8 Tips for Great Mission Trips
Youth mission trips can be one of the most positive and memorable experiences a young adult can have. If you are organizing a youth mission trip with your nonprofit organization or faith group, please check out these best practices for cultivating a sensational and soul-building experience for everyone – youth participants, the community you’re serving and you!
- Call a pre-trip planning meeting and spend time in group dialog coming to consensus on the “mission” of your mission, that is, why is the group going? Set specific goals about what the group expects to achieve, what they will proverbially take and what they will leave behind? (e.g. take an open-mind and willingness to learn, leave behind drama and gossip.) What are rules of conduct and what happens if there are conflicts? What personal skills and talents will each person share and what do they hope to gain personally and spiritually from the trip. Also share your personal goals and expectations.
- Encourage your youth to be fearless and step out of their comfort zones. Whether part of the mission trip is building homes, working in soup kitchens, food banks, homeless shelters, clinics, you name it, emphasize the importance of getting to know the people they are helping as well as truly getting inspired by the cause. Let them know it is ok to ask questions, and most importantly, to treat others just as they would want to be treated if their roles were swapped.
- Engage multi-generational collaboration by pairing up youth with older individuals in your organization or faith group who join or chaperone the trip. Encourage pairs to both work together and get to know one another. Your younger members will be surprised by stories your older folks have to tell them, and vice versa.
- Share before sleep! Take time at the end of each day for everyone to reflect on the day’s accomplishments, share stories, ask questions, address concerns and wrap up the day in a meaningful way. Detail the next day’s schedule so everyone knows what to expect and can get excited for what is to come.
- Plan after-hours fun activities for when the day’s work is done. Trust young adults to be creative and collaborative. For example, have pairs or groups break off and either develop a skit around a theme of the leader’s choosing, or pick a song and make up their own dance to it – both are performed for the rest of the groups, leaving everyone howling with laughter.
- Chances are your group is in charge of their own meals and living. Have a responsibility wheel or chore chart mapped out prior to your trip so there are no questions when it comes to whose turn it is to wash dishes, clean the bathroom or load the car. Divvy up responsibility and make it fun by rewarding points, assigning team colors, or giving your youth chore challenges.
- Finish up with a day of fun where your group is engaged and still community-building, even when the “mission” part of the trip is over. If traveling from out of town, pay a visit to a local swimming hole or staple restaurant the locals swear by; hit up an amusement park, go disc golfing, putt putting, or bowling. Get recommendations from the organization you worked with to set up the mission trip and talk with local vendors about getting discounts.
- Formalize reflection and feedback. Send young adults home with a few questions to reflect on and meet together a week or so after the mission trip to formally celebrate and document successes, learnings and insights. Also consider sending an online survey link to gather specific feedback about the Mission trip planning, operations, organization and leaders.
- Document and Celebrate Accomplishments:
- What did we accomplish together? (measure it – how many hours worked, people served, kids fed, houses built, etc.)
- Share photos, video, stories
- What can we improve for future Mission Trip groups?
- Sample personal reflection questions:
- What did you learn about yourself on this Trip?
- What did you learn about our group?
- What did you learn about the community we served?
- What spiritual insights would you like to share?
- What would you like to celebrate?
- What would you do differently next time?
Youth mission trips are life-changing events that have a meaningful and lasting impact on a young person, especially during a time in their life where they are truly coming into the person they are going to be. Make it count with encouraging practices, honest reflection, and most importantly, lots of fun!
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