Category: Church Staff

Trip Tricks: Mission Trip Interview Tips

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We just closed out our mission trip applications for this summer and are thrilled with the amount of students and leaders who want to serve this year. Part of our methodology for summer programming is to lean into mission trips as it correlates with our vision of disciplemaking.

An integral part of our application process is sitting down for an interview with each student who signs up. We discuss their application, work through their references, get to know them better, and discern if this trip is the right trip for them.

This process helps to ensure that the team going on the trip can work together, mesh well, and have the right philosophy for the trip. It also allows the trip leader to know their team, to begin to see how the team will integrate, and to begin to see pressure points that may develop.

Another aspect of this interview is that we are able to ascertain where students are at in their faith. I am a firm believer that mission trips are not just for the students who have it all “figured out” or even just for Christians.

Mission trips can be missional to the students who are going to serve. But in walking through an application that should have pertinent faith questions, you can begin to understand where each student is in their journey with Jesus.

In preparation for each of the interviews, I would highly suggest the following before you sit down with your student:

1. Read the application and take notes.

Write down any questions you have, underscore things you wish to touch on, and make notes about any themes, challenges, or encouragements that you see. Be prepared to follow up on those notes during your interview with the student.

2. Pray for the student.

Part of our application asks our students to list ways we can pray for them. These requests are then shared with our church through prayer cards when we do fundraising, but it also provides a way for you to pray for your students before, during, and after the interview process.

Take time to not just pray for the requests they shared in the application, but also ask if there are any other requests that they may have when you sit down for the interview.

3. Prepare any guidance or follow up that will need to be done.

One thing we ask each of our applicants to do is share their testimony. Sometimes we need to offer guidance in writing the testimony out or even in helping them to understand what their testimony is. Whether it’s the testimony or other guidance, be prepared to speak into specific areas during the interview.

4. Follow up with references if needed.

Part of our application process involves students getting a parental and personal reference. If concerns are raised by their references, or if there are specific aspects that warrant follow up, make sure to do so before the interview so you’re adequately prepared.

Proper preparation for interviews will help to ensure they go well and you are building a unified team that will work well together. Being proactive and intentional in the interview process helps you to lead well and instill trust in your students as they prepare for the trip.

Quick Tip: Is it Just for Shock Value?

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I’ll never forget the moment I decided to incorporate a phrase to garner laughs, draw people in, and surprise them. I was speaking with the student ministry I worked at over a decade ago and I thought this would be an amazing thing to do.

I was making my point and said, “What the hel…llo Kitty?!” I thought utilizing a play on words where it sounded like I was going to curse but switched to shouting out a common childhood franchise was hilarious.

Looking back I realized many things. What I thought was funny did not resonate with my students at all. In fact, it went over their heads.

I also realized that the fact I almost said “what the hell” was caught by many of our volunteers and they didn’t think it was a good thing. I had multiple leaders stop me afterward and challenge me on what I said.

And in looking back, I realized that I had put more focus into something that would not actually benefit my students and leaders, but simply would elicit shock.

This was a big heart check moment for me because something I thought was a good idea was not what I had hoped it would be. It became a distraction. It pulled people away from the heart of the message. It created tension and not the type that we should be employing when sharing the Word of God.

After a lot of self reflection and counseling with trusted mentors, I came to the realization that shock value doesn’t have the desired effect we wish it did. Often shock value leads to just that: shock. But the value is typically not there. Shock value moments are typically what people walk away remembering, not the focus of the message or a change in their relationship with Jesus.

Instead, what we need do is think critically about what we are writing and saying, and seek to discern the reason behind what we are saying. If the point is simply to elicit a response, we need to ask if the reason for the response will help to further the focus of our message and draw people closer to Jesus. If it’s just for creating shock or a response, perhaps it is best to remove it from the message.

Looking at today’s Christian culture, there are plenty of pastors and leaders who have done a litany of things simply for shock value. When you look into those moments, the majority of people don’t remember what the sermon was about and the focus has been removed from God’s Word and is now on a singular action or phrase.

That is not to be our focus nor should it be our intent. Instead, we need to focus on drawing people closer to Jesus as we help them to grow and flourish in the discipleship process.

At the end of the day, we have an obligation to lovingly guide and shepherd our people which means we need to discern if what we say and do is helping us reach and direct our people toward Jesus. If we utilize this metric, it will help us and our people in our walks with Jesus.

Quick Tip: Always Have a Wellness Policy

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It’s wintertime and that means illnesses are abounding. I’m not a scientist by any scope of the term, but I’ve worked with students long enough to know that this time of year sees a large uptick of sickness. There’s colds, stomach bugs, the flu, Covid, allergies, and more.

In the area we serve, doctors have been seeing a very large increase in illnesses and in how quickly they are spreading. Schools are seeing droves of students missing classes. Trips and gatherings allow for illnesses to spread quickly. And illnesses are not always being actualized until symptoms appear, allowing for many people to get sick faster.

The years 2020-2021 taught us a lot of things, and one of them was the necessity of having a wellness policy. Covid forced us to think about social distancing, how to better cover our coughs and sneezes, the increased importance of sanitary practices, and how important it is to stay home when sick and not spread illnesses. But the reality is Covid isn’t the only illness that can and will spread rapidly, especially in scenarios where large groups are gathered together.

As we began to reassess and think differently about how we did ministry post-Covid, an area we realized needed to be updated was our wellness policy. We decided to call it a “wellness policy” rather than “sick policy” because wellness highlights what we are seeking to achieve and it is more positive sounding. A sick policy seems punitive while wellness points towards a safe place where even immunocompromised individuals can attend.

So what does this look like? Well, I’ll be honest with you and share two key pieces about a wellness policy: it may change over time, and it will also depend on your context. Let me explain both of these in a little more detail.

A wellness policy may change as you understand more about the illnesses you are dealing with and how that pertains to your ministry and its setting. For instance, our wellness policy was originally focused on multiple symptoms but we adjusted that when we understood people could be asymptomatic. So we went more broad than narrow on our policy to work within that understanding.

Your context will also help determine how you shape your wellness policy. If you live in a setting where you can conduct ministry outdoors for a large part of the year, you will probably have a bit more freedom in how you shape the policy. If you’re indoors in a smaller environment that will also shape how you purposefully engage this policy. Another thing to consider is allergens and how prone your area of the country is to them as their symptoms can sometimes manifest in the same way other illnesses can.

So understanding your context and present setting should help you in shaping how your policy looks. I stated earlier that we went simple with ours as we believe clarity is kindness and simplicity helps us be direct and understandable. We focused on a few key points for our policy and have shaped it in this way: “If you feel sick stay home. We want you to rest up and feel better, as well as prevent any one else from catching anything.”

We have an addendum for Covid which states, “If you test positive for Covid, please adhere to the following guideline: you must stay home (i.e. away from the church) until you are symptom free for 24 hours without a fever.” We also encourage everyone to follow good hygiene practices.

These simple statements have not only helped our group stay relatively healthy throughout the years, but it’s also given people permission to take a sick day. This policy applies to our leaders who, like yours, are dedicated and wanted to always be present even to their own detriment. But now they are given the freedom to stay home and get better.

This policy is not guaranteed to prevent any type of sickness, nor stop the spreading of anything. But it does help in keeping our people safe and provides clear communication.

In months where illnesses are rapidly spreading, having a wellness policy helps you to care well for you people by giving them loving direction and seeking to ensure a safe and healthy place for your entire community.

Quick Tip: Have a Sick Plan

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Have you ever been sick on youth group night or Sunday morning? Has the flu surprised you the day of youth group? Have you experienced prolonged illness that kept you out of service for a good amount of time?

The longer I serve in ministry, especially student ministry, the more convinced I become that having a sick plan is a necessity. Trips can allow for illnesses to spread quickly. Winter months see a drastic increase in cold, flu, Covid, and other illnesses.

And then there’s always the unexpected sickness or health concern that creeps up. Family members may get sick and need help at home. And if this is the case, how do we handle those moments when we can’t be at our ministry? Is there a game plan? Do your volunteers know what the plan is? How is that information communicated to your leaders, students, and families?

Today I want to help you think through these moments by providing tangible steps you can take to address these concerns. This isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach, but more of an à la carte approach where you can pick and choose the steps that work best for you and your ministry.

Take a sick day.

Sometimes we just want to work through whatever illness we are wrestling with, but that’s a poor approach to take. Showing up sick can put others at risk, it depletes you even more, and it communicates to your team that it’s okay to show up sick, which can lead to illnesses being spread quickly and more often. So take a sick day, rest, recoup, and come back when you’re healthy.

Have a backup teacher.

One of the truths we must come to terms with is that our programs and ministries can and will exist without us. It’s a hard truth to reckon with, but a truth nonetheless. For many years I wrestled with this and convinced myself of the lie that the ministries I oversaw couldn’t exist without me.

It took a mental health leave for me to see that these ministries will not only exist without me, but can flourish as well. And I saw this truth through our leaders who stepped up and utilized their gifts. I became much more aware that I have gifted communicators on my team and I should be empowering them to serve. One of them has actually come to me and said, “If you ever need to bail, for any reason, I’ll have a lesson ready to go.”

This taught me so much and I want to encourage you to seek out and have backup teachers ready for when you can’t be present. No, it won’t be in the series you’re doing and no it won’t be what you had prepared. But God will use those individuals and His Word to help your students grow and flourish. So find different people who can step in for you when you’re sick (and a bonus tip: use them even when you are not sick and watch how different voices resonate with your students).

Build a communication plan.

This is important across your ministry as a whole, but having a communication plan for illness is key. Who will you tell? Who gets told first? What’s the communication say? Is it intentional, informational, or both? Drafting a plan for how communication goes out, to whom it goes out to, and what it says is key.

My mentality is to start with my leaders because they help in communicating any change to their students. They have more established communication lines so it makes sense to start there. We then email families and post across our media channels.

Our emails contain information that is needed about any change or cancelation, but they also provide intentional touch points. We provide ways for families to connect like cooking or baking together with recipes, or watching a movie and discussing it. We highlight ways to engage in worship, and we even point to a passage in Scripture that they could discuss.

Now all of this sounds great, but when you’re sick no one wants to spend the time writing all of this out. So prepare it ahead of time and have it ready to go when needed.

Have a plan for Sunday morning and youth group evenings.

As you think about the two prior points, it’s also important to have a plan for how your programming will function when you are not present. Have you taught people how to set things up? Have you shared your expectations? Do people know what to do in different scenarios like if a student gets hurt or if there’s a fire alarm?

Often times youth workers handle their own set up and know the ins and outs of tech, lighting, and how to open and close up the church; but do the people filling in for you know how to do all of that? Training, equipping, and empowering others to handle this means building a plan for them and helping them understand that plan.

At the end of the day, there will be times you are not present at youth group or church. That is okay, and you should be encouraged to take sick days and vacation time. But how will your ministry do without you? Is it build upon you and your identity (or perhaps is your identity wrapped up in it), or is it sustainable because it’s built around Christ? Have you empowered others to lead in your absence? Do you have a plan for when you are not there?

By preparing ahead, you are setting your team and ministry up for success. Take the necessary steps to be proactive rather than reactive and watch your ministry flourish even if you’re sick.

Trip Tricks: Post Trip Follow-Up

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It’s the end of your trip. You’re preparing your group to head home. You and your team are saying your goodbyes to camp staff, missionaries, and new friends. You’re taking group pictures, thinking about the ride or flight home. And when you finally get back, you can’t wait for those first few minutes of silence and stillness before heading home to see your family, take a nice long shower, and sleep in your own bed.

Sound familiar? I know I tend to feel all of those things during the end of our trips. But what about intentional follow-up with your students?

Students usually encounter Jesus in new and refreshing ways during trips and come away with a renewed desire to follow Him and grow deeper in their faith. The question we need to ask ourselves is this: are we intentionally leveraging and engaging in these moments to best steward and grow our students’ relationship with Jesus?

In my early years of student ministry I didn’t always focus on this. And it became painfully obvious that my students rode the “camp high” and then began to fizzle out as they simply went back to their old habits. But that doesn’t have to be the case.

We can avoid the “camp high” by helping our students to intentionally continue engaging in their relationship with Jesus and continuing in community with believers. We can help them see that there is more than simply settling for the mundane and typical life this world offers, and instead show them how amazing and grand it can be with Jesus.

One of the ways we can do this is by offering intentional steps our students can take to engage their faith and help them with follow up. Here’s what it looks like for us.

We sit our group down all together for ten to fifteen minutes at the end of the trip before we load up to go home and we take time to talk through intentional steps they can take.

We talk about continuing to be in biblical community, engaging with spiritual rhythms, next steps in their faith journey like baptism, joining a summer mission trip, serving in the church and their community, and sharing their story with others. Each of these steps are designed to eliminate the myth of the “camp high” and to help students continue to grow and flourish in their faith.

We also tried a new approach this year where we gave postcards to our small group leaders that were designed to give students a means of responding to their experience on the retreat. We realize that as our ministry has grown, the large group gatherings at the end are great, but with a discipleship format, having small group leaders engage in a different setting allows us to help our students grow and take steps of faith. The postcards can be fairly simple and should included space for contact information, and then some tangible check boxes. The check boxes could include things like, I followed Jesus, I want to get baptized, I want to serve, and I have questions.

We also try to be intentional in providing pathways for students to take after the trip that will help them grow in their faith. After our winter retreat we launch our summer trip sign-ups a week after returning home. We challenge students to serve by promoting opportunities during youth group in the weeks following our trips. We also try to provide thoughtful and intentional ways for students to share their stories throughout the year.

Providing intentional opportunities for follow-up with your students allows for continued growth and development of their faith. It also helps students to understand that their faith doesn’t simply ride the rollercoaster of jumping from event to event but is an ongoing journey they get to be a part of with Jesus. It also helps to ensure that upcoming generations don’t walk away from their faith after high school, but instead are committed to an ongoing transformative relationship with their Savior.

Trip Tricks: How to Determine Rooming Assignments

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It is inevitable. Whenever we have a student trip, the emails, phone calls, text messages, and conversations when you interact with parents or students will always focus on who is rooming with whom.

There are the requests that siblings are and are not put in the same room. Students will ask to be with their friends but not someone with whom they don’t get along. Parents will want to make sure their kids are only with certain other students, or they’ll ask that their student get their own room.

Rooming assignments had always been a piece of trip planning I did not look forward to. As someone who is a people pleaser and loves to be liked by others, I always felt like I was letting someone down when I put together assignments. Someone always seemed disappointed or unhappy. And if I’m being honest, that weighed on me fairly heavily and it compounded my dislike of building out rooming situations.

So it seemed I had two options available: give up on the perfect rooming assignments and simply deal with people being frustrated, or try to get it right every single time. But I actually learned there is a third option: handle rooming assignments with intentionality, care, insight, and a desire to foster community and discipleship. With that approach I believe that rooming assignments can be a tool and opportunity to help our students grow and flourish.

But how do we do that well? What are some keys to handling this intentionally with a desire to help cultivate our students’ hearts toward Jesus?

Plan ahead.

I understand that we cannot always do this as a lot depends on when you receive your housing assignments from wherever you’re staying. If possible though, begin preparing where you’ll be placing your students early as this will provide ample time to make changes as you approach your departure date.

Preparing ahead of time affords you the most flexibility to adapt and change things and gives you a better opportunity to be thoughtful and intentional with where you place your students.

Assign rooms by small group.

One of the easiest ways to figure out rooming assignments is to set them up via small group. Most youth groups have small groups that are assigned by grade and gender, which allows you to place groups accordingly. This helps to remove the puzzle of trying to figure out where to place students if you determine this to be your approach.

Work with small group leaders.

Another thing to remember is that depending on the size of your youth group, your leaders will know who should and should not be rooming together. Seeking their counsel allows you to hopefully circumvent any known issues between students and work toward a better trip experience for everyone who is going.

What I would suggest before asking your leaders’ input is to put together the housing assignments and ask them to look it over for their small group and provide any insight. Doing this process in the reverse will add a lot more stress as you’ll have too many opinions and cooks in the kitchen.

Don’t allow for changes.

When it comes to room assignments there are a million different reasons that people seek to have their rooms changed. I used to try and accommodate the requests but it became overwhelming and impossible.

Instead, what we have moved toward is assigning rooms with the best intentions and insight, without allowing changes. This ensures our responses are consistent across the board and everyone is on an equal playing field.

Now, that does not mean we will never make changes. But making changes is the exception, not the norm. We will allow changes when necessary, but they are always done after much thought and understanding.

Do not communicate rooming assignments until check-in.

Students love to know their rooming assignments before a trip as they make plans and want to create a special group within the room. But this can lead to more requests for changes and it can also lead to students feeling left out or dismissed by their peers if they don’t “make the cut.”

Instead, telling students their rooms at check-in circumvents many of those issues and ensures no one gets alienated or forgotten.

Be thoughtful about how you blend groups.

Inevitably you’ll need to blend groups when it comes to housing and this is where it can get tricky. Do you house middle school students with high school students? What about siblings? What about small groups that don’t get along? What if small groups or friend groups need to be split up to make housing assignments work?

Whenever you need to blend groups, be intentional and thoughtful. You know your students and their friendships, so seek to lean into those aspects.

Also, seek to empower students who are leaders when blending groups. Encourage them to help foster community and explain why they have their specific rooming assignment. Being thoughtful when blending groups helps to alleviate problems or issues before they develop.

Trip Tricks: Be Proactive about Your Health

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Our winter trip is quickly approaching and we know this time of year illness is always a factor. Different illnesses are quickly spreading and placing people in the hospital. We just had the holidays where people were in large gatherings and sharing germs. And of course we know that weekly youth group gatherings are hot zones for sickness.

Our youth group always goes to our winter retreat in January and our host site typically has 350 people on site for their retreats. All of this to say, sickness abounds before, during, and after trips, especially in the winter time.

As the leaders of our ministries we must be proactive in our approach to staying healthy as we prepare for trips. We know that there are a hundred different things we have to prepare and execute for the trip on top of normal programming and obligations.

So how do we stay healthy leading up to the trip? Today, I want to share some tips that I utilize in an attempt to be proactive before we leave.

Get a good amount of rest each night.

I don’t know about you but I really like sleep. However, I usually don’t sleep well (or that much) on trips. So I know that leading up to a trip I need to get a good amount of rest to prepare for the trip. Sleep also helps your body recharge and heal from all the germs that try to attack your body.

Take vitamins and build up your immune system.

When I was younger I was never really into taking vitamins. But here’s the harsh reality: it’ll only take one trip where you get sick to change your mind. Being proactive with your health instead of reactive is huge because you will potentially be avoiding the effects of illnesses that develop on trips.

So start by taking vitamins that are just good for your health like probiotics, multivitamins, vitamin C, and others that help boost your own health.

Wash your hands often and use hand sanitizer.

Before and during trips it is easy to rush and touch anything and everything. I mean just think about how many things you touch within the first hour of showing up at church. It’s a lot.

And now pause and watch your students as they touch all the same things. They don’t wash their hands all the time, they are passing germs along, and some of them are probably sick while doing so. That means we need to wash our hands often and at the very least use hand sanitizer.

Wash your hands before eating or touching any part of your face. Use hand sanitizer after touching things that are touched by others (think door handles, push bars, pens, etc.). Taking this steps helps to keep your body free of illnesses and germs.

Eat well.

Okay, I get it. We work in a ministry that runs off of candy, soda, and pizza (and the occasional walking taco). But this stuff doesn’t actually fuel us; it depletes us.

I used to eat this all the time and it messed up my body pretty bad. My doctor put me on an incredibly strict fitness and eating regimen to get my body back on track. I can tell you it wasn’t easy but it is possible and I feel so much better.

It does take extra work and effort but eating well will help you stay healthy and have more energy especially as you’re leading trips.

Exercise.

I don’t know about you, but whenever we take students on a trip I feel like I’m more active than normal. My step count jumps. I’m hustling from one place or issue to the next. I’m engaging in more activities.

Typically, I come home exhausted after these trips and my immune system takes a hit because of how active I have been. My body isn’t used to the activity and as it seeks to adjust, illness creeps in.

So instead of letting that be the case, start exercising before you go. Get in the habit of walking or jogging. Start engaging in more active activities. It isn’t a fix-all but instead is helping you build up your body’s strength and natural immunity.

Practice good hygiene.

This seems like something that is a “duh” statement. Of course we need to practice good hygiene. We know that. But how often at a weekend camp do we make an excuse, for whatever reason, to not shower or wash our hands? I mean it’s only a weekend and I’ll shower when I get home.

But think about all the illnesses and germs you are around and how depleted your body is. Practicing good hygiene not only cleans your body, it refreshes it. It makes you feel better and recharges your body. So don’t sacrifice it for convenience, make it a priority.

I am not saying that by following this list you will never get sick on a trip. What I am saying is that we must be intentional and proactive in our health and wellbeing to be able to fully engage and care for our students on trips. How do you stay healthy on trips?

Trip Tricks: A Quick Dinner Option

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Last week we shared an idea for an easy breakfast you can serve during a trip. Preparing meals is often a part of trips and a part that can add significant stress and work to those in charge.

I have been on many trips where I’ve been in charge of meals and that usually means waking up early, which also means sleeping less. It means added work in an already busy and stressful environment. And it often results to mental and physical exhaustion sooner in those settings.

But, I realize that sometimes this is the reality we face as we don’t have another option and we need to make sure meals are prepared for our team. So if that is the case, we need to consider if there are easy, viable options that can be prepared quickly and are still filling and tasty for our group.

One of those options is a dinner or lunch dish that I happened upon out of necessity. We were running a mission trip that focused on hosting a VBS at an inner city elementary school. Our host site originally told us we’d have a working kitchen in which to prepare meals. Just days before our trip we were informed that there was in fact not a working kitchen so all our meal ideas had to be revisited.

We now had to prepare meals via crockpots, microwaves, and a grill. After spending time online and looking for options, I found this recipe for pulled pork that turned out to be a huge winner.

It’s super simple to prepare and it cooks throughout the day while you and your crew are out and about. Don’t let the reality that it only requires root beer and pork tenderloin cause any doubt. The pork comes out super tender and really tasty. I was hesitant at first with this recipe, but I was a quick convert after tasting it. You can choose to add some basic seasoning to the pork if you’d like, but you honestly don’t need to.

You can then choose how you serve it. It can be traditional pulled pork with barbecue sauce, slaw, and pickles on a hamburger bun. You could switch it up and do pulled pork tacos. It could be the main dish with beans, a baked potato, and/or salad as sides. Or you could layer the pulled pork on salad for a different spin.

Pulled pork also keeps well for leftovers the next day so this is a huge win as it could also be used for lunch later in the week. This is one of the easiest meals I have ever prepared and cannot recommend it enough.

Trip Tricks: An Easy Breakfast Idea for Trips

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Have you provided breakfast for your students before? Maybe it was at the end of an all-nighter. Perhaps you hosted a breakfast gathering before See You at the Pole. Or maybe you and your team are responsible for providing meals on a trip.

I think every youth worker has encountered this right-of-passage responsibility at some point in their career. This can be something that is stress-inducing if you’re not prepared and because, let’s be real, prepping breakfast early in the morning on a trip is a lot when you haven’t had much sleep. Especially when it is for a pack of ravenously hungry middle and high school students.

So what do you do? What do you prepare? Is it a full course meal with bacon, eggs, potatoes and everything in between? Or do you simply toss out some granola bars and fruit? I’d like to suggest a different option that is easy, satisfying, and can feed a crowd: pancakes!

You only need two ingredients to make this recipe minus any toppings or additional ingredients like chocolate chips, sprinkles, or nuts. Here is what you need: premade pancake mix that only requires adding water, and citrus flavored soda like 7Up, Sprite, or a store brand. Whatever the amount of water the recipe calls for, supplement the citrus soda for the water.

The carbonation and sugar of the soda adds more body and sweetness to the pancakes without adding the citrus flavor. The pancakes are fluffier and won’t need as much syrup (depending on your students affinity for sugar), and they don’t taste like a store bought mix.

Utilizing this method makes prep incredibly simple and less time consuming than other breakfast options. It also allows you to be creative in what you add into the pancakes which can make breakfast time more fun and unique. This is also something that you could empower your students to do, because of its simple prep and execution. This enables them to serve and care for their peers which further makes this option a win.

What is your go-to breakfast option for trips?

Quick Tip: Empower Your Students

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This past week we had our student ministry Christmas party. It was a ton of fun with lots of sugar, activities and games, worship, and of course a white elephant gift exchange.

But none of this would have been possible without our students. Not just because that’s what the focus of student ministry is, but because our students are in charge of our worship team and tech team.

One thing you should know about me is that I am not musical at all. I can’t play an instrument, I’m not a great singer (some may say I shouldn’t sing at all), I can’t mix audio, and I’ve only had one basic conducting course way back in undergrad. But really, who conducts in student ministry?

All that to say, I am not the guy to lead and direct our worship and tech ministries. I can have some oversight but even in that capacity my abilities are limited.

A handful of years ago, I met a student who had a passion for running our tech during weekly programming. This student was struggling to find their place and I noticed that they were hanging around our tech setup, so I simply asked if they were interested in helping out. Their eyes about jumped out of their head as they nodded yes!

So jump in they did. But not just in our ministry; they now help on Sunday morning during our worship services and their skill set and intentionality has made our worship services much more intentional.

Two years ago I had a handful of students come tell me they wanted to have worship incorporated in our ministry. I explained that I loved the idea but I couldn’t be the person to facilitate it so they would need to put together teams and run it. They agreed and we are now two years into having intentional moments of worship incorporated at specific times throughout the year.

We have had students who wanted to lead Bible studies in their schools and needed resources and guidance. So we equipped them, trained them, and sent them out. They are now leading multiple Bible studies and prayer groups in their schools and on their sports teams.

I wish I had started doing this sooner because it not only afforded our students an opportunity to step out in their faith and lead, but it also helped our ministry to grow because our students took ownership and became more invested.

When students are empowered and equipped to lead they will do so with boldness and excitement. They will bring others in and make disciples as we have been called to do. It does take time and work to unleash your students in leadership roles, but it’s incredible when they do as you witness God work in powerful ways through them.

At the end of the day our job is to disciple our students in their faith and unleash them to go out into the world with the Gospel. When we release control, and challenge and empower our students, we will see the world changed by the Spirit working through them.

Empowering your students will not only give them ownership and release certain responsibilities from your plate, it will help the Gospel to go forth through a generation that is passionate and sold out for what Christ is doing in and through them. Take a bold step, empower your students and give them the opportunity to flourish and lead as they are discipled and cared for by you and your team.