Small Churches: Establishing and Growing a Youth Mission Trip Program
- Rev. Andrew Wicks
- May 2
- 7 min read
Youth mission trips offer incredible opportunities for young people to grow in faith, serve others, and gain a broader perspective on the world. For small churches, creating a successful and sustainable youth mission trip program can be an enriching endeavor, both for the youth participants and the community as a whole. However, starting and growing such a program comes with its unique challenges. With the right strategies, church leaders can establish a thriving program, while avoiding common pitfalls along the way.
1. Start with Vision and Purpose
One of the first and most important steps in creating a youth mission trip program is defining the program’s vision and purpose. Why do you want to do this? Your vision will guide everything from selecting destinations to choosing the right activities and engaging youth.
Strategy:
Define the Mission Trip's Core Purpose: Is the mission trip designed to serve the community, build leadership, strengthen faith, or raise awareness about global issues? Your church should clearly articulate what the trip aims to accomplish, both for the youth and the people they are serving.
Align the Trip with Church Goals: Integrate the mission trip into the broader mission and vision of the church. This alignment will ensure the program complements the church’s overall goals, fosters a sense of ownership among the congregation, and secures buy-in from leaders and families.
Pitfall to Avoid:
Just Selling It As “Fun”: Failing to clearly define the purpose of the mission trip will make it sound like just another “fun” youth offering competing for attention in the summer. Without a clear vision, participants may not fully understand the value of the trip, which can affect their level of commitment and enthusiasm. Youth want an experience that gives them meaning and lets them explore their faith, so do not shy away from communicating your mission vision!
2. Build Strong Leadership and Support
Effective leadership is key to the success of any youth program. In a small church, resources may be limited, but the quality of leadership can make all the difference in the growth and sustainability of the program.
Strategy:
Recruit and Train Committed Leaders: Identify mature, responsible adults within the congregation who can serve as mentors, chaperones, or trip leaders. These leaders should not only be spiritually mature but also capable of handling logistics, managing group dynamics, and addressing any challenges that may arise on the trip.
Involve Youth in Leadership Roles: Encourage older youth to take on leadership roles in the planning and execution of the mission trip. This fosters a sense of ownership and responsibility, empowering the youth and deepening their commitment to the mission. Responsible youth can help plan travel logistics, arrange worksites, plan menus, recruit participants and more!
Pitfall to Avoid:
Overloading a Few Volunteers: In a small church, it may be tempting for church leaders to take on all the responsibility themselves. However, this can lead to burnout and stress. Make sure to delegate tasks and encourage other members to get involved in both the planning and implementation of the trip. Mission trips are a very different kind of ministry than most parish responsibilities. You may find that individuals you never expected respond to the invitation to help lead in this particular kind of role.
3. Establish a Sustainable Funding Strategy
Financial concerns can be one of the most significant obstacles to launching and sustaining a youth mission trip program, especially in a small church with limited resources. It’s important to develop a well-thought-out strategy for raising and managing funds.
Strategy:
Fundraising Events: We are all familiar with bake sales, car washes, or community dinners to raise money for the trip. These events generate funds while engaging the participants and wider congregation, and foster a sense of collective purpose. Also consider whether there are one or two individuals within your church with the means and the passion to become significant sponsors of your mission trip.
Partner with Other Churches or Organizations: Consider collaborating with other small churches or Christian organizations to pool resources for a larger mission trip or to share funding. This partnership can create economies of scale and help reduce individual financial burdens.
Youth-Led Fundraising: Allow the youth to take an active role in fundraising, either by organizing events or reaching out to family and friends for financial support. This helps teach them the value of service and stewardship.
Pitfall to Avoid:
Relying Solely on Donations: While donations from the congregation are essential, relying too heavily on them without a proactive funding strategy can create uncertainty. A diversified approach to funding—balancing donations, fundraising events, and partnerships—helps ensure the financial sustainability of the program.
4. Ensure Strong Communication with Parents and Congregation
Building trust and transparency between the youth, parents, and church leadership is crucial for the success of a youth mission trip program. Effective communication can prevent misunderstandings and foster a sense of shared investment in the program.
Strategy:
Regular Updates: Provide regular updates to parents, congregation members, and youth participants about the trip’s progress, needs, and goals. This can include newsletters, social media posts, or parent meetings.
Open and Honest Communication: Make sure parents are informed about the details of the trip, including the destination, purpose, risks, and logistics. Transparency is key to building trust and ensuring parents feel comfortable with their youth participating. There is no such thing as over communicating to parents about the details of the program.
Encourage Congregational Support: Involve the entire congregation in the mission trip through prayer support, financial donations, and even volunteering. When the whole church is invested, it creates a strong sense of community and shared mission.
Pitfall to Avoid:
Uninformed and Disengaged Parents: If parents are not adequately informed or engaged, it can lead to feelings of disconnect and hesitation about their youth participating. Lack of communication with parents can also result in logistical or safety issues that could have been prevented with clear planning.
5. Select the Right Mission Trip Destination
Choosing the right destination for the mission trip is a critical decision. The destination should align with the purpose of the trip and offer meaningful opportunities for service while also being feasible for the resources available.
Strategy:
Assess the Needs of the Area: Look for mission trip destinations where there is a real need for assistance, whether locally or internationally. Choose areas where the youth can make a tangible impact while learning and growing spiritually.
Consider the Comfort Level of the Youth: Ensure that the trip is appropriate for the age, maturity level, and abilities of the youth participants. For a small church, it’s wise to start with local or domestic destinations before considering bigger trips. This will allow the group to gain experience without the additional logistical challenges.
Partner with Trusted Organizations: Choose mission trip destinations where local churches or reputable organizations already have established relationships. Partnering with trusted organizations ensures that the trip is well-organized, the work is meaningful, and safety is a priority. Incredible Days is one organization that runs Mission Trip programming in the Northeastern United States and can create customized trips anywhere in the world.
Pitfall to Avoid:
Choosing an Overly Ambitious Program: While international trips can be powerful, they come with added complexities like travel, language barriers, and cultural differences. Starting with a destination that is too ambitious for the church’s resources can overwhelm both the leaders and participants. It’s essential to balance vision with feasibility. Hold off on the big program right out the door, but remember to plant the seeds for bigger and better things down the road with your participants.
6. Incorporate Meaningful Pre-Trip and Post-Trip Activities
The experience of a mission trip goes far beyond the days spent in the field. Pre-trip and post-trip activities help prepare participants for the experience, deepen their understanding, and allow them to reflect on what they have learned.
Strategy:
Pre-Trip Preparation: Organize training sessions or retreats before the trip to prepare the youth spiritually, emotionally, and practically. This can include Bible studies, team-building exercises, and discussions about the cultural context of the destination.
Debrief and Reflection: After the trip, host a debriefing session to allow youth to share their experiences, reflect on what they’ve learned, and process their emotions. This can be done through individual journaling, small group discussions or even a congregational/community report out.
Continue the Mission: Encourage participants to continue serving the community once they return. This could involve organizing follow-up service projects or fundraising events for the mission partners they visited.
Pitfall to Avoid:
Treating Your Mission Trip Like a One Week Experience: Communicate from the beginning that mission trips involve preparation, service, and follow up. Skip the preparation and you are setting yourself up for chaos, disillusionment, and possibly injury. Failing to follow up after the trip can cause the impact to fade away quickly. It’s important to help youth internalize the lessons they’ve learned and to keep the momentum of their mission-focused mindset going. Plus, when your group conceives of their mission work as an annual cycle, you can avoid losing momentum between trips.
7. Evaluate and Adapt for Growth
Once your youth mission trip program is up and running, it's crucial to evaluate its effectiveness and adapt as needed. Evaluation allows the church to refine the program and ensure it remains a meaningful and sustainable initiative.
Strategy:
Gather Feedback: After each trip, gather feedback from participants, leaders, and parents to assess what went well and what could be improved. This feedback will help you identify areas for growth and improvement.
Set Long-Term Goals: As the program grows, set long-term goals for its development. This may include increasing the number of participants, expanding the types of service projects offered, or building stronger partnerships with mission organizations.
Pitfall to Avoid:
Stagnation: We all love our sacred traditions and rituals. Does this line sound familiar: “We have always done…[fill in the blank here]." However, without regular evaluation and adaptation, the program may stagnate. Continuously assess the program to ensure it evolves with the needs of your youth and the goals of the church.
Conclusion
Establishing and growing a youth mission trip program at a small church requires intentional planning, strong leadership, and careful attention to detail. While it would be nice if small churches had those things in spades, the reality is that often too few people carry the burden of making everything happen and it is hard to find the time or energy to innovate something new. Established mission hosting organizations like Incredible Days can help budget conscious churches start something new without having to figure out all the details themselves. So whether you go it alone, or call in help from experts, with a focus on purpose and preparation, a small church can establish a youth mission trip program that serves as a powerful tool for spiritual development, service, and community building.
A Blessing
Sparking something new is a tremendous labor of vision and love. May the fruits of this important work always sweeten the labor.
Rev. Andrew Wicks is a UCC Pastor in Connecticut and the Founder of Incredible Days. We encourage you to check out their incredible services!
Comments