© YOUTHWORKS 2020

Hometown Service Experience PRE-TRIP SET-UP RESOURCES

A note from YouthWorks, As we work to set up our traditional trips, a lot of thought goes into every component of the day – the theme, meals, service schedule, Evening Activities… you get the picture! As you think about your upcoming Hometown Trip, we wanted to share some of our resources with you, in case you want to add in more elements beyond the 8:30-4:30 day that YouthWorks is leading. We do want to acknowledge, however, that these resources are written largely for a world where COVID-19 doesn’t exist. Take time to adapt these to fit your church’s policies as well as CDC, state and local guidelines. You may find that you’ll need to adapt footwashing due to social distancing requirements or re-route an Evening Activity to a less crowded place. Also take a look at the YouthWorks COVID-19 Safety Plan (found on your dashboard), which can help guide you to determine how to keep your group safe if you choose to do activities outside of what YouthWorks provides. This resource provides instructions on these three components:

Part 1: Evening Activities

Part 2: Meals

Part 3: Footwashing

©YOUTHWORKS 2020

Evening Activities If you would like to include Evening Activities in your Hometown service experience, look no further. Here’s

an insider scoop on how YouthWorks plans and executes Evening Activities for our mission trips.

At YouthWorks we plan Evening Activities intentionally to engage students in the community around them. When setting up activities for our groups, we look for things that fall into these five categories: cultural, educational, relational, justice-focused and fun. Of course, many activities fit in to a combination of these things. In any given week, we aim to have a diverse offering of activities that cover most of these categories.

Example Evening Activities in the past include community speakers, cultural events (such as visiting another church, dance or music performances, hiking at a park or swimming at a beach/water park, museums/cultural centers, and more. Aim to find activities that open your student’s eyes to things that are new in their community. At YouthWorks we aim for our mission trips to be more than a tourism experience, rather we aim for participants to engage in the places they are serving. We hope to equip you with the resources to do the same!

Details to Consider When Planning Activities • Cost for activity- does this fit in your overall budget fore the event? • Drive time- how far away is it? Will you hit traffic on your way there? • Schedule- how long do you hope to spend at the activity? Is the drive time “worth it?” • Age of participants- is this activity age-appropriate for your students? • Community contact- will they interact with anyone from the community? • Backup activity for weather or cancellations- what will you do if this activity can’t happen?

A Note About Community Speakers At YouthWorks, we aim to create mission experiences that broaden perspectives, ignite passions, expose possibilities and inspire pursuits. Equipped with the knowledge that respectful service includes listening and learning to stories of community members, we strive to have a community speaker at most of our mission sites.

When looking for community speakers, look for individuals who are comfortable and skilled at communicating to a group of young people in an engaging manner. Consider looking for a community speaker that can speak on behalf of a specific social service organization or teach students about a specific social justice issue that is relevant to your area. At the conclusion of the activity, intentionally engage students in a discussion around the same topic. Make a few calls and explain what you hope students can learn from a community speaker. You will be surprised that people are generally willing to help with these types of requests!

Orientation Information& Ideas When you give an effective orientation, it will build excitement for the activity, but this is also a time to communicate necessary details and help students understand the significance of what they’re about to experience.

• Build excitement- Teenagers are excited when you are excited! • Provide information- When, where, “the plan” for the evening? • Motivation- Why are you going here? What do you hope for them to see or listen to? • Directions- Any specific things needed for this activity? Shoes, extra layers, etc.? • Safety – Explain boundaries of the activity, as well as any other safety expectations or

concerns.

©YOUTHWORKS 2020

Meals for Hometown Trips

We're anticipating that your Hometown Trip will function a bit like a day camp, where students eat breakfast at home and pack a lunch. However, if you're wanting to provide any meals for your group, here are some options that we do on our sites.

We know that making a meal together is a great way for youth to serve each other. Because of this, we've created meal plans that are easy for youth to prepare (with adult supervision, of course!). We also know that hometown missions can give your church and community the unique opportunity to serve your youth by preparing dinner for your students. Either way, here are some ideas to get you started.

Some Basic Tips:

• Buy in bulk! Do your shopping at stores such as Sam’s Club or Costco. • Keep it simple. Don’t prepare meals with lots of ingredients. • Plan meals with variations. This is helpful for picky eaters or folks with specific dietary

needs. Pick meals that can easily be adapted to be vegetarian, dairy-free or gluten-free, so you don’t have to prepare several different meals all at once.

Breakfast: Although it is more work to cook breakfast, prepared food is usually cheaper than cereal and milk – though if you want something easy, go for cereal and milk! Here are a few ideas for prepared breakfasts:

• Sausage and waffles (Eggo-brand) • Eggs, tater-tots and sausage • Breakfast burritos (eggs, tortillas, salsa, cheese, onions)

Lunch: YouthWorks ‘special it to pack lunches during breakfast. An easy way to do this is to put out meat trays (ham and turkey) along with sandwich fixings. Include veggies for sandwiches, mayo/mustard packets, peanut butter, jelly, individual chip bags, fruit, carrots, nuts, etc.

Dinner: Here are ideas for our favorite meals to share with a group:

14” pizzas cut in 8 slices:

2.5 slices / person – Middle School 3 slices / person – High School

16” pizzas cut in 8 slices: 2 slices / person – Middle School 2.5 slices / person – High School

Tacos: This is a great meal, enjoyed by most people. It can be adapted for many dietary needs: it can be vegetarian, dairy-free or gluten-free all without any extra cooking! Allergy Note: regular taco seasoning typically contains gluten.

Ingredients: ground beef (0.35 pounds per person), flour tortillas, corn chips, lettuce, sour cream, onion, tomatoes, corn, sprinkle cheese, nacho cheese, salsa and black beans.

Pizza: This is an easy and fun option to share a meal together. Typically, the cheapest places to purchase pizza are Little Caesars or Dominoes, ask for a deal for about $6-7 per pizza. Prepare a salad and cut up some watermelon to supplement the meal. See the boxes below for pizza portions for ordering. Simply multiply your group size by these numbers to know exactly how many pizzas to order. When in doubt, always round up!

©YOUTHWORKS 2020

Pasta: This meal is well-loved by young people, straight forward to prepare and inexpensive. This meal will give students lots of good energy for serving. This meal is a little more involved to cook (if you include all of the sides).

Ingredients: Penne noodles, red sauce (meatless), alfredo sauce, frozen meatballs, frozen broccoli, parmesan cheese, dinner rolls, side salad.

Pulled Pork: This is a very simple to prepare, but tasty meal for a large group. Plan on about 1.5 servings per person of meat and mac and cheese.

Ingredients: Frozen Pulled Pork (Sam’s Club sells a brand that is already barbeque sauced), hamburger buns, macaroni and cheese, baked beans (vegetarian) and a salad bar.

Cookout: A summer treat! Cookouts are great way to gather a group, and they are even more fun because they are best enjoyed outdoors! Pro tip: If you are cooking for a lot of people, give yourself a hour to grill up some food: keep it warm in an oven! Plan for 1.15 burgers per person and .6 hot dogs per person.

Ingredients: Hamburgers, veggie burgers, hot dogs, buns, burger fixings (ketchup, mustard, cheese, onions, tomatoes, lettuce). pasta salad, chips and salad bar.

©YOUTHWORKS 2020

Footwashing For those of you who have gone on a YouthWorks’ trip in the past, you will be familiar with the tradition of Footwashing. Typically, footwashing is the capstone experience of the mission trip week. During your Hometown Trip experience, you have the option of including footwashing as part of your service experience. While YouthWorks won’t facilitate this aspect of programming for you, we have put together this helpful sheet of information to help as you facilitate this for your students. The Why Footwashing offers a meaningful experience for students and leaders alike that encapsulates a week of service and commissions them to take Jesus’ example of humble service to their everyday lives. Introduce this time by reading John 13:1–17 (where Jesus washes his disciples’ feet) and explain the significance and meaning of this act. The Logistics As you prepare for your footwashing experience, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Gather Materials: You will need a few plastic basins (depending on group size), clean towels, soap, warm water and tissues (this time can be emotional for some students).

• Prepare Students: Consider how you will move your students toward a more reflective atmosphere. Some ideas could include, singing worship songs together, sharing a message, engaging in corporate prayer or a combination of these things.

• Create the Atmosphere: Consider your physical space. Use dimmed lighting, flexible seating and plan for some background music (a worship playlist works great).

• Prepare your Leaders: Create a plan for footwashing and include your leaders in that plan. Some may have deeper personal connections with specific students- allow them to wash those students’ feet.

• Respect Personal Boundaries: Some students (or adults) will be uncomfortable with footwashing. Always give an alternative instruction for these individuals. They could have their feet wrapped in a towel, have their hands washed or simply just receive prayer. Due to the personal nature of footwashing, consider having someone of the same gender wash the student’s feet. A good rule of thumb is to, always ask “may I wash your feet?” before beginning.

• Symbolic Expression: Keep in mind that footwashing isn’t meant to offer a deep clean, rather it is a symbolic expression of Christ’s servant-hearted love. Place one foot in the basin, spill water over the top, then move the foot out of the basin and to the towel. Dry the foot, then move to the other foot. Once you are done, pray out loud for the individual. It is often appropriate to put a hand on their back or shoulder as you do this.

Talking Points Use these talking points if you need some direction on how to set up this time for your students.

• Thank students for being part of this week of learning and service in this community. • Remind students of Jesus’ example when he washed his disciples’ feet. The John 13 passage

ends with “For I have set you an example, that you should do as I have done to you”. We are to follow Jesus’ example of service!

• In a sentence or two, explain the significance of footwashing in first-century culture and why it was so special that Jesus, our Lord and King acted in this way towards his disciples.

• Jesus’ example is a picture servant-hearted love to help us remember how to live. • Tell students they will participate in footwashing to tangibly understand and remember

Jesus’ example for us. • Provide logistics and ask the group to sit in a circle and that the leaders will come around

and wash their feet and say a brief prayer for them.