Blood, Sweat & Jesus
7x Youth Mission Trips Made a Difference
Each June Facebook Memories shower us with pics from past mission trips. As a youth pastor veteran, I led 35 youth mission trips from Jamaica, in 2005, to Charlotte, in 2019, at three Presbyterian Church (USA) churches. Trips ranged in size from 8 youth (3 Leaders) to 49 youth (13 Leaders).
Youth Mission Trips teach teenagers to learn, adapt, and live in a Christian community. They are the best way to both strengthen a teen’s faith and bring non-believing youth into a new relationship with Jesus. Last, they give people the chance to have deep conversations about life.
7x Youth Mission Trips Made a Difference
1. Mixing Concrete, Finding Confidence - Costa Rica 3
The concrete mixer spun the sand, water, gravel, and concrete powder round and round. The new concrete would form a new sidewalk around the neighborhood playground. Our team of youth from Michigan and Idaho formed one mission team. They met yesterday; today they worked together.
Three first trippers used a metal mesh to shift the rocks from the sand. On the mixer, two juniors shoveled the “clean sand” into the maw. They used a shovel to tear open the bag of concrete. 5-gallon buckets of water went in as well.
A strapping guy approached the two women at the mixer. He told them he was here so they could rest as this was “man’s work.” Unkind words were said as the women told him they did not need his help. Lessons learned.
Making and pouring concrete is hard work. That week those youth learned to work together and to support each other. They gained a new confidence that they could do it.
2. Messages that Make Sense - Norfolk
On the trips around 8 pm most nights, we gather in a big space to sing worship songs from a trip songbook. Then one of us gives a short message about how the gospel of Jesus intersects with the work on the trip.
Sophia was on my worksite in Norfolk where we were painting porches in 100° heat. She was from a Florida church.
Late on Friday night, Sophia found me playing euchre and sat watching until I could pass the cards and we could talk. She said my Wednesday night message broke her - “in a good way.”
“My parents make me go to church. Well, Dad doesn’t go much. They should get a divorce. But mom makes me and my younger sister go. Church is so boring at home. But here the messages are like understandable. What you said that night about Jesus made so much sense. I tried to talk at small group after, but I was too…but afterward in the hallway, I sat and prayed. Like for the first time. And Jesus answered. Not literally. But in my heart. He answered. Jesus loves me.”
She carefully wiped a tear away. “I know it’s not going to change anything at home, but my sister and me we’re going to be alright, cause Jesus is real and with me. Thank you. Your preaching made all the difference. I get it now.”
3. Mike’s Bleeding Too - Costa Rica 1
The small church sat surrounded by homes. Everything was made with scrounged, wood and sheet metal. Julie, wearing garden gloves,1 cut her glove and her hand. As we washed the blood out, medical kit at the ready, a student called “Mike’s Bleeding Too.” He had been on the roof with Julio (our mission partner) and his foot slid between metal sheets cutting his shin. Julio had tied his shirt over the cut.
After Mike was helped down the ladder, we sat him on a log. I lifted the shirt to see the cut. His shin had a flap. I tied the shirt down again. Our college Leader2 and Julio took Mike to the local Doctor. When his mom got back with her workgroup, I shared about her son. Soon Mike got back on crutches with 14 stitches. He smiled, she hugged him. The next day he was back on the worksite doing what he could.
Injuries sometimes happen. Being prepared makes all the difference. For each trip, we have:
Every workgroup takes a fully packed medical kit
Printed Health histories
Signed and Notarized Travel & Health Authorizations
Printed Map to nearest urgent care
Cell phone with local service and the number for emergency help, all other leaders, and our host’s cell number
Time on the work site is limited to 8-2 or 9-3 pm3
Everyone has a waterbottle and they drink it
Matthew West "More" Lyric Video
4. Worship That Matters - Utah
Some youth ministries go on their mission trip and later try to get everyone together in the summer to process. The tradition I learned is to add 3 or 4 days over the last weekend to sightsee during the day with worship and small groups each night for processing.
On the Utah trip, we left Navaho Mountain to drive into the Tonto National Forest in central Arizona. We were at the camp’s outdoor chapel on the edge of a hill looking out over the forest as the sun set. Beautiful. We sang about how God loves us more than anything with Mathew West’s song “More.” We valued each other by singing Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me.” We connected our traditional worship with the modern with Todd Agnew’s “Amazing Grace” spin “Grace Like Rain.”
Something holy happens for many regardless of how much faith we have. It happens with the community together - shared experiences, shared value of each other.
5. He Will Eat When He Gets Hungry - Costa Rica 1
The freshman’s mom visited me a few weeks before our trip to Portantorchas Bible School in San Jose, Costa Rica. She explained that her son was a picky eater. She told me that he probably wouldn’t eat much, but I wasn’t to worry as he could go a week without much, and he’d probably eat when he was hungry.
A few days into the trip, two juniors let me know that the boy wasn’t eating anything except bread. They were worried he would get hungry and crap out. We agreed we could give him time to adjust as the Costa Rican rice and beans were quite different from what he was used to at home.
On the third day, at dinner, I walked by his table where he was talking a mile a minute, mouth full, bread in his hand with an over-easy egg on top of a mound of rice and beans.
6. When the Walls Fall - Jamaica 2
Youth Mission Trips can break down the wall around our hurt. The Leader Team is always praying for the kids to experience the love of Jesus. To experience His presence. Sometimes the Holy Spirit breaks through the defenses.
As the week goes on kids open up. On this particular trip on the campus of the Caribbean Christian Center for the Deaf, the walls fell. I sat with 9 different kids as stories of bad boyfriends, unkind parents, dating gone wrong, and self-esteem stresses bubbled out amid tears, cursing, and the wonder, “Am I the only one?” Sadly, none of you are the first, the last, or the only.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze. Is. 43:2
7. Was He Carrying a Pipe? - Las Cruces, New Mexico
Mission Serve had us working with the City of Las Cruces on trailer park homes’ handicapped ramps for seniors in need. My group was building a ramp with donated Home Depot lumber. Dad was in a wheelchair. Their two adult sons were in and out of the home. The family was so happy we were there in the hot, hot heat.
The ramp was coming together. Three of us were at the bottom where the ramp would transition to a walkway. The younger son came out of a second trailer door carrying a short length of metal pipe in his hands. He hopped in a car and took off. A student said, “Was he carrying a pipe?” I nodded. Later I learned from the older brother the guy was in a gang, “Playing with violence” as if not using a gun was childish. I didn’t know what to say.
One day the police told us we couldn’t shower at the community center because of a gang event. They recommended a private learn-to-swim pool. They said to tell the owners the police wanted us to be granted permission to shower there. The owners were wonderful and we continued showering at the pool for 3 more days.
In Conclusion
Youths want to go on mission trips because of the stories they hear of past trips. Parents tell other parents how wonderful the trips are. Church boards approve youth mission trips hoping that kids will see God’s love in the wider world.
These 7 stories show the breadth of what can happen on a well-run youth mission trip. More than this, these stories show that we cannot plan for everything. We must have a good, well-trained, team of adult Leaders to handle the variety of things we will see. A well-trained team will not only manage the obstacles we face, but they shall do so with grace and flexibility. And we will strive to be Relentlessly Positive! (my constant Leader mantra).
After this trip, we required good gloves that fit the size of their hands (no Dad XL gloves). Mechanic gloves are great as they have good padding with nylon gloving which can be washed at night and dries fast. This beats the leather glove that gets sweaty or wet (it rains at 3 pm in Costa Rica in June) and stays wet all week.
That College Leader is now a Pediatrician at Detroit Children’s Hospital.
Injuries are more common toward the end of a workday when we push to get something done.