Oh, the youth mission trip. Smelly youth. Late nights. Hard work. Opportunities to see God in new ways. Chances are, your group's last mission trip took more time than expected to plan and some last-minute changes made life complicated for the leaders. Surely your mission trip brought challenges, but overall, it was probably a positive experience for those who attended, not to mention the mission work completed.
But now that you've returned from the mission trip, the positive, even life-changing, experiences need not end. In fact, it's important for youth to process their experiences-especially challenging experiences-in an ongoing way. The truth is, leading a mission trip doesn't end when you've arrived back home and taken that first blessed hot shower and unpacked. Rather, some of the most important experiences of a mission trip happen once youth have returned home and had some time for life to return to normal.
This session helps youth process their mission experience with the aims to discuss the mission experience after the fact, with a focus on Scripture, and consider how to share the mission experience with the rest of the congregation and youth.