Our youth group is going to Haiti for a missionary group. I think this is a wonderful experience, however there are many downsides. For one, to me, i’d have to get a passport and get alot of shots and miss a week of school. That would be tons to catch up on since i have a lot of homework anyways. dont get me wrong, the people there really need help. we’d be building things, teaching children sunday school, and cleaning up, but theres too many downsides. would you go?

Are you sure this is still on? THIS IS A BAD IDEA.

Read about the trouble two church workers got into: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34958965/ns/world_news-haiti_earthquake/

There is no place to stay. There are no toilets. There is very little electricity.

Think about what you would need:

If you went for 10 days, you would need a gallon of water for each day. A gallon of water weighs about 8.5 pounds. That’s 85 pounds of water.
You would need your own food. Figure a pound of food a day. 10 pounds.
You would need a sleeping bag and a tarp. 8 pounds.
A mosquito net–mosquitos carry malaria, dengue fever, and other diseases. 5 pounds.
How about a first aid kit? 2 pounds.
Clothing? 10 pounds.

So, you have more than 100 pounds of supplies _just for yourself_ to lug around destroyed streets, in 80+ degree heat, surrounded by stinking, rotting corpses.

Don’t expect a motor vehicle to transport you.

Your health insurance is not valid in Haiti. If you break a limb, you would go to the end of the line for treatment. If it were an open break and became infected, the current treatment of choice is _amputation_, because of the lack of antibiotics.

It’s with my youth group, and I was wondering if any one knows if it’s cool over there.

As to whether or not you should go is something that only you can answer. First of all, I strongly suggest that you consult the Lonely Planet web site: www.lonelyplanet.com and read up all you can about this Central American country.

Secondly, check out or buy a Lonely Planet travel guide book for this country too. The information contained therein is truly remarkable. I am assuming that you are quite young – no insult – and inexperienced in international travel. It is wise to be going there with a guide and a group as I would not recommend visiting this country alone, and especially a female(?) at your age.

Do be prepared that Guatemala is a very, very poor country and Americans are viewed as being rich which makes tourists targets for thefts and rip-offs. Keep a watchful eye on your surroundings at all times as you cannot afford to be unattentative.

The huge difference in cleanliness standards will probably be quite shocking, and always take/carry with you your own stock of toilet paper. Toilets there – and throughtout all of Central and South America for that matter do NOT handle the paper and
CANNOT be flushed down. A basket for your used paper will be on the floor nearby. Also, they do not have hot running water. Showers are usually equipped with a very scarry device that heats the water as it runs through the head. Electrical wires dangle above – so do not touch them, and do not change the temperature switch while the water is running.

Since I have no idea where you will be staying for your mission, the standards there will still be very different from what you are used to….as will be the food. But this exposure will broaden you immensely and give you a far greater appreciation for what you and for what most Americans take for granted.

DO NOT DRINK THE WATER or eat any salad or fruit washed with the local water either. Without a doubt, Guatemala will be a shock for you. The country has huge jade deposits and jewellry and sculptures made out of jade are beautiful and economically priced as well.

The standard dress of the indigenous people are very colorful and can be purchased. These hand-embroidered poncho-like tops are exquisite and many travelers use them as wall hangings.

So do some research. A visit to the Tekal National Park is well worth it to see the Myan ruins. You can also whizz across the canopy for about $35.00 and private tour companies offer these services.

Hope this helps……Sandy

I’m bringing my youth group (about 20 or so kids) to Orlando, FL next summer for a mission trip. We have a day off on a Saturday and I’m in need of some help. I need to know the best/closest beach for us to visit for a day. If possible, I’d like to find a beach that won’t be too crowded as well.

Cocoa Beach is the Closest. Head East on the Beachline (SR 528) from Orlando and it is about 1 hour away. Parts may be crowded on a good day but it’s a long beach and there will be plenty of uncrowded sections.

Another Option is the Canaveral National Seashore. This will be most uncrowded, but also has no facilities – save parking-lots and primitive toilets – but it is pristine and un molested. There are two access points. The Southern end (Playalinda Beach) is accessed from Titusville and the Kennedy Space center. The Northern end (Apollo Beach) is accessed from New Smyrna Beach. The two sections do not connect by road and are 30 miles apart. The South entrance may be closed if it is a shuttle launch day as the access road in the Kennedy Space Center. The Northern end of Playalinda is the unofficial nude beach, so stick to the first 5 or 6 parking lots if you go to Playalinda and don’t want encounter the unclothed.

To get to Apollo Beach you have to drive right through New Smyrna Beach. This is also a good, family oriented beach with many uncrowded sections. You can drive on many sections of the beach, but other sections (south of 27th Ave) are off limits to cars.

New Smyrna is a little over an hour away (I-4 and SR 44). Add another 15 or 20 minutes to get to Apollo Beach

on a mission trip my youth director matched us each to a biblical character that he thought we matched closely with/could relate to. I understand the story, but still can’t seem to pull out many general characteristics.

1. One apparent characteristic; willing to overlook an offense.
Possible 2nd characteristic. Willing to change.

so im suppose to make a poster for my church tomorrow.. and its supposed to be for our youth worship teams mission trip to mexico. any ideas what i can write that wouldnt sound mean like "support mexico trip" cause thats kinda too commanding. lol and what kind of pictures should i draw? =)

thanks for any ideas! =D

"Help the Word of God take a trip to Mexico."

"The Youth Ministry is going to Mexico."
"Any donation would be dearly appreciated."

Draw the State of Mexico with a bunch of happy youth going there

A team from the church is going on mission trip this summer it cost a lot. What are some fund-raising ideas you have that would help out the team? I think a one day event deal would work great too. Do you know of any fundraiser events that will bring in a lot of people and help us out?

Thank you for your help

On top of any event you may host, I would recommend scrip sales (gift certificates)…there are some very reputable companies out there that have a lot of experience helping groups such as yours earn money. You don’t make much on each sale, but it truly is easy especially with the holidays coming up soon. The other benefit to this is that you can get people on scrip programs which will help generate monies on an ongoing basis for future trips as well.

I recommend a company called Great Lakes Scrip. They can be checked out at www.glscrip.com…worth a look.

Im 15 years old and i got to church every sunday and every sunday morning service i almost fall asleep and i dont remember the sermon and now im going on a Youth Mission Trip and i have to get up at 6:30 and listen to 2 hours of sermons. is there anything i can do?
uummm i dont want to drink coffee or energy "drinks"

the only i could think of now is try sleeping earlier & getting longer hours of sleep at night. also, take a shower in the morning, so u can feel more refreshed + drink a cold glass of milk. good luck [;
it’s okay, i have gone through that phase when i was younger too.

i want to be a youth minister and im trying to go through a program that helps people with disabilites and i need to show them that youth ministers have a lot of physical requirements. for example: missions trips and activities and camping trips and such ect. ect. Could anyone tell me what a youth ministers regular physical activity at work is?

my youth program doesn’t go anywhere. but then again, we only have six people in our youth group, and we just started it last month, so i probably won’t be any help on this question.

We leave in mid-July, there are four of us total with an estimated expense of $1800 each. We will be teaching English as a second language to children who live in poor financial conditions. We will also be teaching Bible studies in the church services to the youth.

Start a webpage you can get free e-commerce webpages (just google free website), get a paypal account and advertise it on the net.

I am 18 years young and am going to Guatemala for a 2-month mission trip in May with Youth in Mission and I was wondering if anyone knew of any good prep-books for missions-interested or missions-preparing teenagers.

congratulations!!! I would check out amazon.com for books relating to this trip….and again, it’s soo good to see the Lord working in the lives of others as they reach out to help others….peace…Cuervo