This year we are very excited to roll out a couple new offerings here at YouthWorks. We’re looking forward to filling a few specific needs for the churches we serve while, at the same time, expanding the manner in which we engage communities.

TAILOR-MADE TRIPS

Sometimes a shirt or dress fits perfectly right off the shelf. But other times you need a skilled professional to make alterations so that it is actually just right for you. The best dress or shirt in the world is only great if it actually fits. And this is where Tailor-Made comes in. We want to help make your trip experience “fit” your church.

 

This fall, one of our new offerings is a fresh way of doing trips to the places YouthWorks is already serving; we are calling it Tailor-Made Trips. Basically, we want to work with churches to alter our offerings in ways that fit the unique needs of churches while still taking into account the needs of communities. Our desire is that by custom-fitting these trips we would meet the needs of both churches and communities in new ways.

 

 

So what does that look like? Well, if one church group is filling an entire week at a YouthWorks site, they might talk with us about making small changes to the week’s programming. A Tailor-Made Trip could include changes as simple as…

 

… a church group facilitating their own Club each night.

… an alteration to the schedule allowing a group to use an afternoon or evening for a unique activity.

… working on a specific project within the community that the church is uniquely qualified to complete.

 

On the other end of the spectrum, a group of any size may decide to take their own trip to a community YouthWorks is already serving in, and need help finding ministry sites, providing resources or setting up other details. Through our Tailor-Made offering, we want to walk alongside these churches as they seek to serve and learn from the communities we love.

 

These are just a couple examples of what a Tailor-Made experience might look like. Of course, the experiences will be as diverse as the church’s needs, so if you really want to see what a Tailor-Made Trip would look like for your church, call us to find out!

 

It’s important to add that, while the metaphor of “tailoring” captures our new offering well, like all metaphors, it does break down eventually. To be sure, we want to establish a few things about what Tailor-Made is not.

 

Tailor-Made is not a change in our values; we are still about youth, communities, respectful service, diversity and development. A Tailor-Made Trip is not “altering” the communities we work in to “fit” churches. Rather, we are customizing the way in which we empower youth and churches to serve within the community. We still desire to connect youth, churches and communities in a way that is most beneficial for everyone involved. It is from this desire to be mutually beneficial that Tailor-Made was born. We believe that there are new ways we can help churches connect, learn from and serve communities. We are doing this by helping churches connect with a community by better pairing the gifts, passions and skills of the church with the assets, desires and character of the community.

 

Tailor-Made might be a good option for you if…

 

…you are bringing a specific skill set or passion with the desire of getting plugged into a community.

…you have gone on mission trips to the same community multiple times and want to connect with the community in a new way.

…you want to be more involved in leading your own programming or worship during the trip.

…you have done YouthWorks before and want something new.

…you want greater involvement in your mission trip planning.

 

If you’re interested in hearing more about Tailor-Made Trips, enter your information here and we’d love to talk with you.

 

HOMETOWN MISSIONS INITIATIVE

Helping people bring service back home from mission trips is something we think a lot about. And we know that mission trips can have costs, considerations and logistics that don’t work for every group. So, after over 20 years of helping churches to serve across the country we want to help you serve across the street.

 

Imagine the impact, conversations, learning and service of a mission trip, but in your own community. While we recognize the distinct benefits of traveling to another place for a service-learning experience, we know there are plenty of reasons that many churches desire these experiences in their own community. So we want to help empower and equip those churches to do just that.

 

 

At YouthWorks, we spend a lot of time figuring out logistics, setting up meetings, evaluating community interactions, creating programming, setting up service experiences and much more to create smooth, effective ministry opportunities. We want to use the knowledge and experience we have gained to help you in serving in your hometown. We’ve seen how a YouthWorks mission trip can help get students outside of their comfort zone, examine their own lives and deepen their faith, and we would love to help you and your church create this atmosphere in your own community context.

 

The exact structure of our Hometown Missions Initiative is very flexible. We want to make it best fit your specific church, youth group and community. With lots of mission trip experience, our full time staff will work with you one-on-one in the process of setting up service, figuring out programming and working through details. We can provide logistical resources, expertise in setting up and facilitating service, staff on site to assist, and meeting with service partners for your Hometown experience.

 

If you’re interested in hearing more about what your Hometown Missions Initiative could look like, enter your information here. We’re excited to work with you!

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Jordan Sharp is YouthWorks’ Ministry Initiatives Coordinator who is leading the launch of the Hometown Missions Initiative and Tailor-Made Trips. Since 2009, Jordan has served in many capacities at YouthWorks, including serving as a site staff during the summer and setting up service and learning experiences within communities throughout the year. He is passionate about helping connect churches and communities through meaningful service and is excited to work one-on-one with churches through YouthWorks’ new initiatives.