Campus Life TRIPS
Definition:
Campus Life Trips take young people out of their environment for a shared experience. Trips provide an environment where God transforms lives through memorable experiences, authentic Christ-centered relationships, and a clear presentation of the gospel. We view trips as an extended Building Time.
WHY DOES CAMPUS LIFE USE TRIPS AS AN RMA?
There are many reasons we use trips as an RMA in our relational ministry strategy. Here are just a few.
· To share Christ with lost young people. Campus Life wants to clearly communicate the message of Jesus Christ to every young person. The first and foremost purpose for doing a trip is to provide yet another opportunity for students to hear the gospel message.
· To enable Christian students and staff to use their life to present Jesus. We should all be living representatives for Christ in our daily lives, but trips allow us another place to display our walk with Christ. Christian students don’t often consciously think about using their life to “speak” Christ to their friends. As staff, we can facilitate the practice of that on a trip.
· To build a relationship with a student (listen to their story and connect our stories). Trips are ideal fro providing concentrated time with students. You have 24 hours a day, for 2-10 days to get to know someone’s story. That can happen on a bus, while you are getting ready for bed, over a meal, or anywhere. But, you have to be intentional about building that relationship. We are always stressing to our volunteer staff that they must be WITH the kids wherever they go. This can be uncomfortable for them at times, but is necessary in order to build relationships. As you establish and build relationships, it will become clear how their stories can connect with God’s story.
· To create positive memories. Many kids have never been away from home and have very few positive experiences in their life. A Campus Life trip can be the first time that they do something for themselves or have a positive experience without doing anything illegal. Any memory you build on a trip will last for years. Kids will very often go back and laugh or talk about what happened on a trip. They in turn become your best marketing effort fro the trip next year.
· To work together as the body of Christ (volunteer team). Trips provide a chance for so many different people to come together to pull off a successful trip. You will learn who is good at what and how to motivate and equip your volunteer leaders. When they are able to practice their area of strength, they will engage and feel fulfilled. Examples are: know who is good at mechanical things in case of a break down; know who is good at details and can make sure each person is counted before leaving a location every time; know who is the jokester and put him/her at the back of the bus/van and let them have at it! When students see a team of Christians working well together, it is such a testimony of God’s body of believers and kids will be attracted to that community.
· To build momentum for CL in the school. Everyone will be talking about the CL trip before you depart and long after your return. If you go on a trip with 15 kids and they come back and are saying positive things, your numbers will surely increase the following year. Repetition in trips is very wise, because then people will begin to expect that trip each year and can plan for it and look forward to it.
· To reach some kids who would never otherwise be interested in CL. Trips are a selling point. Once a student goes with you on a trip you will always have a connection point with them. You will also get some students to go because they especially like the trip you are offering. For example: camping and hiking, an amusement park, lying in the sun in Florida, etc. If the student likes the trip, he/she will be much more apt to come to other CL events.
HOW DOES CAMPUS LIFE USE TRIPS?
1. THE PRE-TRIP
PLANNING
· Transportation/drivers. You must make sure you have enough drivers per vehicle and that they all have their YFC application turned in and accepted. They also must have 100/300 insurance to drive a vehicle with students in it and must be at least 21 years old. Do not ask volunteers to drive who are uncomfortable or feel they are poor drivers. You must stress the importance of safety to each driver. Make sure they are closely following each other and have a mode of communication, i.e. walkie-talkies, cell phones. The lead vehicle will make all decisions about where and when to stop. Each vehicle should also have written directions of where you are going, in case of emergency. Always stop together and never leave any one vehicle behind. If you traveling by bus and have more than 3 busses, then break into groups of 2 for quicker stops and faster travel. Also, if you have any hesitations about your bus driver, have a Campus Life staff stay awake with that driver throughout the night. We recommend having one staff person serve as your “bus captain” or liaison with the bus driver in each bus of your convoy. Thoroughly look over any rental vehicle before leaving the lot to see if there are any dings or nicks that were pre-existing. Write them down and make sure the company is aware of those before you leave!
· Budget. After you have decided what exactly you are going to be doing, make a list of all of your projected costs; transportation, activities, food, equipment, speakers, etc. If you want to charge your staff less, add that into the students cost. Then add up all your expenses and divide it by the number of paying people. That will give you how much your trip will cost per student. NEVER BUDGET TO LOSE MONEY!! Always have an overage of at least 5 – 10 % on the total expenses, just in cases of emergency.
· Student fundraisers. You should consider providing 2-3 different fundraisers for your students who might otherwise not be able to afford going on the trip. . Typically, we don’t let kids start fundraising before their deposit is in, because they may not go on the trip and then they have raised money that isn’t going toward him/her trip. If, for some reason, that happens, where a student raises money and then doesn’t go on the trip, we hold their money in an account for them to go on a future Campus Life trip or they can transfer it to a friend who is going on the trip. Don’t let the kids turn in tons of cash to you or tons of pennies. Tell them to have a parent write one check to Campus Life for the total amount, to eliminate confusion. Campus Life then writes the check out to pay the company, i.e. Pizza Hut. That way, the student is making a profit. You, as the Campus Life director, decide how much each student will make on each sale. You can also have then raise money for your staff to go through the fundraisers.
· Parent meeting. You want to create excitement for the students at this meeting, as well as to inform and calm parents. This meeting usually happens 2 weeks before the departure of the trip. At that meeting they turn in their final money, decide rooming lists, fill out any remaining sheets, get packing lists, etc. If you are leading a small trip (under 10) then do this information over the phone. Set up a registration table and make sure everyone feels like they know what is happening next. Tell them it is a mandatory meeting, if they want to get in a room with their friends. (That always makes them come.)
· Plan the itinerary. Don’t fill up your schedule just to have something to do. First think about what you want to accomplish in the kids and staff and then ask yourself, “what could we do that would foster that outcome?” Activities without a purpose are not worth doing. Keep in mind, the purpose could be to have fun or to have a shared experience, but make sure that someone knows WHY you are doing anything. Give enough time for the kids to just hang out – caution against over programming. Remember that your objective is to build relationships, not just to do activities. Make sure to find time for the staff to get away and have alone time with God, and find time for the staff to pray/worship together. That is the fuel that makes the week keep going smoothly. Have a mix of things to do that will be enjoyable to different types of kids – not just things that you like to do. Make it easy for staff to hang out with kids – don’t pull the staff out of activities to help you (if you can resist that). Give your most time, or best time, to the things that are most important to you. I.e. don’t try to do small groups at 12:00 at night after a super long day and expect that to be the best part of the day.
PROMOTION
· Posters/ Announcements – There are many ways to promote a trip you are going on. The more ways you promote, the better off you will be. Don’t just use flyers, or just use phone calls. Use all of these combined. 6-8 months before your trip, you can start hanging up posters in visible places for students/parents to see. Make sure you check with your school to see if they will allow you putting up posters are school. Also see if your school will allow you to put in an announcement to the entire school about your trip. Some schools will allow this. Make it creative and “ear-grabbing”. Put one in every week for a month before you start promoting heavily.
· Flyers/registration form, sign up sheet – We have enclosed a sample flyer and registration that you could use as an example for passing out flyers. It is also helpful to take with you (to club or to certain contacting times) a clipboard and pen and have kids who are interested in going on the trip to sign their name and phone number on your sign up list. That way, you have a list to work off, when you start phone calling.
· Phone calls – Once you have a list of potential names, pick a night or two and get all your volunteers together at a place with lots of phones. Divide up the lists; make sure they know all the info to answer questions with; and set them loose. You can have all your kids called in 2 hours or less! As the Campus Life Director, wander around and answer questions your staff may not know. This is a huge step, because you will have a much better idea of who is going after phone calls to parents are made.
· Video – This has been a great tool! If you know someone, or even a student, who can put together a 3-5 minute video of your last CL trip, then ask if you can play it at school. Sometimes, schools do video announcements and will allow this. If not, show it at your clubs or anywhere else that kids are.
TRAINING
· Recruiting and screening staff/ training day – Every staff you have go with you on a trip must have already filled out a volunteer application form before leaving on the trip! We would suggest that you meet one on one with every new staff you may have going on trip to find out their interests, as well as to be aware of any potential problems. Don’t be afraid to ask people NOT to come on the trip if you are in any way unsure of them. You do NOT want to risk the kids being misled. God will provide all that you need! We suggest getting all the staff together about 1-2 weeks prior to leaving on the trip so that they can meet one another and so that everyone is on the same page before leaving. We have enclosed an agenda for you to look at to see what things need to be covered at this meeting. Don’t assume that your staff knows all that is expected! Go through everything very thoroughly. The biggest thing they need to know is how to run an effect small group as well as how to articulate the gospel to someone. Also, give them the names of specific kids that they will be responsible for so they can call them and introduce themselves and begin praying for those students by name.
· Student to staff ratio – Ideally, you should try and have 1 staff for every 4 kids. This allows for more personal contact between the kids and staff and also cuts down on disciplinary problems. Practically speaking, 1 staff for every 7 kids is safe and acceptable, but less staff begins to become potentially dangerous.
· Placing kids in rooms- This can be tricky! You need to pray very much over these decisions. You will have the feedback from the kids about who they will want to be with; but you ultimately make the final decisions. Try not to put all the kids who are Christians together – but rather, separate them somewhat to allow them to evangelize to new people. They may whine about this, but it is worthwhile in the long run. There are so many variable with this; so just make sure you bathe this one in prayer!
2. THE TRIP
VOLUNTEER STAFF
· Staff Meetings - Have regular staff meetings while on a trip. These meetings should provide a time for your volunteer team to pray, share frustrations /concerns, and be informed of the daily schedule and possible changes.
Meetings could include a devotional time and worship. Staff pastors to lead devotional and prayer time could be useful with a large number of volunteer staff.
· Play it safe - Remember you, and your volunteers are the responsible adults for a group of teenagers. Don't compromise safety (especially driving) or credibility with parents just because your students will think it is fun. When in doubt… DON'T! Remember to leave a good reputation wherever you go.
APPOINTMENTS (ONE ON ONE)
· During the trip each student should have an intentional appointment with a staff. The desired outcome of an appointment is that every student on the trip has the opportunity to hear a clear presentation of the gospel and is asked to respond one way or another. Secondly, that every student is sent home with a deeper understanding of God. (See Trips appendix G, small group booklet, page 6-7 for tips on how to do an appointment)