have always been their own, it’s usually either because the person who set out before them did a horrible job or they did such a great job that people just have to be a part of what they’re doing.

Though I became a Resident Assistant in light of a situation where I wanted to do a better job for people, I had the opposite situation when I became a high school coach.

In high school, I had a coach who invested in the girls on her team like we were important, worthy and precious. A true practitioner of exhortation, she pushed us, she encouraged us to be more than we were, she journeyed with us and she taught us valuable lessons we could one day take with us as our lives moved on. In hindsight, I saw the great impact my coach had on my life, and when given the opportunity to take over for her as a coach myself one day, I gratefully took the position with hopes that I could one day journey with even one high school girl the way she journeyed with me and my teammates.

So why do I work for Youth Unlimited when I’ve never experienced SERVE? I’m here because I’ve vicariously experienced SERVE in the stories I’ve heard. I’ve seen the impact. I’ve read the quotes. While my faith-forming experiences as a teen didn’t involve jumping in the youth group van and heading across the country to serve another community, I know from my vicarious experience at Youth Unlimited that God does amazing things at SERVE. I know that lives are forever changed for Christ at SERVE. And I know that I just have to be a part of what’s happening here.

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Why SERVE?

ThereforeGo Ministries — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 18:47:31 +0000

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I participated in SERVE as a worksite supervisor for the three years my church hosted SERVE, and I can tell you that there are many good reasons to participate in SERVE.

First, it’s an excellent opportunity to engage with the next generation, the youth who will be called upon to sustain the Christian faith in the years ahead and pass it on to the generation after them.

Second, Youth Unlimited is very effective at partnering with churches and sharing their much needed experience so churches new to SERVE are able to host SERVE well right out of the starting blocks.

Third, I had recently completed a spiritual formation course where I discovered I had missed the mark in living a missionally obedient life. SERVE gave me an opportunity to get started.

Forth, once I experienced SERVE the first year and witnessed the impact on the youth, the adult volunteers and myself alike, I was ready to continue the following years. SERVE builds camaraderie among the youth and volunteers. It provides a sense of accomplishment for the projects completed. It emphasizes building relationships with people in the community by sharing God’s love in ways that meet their needs in very practical ways. It gives everyone opportunities to serve in the ways God has gifted them, thereby creating a beautiful orchestration of God’s body at work in unity together.

And most of all, it deepens our spiritual relationship with the Lord. Finally, when community residents come to the community dinner on the last night of SERVE and share their testimonies about the impact SERVE had on them, it caps off a great week by bringing glory to God, which is what we ultimately seek to do.

-SERVE Host Team Member

Would your church be interested in hosting SERVE? Click here for more information. You might also visit our SERVE Locations page to view other locations.

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Concentrated Impact

ThereforeGo Ministries — Mon, 26 Sep 2016 15:54:14 +0000

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by Brian Bierenga

Take a minute and recall your last youth leaders’ meeting. Perhaps someone suggested, “We should really help our students develop a heart for serving others.” Your group agreed and assigned people to investigate service options, check calendars with kids and parents, gather supplies and arrange transportation. Once that was done, your leadership team worked hard to publicize and promote a one-day event, tout it at several youth meetings and recruit as many students as possible. After the event, your team agrees that several service days over the summer would be better, but that when it is so much work to schedule one, planning several will never be an option.

Or perhaps, at your last youth leaders’ meeting, someone said, “We really just need to build community within our group. We have some great worship, service and discipleship elements for our students, but they just aren’t gelling as a community.” So your group proceeds to brainstorm about creative ways to bring the group together, mix them up, break down barriers, have fun and build trust. And since this sort of thing takes time, your team agrees to program a youth group event every other week for the next month, which means all of you will have to work together to organize, promote and run each of these events. Lots of fun, but also lots of work.

Or let’s say that your group is thriving and your students love serving others and just being with each other. At your meeting, a fellow leader says, “I love the events we do, and things are going great, but wouldn’t it be cool to really go deeper? Wouldn’t it be powerful if we had a special Koinonia service, or even celebrated the Lord’s Supper as a group?”

Suddenly, your whole team is inspired as they envision that experience: your whole team except for your youth director. She says, “I love the vision for this, but honestly, we only meet for one hour. I’m not sure how we can move kids from opening games, silly-string fights and high-energy music into a place of vulnerability and quiet reflection with God and one another in such a short time. I’d love to see this work, but I’m just not sure our regular format lends itself to such a deep worship experience.”

So many great ideas, but so many logistical hurdles to work through. Certainly, there must be an easier way!

What if there was a way to cover several huge ministry goals at once?

Take a minute to reconsider the idea of a service-learning trip for your group. A successful mission trip for teens can accomplish several big goals in a short but intensive amount of time. With good planning and God’s blessing, a one-week service-learning trip can produce more life change and impact in a student than an entire year of Sunday night meetings.

Imagine your students being immersed in the discipline of service as they work alongside others for several days in a row. Imagine the conversations and community created from doing life together for a week – and yes, even from the 16-hour van ride. Imagine how God’s Spirit can move through several nights in a row of worship, teaching and small group discussion. Imagine how God could use a whole week to work in the heart of a far-from-God-student and change their life trajectory.

These are things that happen at SERVE, five to seven-day high school mission trips that sends middle or high school age students out to care for and restore their world in an environment where they’ll encounter the concepts of justice and missional living. More than just a short trip, SERVE is a faith-forming experience where the communities, congregations and students involved all experience lasting transformation.

If the idea of a service-learning trip hasn’t been suggested recently at a youth leaders meeting, maybe you want to bring it up at your next one.

For more information, visit our SERVE Site Locations page.

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Seven Different Mentors Your Students Need

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 12:44:50 +0000

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The following is a blog post by Tim Elmore of Growing Leaders. To view the original post, click here.

One of the most common questions I receive from college students is: “How do I find a mentor?” What they mean by this is—how can I locate or identify the right kind of mentor for my personal plans?” Over the years, I’ve found the majority of students say they desire to have a mentor in their life; someone they could call and bounce a question off of; someone who is slow to judge but quick to offer hope.

A couple of years ago, Gallup released findings from the largest representative study of U.S. college graduates. The Gallup-Purdue Index surveyed more than 30,000 graduates to find out whether or not they’re engaged in their work and thriving in their life. In short Gallup wondered: “Do college graduates end up with great jobs and great lives?”

One of the most memorable findings is: where you went to college matters less to your life after graduation than how you went to college. Inside Higher Ed states:

“Feeling supported and having deep learning experiences during college means everything when it comes to long-term outcomes after college. Unfortunately, not many graduates receive a key element of that support while in college: having a mentor. And this is perhaps the biggest blown opportunity in the history of higher ed.”

The students who succeeded were the ones who said, “I had a professor or a staff member who built a relationship with me and offered counsel during my tough semesters or uncertain days. It made all the difference in the world.”

Why Don’t We Do This?
Most of you reading this article will agree—students benefit from mentors. At the same time, more of us talk about mentoring than actually do it. Some of us excuse our lack of involvement by saying we can’t find “hungry students.” Others say they just don’t know what to say to connect with students. After all, they’re . . . uh . . . different. Many of us never mentor anyone because we hold a stereotype in our minds of what a mentor looks like. And . . . alas, we just don’t fit our own stereotype.

Perhaps this list below will help.

In their insightful book, Connecting, Dr. Robert Clinton and Paul Stanley outline the seven different kinds of mentors that most often exist in our lives. Dr. Clinton was one of my professors as I did my doctoral studies and has remained a long-distance mentor in my life. I have tweaked the list he offered to fit our world today, and I offer it to you below. It is important for us to examine these seven roles for two reasons:

To determine which kind we most need in our own life.
To determine which kind we are best suited to be for someone else.

Seven Kinds of Mentors

Knowing your personal style and gifts will enable you to better decide what kind of mentoring role you will successfully fulfill in a student’s life. Note these different kinds of mentors below:

The Mentor Tutor
They help with basic qualities and skills of maturation. It generally involves frequent meetings, and the agenda originates from the mentor—not the mentee. Why? Because the mentee is often young and inexperienced, not knowing what they must learn.
The Mentor Personal Guide
They offer accountability and direction as the mentee makes significant decisions. The mentee may already be mature, but just needs advisement on an infrequent basis. It still involves a maturation process, but it can be done by a peer with gifts or perspective.
The Mentor Coach
They provide motivation and skills needed to meet a task or a challenge. While there is a relationship, it can be a short-term connection until the mentee acquires the ability to perform a task independently. It involves meetings that are scheduled more on a project basis.
The Mentor Counselor
They furnish timely advice and perspective on self, others, and interests or passions. This mentor enables the mentee to step back and gain a big-picture view, adding insight on issues, for a person who’s less mature, experienced or has blind spots.
The Mentor Teacher
They impart knowledge and understanding on a specific subject. Mentor-teachers are most common when a mentee needs to learn more about a new issue and the mentor has the insights needed. It can involve frequent or infrequent meetings.
The Mentor Sponsor
They give out of their network, experience and accumulated knowledge. They may not be “conversationalists,” nor know a lot personally, but they generously give from their wealth of contacts and reading. They can offer protection and direction.
The Mentor Model and Consultant
They offer a living, personal example for life, marriage, family or career. Often seasoned veterans, they embody a wise lifestyle in each life station they experience along the way. They may be people of few words, but their lives are vivid sermons.

Questions:

Which of these mentor types do you need most yourself?

Which of these could you naturally become for a student?

Youth Unlimited organizes summer youth mission trips called SERVE at many different locations across the US and Canada. Click here to visit our SERVE Site Locations page.

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SERVE – Sweeter By the Year

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 13:45:23 +0000

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You should know that each host team for SERVE works nearly year-round to prepare for the week-long SERVE experience. So when the students and their leaders begin to walk through the doors on those warm Saturday afternoons, there is no feeling quite like the joy we have to welcome them!

Prairie SERVE out here in Sioux City/Sergeant Bluff, Iowa just wrapped up its third year. Each SERVE experience is unique and memorable, to be sure, but as a host team member, I can honestly say Prairie SERVE gets sweeter by the year.

The temperatures were high this year, but the joy of the Lord as our strength was quite evidently that which sustained us. The 42 students that came to Prairie SERVE left their hand, foot and heart-prints all over our worksites, making eternal impacts on the lives of refugees, the down-and-out and the native people that inhabit our Midwest region.

As we learned by Jesus’ example of making change and being changed, chains were broken through worship, intercession, encounters with brokenness and forming new relationships. Our amazing students and leaders loved harder than ever before, and it was truly a taste of the Kingdom on earth in a way I can only imagine caused Heaven to break out into celebration.

Through leading a Vacation Bible School, painting neglected houses, encountering those who come from a completely different lifestyle than us and learning the vast and rich history of our region, all of the participants of Prairie SERVE left with a taste of the Kingdom on their lips and a song of praise to the Lord in their hearts.

Leading and facilitating areas of Prairie SERVE has been a transformational experience for me as I build relationships within the community and fall in love with God’s children in Sioux City, Iowa. I want to extend the invitation to you and your youth group to join us next July as we discover new surprises from the Lord in unexpected and broken places. We hope to see you there!

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Faces of ThereforeGo Summer, 2016

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 02 Aug 2016 13:58:24 +0000

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The following is from our Spring 2016 magazine. To view the whole magazine, click here.

Tyler Gaastra

Beckwith Hills Christian Reformed Church

Grand Rapids, MI

Q. What do you do in your free time?

A. In my free time I read history, philosophy and theology books and visit Civil War sites.

Q. Where would you like to travel someday?

A. I’d like to do a Reformation History Tour: Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and England.

Q. What do you do to stay relevant to youth?

A. Embrace change and technology.

Q. I never leave for youth group without my _____.

A. Wife.

Q. What’s your favorite place to meet with students, and why?

A. I like to have students over to our house for movies, sporting events and swimming.

Lesli Van Milligen

CrossPoint Christian Reformed Church

Brampton, ON

Q. Where could we find you at 10:00 AM on a Saturday morning?

A. Probably doing some type of youth ministry re-visioning retreat on behalf of Faith Formation Ministries. Many churches are rethinking their approach to youth ministry and I enjoy coming alongside them as they brainstorm new ways of reaching their youth.

Q. What’s your favorite place to meet with students, and why?

A. Any place with good coffee or interesting food—Student’s choice. I like them to introduce me to places that they enjoy and where they feel “safe”. They will want to introduce me to their friends or they will choose a place where they have the freedom to talk and not be recognized. I always make sure that their parents are aware that we are meeting and where.

Q. What do you do to stay relevant to youth?

A. I find out what they are reading and read it myself so we can talk about it. We often had students share music, TV shows or movie clips with the group, using a rubric we put together as a group to help students talk about why that particular piece of pop culture was relevant to them and to dissect where it supported or challenged their faith. Great discussions.

Q. What do you do in your free time?

A. Because we love to cook, when we are not having folks over for a meal, my husband and I are working through a list of 501 must see classic movies.

Q. Where would you like to travel someday?

A. I would love to return to Spain. I studied and interned there on several occasions. I even preached my first sermon in Spanish while working with youth outside of Madrid.

Kevin VanderVeen

Covenant Christian Reformed Church

St. Catharines, ON

Q. What resource has inspired you for ministry lately?

A. I have been journeying through the Ridder Church Renewal through Western Theological Seminary. The process has been inspiring and encouraging.

Q. Where could we find you at 10:00 AM on a Saturday morning?

A. At home, sitting by my fireplace, reading Scripture. Saturdays are my Sabbath.

Q. If your students described you in five words or less, what would they say?

A. Giving, athletic and sensitive.

Q. What do you do in your free time?

A. In my free time I play hockey, exercise, host friends at my home or support my youth by going to their games/events.

Q. What do you do to stay relevant to youth?

A. Love them and listen to them. The most important part is being present with them and leading them into the Word of God.

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SERVE and My Life Story

ThereforeGo Ministries — Mon, 11 Jul 2016 13:43:37 +0000

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The following is an article from our Spring 2016 magazine. To view the whole magazine, click here.

SERVE and My Life Story

by Thomas Kielstra

Discovering what my faith was as a teenager was not exactly easy. Feeling the various pushes from different Christian institutions to focus on different aspects of faith was challenging, but making my faith mine was very important to me.

In 2011 at the age of 14, I went to Muskegon SERVE in Muskegon, Michigan with a church that wasn’t mine. At the week of SERVE, I saw that the Reformed Church put a much larger emphasis on a personal relationship with God and personal relationships with others than I previously experienced. As a result, I began to analyse faith—specifically my faith—in a different way. I began investing in my own church’s youth group, and started to make connections within my church.

I went on to go to Woodstock SERVE in Woodstock, Ontario in 2012 and then back to Muskegon SERVE in 2013 with my own church in addition to four mission trips to Detroit, Michigan and one to Nicaragua with my high school.

In Grade 12, I wanted to do something more to help out with the SERVE. Having made a personal connection with Brian Kingshott, the youth director at Calvin Christian Reformed Church, which hosts Muskegon SERVE, I contacted him and asked if he would consider taking on an intern. I offered to help out with whatever needed to be done behind the scenes. He responded quickly saying that he would be interested, and he started connecting with Youth Unlimited to come up with a process to make this possible.

So in July of 2014, I went to Muskegon as an intern. I helped out with icebreaker games and activities and I was responsible for doing games before dinner and worship, but my favourite part about the internship was the personal connections I made with the participants and youth leaders. This is when I discovered how valuable friendship is to my personal faith journey. This is when my relationship with God truly became a friendship—not just something I believed.

I then went off to university, where I fell in love with my studies, and my faith took a back seat. By February, I still had not found a church that I called my own and my relationship with God became distant. This is when Brian reached out to me about coming back for another year, to help out with SERVE again. I hesitantly agreed.

Then, during my summer semester, I was invited to Royal City Evangelical Missionary Church’s youth group. Their focus is on relationship—Relationships with the youth and relationships with God.

As I attended Royal City, my relationship with God built over the summer as my relationships with my friends at Royal City grew. When I went back to Muskegon, again as an intern, in the summer of 2015, my relationship with God was much stronger than it had ever been. Now I am a Junior Youth Leader at Royal City. I have learned more about how to show the love of God and what my faith really is.

All in all, SERVE has taught me two things: first, I have a passion for serving others and second, having honest relationships with others and showing others that I will always be there for them is one of the best ways I am able to show God’s love to others.

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LIVE IT: Documenting our Journey

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 13:05:47 +0000

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The following is an article from our Spring 2016 magazine. To view the whole magazine, click here.

I recently had a discussion with some high school students about whether or not I was going to lock up their cell phones during our week long summer mission trip. They listed many reasons to keep their phones, but the one that surprised me most was their desire to be able to “check-in” to all the landmark locations we will be visiting while away.

Cell phones have become a modern day “Captain’s Log” documenting significant events, adventures and discoveries along life’s journey. In my new role as the LIVE IT Director for Youth Unlimited, I have been considering how our students log their spiritual journeys and what locations they’ll remember as the landmarks of their spiritual adventures.

Those of us who grew up without a cell phone can recall a specific service trip where our faith grew outside of our comfort zone or a youth convention where we discovered how our talents and abilities fit into God’s Kingdom.

Today, LIVE IT is an “unconventional youth convention” where students learn about their value in Christ while exploring how to use their talents to spread God’s love to their friends, community and world. By pairing students with like-minded peers and adults, they will see how God created them with a purpose so much greater than self-gratification. By offering different tracks in athletics, arts and service, students will recognize how each person comes to the table with their own personality, interests and God-given talents. Within each track they’ll learn spiritual disciplines to help discover how their voice helps create the body of Christ. Students are also challenged to return home and use what they’ve experienced at LIVE IT to spread God’s love throughout our communities and our world.

On July 30, 2017, hundreds of students and adults will converge in Estes Park, Colorado for LIVE IT 2017. It is my prayer that during this five-day event, students and adults will document deep in their hearts and minds their tremendous value in Christ. That they will discover their unique talents and abilities necessary for the building of God’s Kingdom. Most of all, I pray that LIVE IT 2017 will be more than just another place where students “check-in” but that it will be a place that will launch them into the next phase of their journey with Christ… And if they happen to have their cell phones with them, I hope they check-in, tweet and Instagram every adventure, every discovery and every new friend they meet, and that they tag it all with #LiveIt2017!

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Hamilton Victory Gardens and SERVE

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 21 Jun 2016 12:50:06 +0000

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The following is an article from our Spring 2016 magazine. To view the whole magazine, click here.

Hamilton Victory Gardens and SERVE

by John Bijl

Youth Ministries Coordinator

Meadowlands Fellowship Church

Hamilton, ON

2015’s SERVE theme was The Other 51, but Hamilton SERVE has been stressing that principle for the last six years. Hamilton SERVE is not just a one-week work project. It is a culmination of 51 other weeks of working together, and Host Team members of Hamilton SERVE have created a symbiotic relationship with the two organizations they serve that lasts throughout the year.

One of the organizations is Hamilton Victory Gardens. It acquires vacant land from municipal governments, churches, schools and old age homes and builds vegetable gardens. All the gardens are built by using raised beds. The raised beds are built right on top of the existing land, so no work needs to be done to the land before they get started.

Getting volunteers to plant or weed or harvest is not a problem, but the physical building of the beds is extremely hard and difficult work to do. Through our partnership with Hamilton Victory Gardens, they have done year long planning to have most of their beds built by the groups that come to Hamilton SERVE. They preplan to have all the necessary materials ready for the week. They also spend a lot of time planning where gardens should go, all while keeping Hamilton SERVE in mind.

The week after Hamilton SERVE was done building beds, the Fruitland special needs SERVE came in and planted the gardens we built.

The produce that is harvested from the beds we build supplies multiple food banks with fresh produce—fresh produce that they would normally not receive. One of those organizations, The Living Rock, in turn uses the produce to teach street youth a trade such as being a chef or working in restaurant kitchens, which use their product to feed other street youth.

Our relationship with Hamilton Victory Gardens is not just one week, and the work we do affects the work of many other organizations in the Hamilton community.

Our relationships with the two organizations we serve have become so much more than a week of SERVE. This became truly evident to us at the end of SERVE in 2015. We were debriefing and discussing how tired we were when the biblical principle of the Sabbath was brought up by one of our host team members. We had just completed our 6^th year of hosting Hamilton Serve and the idea of taking a one-year sabbatical was a very enticing idea, but the more we thought about it, the more we came to the conclusion that we can not take a sabbatical. We have two organizations that count on us. They plan for us. They need us, and it feels good to be needed.

Hamilton SERVE will continue as long as the Lord wants it to, but as long as we continue to work during the other 51 weeks with the Good Shepherd Centre and Hamilton Victory Gardens, no sabbaticals will be taken. Creating these meaningful and reciprocal relationships has helped make Hamilton SERVE very successful, and it has also enabled two amazing organizations to do the work that God has called them to do. We encourage all Host Teams to not just find places to work for one week, but to create meaningful and lasting relationships with organizations in your community. When you have those relationships, you will truly see and feel the full power of SERVE. In Hamilton, SERVE is not just one week, it is 52 weeks of being God’s hands and feet. May God bless you in your Kingdom work in your community.

To connect with Hamilton SERVE, click here to view their Facebook page.

To connect with Fruitland Special Needs SERVE, click here to view their Facebook page.

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A Thread in the Tapestry

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 12:36:49 +0000

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The following is an excerpt from our Spring 2016 magazine. To view the whole magazine, click here.

A Thread in the Tapestry

by Kyle De Boer

Joining forces for the third straight year, three Montana congregations are collaborating to host Gallatin Valley SERVE. We are an eclectic bunch with diverse gifts. Farmers and ranchers work side-by-side with educators and entrepreneurs. The unique community of volunteers for GV SERVE is the locale in which youth and adults offer their gifts for something greater than themselves. SERVE volunteers and participants are the needed characters in a much larger, gospel-centered story of love and transformation.

Youth are an integral part of Gallatin Valley SERVE. Consider a large tapestry—one larger than the size of a tall Dutch man! This aesthetically pleasing piece of art conveys a message as you soak in its magnitude. Step a little closer, and you begin to notice the detail of this magnificent work. Step even closer yet, and you notice how small strands of thread comprise this masterpiece. Students are some important strands of the thread that comprise GV SERVE.

Before GV SERVE came into existence, three “youth”, functioning as adult leaders, led a group on SERVE to Sioux Falls, SD. Ranging from 22 to 25 years old at the time, these three individuals returned to the Gallatin Valley with a conviction to host SERVE. Support for SERVE quickly expanded to include: area councils, high school students and many adults. Preparations were underway.

Since the inception, youth keep the pulse of GV SERVE beating, possibly even racing! On our day away, students want to summit a mountain. Their effort to conquer the high elevation is motivation for our adults to keep up! Students can step out of their comfort zone in order to engage the opportunities that are part of Montana. Conversation around the supper table can get quite loud in the Fellowship Hall as stories of relationships and service are swapped. Singing, clapping and dancing are expressed in evening worship, in both a church sanctuary and an alpine shoreline. Students from different churches in Montana join with peers from across North America to enter into a story that is much greater than themselves. All the while, adult volunteers and leaders have the privilege of learning from and growing with these important strands of thread.

I have the privilege of seeing both youth and adults integrate their gifts with Christ’s work in Montana. GV SERVE keeps the eyes of our Host Churches open to our community. With wide eyes, our congregations are able to engage the Gallatin Valley in continued and new ways because of the SERVE participants. However, the Gallatin Valley is only a small part of the large tapestry that God is weaving.

Youth are empowered at SERVE to live a transformed life of love and service at home. After seeing a new community and joining in Kingdom service during SERVE, adults and students have an opportunity to enter God’s redemptive story in their church, community and family. Some SERVE participants return home to provide support for a local non-profit. Some seek reconciliation with a parent or friend. Others allow the grace of Christ to shape their view of self.

Gallatin Valley SERVE has taught us that whether we are on SERVE or at home, we can continue to offer ourselves as thread, purposed and placed by the master weaver, Jesus Christ.

To connect with Gallatin Valley SERVE, click here to visit their Facebook page.

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An Open Letter to Our Graduating Seniors

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 24 May 2016 15:21:07 +0000

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Dear High School Seniors,

It’s here! Your long-awaited, joy-filled, nerve-racking day is finally here! You are graduating from high school, and today we are certain you’re looking back saying, “Wait, where did the time go?!”

Oh seniors, there are so many things we want to tell you, it’s hard to know where to begin. Your life is such an adventure; each day ordained by God. In the days to come, you will know trial, pain, loss and grief. But more than these things, you will know peace, love, comfort, joy and hope beyond what you can even imagine.

God’s plans for you are so much bigger than you can comprehend, and this is only the beginning of a long period of looking back and being amazed at what God has done. Take this moment; take this day to stand in awe of his faithfulness to you over the last 18 years. The things God has brought you through, the doors he has opened for you and the passions he has placed on your heart are the opposite of small.

Perhaps as you look back you feel a mix of things. There are seasons where your life looks more like a battlefield than a safe haven. You have known loss and trial beyond what any 18 year old should know. You are in his hands, and yes, he IS working all things together for your good. There is time for things to improve. He has an amazing plan for YOU.

In other seasons, looking back is sweet. God has filled your life with joy and good things. Rejoice in what he has done and the ways he has provided! Know that every good and perfect gift is from above, and praise him for how gentle he has been with your heart. Use this season to pursue him more, so that when trials come, you have a solid rock to stand on.

Seniors, we want you to know how much we have loved you. Our prayer for you is that you go forth into the world in confidence and hope; knowing his ways are higher than your ways and his thoughts are higher than your thoughts.

We are so proud of you. You have accomplished much; you have amazed yourself, your parents and us through your service, love, commitment and growth. You’ve been leaders this year through your words and actions. As you step into new adventures, be they college, work or missions, know that we are right behind you, cheering you on and believing in you more than you’d ever think possible.

We are having a hard time letting you go. You’ve brought us joy, laughter, life and love. You’ve led us into a deeper knowledge and revelation of God; you’ve driven us into the throne room for intercession, and you’ve shown us what it means to live in wonder of God. Your leadership in your schools and youth group has inspired us to say “yes” to the Kingdom more, and you’ve blessed us beyond what you’ll ever know.

As you step into a new season of life, know that we are never far away. In your youth leaders, you will always have a confidant, a prayer warrior and a friend. God goes before you; do not be afraid.

With all our love,
Your youth leaders

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8

Learn about our SERVE high school summer mission trips.

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Combat the Ministry Blues

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 10 May 2016 17:28:12 +0000

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We love the students in our ministry, don’t we?

They cause us to laugh so hard we cry. They challenge us to staring contests with billboards (we always lose). They come up with the wackiest ideas, and they try their very hardest to keep us up to date on the latest slang (bless their hearts).

We would do anything for them.

They are the reason our cell phone is on loud next to our bed at 3:30 in the morning. We have cried tears of bitter pain on their behalf and along with them. They have shown us the incredible amount of hurt in the world, which seems to be exposed to our high schoolers at younger and younger ages.

I know I am not alone in saying if I could, I would give my students the world. I would take away the pressure of being skinny enough, of making the baseball team or of finding the perfect date to the prom in a heartbeat if I were able. But I can’t.

Youth ministry (or any type of ministry, really) can be just plain emotionally draining. We feel it – the ache, the tension, the joy, the excitement. A text from a student can change the entire course of our day. A Wednesday night at youth group tires us out in ways we didn’t even realize were possible. Sometimes, we come back from youth group and want to share the amazing ways Jesus was working in our students’ hearts in such a short amount of time, and sometimes we come back and just want to throw a pizza in the oven and have our backs rubbed.

Both are legitimate.

Youth worker, your emotional health matters. Because each day has the power to be filled with such intense emotions, we need to recognize the mood swings and learn how we respond to them. It is downright difficult to lead a student who struggles with depression if your own depression is out of control. It feels like the straw that breaks the camel’s back when a student makes a joke about how “old” you are after a long day of fighting for more funding for your summer mission trip. Sometimes, stress from our own personal life causes us to have to take the night off, or the month off, or the rest of the year off.

Learning to cope with the different mood swings you will have in youth ministry begins with recognizing that this is not an easy task. Retreats and Serve trips can make it seem like youth ministry is a lot of fun, and it certainly is. However, if we are only in it for the fun we get to have sporadically throughout the year, I would argue we are in it for the wrong reasons. High school is hard, and it tests our kids. Being an adult is hard, and it tests us in some pretty significant ways as well.

So when the hard times come, and they frequently do, it’s important to have an action plan in place for yourself to combat the ministry blues. Treat yourself to some alone time, and do what it takes to recharge there: buy yourself a cup of coffee, take a walk, or take a nap. Make time for those you are close to outside of ministry: leave your phone in the car when you’re out for date night, binge watch your favorite series on Netflix with a friend, or call your parents.

Know that your emotional health matters equally as much as that of your students. Do what you need to do to keep yourself healthy for the sake of your family and friends.

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Bridging Generations

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 17:18:31 +0000

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One of the many tensions in youth ministry is how much to integrate youth programs with the larger church. Many youth programs have their own separate wing of the church and do not feel connected to the church. It is essential that teenagers maintain their Christian identity with the larger church so they continue to attend, post-graduation. However, teenagers have unique needs that are different from children and adults that require special attention. So how does a church find this balance?

The first thing a youth pastor can do is observe and assess what is currently being done. How many graduates stay in the church if they stay local? Do they attend another church if they are carrying out their vocation elsewhere? What types of services do students attend currently? Is the midweek program highly attended by teens but not Sunday mornings? If there is also a Sunday morning youth gathering, and do students attend that and the preaching service? If not, a good, small change to start is to encourage students to attend the preaching service so they will continue to attend upon graduation.

Another area of consideration, in addition to regular weekly programming, is how much to integrate events. Even though many teenagers loathe their parents during their teenage years, they can be connected to other generations. Perhaps high schoolers can join a young adult group for worship or they can share a camp for a winter retreat. Giving students informal ways to connect with older generations, other than their parents, gives them valuable relationships.

Some churches opt to involve parents in annual events such as a school year kick off. It really depends on the culture of the church. Some churches, however, find it best to have parent meetings separate from youth gatherings. Having “parent nights” or events where parents attend alienates students who do not come from Christian families. It wouldn’t be uncommon at an event in which parents were encouraged to attend with their students for the youth pastor to ask the parents to pray with their students. This has the potential to be a difficult situation to navigate, both practically and emotionally speaking, for a student whose parents may either not be present or may be present, but not be Christians. Youth pastors must think through the implications of events like this. Perhaps, the youth pastor could have warned the student before and/or assigned him another family with whom he/she could pray.

Youth can join their parents and be included in annual church wide events such as picnics. However, the key to getting teenagers to attend is getting them to serve in some way, or having an aspect of the events that will appeal to them. (Lots of students have always wanted to put their youth pastor in a dunk tank!) Teenagers have gifts that need to be used by the church at large—from dishing out food to playing music. These experiences are invaluable to their spiritual development and religious identity.

Overall, a youth pastor should not be making these decisions on his or her own. “Outsiders”, such as parents, elders and other pastors, ought to be included on these discussions. Asking outsiders to brainstorm alongside the youth pastor can bring in different perspectives and judgment calls. Ultimately, a youth pastor should be in prayer on this tension to seek the Spirit’s guidance on what is best for the specific congregation.

Youth Unlimited organizes summer missions trips for young adults, high school and middle school age at locations across the United States and Canada. Visit our SERVE page for more information about the trips, or visit our site locations page to see where some of our next SERVE Missions will be held.

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Why Your Next Training Event Will Fail

ThereforeGo Ministries — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 15:36:19 +0000

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Do “life changing” events really change lives? The following is a post by Tim Elmore of Growing Leaders. To view the original post click here.

A few years ago, a university invited me to come and speak at their annual leadership lecture series. This is an endowed event every year, but that particular year—they decided to really make it big. The staff wanted to see life-change in the students who attended. We spent hours on the phone preparing for those two days, brainstorming creative elements, interviews to be done, videos we could show, etc. It was certain to be the highlight of the school year and a surefire life-transforming event.

We pulled off the event spectacularly. Everything came off without a hitch or a glitch. Sadly, however, the administration told me that within a month, nothing really changed. Within four to six weeks, life on the campus returned to normal. The routines continued and all the great ideas evaporated.

I wish this was an isolated incident. But too many life-changing events don’t actually change any lives.

As a kid, before I became a type one diabetic, I loved cotton candy. It was the snack of choice when our family visited a theme park or local carnival. For me, there was nothing like eating a huge swirl of blue or pink cotton candy on a summer day—walking between Tomorrowland and the Matterhorn at Disneyland. One afternoon, my sister couldn’t finish her cotton candy. Naturally, I offered to finish it for her. I had just downed mine, and I had no idea how a second helping would impact my stomach. I soon found out. I got sicker than a dog. It was an awful way to spend an afternoon.

I have since come to understand the true value of cotton candy. It is a tasty treat in small doses. It’s delicious, but it was never intended to replace a nutritious meal. It’s pure sugar, for Pete’s sake. It’s a dessert. You don’t eat it until you’re full. In fact, it disintegrates when it hits your tongue or fingers.

I could say the same things about leadership training events, hosted by organizations or schools across the U.S. Administrators make the mistake I did with cotton candy. We overdose on events that can never actually nourish us. They motivate, but they can’t mature someone in their leadership skills. And even the motivation vanishes quickly. I bet that annual conference you just attended is nothing but a great memory in the minds of your students. No lasting change took place—except for a notebook that now collects dust on your shelf. Like cotton candy, we all love events—but they’re sugar. They energize us, but don’t last.

Events and Process

It’s not a new thought. People enjoy events because they stimulate and motivate—but we all know we need a growth process following the event, if we hope to make it last. In other words, after attending a training event, most people require an on-going journey; a community of relationships where the discussion expands. In the process, people continue to talk about and apply the principles that were introduced at the event. This is how good habits begin. This is how life change occurs. Every one of us needs a process that follows the event to seal what was learned. Look at the value of both:

Events	Process
1. Encourage decisions	1. Encourages development
2. Motivate people	2. Matures people
3. Create a calendar issue	3. Creates a consistency issue
4. Challenge people	4. Changes people
5. Become a catalyst	5. Becomes a culture
6. Usually influence a big group	6. Usually influences a small group
7. Typically are easy	7. Typically is difficult

There is nothing wrong with events. I believe, however, that both students and adults require the combination of events and process in order to grow. They often need a catalyst (at an event) to spark a decision. Then they need a week by week process to follow through and implement that decision into their life. The younger an audience is, the more they need a process to be in place to foster growth. Further, the younger an audience is, the more concrete this process must be. It cannot be abstract or conceptual. The process must be specific and intentional. Sadly, for most students—this is a luxury. We whisk them off to the next concert, retreat, conference or convention. We’re on to a new subject. This is why so few lasting changes happen after summer youth camp. It was a great event—but no process followed

The Non-Negotiables: What Does a Student Development Process Look Like?

So just what is required to do a leader-development process? No doubt the process can take on many forms. No two may look alike. I believe, however, the essential elements are listed below.

Community Interaction

People need to interact. They learn as much through uploading as they do receiving a download of information from a leader. They learn best in social contexts. Engagement and ownership of the issue increases as students have the opportunity to push back and think out loud with a handful of others.

Relevant Resources

To insure the interaction doesn’t get hijacked into a black hole, resources are helpful to furnish direction and discovery. They are not a “god” but a guide. A resource could be a book, a podcast, MP3 download, article, CD or DVD to stimulate thoughtful reflection and discussion on the topic.

Facilitated Exercise

This element stimulates members of the community by involving them in more than discussion. It invites other senses through role-playing, case studies, activities, or hypothetical situations. By engaging their imagination, these exercises awake the creative right brain.

Real-Time Modeling

A good process always includes a leader within the community who incarnates the principle being discussed. Because people do what people see, the conversation gains traction because a leader is providing a living example—not merely words. As the saying goes, actions always speak louder.

Action Steps

At some point in the process, a leader should challenge the community with a real-life assignment. People must have the opportunity to practice the truth they are learning. Many students today are primarily kinesthetic learners, and they require activity in their growth process.

Measured Assessment

It has been said that experience is the best teacher. I believe evaluated experience is the best teacher, because folks can easily have a bad experience and draw the wrong conclusion. Students need adults to help them process successes and failures in order to draw the right life application. A process should include a time of evaluation of each student’s growth.

Time Elapse

A process cannot take place overnight, any more than a mom or dad can parent a child overnight. Learning requires time to pass for ideas to be digested. Most plants and animals do not grow up in a day or two. Neither do leaders. They are grown in crockpots—not microwave ovens.

I suggest that you never plan an event unless you also plan a process to follow that event. When I visit a campus and teach leadership, our team works with the host to plan that follow-up process. When students are placed in mentoring groups for a semester, they begin to apply leadership principles to their life. The event gains traction. The groups provide accountability, support and a laboratory to practice leadership skills with one another. Someone once said: “You can usually do less than you think you can in one week, but more than you think you can in one year.” I believe the same is true about events and process. Never underestimate the power of the process—it leads to healthy growth. You might say that process is like eating several good meals…along with your cotton candy.

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Changing Up Your Youth Ministry

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 12:43:12 +0000

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A recent trend in youth ministry has been to do new events every year as opposed to a traditional routine. In the past, many youth groups, for example, would have a fall kick-off event, a winter retreat at the same camp, a spring leadership conference at the same college and a similar high school summer mission trip. However, many youth pastors and youth directors, fresh out of Bible college or seminary, are striving to create, not only a new yearly calendar of events, but new events every year. Even though this “never do the same event again” model helps students get more diverse experiences, it comes with many flaws.

Fresh youth pastors and directors ought to be sensitive to the culture of the churches they are serving. Many students look forward to the same events year after year. The routine gives them a sense of belonging and stability (which they may not have at home, but that is another topic). Upperclassmen, who have been on mission trips in the past, have more opportunities to lead when they know what to expect.

At the same time, doing routine events fortifies parent trust in the church. When they are already familiar with what happened last year, they are more likely to trust the youth worker to take their kids again. It is also important for youth workers to be mindful of the costs for both the church and families for students to attend events. New events should not drastically shift the budget.

Overall, youth pastors and directors should seek a balanced approach. If they are dissatisfied with the current calendar or sense a longing from the church community to do new things, they should move forward carefully. For a brand new youth pastor, it is essential for them to spend a year putting their energy into learning about the church. Thus, they should probably keep the same calendar from the previous year as they establish their own credibility and nurture relationships. From there, they may consider tweaking one event per year. It is about balancing a sense of routine with experiences that will engage the students’ hearts and minds as culture changes.

Ultimately, the pinnacle of youth ministry is Christ. All the events should be centered on glorifying him through activities and teachings. If you are a youth pastor and find yourself thinking about times when you can brag about your new events, you may need to check yourself. Are you seeking God in your decisions? Are you planning events that are best for the students? Or are you coordinating events that will sound cool to boost your ego? No matter what, keep Christ the center of your ministry.

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He Delights in Using Young People

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 14:06:54 +0000

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“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke.” Joel 2:28-29

Sometimes we forget I’m not old enough to rent a van…or drive a rental van, for that matter.

I started leading a youth group at the age of 19. Being just months older than a handful of my students was daunting at best, terrifying at worst. For every time a student questioned my authority, I questioned my own authority five times. I really did not have a clue, and now in my second year of youth ministry, I can confidently assert that I still have absolutely no clue how this came to pass in my life.

I’m still a baby in the faith, honestly. I made the commitment to serve God with my life five years ago this summer, and though I am a theology student at a brilliant private college, I find each day I have more questions about who God is and what he is doing than I did before I started.

My church is made up of young leadership. We have a young pastor, a young worship leader and a young youth leader. This has its negative aspects, for sure, but there are certainly some amazing positives.

I often feel like I have an incredible advantage because of my youth. The insider perspective I have on youth culture helps me to have grace for the students’ situations, however large or small they may be. This gives me grace to be an advocate for them, an advocate to their parents and an advocate before the throne of Jesus to intercede for them. This is a responsibility I do not take lightly.

I love to watch my students grow. I love to grow with them. I love that we are all new to this “follower of Jesus” thing and I love that we are asking the same questions. I love that we are asking different questions.

I love that Jesus delights in using young people, as messy, confused and fallible as we are. I love that his Spirit is poured out on all of us, men, women, young and old – he holds nothing back in his outpouring of revelation. I love that he is raising up a new generation of leaders, and that, for some crazy reason, he decided to give me a front row seat to the most beautiful journey I could ever imagine.

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Review: Youth Ministry in a Post-Christian World

ThereforeGo Ministries — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 21:02:18 +0000

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The following is a post written by Eric Woods on EricDWoods.com.

I finished this book on an 8-hour drive, alone in the car. And although it was my Kindle reading out loud to me with its robotic, text-to-speech voice, I felt as if Brock himself was in the seat next to me, telling his own story. And that’s what this book is: it’s Brock’s own story. It’s how he came to the realization that youth ministry today had to look different than it did twenty years ago.

This is, without a doubt the best book on youth ministry I’ve read in over a decade.

And, while this is not a how-to manual for ministry in this new world, you simply can’t read this book without stopping to rethink your own approach to the students you love and serve. In fact, I think that’s his goal. He says, “The world needs great youth workers who will teach students how to think, not spoon-feed them what to think.” And so he models it for us in the pages of this book, not so much telling us what to do in response, but inviting us to rethink it together.

One warning: if you’re still like the guy Brock heard on the radio who said, “When I was a youth pastor in the ‘80s, we just taught the Bible and that was enough,” this book may offend you. And that just might be a good thing.

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ThereforeGo Ministries

Inviting Gen Z to SERVE

Hope & Collaboration

Intergenerational Ingenuity

Dynamic Denver Discipleship

Embracing the Elderly

SERVE-ing as a Family

You Can’t Pour from an Empty Cup

Summer SERVE

Trusting Wise People

My Plans vs God’s Plan

Crock pot or microwave?

Posture

Perspective

Ready. Set. Wait???

Is There More To Supporting Student Mission Trips Than Writing A Check?

#GRATEFULL

Inspire Light

What SERVE Means to Me

Serving Together at Home

Ministry in the Anxious Age

Faith In Action

Creating a Mentoring Culture that is Lifelong and Life-Giving

The 3R’s Part 3: Volunteer Restructuring

Full Transcript:

The 3R’s Part 2: Volunteer Retention

Full Transcript:

The 3R’s Part 1: Volunteer Recruitment

Full Transcript:

12 Ways Youth Can Serve at Home

Serve in Your Church

1. Call or visit congregation members

2. Write cards/notes to older individuals

3. Run a class or book club

4. Help with cleaning or gardening

Serve in Your Community

5. Help your neighbors with home projects

6. Clean out your closet

7. Reconnect with friends near and far

8. Share something you love

Serve in Your Home

9. Help with extra chores

10. Help a sibling with their homework or spend some time doing something they like doing

11. Collect your family stories

12. Pray

Acts of Service are All Around Us

ThereforeGo Announces SERVE@Home For 2021

Better Mission Trip Podcast

Garden Dirt and Cheeto Dust

5 Most Impactful Youth Mission Trips

1. Local Mission Trips

2. International Mission Trips

3. Mission Work in a “Big City”

4. Youth Summer Camp Missions

5. Mission Trips To Alaska

Words of Advice

Keep Your Trip Relationship Focused

You Can Never Over-Prepare

Are you planning a youth mission trip?

FAQs

What are impactful types of mission trips?

What advice would you give about mission trips for teens?

Can domestic mission trips be impactful?

What kind of youth mission trips does ThereforeGo offer?

SERVE 2021 Theme: The Unshakable Kingdom

Youth Unlimited Becomes ThereforeGo Ministries

Dear Friends,

A Reflection on SERVE@Home

Anti-Racist Resources For Your Youth Group

Additional Justice Resources

COVID-19 Creates Opportunity For New SERVE@Home Outreach Program

Go Do Good – Do It

[This is an excerpt from the Fall 2019 Magazine. To read more stories CLICK HERE]

Forever One; SERVE 2020 Theme

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 100:5 (NIV)

Find a 2020 summer mission trip location here!

Registration opens at Noon (EDT) on November 1st, 2019. For more details and to fill out Step One CLICK HERE!

5 Events to Raise More Money for Your Next Youth Mission Trip

1. Text-to-Tithe Campaign

Are you planning a youth
mission trip for High school students?

Are you planning a youth
mission trip for High school students?

Are you planning a youth
mission trip for High school students?

Are you planning a youth
mission trip for High school students?