Blog

Due to the current state of the economy in the United States, in which funding seems to be drying up all over the country, many churches and ministries are trying to find places to cut spending. One area that churches seem to cut are youth group mission trips.

But I want to stress the importance of sending our youth out into the world on mission trips. A wise friend once told me that short-term mission trips are not only for the people you are going to see to tell them about Jesus, but also for the students and adult leaders that go on the trip. That intrigued me because I really didn’t understand what they meant until I saw it in action myself.

On a mission trip I led to Toronto, Canada, our whole group was pretty nervous. I think it was partly because I was leading my first mission trip, and many of the adult leaders didn’t know if I’d be a good leader or not. Honestly, I wasn’t too sure about it either. Would I be a good delegator and not micro-manage this trip, or would I need to have everything go through me? Did I train everyone enough for the trip? Were we really ready for this ten-day trip?

The answer to this last question was yes and no.

You see, we were trained and ready but then we needed to act! We needed to have the courage to do what we had been trained to do. We actually went onto the streets and not only found the homeless, street kids, and outcasts of society, but also sat down with them and listened. We touched them, gave them hugs, and shook their hands.

The small group of students that I had with me was a shy bunch that had major potential for leadership but needed to be challenged into action. As we walked the streets of Toronto, we came upon some street kids at a very busy intersection of the city. I think there were about five of us and about fifteen street kids. They didn’t look too rough, but it was obvious that we weren’t the type of people with whom they would associate.

After awhile, we struck up a conversation about what they were doing. When the light turned red, several of them would run out into the street and wash the windshields of the cars waiting at the red light. I asked them, “Why are you doing this?”

One of them answered, “We are working and this is how we make money. Want to try?” He shoved the squeegee (which was obviously stolen from a gas station) toward me. I looked at the students that were with me and saw that they were as freaked as I was. I grabbed the squeegee and said, “Sure.” I must admit I was thinking, “What am I doing? Am I being a good example right now?”

I was 28 years old and, I admit, was a little scared to run out into the intersection and wash a stranger’s windshield. But when I was done, the driver cracked his window open and gave me $2 Canadian. Then the street kids started yelling at me. I thought they were cheering me on, saying good job, but they were actually yelling at me to get my butt off the street because the light was about to change green. From what I had learned that day, most of the drivers looked at these kids as a nuisance. Thankfully, I made it off the street in time, and we continued to hang out with the kids for a few hours.

After the first hour, these street kids asked us what we were doing in Canada hanging out with them. I looked at them and said, “We came up here to spend time with people on the street and tell them about the love Jesus has for them.”

One of the street kids said, “You want to show us love, huh? Then go get us some bottled water because we are almost out and won’t be able to make any more money today.”

The students with me were all for that! In fact, they even pooled their meal money together to help these street kids. I don’t know how much money was made that day or if any of those kids ever turned to Christ, but two things I do know: 1) people learned of God’s love that day in and through us and 2) the group of students I was with, from a small town in Ohio, were changed forever.

James 1:27: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

I Corinthians 9:19-23: Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.