How many marshmallows can you cram in your mouth and still say “Chubby Bunny?” I bet if you grew up in church at some point in your youth group experience you crammed about 15 big, fluffy marshmallows in your mouth and tried not to gag as the wet sugary slime slid down your throat. Skip ahead 5, 10, 20 years and here you are, a youth leader with kids anxiously awaiting another night of youth group. It’s tempting to just do the exact same thing we did when we were in youth group. But the world is a different place. For many of us, while the world has changed, our youth ministry tends to look much like it did years ago.

As the leader of a small youth group, you may feel paralyzed in your charge to spiritually educate students. The challenges you face seem daunting. Parents of your students and even your pastor may not be supportive of the hard work you do. You work a full-time job and have limited time to plan activities. On top of that you can’t get students to show up consistently. (Ever sit alone 15 minutes before youth group starts hoping you’ll have 2 to 5 students so the game you planned will actually work?)

As the world has changed, so our approach to ministry has to change and adapt. If our students are seeing, traveling, experiencing more and more at an earlier age, why shouldn’t we be doing everything we can to guide them and help shape their world views? One way we can have more influence in the lives of the students we serve is by taking students on international mission trips. Really? But the costs!? The prep time! It’s too complicated! I know these thoughts are flying through your head, but international travel has never been easier — and more and more youth groups, small and large, are taking students overseas to get out of their comfort zones and serve those less fortunate. The result: life change.

Kelsey, a 17-year-old girl who has been on two Sweet Sleep Mission Journeys to Moldova, a small country in Eastern Europe, says her life has been forever changed by being exposed to orphan care ministry halfway around the world. This past summer she gave nearly a month of her time to serve in Moldova, Chicago, and Guatemala.

“Leon and I are so proud of our little girl,” said Kelsey’s mom, Debbie. “When we returned from serving in Drochia, Moldova, two days later we were in the US Virgin Islands for family vacation.  While on the beach in St. John, Kelsey said, ‘If I could leave the beach right now and go back to Moldova, I would.’  And, she meant every word of it.”

Students these days have many options when it comes to activities, vacations, and traveling sports groups. And while students enjoy what they do at church — hanging out with friends, singing, and shoving an occasional marshmallow in their mouths, it seems today, more than ever, students are seeking experiences from their churches that challenge them to give back, help others less fortunate and make their mark on the world.

If you’ve never considered taking your students on an international mission trip, I hope you’ll take a look at just how simple it can be. Sweet Sleep, our ministry of providing beds to orphaned and abandoned children around the world, takes groups of 8-20 students on mission journeys from Haiti, to Moldova –- even Africa! We book your airline tickets, give you a leader notebook walking you through everything to do in your prep meetings, book in-country lodging, meals, translators – we take care of everything. We’ll even send a staff member from our U.S. office along to meet up with our staff in-country to walk along side your group as you serve making international missions easier than you ever imagined. If you’d like to discuss options for your group, just give me a call at 615-730-7671 or jennifer@sweetsleep.org.

So this week, be creative! Be a trail-blazer. Plan something to get your students to think deeper and to help your group get our of their comfort zones –- where life change happens. Just step away from the marshmallows! And now you can rest easy knowing that even taking students half a world away to serve is not out of your reach.

About the author:
Jennifer Gash is the President and Founder of Sweet Sleep, a non profit ministry that exists to share God’s love by providing beds to the world’s orphaned and abandoned children. Jen is an active member of Brentwood Baptist Church and lives in Nashville with her dog, Chinch, and Galina Tiscenco, a teenage girl from Moldova who grew up in one of Moldova’s orphanages, and is now living with Jen while studying in the U.S. on a student visa.

About Sweet Sleep:
Sweet Sleep is a non-profit ministry which provides beds to the world’s orphaned and abandoned children. According to recent estimates, there are more than 210 million orphans worldwide. Every day, 5,760 more children become orphans. Sweet Sleep works closely with indigenous staff, and U.S. churches and businesses to provide beds and bedding with a goal of providing “a bed for every head.” Since 2003, Sweet Sleep has provided nearly 2,000 beds for orphans in Eastern-Europe and Haiti and is working on a new project in Uganda launching in 2009. Sweet Sleep arranges custom mission trips for churches and youth groups to build these beds and minister to orphans around the world. For more information, visit www.sweetsleep.org.