What happens when 31 people with the same heart and same vision converge on a short-term mission trip?
Life change!
We spent the week serving all around San Ramon, Costa Rica and sharing the love of Christ. One of the most rewarding parts of student ministry is watching students serving others. I loved watching students share their faith, testimonies, songs, scripture and more. I believe that this generation is the church now and not later.
We created three vbs teams and each team went to two spots per day. We gave out almost 50 bibles to new disciples and those who did not have one. One of the most heartbreaking moments was running out of bibles and children and youth asking for one. I am not used to people so hungry for the bible! I was able to see in that moment that being on mission is being the hands, feet and voice of Christ. We need to show it by our actions and take the next step to verbalize the gospel. God showed up at each location through the simple extension of people who love children. See how Jesus responded to children!
Luke 18:15-16, "One day some parents brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But when the disciples saw this, they scolded the parents for bothering him. Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. 17 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”
One of the greatest ways to understand the gospel is through the eyes of a child.
We spent the last day and a half on a side trip to relax as a group. We went to the arenal volcano where we spent Friday afternoon and evening at the hot springs. We went zip lining through the rain forest canopy of the volcano on Saturday morning. Our guide Tyler (who was also the worship leader at pura vida mission) took some of us to a waterfall with a rope swing. It was a great ending to a fun and life changing mission trip.
Pura vida missions is the best in leading groups to serve. They take care of all the logistics of transportation, food and translators once you land in San José, Costa Rica. Not only are you given a great opportunity to serve but they serve you! Each evening there is a worship service geared to your group with worship and teaching. After a full week at pura vida, your heart will leave full of encouragement, group unity and the love of Christ!
If you are looking into a mission organization for your student ministry, I hope you will check them out! www.puravidamissions.com
I enjoy planning. I get excited about looking forward to the future. How do we build a student ministry of vision?
What I mean by vision is that everything we do has a purpose. When I started in student ministry, my planning approach to planning was to throw events at a calendar and print it. Now after a few years to learn from trial and error I have learned a few ways to plan with a strategy.
1) Vision is the source of the planning process. Vision is the "why and what." What is the vision of the ministry? Ask a lot of questions to get to the heart of what the vision entails.
2) Strategy is how we fulfill the vision. How do we achieve the vision? You first need to know where you are going and then work your way backwards to how you will reach your goal. This is basically the "how" of ministry.
3) Feedback keeps the vision at the center of the planning. Keep the main vision in front of the ministry and refuse to become stuck in the busyness of ministry. If we don't continually cast vision that is as big as God, we can easily sink the mission. Many ministries become focused upon one area of discipleship and become silos instead of channels of God's vision.
What do you think about how vision impacts planning in student ministry? How important is vision?
We are beyond excited for our Costa Rica mission trip! We are partnering with Pura Vida Missions. We look forward to heading down with 31 awesome people from Church @ The Springs.
We are headed to Costa Rica to share the love of Jesus Christ. If you are looking for a solid mission trip for your student ministry, check out Pura Vida Missions!
Would you pray for us this week?
Pray that lives would be changed in San Ramon by Jesus.
Pray that our team will have a new understanding of the worldwide picture of the gospel
Pray for safety as we go into 6 different villages per day to lead Bible clubs for children and students.
We created three vbs teams and each team went to two spots per day. We gave out almost 50 bibles to new disciples and those who did not have one. One of the most heartbreaking moments was running out of bibles and children and youth asking for one. I am not used to people so hungry for the bible! I was able to see in that moment that being on mission is being the hands, feet and voice of Christ. We need to show it by our actions and take the next step to verbalize the gospel. God showed up at each location through the simple extension of people who love children. See how Jesus responded to children!
