In the coming weeks, Students will be returning from summer camps, mission trips, or service projects. This extended time taking in God’s Word or serving God’s mission provided fertile ground for the Holy Spirit to work in your students’ lives. Whether you led the trip or not, it’s important to follow up with students about how God was working. We asked a variety of questions to youth ministers about how they debrief summer trips.
How do you debrief with students immediately after a summer trip and in the months that follow?
Huey Lee, Assistant Pastor at Christ Central Presbyterian Church in Centreville, VA
We intentionally build debrief time into the mission trip itself rather than treating it as an afterthought. For example, on a recent six-day domestic trip, we added an extra day at the end specifically for a retreat-style debrief. We arrived Friday evening for dinner and a time of worship and reflection, then spent Saturday morning through early afternoon walking through a set of reflection questions together.
We ask students to share highlights and journal through questions like: What are you most thankful for as you transition home? What do you regret or need to repent of? What did God reveal to you about himself, and about yourself? How is he challenging you to move toward others? How do you want this experience to shape how you live?
We close by having each student write down four to six people (i.e. family, church members, prayer and financial supporters) with whom they’ll intentionally share their experience, so the debrief doesn’t end when the retreat does.
In the months that follow, we schedule a worship and testimony night four to six weeks after returning. The whole youth ministry gets to hear grace stories directly from their peers who went. This is important to us because the trip was never just the sent team’s experience; it belongs to the whole youth ministry. Whether we went or we sent, we all participated. So whatever the team celebrates, the entire youth ministry gets to celebrate too. The fruit of the trip becomes shared fruit rather than a story only a few students carry.
How do you continue to invest in students relationally/emotionally once the “trip high” has faded?
Kyle Hoffsmith, Pastor of Family Ministry at Old North Church in Canfield, OH
Every youth pastor and volunteer knows the “trip high” will eventually drop and “normal life” will set in. We don’t know exactly when this will take place for each student because everyone’s body and life situation is different. This drop doesn’t mean the trip was unsuccessful. Instead, it points to the greater reality that God gave us emotions that fluctuate at times, and we need to intentionally disciple each student. I have grown to consider at least two things as camps or mission trips end:
Find out what the students learned on the trip. I do this by having a survey printed before the trip and have them fill it out on the last night. I ask questions about what they learned and who they met. This gives me actual information that I can use in conversations with them and to help plan teaching times after the trip to make the impact of the camp or mission trip last longer.
Have clear next steps for the students. Along with the survey, I also give them an opportunity to sign up for a conversation about baptism or serving in different areas of our youth group. This helps students think about applying what they learned and invites them to consider how their learning affects their real lives. Several years ago, I had a student sign up to serve in our tech booth during worship. I’m not sure he would have served in this way if I didn’t put the opportunity in front of him to sign up at the end of a week of camp, when he was thinking clearly about God and serving.
Sure, the “trip high” will wear off. Don’t be discouraged. Your worth as a youth pastor or volunteer comes from the gospel, not from students’ emotions. God will use you as you lead students this summer!
How do you shepherd students who sense a call to missions after a trip?
Ben Birdsong, European Expansion Director for First Priority Global Ministries
Mission trips can become defining moments and catalysts for students to go into missions, but it is important that, as youth ministers, we help shepherd well in these moments. Here are a few things to discuss with your students and questions to consider:
A call to missions must last after the “high” of the mission trip experience has waned. Does it last?
A call to missions includes all moments of life, not just on a trip away from home. How can your student express their call to missions and serve others on mission at home?
A call to missions comes with a cost. Does your student understand the hard work missionaries experience every day once the team has left?
A call to missions is distinct from a general call to share the gospel. Does your student understand that all Christians are called to be on mission and that a call to full-time missions is distinct?
Youth ministers and lay leaders have the great opportunity to shepherd the next generation who feel called to missions. In this shepherding, be intentional about connecting students who may feel called to missions with other missionaries and people serving around the world, so they can help them answer their questions and steward that call.
How do you help parents debrief with their teenagers?
Avery Nichols, Graduate of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Youth Minister’s Wife at North Shelby Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL
Church leaders and teachers only meet with students three hours a week at most. Parents are with their child every day of the week. Parents are the primary disciplers. Ministers and leaders should come alongside parents to provide them with resources to help them succeed in the role God has given to them. A simple way for parents to do this is through “Car Ride Conversations”.
Car Ride Conversations are a quick and easy way for parents and children to connect after church activities, retreats, or trips. Ministers can assist parents by providing a few questions and a key verse based on the lesson that evening or from the trip. The questions can be printed on a small flyer, emailed, or texted out to parents before students return from the trip. Many parents benefit from all three types of communication!
These questions should be concise, detailed, and open-ended—detailed so that parents can understand the context without taking time away from a good discussion, and open-ended so a teenager cannot get through the question too quickly without thinking of a response. If you are able, provide parents with the teaching outlines or devotional materials beforehand. Many camps even provide devotionals that students can use following the trip. If devotional materials are given to students after a trip, follow up with families on their time using the devotional.
Lastly, make sure to give parents a key verse or theme from the trip. This gives parents the opportunity to open God’s Word with their child. Encourage parents by letting them know that it is okay not to know the answer to every question their child might have and that the conversation may seem awkward at first. Make it easy for them to contact you after they have debriefed with their child and follow up with parents to assist them as they navigate discipling their children.
How do you help students process difficult moments from a trip?
Jacob Bier, Pastor to Emerging Generations at Springton Lake Presbyterian Church in Newtown Square, PA
Travel delays, sickness, interpersonal drama—any time you take a trip, there’s bound to be some bumps in the road. For both students and leaders, these difficult moments might threaten to derail the whole experience. And yet, Scripture tells us that suffering is one of the ways that God sanctifies us (Rom. 5:3-5). Rather than seeing trials as a threat, we should view them as opportunities to help our students grow in their trust and dependence on the Lord.
Pray: Prayer should not be a last resort, after we’ve exhausted all other solutions; it should be the very first thing we do. Scripture is full of examples of God’s people crying out to him in the midst of difficulty (Ps. 142:1-2; Jonah 2:2; 1 Peter 5:6-7, etc). As adult leaders, we may think we already know what to do in response to the situation, but without prayer, we act proudly as if we don’t really need God’s help (Prov. 16:1-3).
When we pray with our students, we acknowledge our own need before God and model what humble reliance on him looks like. Those are the prayers he delights to answer. Prayer turns a frustrating situation into a discipleship moment where we practice what we preach, calling out to the Lord and depending on him. It’s also an opportunity to remember that Christ said he would be with us, even unto the end of the age (Matt. 28:20).
Act: After we’ve prayed, it’s time to take action, whatever that may be. As adult leaders, we need to courageously take charge of the situation, owning up to our responsibility. But, as best we’re able, we should invite students to be a part of the solution. God has given each of them unique gifts and abilities to be used in service of the body (1 Cor. 12:4-7). It may be that, in the Lord’s providence, this difficult moment happened so that one or more of your students might step forward in faith and use their gifts. What looks like a bad situation may actually be the place where God is most at work.
Follow-up: Whatever the outcome, it’s important that we follow up and process what happened, whether that’s with the whole group or just a few individuals. This might look like a time for testimonies and rejoicing over the Lord’s provision (Ps. 40:1-3), or it may be more like lament and continued prayer (Ps. 13). Either way, good or bad, we need to help students see that God is still in control and is at work—even this difficult situation will ultimately be used for his glory and our good (Rom. 8:28). While we might never have planned for this to happen, we can trust in God’s providence and promises.
Do you still have a summer trip ahead of you? Check out our most recent webinar on Preparing for Summer Camp and Youth Service Trips.
