My First Youth Group Trip

I was 21 and recently graduated from college when I led my first youth group trip. One of my part-time jobs at that point was as youth director for Trinity United Methodist Church in Lindsborg, KS; we had around 10 high school kids who all piled into a van and headed east to Gatlinburg, TN. There we did VBS-style programs for children in the many campgrounds in and around the Great Smoky Mountains.

There were some great moments of both levity and gravity; of connection and of clarity. One of the mothers of two of the youth is now a member at the church where my mother attends worship, so I get to hear about how those two kids are doing whenever I am back in Kansas.

I have been reflecting on that trip as our own youth prepare for their trip to Colorado. 16 folks in all should be on hand for that adventure, and I wonder what - 20 years later - will be the stories that emerge from this time for them. What connections, unforeseen, will emerge? What moments of clarity will interrupt the work? Into what souls will God plant seeds for a new future?

At the same time, one of my most important lessons from that trip was how it can all be lost without intentional follow-up. We took our Gatlinburg trip in early summer - right after school let out - and everyone scattered for vacations and summer basketball and the like afterwards. When fall came, the intensity of our time together in Tennessee had faded because it had not been cultivated and nurtured beyond that one week.

So as a church, how can we support our youth, families, and leaders to both plant the seeds of possibility for this trip, but also come alongside them to nurture what happens next? A service trip is fine and good as far as it goes, but if that's as far as it goes, then we have missed an opportunity that we cannot get back.

So what can you do?

1) Sponsor a youth for the trip - you can find information on how to do that at the welcome desk in the narthex at the NUMC south campus door. Besides that, there will be fundraising opportunities each month until July - watch for these opportunities to financially support the families committed to the trip. The first will be March 12th when the youth will host the coffee hour after worship and share with the congregation what they are excited about for the trip.

2) Pray for the youth during their time away by face and name - we will do a blessing for them that Sunday before they go so you can see who all is going.

3) Afterwards check in with the youth, and make time to ask what it meant for them - if you feel like you don't really know our older youth, this is a great opportunity to make some new connections of your own!

4) Ask Pastor Todd how you can come alongside and support our youth after the trip and into the school year - what is it you are called to do to help nurture connection and clarity for our young disciples?

Many exciting things ahead for the summer - church camp, the youth trip, and a shared VBS with our friends at Little Prairie UMC in Dundas. All of these are good, but we need to be intentional about what happens next - when the seeds are planted, we need to make sure we are ready to water and weed afterwards.

Blessings, Rachel