This is a discussion forum about missions and discipleship — for youth workers by
youth workers. The goal is to help each other process and prepare, to encourage and challenge one another to make disciples.
Yes, this is a blog about short-term mission trips, but it’s also more the big picture: discipleship.
The reason that you we got involved in youth ministry in the first place was because of the passion to see
young people become devoted followers of Christ. We know Jesus
sent us to make disciples. Plain and simple. So, how do we do that?
For the past month, year, or maybe even five
years, you’ve been
taking your students on a journey. Not a program or a curriculum, but a spiritual journey. From Disciple-Now, to summer
camp, to Wednesday nights, it’s all about life change.
Discipleship is why we sometimes awkwardly visit school cafeterias for lunch and answer late-night phone calls (despite our better judgment). It’s why we go to concerts and play videos games. It’s not the activities that we necessarily care about; it’s the relationship.
But sometimes, a lock-in or a concert isn’t enough. Sometimes, you need to remove your students completely from their comfort zones in order to see true transformation happen. That’s what this community is about. We want to ask (and hopefully answer) a few questions:
What if a mission trip were more than just a mission trip?
How do you make a week-long mission trip worth all the time, energy, and resources you put into it?
What if short-term missions weren’t just an activity, but an essential part of a student’s discipleship?
What if the end of your mission trip was just the beginning of a life of radical service?
We want what you want — an opportunity for your students to have an authentic experience with Jesus that lasts a lifetime. Through this blog, we hope to equip and inspire each other to use missions as a catalyst for greater life change. In this ongoing discussion, we’ll share questions, stories, successes and failures.
