Mission Possible

Recruiting Members for Your Mission Trip

So, you want to go on a mission trip but don't know if your students will buy into it and follow through on their commitment. You think that such a trip would be a good unity and spiritual building experience for your group, and you want to step forward and commit to one. However, you are concerned that the "ho-hum" attitude of your teens may result in a "ho-hum" turnout and commitment level. It makes it even more difficult when the missions organization that you want to work with requires an upfront payment of some kind in order to reserve your trip. With all of these thoughts running through your mind, making that financial commitment feels like a significant leap of faith. And, when spring time roles around, you really start to feel the pressure. I've been there. As a youth leader, I used the techniques and approaches described in this article, and found them to be a huge success!

For me, the leap of faith seemed a little less startling because I was blessed with a caring group of adults who had a passion for youth missions work. We chose to meet regularly for a few months and pray for help and guidance. I strongly urge you to put together a team of adults who care, and possibly some influential teens to pray for direction, and decide which trip to go on. So often I hear of youth workers placing the decision in the hands of their students. When you have a strong missions program already in place, this may make sense. However, for the majority of us who are going around the block for the first or second time on this whole missions thing, I would strongly encourage you to pray and make a decision. You know what your students need. You know what they can handle, and amazingly, God does to. He will speak clearly to you if you passionately pursue His will. When you put it in your student's hands, many variables are left unmanaged. Read on, and you will gain a better understanding of what I mean.

There are 3 keys to getting any teen interested and motivated in going on a mission trip. Students need to feel like, one, it's the thing to do, and two, it's not tough to do. Thirdly, you need to develop a buffer in your budget. This will allow for last minute "grace" and possible scholarships for additional youth. Try this approach. It help ensure success in your missions trip planning.

It's the thing to do

So often we think we need to ask our students to buy into an idea in order for us to feel like we have any significant level of commitment from them. While buy-in and commitment are important, "asking" is not always the technique that will assure we have it. Teens buy into things that they feel are important, and most importantly things that they feel other teens want to do. I would suggest trying the following techniques to get the level of commitment that will ease your comfort level in your decision to move forward on a missions trip decision.

1. Choose a handful of influential and gifted teens to be your "Mission Possible" team. This team needs to be selected ahead of time, before any announcements are made to the rest of the students. Meet with them individually, and later collectively as a team. Make them feel important; that they have a major role to play. Their commitment to being an effective player on the team is critical. Invariably in a youth group the students who are interested in missions are the ones who are not necessarily the ones whom other students look to as leaders. You will want some of these individuals as a part of your "Mission Possible" team as well. They will play a pivotal "logistical" role, but they probably won't be the individuals you will put on the front line for influencing your other students.

   Roles of specific "Mission Possible" team individuals are:

   A) Up to two "highly" respected, motivational students - These individuals are your "Recruiters." They are there to announce the trip, present ideas, and have conversations throughout the preparation process. They make the announcements to the church body and are seen as the leaders.

   B) Up to two students gifted in administration to coordinate fundraising events, keep track of participation and funds raised

   C) Up to two "spiritually" gifted students who are your "prayer warriors" throughout the preparation process This group will give you a solid team that you can lean on.

2. Use an "Assumptive Close" when you present the trip to the group. This "Assumptive Close" technique just assumes up front that everyone will be going. You don't ask the teens who wants to go, nor ask them to sign up. You send the info home with them to share with their parents about what they are going to be doing this summer. The idea behind this is that you make it seem to the students that this is "the thing to do." You lay out for them up front that you have everything planned; the trip, the cost, the fundraising activities and schedule, and the ease of attaining the dollar amount needed. You introduce your "Mission Possible" team. In short, you make this look like its going to be a "no-brainer."
3. Ask your church leadership for the opportunity to present the planned trip to the congregation as a skit. At the time when you announce the trip to the youth group, have a "skit" concept put together that they can rehearse, and present to the congregation. Determine roles and practice it right then. Make it fun, and involve as many youth as you can. The more the congregation sees their student's interested and fired up, the more support you will see from them. Also, when you use a lot of students in front of the congregation, it acts as an encouragement to the students because the congregation will continue to ask them how preparation is going from that point forward.
4. At your next youth meeting, have a short, one paragraph contract that everyone signs with their commitment to go for it! Have everyone sign the same page. Seeing everyone else's name builds momentum and excitement.

It's not tough to do

While there will be times throughout the fundraising process that your students feel like the amount of money to raise is "impossible", you now have the tools in place to overcome their discomfort. One, your "Mission Possible" team members go into action to provide encouragement, announce successes, and pray for that individual. Two, you have other planned activities to build momentum. And three, you have your congregation behind you.

Every word coming out of the mouths of you and your "Mission Possible" team and every aspect of the mission preparation calendar needs to ooze simplicity. All of this will help maintain the momentum you need to keep your group pressing forward and recover those who start to fall by the way side. You always have something else on your fundraising calendar that the disheartened student can look forward to. And, you have the support of congregation members to encourage.

Last Minute Grace and Scholarships

Plan up front to help out some students who don't quite make the goal in fundraising. This is something that you keep in your "hip pocket" undisclosed, for those few who come close but don't look like they are going to raise the total amount of money necessary. This also becomes a fund for new students whom you want to participate.

It is not difficult to do this as long as you plan ahead. The easiest method is to set aside money in your annual youth ministry budget to cover the cost of a couple students to go on a trip. Secondly, you can solicit capable members of your congregation to sponsor an individual student. The sponsored student is not aware of being sponsored, and he or she participates in all of the fundraising activities. This gives you the incremental dollars for your budget. Thirdly, have each student raise more than the actual cost of the trip. This allows extra money to cover up to two additional people receiving scholarships.

Planning for these ahead of time, takes a significant load off of your shoulders. It gives you flexibility at the last minute to give "grace" to those students who have tried really hard, offer scholarships to new students, and additional funds to treat the students to special things on the actual trip.

My first year of missions planning, fundraising, and travel required a lot of hand holding on my part. In subsequent years, I found that because of the approach used in the first year, my students were able to "press forward" themselves. They did their own planning and fundraising. I hope that you will find similar success.