One of the worst phone calls I received as a youth pastor was a conversation about canceling our youth mission trip! When I got off the phone, I thought to myself how can this be happening? We are two and half weeks out from going on this trip; what am I going to say to my teens and parents?
In this spot, I saw two possible solutions. Be discouraged, tell my teens and parents, and officially cancel the mission trip for the year. The second solution was go back to the drawing board and find another mission trip before the summer ended. I looked into a few different mission trip organizations; but most of the dates, costs, or locations didn't match our needs. I got on the phone with another youth pastor that was planning on taking his team on the canceled mission trip. Over that conversation, a vision was cast and a game plan started to take place. We were going to plan, organize and execute a mission trip in two and half weeks!
Things just started to fall in place! In my research, I found this t-shirt company that had the perfect logo. It was a pair of chucks with the verse Romans 10:14 on it; we would then add our mission trip name "Hope for the Fox Valley" to it. It was a start. I knew that planning a trip would take forever; but if we could partner with organizations in our areas, we could save lots of time and help reach better. I researched Green Bay; and found 4 partners that were open for us helping out (a homeless luncheon event, a food pantry, a mission for homeless and ministry food truck that ministered to kids in the park). The other youth pastor was able to connect with a woman's shelter and veteran's home in his area. This was the right decision; these organizations have been in their communities and will continue to be there long after we are gone. We could encourage them and they could encourage us. Another conversation was with our students: "These organizations are reaching people in your backyard! If your parents are okay with it, you can volunteer at anytime. You don't have to wait for the mission trip or service project; reach your community!"
Food, lodging, leaders, schedules, money, etc. all fell into place and without a doubt God's hand was in everything! Many times when I read the Bible, I see this all the time. Something bad happens, God asks an individual to do something despite things being over their head and in the end everything works out perfect and God receives the glory. Gideon and the 300, Moses leading the Israelites, David and a giant; the list goes on.
In youth ministry, I can guarantee things will fall apart! A mission trip might be canceled. You might get angry emails form parents. A teenager might unfortunately get pregnant. You might have a teen that dies. Sad things do happen in youth ministry. When my mission trip was canceled, creativity came into play. You can use creativity to handle angry emails not with angry responses; but maybe with a parent dinner, a parent sit down, etc. Use creativity to keep a pregnant teen included in your youth group. As young youth pastor, I had a fourteen year old teen who had a baby. We kept her involved and the youth ministry made her feel part. It can happen. Death has to be the hardest of the hard! Creativity can still come into play; hold a prayer vigil, partner with the school, be there for the family, etc. Bad things will happen; and as a youth pastor following God, we have the opportunity to be creative and find healthy solutions.
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