#57 How to develop a world missions strategy for your youth group
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 ESV)
I can’t say that I ever wrapped the words “missions strategy” around my philosophy of doing and teaching missions among the youth, but the above verse from Acts summarizes that philosophy all the same. It could well be that in suggesting the topic, Tim was thinking more practically, but I am more into overarching concepts that allow each person to design their own way of doing things, as is evident if you browse through the posts.
It begins with you.
Notice that the word “you” is repeated three times in the first portion of the verse. A missions strategy for youth begins with a leader who has a passion for missions. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to have a passion to go. I know people who are exceedingly supportive of mission work, but couldn’t go on the trips themselves for various reasons. They pray for the work. They give financially to the work. They are genuinely interested in seeing your pictures and hearing your stories when you return. They ask questions. They want to know if there are ways to contribute even if it is just helping to drive the team to the airport. The work simply could not be done without them.
If you have this “non-going” sort of passion for missions, you need to find a volunteer who does. A week on a mission trip creates all sorts of stresses. If you are a leader who does not handle travel, change, constant interaction with youth and some degree of uncertainty well, the last place you need to be is in front of a group of youth for a week or more. The mood of the trip often feeds off the leader and the vibes you would be sending out would run counter to the message you are trying to project through your Bible studies or devotions.
To be honest, you can probably stop reading this post after this paragraph because the rest of what I will write will be totally practical thoughts on implementing a program. The honest truth is that my only conceptual strategy for world mission is a contagious passion for the lost, the impoverished and the people who have truly been victimized by the world. I don’t make a big deal about it, but I think most of the youth who have been around for a few years know I took a mission trip on my own. They know I buy only fair-trade coffee. They have heard me speak somewhat intelligently about the AIDS epidemic in Africa. I have taught on or quoted Micah 6:8, Acts 1:8 and James 1:27 more often than they can count. They know that I don’t want diamonds that have been mined at the cost of human lives. They see these things and they know – or at least I hope they know – that it comes from a deep-seated desire to see God’s will truly done on earth as it is in heaven. This isn’t to say that I have it all together and live every single moment of my life with an eye to missions. Ask them. They know I don’t. They also know I am trying. And, if I am trying, they also know it must be important enough to work at.
The concentric circles
Jesus instructed the disciples to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. We’ll look at each one in turn.
Jerusalem is home base. It’s your town, city, church, school … you name it. Step one in developing a world missions strategy is teaching the youth over and over and over again that the mission field isn’t just in some far off country; it is also across the counter at Starbucks and down the hall at school. Missions begins with understanding that all of us were created by God and have fallen. It also begins with knowing that, as Christians, we know that the key to the restoration of this fallen world is in the hope that comes through the redemptive work of Christ. We can’t travel to the far corners of the earth to share the gospel message if we are unwilling to share it in the far corners of our classrooms. In a practical sense, this is the one step in the missions strategy that I often leave to others in the church who have the desire to put the youth in touch with local ministries whether it be a local food bank, crisis pregnancy center or ministries to migrant farm workers. This is a great way to include more adults in the youth ministry by offering the role models of people who are not in full-time vocational ministry and yet have taken steps to enact their faith in the public arena to the benefit of others.
Reach out into Judea and Samaria. This is where the first steps are taken to physically remove the student from all that is known and comfortable. Intellectually, they know that not everyone lives in relatively comfortable suburban settings, but there is no substitute for firsthand experience in seeing how others live. In our youth group, these have been short weekend trips to The Pittsburgh Project to do repairs on the homes of elderly people.
Stretch to the ends of the earth. There are two ways to accomplish this. The first is to keep the needs and the struggles of the people of the world in the minds of the students and devise ways to plug them into assisting with those needs. Maybe you show the movie Amazing Grace to launch into a lesson or two that discusses modern-day slavery and, as a group, develop ways you can become an abolitionist. Maybe you participate in an event sponsored by World Vision or Invisible Children. The key is to get students to understand that they don’t have to physically go to the ends of the earth, but they can support the efforts of those who do.
The second way to stretch to the ends of the earth is to go. Offer a trip to the Gulf Coast to assist with relief efforts. Hook up with a group that organizes trips to Appalachia, the Navajo Nation or other places in the states. Personally, I’d suggest you go for something that will feel foreign to the students. If you live in a rural area, go to an urban center and vice-versa. I’d also very strongly suggest that you don’t make these “youth-only” trips. Our trips have always been intergenerational and the ties that are forged during the trip remain strong between adults and youth long after we have returned home.
This is still a strategy under construction in many ways, so please do take it as such. All the same, when combined with prayer and teaching on passages of Scripture that stress our relationship to the world (i.e. those mentioned above), it can be the foundation to developing your own strategy for world missions.
(Another post in a series inspired by this post at Life in Student Ministry.)
