Missional Activities are activities done for someone without receiving anything in return. Serving people with a heart like Jesus. It does not have to be a big thing or a hard for your teens. When working with a youth group, the key is to find a way to make serving others fun and let them be part of the planning.
An easy and fun thing to do as a group is to visit Nursing Homes. If you can go every week to a different Nursing Home rotate between 4 different ones in your town and when there is a 5th week, rotate to another Nursing Home in your area. We went to the Nursing Homes on Sunday afternoons but you choose the best day for your youth group and your local Nursing Homes. When you go to a Nursing Home, sing songs, play games, do crafts, etc. Have a plan before you get there. For every holiday, we had a small gift for each resident (these were things like cards, hand lotion, a small box of chocolate, a small craft item, etc. ~ It’s important to find out if anyone is on a special diet or if anyone has any allergies before choosing the gifts). At one of the Nursing Homes, each teen “adopted” a grandparent. This was someone they gave special attention to and would visit at other times besides just with the group. They would also bring something special for that “grandparent’s” birthday.
Another great Missional activity to do was to take a group around the neighborhood offering our services. We would rake leaves in the fall, shovel sidewalks in the winter, clean flower beds in the spring and mow lawns and pull weeds in the summer. We tried to find families who couldn’t afford to pay for these things or elderly families who struggled with these things. We never accepted payment for our work. If someone in our church needed painting done and our teens were old enough we would volunteer to help there as well. We always made sure an adult went with the teens to supervise and protect our teens. As a “thank you” to the teens for their hard work, I would take them for Pizza Hut pizza or plan a day of fun for them. The people you help should never reward the teens but it’s o.k. for you to show you appreciate all they do.
Tips & Warnings
1. Check your local and state laws before doing these things.
2. If you try to help someone or do something for them and they are not comfortable with it, ask if you can leave your name and church number in case they change their minds, then leave.
3. Always (no matter how old your teen is) send an adult with your youth group. This protects them from harm as well as from being falsely accused of something.
4. Keep in mind that if you or your youth group cause damage to anyone or their property, you will be responsible for damages.
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