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Try this at home!
So you want to plan a work trip . . .

MISSION TRIPS can change the lives of youth and youth workers.

If you've heard there are tremendous faith-development benefits from work trips, but you aren't sure where to start, this article can help you. Not only does it offer practical help in finding Disciples connections for planning, but it also helps make it clear why mission trips are such a great way to build up the body of Christ.

Even if you're a rookie mission trip organizer, don't under-rate the most important reason to embark on this kind of adventure: to build relationships--between the youth, their sponsors, their God and the world that needs their help. That's something you DO know about--and it will shape the whole experience.

Here are some places to begin:

1. Contact Disciples Home Missions. The Office of Disciples Volunteering resource book and the Get Dirty for Jesushandbook can help you get started, step by step to get into action. If you have questions along the way, if you are not sure where God is calling your group, pick up the telephone and call the Office of Disciples Volunteering at (888) 346-2631 to get more ideas.

2. Send your potential leader(s) on a training trip with Disciples Home Missions. Several times a year, Office of Disciples Volunteering sponsors training events ranging from a weekend to a week or ten days. On these trips, participants go on a work trip, experience what it's like and receive training so they come back with the skills to plan and carry out a work trip in their congregation. Call the Office for details about the trip closest to you this year! And if there's not one near you, ask about hosting one. The Office of Disciples Volunteering will do the work of putting it together and recruiting ... you provide the space and work sites.

3. Write a letter to all potential work trip participants (and parents if it's for youth) that will begin to outline what you're planning. It should include these things: What's the need in this location? Why should we go away instead of working here at home? Why WORK (as opposed to a fun trip of skiing or camping)? What will we do in addition to working? Issue an invitation to come and hear about it.

4. Talk to others who have done work trips. Are there churches in your region who have gone before? What do they suggest? Are there kids or adults from those churches who would be willing to come and talk to your group about their experiences?

5. Think of those in your congregation with specific skills and invite them to be a part of this adventure! It doesn't hurt to ask and you may be surprised. Many people are just waiting for a chance to use their skills to make a difference in the world. Your invitation may be just what they're waiting for!

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