You plan a mission project for your students. You are going to surprise some of your older church members by doing yard work for them. However, one elderly grandmother is a little too surprised at your students raking her leaves and calls the police. After the embarrassment of trying to explain what you were doing to a couple of angry police, you start to get the calls from angry parents and an angry pastor. As one parent hauls her son home, you hear the youth say, “That’s the last time I come to any of these mission projects.”

Maybe nothing like that has ever happened to you. Personally, I’ve led my share of projects that just haven’t worked. I had a prayer meeting at my house once not realizing my air conditioner had gone out. It was cool enough, until all the kids started showing up. We prayed together . . . but I probably should have cut the prayer time shorter. I got chased out of a mall once for trying to get students to distribute tracts there. I even managed to get students all mad at me once for taking them to an amusement park. (I still can’t figure that one out.)

So, what do you do when the wheels come off and things just don’t work?

First, don’t pretend like the event was okay. If it was a disaster, just admit it was a disaster. The fault will probably not be yours alone, but don’t try to explain why things went so bad. It is seldom any good to try to pass the buck. Admitting an activity didn’t go very well and asking for forgiveness is usually the best strategy.

Second, figure out how to head off similar problems that might come up in the future. A phone call to the elderly lady or the mall might have solved a lot of problems.

Third, may of us in youth ministry are not detail people. We tend to think about the big picture and miss the little details it takes to produce the big picture. Make sure you have some detail people who are helping you in ministry.

While youth, their parents, and the pastor are likely to forgive you for messing up on some activities, they will be more forgiving if that is the exception. Make sure that you take the time to do careful planning, even if that means you have to do fewer activities. Approach youth ministry with a passion for excellence . . . and then forgive yourself when one of those activities inevitably falls apart.