Community care and service projects are vital parts of youth ministry. But how can you get teens onboard for neighborhood outreach? Veteran youth leader Leneita Fix shares helpful insights about nurturing young servants.
The students stared at me blankly. I had hoped for a reaction of excitement and wonderment. I expected an overwhelming number of students to sign up for a local community service opportunity. After the silence came excuses of why kids couldn’t make it. It was disappointing that only five out of 100+ students wanted to spend a morning at a nursing home.
Not long after that, I heard a speaker discuss practical ways to get students more invested in their community. The key, he said, is to pinpoint their passions and offer opportunities from there.
The question that boggled me was, “What if kids don’t even know what they’re passionate about?” I had students who were excited about athletics, after-school activities, and video games. But I couldn’t figure out if they could use these for community care.
Passion Projects & Community Care
That’s when I had the idea for Passion Projects. I didn’t think students were apathetic and self-focused. So I asked them to brainstorm causes that affect our community. Then at youth group, they presented the needs. Every student had to pick a cause, like feeding homeless people, showing compassion to the elderly, and increasing self-esteem in schools.
Working in small groups for a month, we replaced our “regularly scheduled programs” with planning small, practical ways each group could do something for our community. Then we did those things. And this time, students were inspiring other students to serve. All of a sudden, even the most lethargic kid was excited.
3 Tips for Community Care in Youth Ministry
Use these tips to get kids invested in community care:
1. Start with a spark.
Sometimes teens don’t know how to put compassion into action. They know they are passionate about watching television but don’t realize that might be a conversation-starter for someone who’s lonely.
The key for community care? Spark something within a handful of youth that builds momentum. You don’t need your whole group to have buy-in, yet expect a few will. Then figure out a creative way to spark interest.
2. Service is a lifestyle.
It feels overwhelming to believe you must solve a whole problem in your community. Kids may feel too insignificant to show up for what they view as a random workday. Plus, teens don’t want to feel “awkward.”
Combat that by modeling that servanthood is an everyday feat. I love the saying from the movie Robots, “See a need. Fill a need.” Show students that service is not another program but an extension of who they are. Soon they will be sharing ways to extend community care.
