Summer Mission Trips During Covid in 2021
Students from Topeka First UMC work on a local mission project
How have you and your church handled summer youth mission trips through Covid?
Covid has cancelled and disrupted many things, including summer mission trips. These are pivotal and formative faith experiences built into many youth ministries. Many are even Rites of Passage into youth group. So, what do you do when the travel isn’t possible or feasible?
Our solution at Topeka First UMC was to stay local. Here’s why.
By partnering with local non-profit organizations with ties to our church and the community we coordinated a five day experience in which youth got to serve as the hands and feet of Christ in their own city. This was our second summer in which we did a local Mission Week experience instead of a trip. The first year (2020) we were forced to, the second (2021) was a decision made by our Youth Discipleship Team and Staff after feedback from and discussion with youth and their parents. Health and safety for everyone - our participants and those we’d be working for and with - was the primary cause for our decision the last two years. The result however has been overwhelmingly positive in a number of ways for us. The biggest three ways?
Accessibility - More youth were able to participate in our mission week! With all the summer activities and conflicts (athletics, camps, driver's ed., work, family events, etc.) having a local mission experience in which youth could be at a single day or all five days based on their schedule was a huge benefit! Without this kind of flexibility, half of our youth would not have been involved. Further, staying local cut down costs. Meaning, families with multiple youth and/or minimal disposable income could afford the experience. We always work to find a way to help youth go on mission and camp experiences when money is a barrier, but there are still many instances when families make decisions purely based on the $300-$400+ sticker price.
Visibility - Our mission partners, church members, and community got to see our youth at work! More people than ever before got to see our youth in action when serving locally. Our youth got to show their family and friends their work in person too! We intentionally scheduled a project at the church over the course of mission week that allowed our youth to serve with our UMM group and others. Now, every time they come to church they will see the playground and labyrinth they helped with, and know every person who enters the Play and Pray area has been able to find renewal in some way thanks to their efforts.
Sustainability - The work we did with our local mission partners resulted in more year-round mission opportunities for our youth; as a youth group and as individuals. This kind of relationship and connection for youth is huge! For, so many organizations put restrictions on who can serve (some for insurance reasons and others thinking youth won’t cut it). Giving our youth direct connections to local missions has allowed them to serve in tandem with the rest of our church family. This also means we get to see the vitality of our work. We didn’t go somewhere and leave wondering, “What’s going to happen when we leave or in a few years?
Okay, this is great, but what about teaching/learning content for the week?
You know your youth the best, not to mention what you’ve been teaching through the course of the year. You know what they’ve been learning and what they’ve yet to learn. Doing your own local mission week allows you to choose your theme and lessons. For, example, our last two themes have been Justice (2020) and Restoration (2021). The themes allowed us to incorporate what we knew was on our youths hearts and minds. You can incorporate your existing curriculum, as some offer retreat or camp content. Alternatively, you could reach out to your local church camp or mission trip organizations as they always get new lessons every summer.
Long story short, I highly encourage and recommend offering a local mission experience for your youth with some regularity. Whatever that means for you in your context. I’m excited to continue offering a local mission experience in years to come, as an additional or alternative experience for youth!
– Jacob Martin, Director of Youth Discipleship at Topeka First UMC and Campus Minister at Washburn University