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Ever wondered how to effectively scale growth in youth ministries while managing the complexities of large group trips? Tyler Lemmel from Traders Point Christian Church offers valuable advice on managing large youth group trips. He emphasizes the importance of mental health awareness, structured safety protocols, and the benefits of reallocating responsibilities within a team. By highlighting the need for proper planning and the implementation of support systems, we aim to enhance the overall experience for both youth ministers and students, ensuring a smooth and organized adventure that nurtures spiritual growth and fosters lasting connections.

We also explore this year's MOVE and MIX theme with Mikey Sackrider. Discover how the new theme "In Between," inspired by the book of Hebrews, seeks to resonate with youth questioning their faith. Insights from experts offer a stark contrast to previous programs, setting the stage for a thought-provoking journey into 2025.

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BTE4.03: Scaling for Growth: Trips with Tyler Lemmel and Mikey Sackrider

Hi, I'm Brad Warren. This is Beyond the Event, a youth ministry podcast presented by Christ in Youth, where we help you maintain momentum between the mountaintops. We're back. We're back. I'm so excited.

Okay, a couple things. One, if you don't know already, we're on video. We're on YouTube, so check us out there if you want to watch me be awkward, or just listen if you're driving. Don't watch if you're driving. That's my advice. Also, today we're starting a little mini-series about how to scale for growth. This is for everybody, whether you have five people in your ministry and you would like to see it grow to 10, or whether you have 25 and you would like to see it grow to 50, or whether you have 100 and you would like to see it grow to 500. No matter what healthy things grow and we want to have conversations that can hopefully help you gain to think about what it would look like to see that type of growth in your youth ministry. So today we're talking specifically about trips. We'll be talking about it later with a guy named Tyler Lamel. Right now I'm going to talk to my good friend, mikey Sackrider.

Bradley. Hi, mikey, so good to be here. I'm really thrilled to have you.

Honestly, Great introduction, by the way, oh thank you, that's so sweet.

Number one most encouraging person Mikey Sackrider. That's a real thing.

Here's the deal. You just got done with your first full CIY summer, first one. Yeah. What do we think? What surprised you? What you know? Like yeah how was it?

man. Uh, I know it's fun. Last time I was on here was before. Obviously we're getting ready. So now it's like how is mikey doing afterwards?

how are you, though? I am doing great. Thank you, I really am.

It was an amazing summer. Uh, honestly, like could not have even imagined, uh, you know what it was going to be like until you do it. And then I did it, and I mean, just looking back, I am still so excited and so proud of our team. I mean just knowing all the steps that it took to accomplish what we accomplished and for students to hear the message that they heard and were the things that we look at and want to do better always Right, but looking back, we're I'm just so thrilled and excited to see what, what God did and how students heard about rest through Jesus and um man, getting to be at events, directing a couple and being an assistant director, getting to connect with some new people, new friends. It was amazing, um, so could not be more thrilled. But now we're looking into 2025, which is crazy 2025.

Yeah, it's pretty crazy. Yeah, let's talk about 2025 a little bit, because I know we've brought up several times on this podcast that the move cycle is like an 18-month cycle. So you guys have known what we're going to be talking about in 2025 for for a while now, and now that we're through 2024, you get to really put your foot on the gas, lean in and unpack this, this new topic, this new theme of in between in between looking at the book of hebrews, that's it so how did you land on hebrews?

I'm curious about that, because it's a little bit. It is a little bit of a deep cut when you think about like theme for camp it's like nobody jumps to heap, you know what I mean. Yes, so we understand.

Yeah especially as we've been exploring it, you know, and talking about it. Um, yeah, it is. It is a kind of it really is. It's not really one that we run to first. There's many others that we would usually go to first, but no, I think really, when you think about the context of Hebrews and who it was written towards and what they were going through, they were kind of on the brink of like do we quit or do we keep following Christ?

You know, is this is this really worth it? Really, it's kind of the question they were asking in coming off of this past summer, finding rest in Jesus, One of the things that you know we know not only students, but myself. I've been here where you're following Jesus, You're feeling good about it. You know, you have this mountaintop moment. You, you have this mountaintop moment. You see what God can do in your life. You go back home, you grow in Christ, but there's still that moment where you either go through a trial or you kind of just go through the motions and you realize, man, is it worth it? Like, do I keep doing this or do I quit, Do I back off? And I don't know?

Hebrews is such a cool stage for us to get to talk about that and say how do you strengthen your faith? So, even when there is that trial, or even when you feel like you've kind of hit a plateau, what is next for you? What does Jesus have in store for you, and what are you going to hold on to? You know, what are you going to hang on to it to find that endurance. And so one of the cool things is you know we have a resource here over at Ozark. His name's Chad Ragsdale. He's awesome.

Maybe you know him His name's Chad Ragsdale.

He's awesome. Maybe you know him. He has a lot to say about Hebrews and we got to meet with him and talk with him. This was early on. We first thought about Hebrews and just hearing his heart for it and hear him talking about it, it had that theme and that's how we knew all right, we're going to go for it. This is what we need to do. We feel like God's what God has in store.

It's definitely like it feels very different from 2024 to me in a lot of ways which, by the way, the program was incredible as a friend, not as a co-worker.

So to you and all the many, many, many hands that touched that it was just really really great. So tell me what you're like. Why does this? If you get up in the morning and you're like I'm excited to go to work, I'm excited to dig into this Hebrews in between theme, what is it that you're excited about, Like what's getting you jazzed for 2025?

Oh man, I think. Well, first and foremost, just getting to walk through a book of the Bible it's kind of refreshing in and of itself. You know, last year being the theme of rest was phenomenal, and getting to walk through Psalm 23, I thought was really really neat, and getting to see Jesus play that out. But there's something a little refreshing about a difference there where you're just all right, let's focus on this one book, let's focus on the audience, unpack the context of it all. That I think what's really getting me excited about it is. I think it's taking on that challenge of it being an unusual book, especially, I'm assuming, for students, and just unpacking it for them and saying you are in the same boat, Like you might not realize it, but the people who are reading Hebrews, who this is written for, like we're all in this boat and let us explain this to you and let us encourage you in it. One of the themes that we're kind of finding is this theme of like testimony right.

Obviously of Hebrews 11, probably the most popular section of Hebrews, with the hall of faith.

Right yeah, and just their testimony of legacy and how they followed Christ. And the author is reminding this audience of like hey, if you are trying to focus on if you want to quit or not, look back at these people who did not quit and look what happened. And I think that's going to really lead us towards some cool moments this summer, maybe even with, like, adult leaders and just their testimony to Christ. And then a student being able to say this is my testimony for Christ, and just that theme of testimony that right now is making me very excited about some of the stuff that we're going to be able to do. And it is a world I want to say that, like this whole time we've been thinking about and praying about it, the in-between is becoming like a place Like that sounds weird, but it's just.

It's like this place Like the upside down.

A little bit. I know that's funny because I've thought that before.

Like I've had that thought of like what is the in between? Like, where is this place? It's purgatory.

That's what we're preaching about. Yeah, you know, I don't think that's what purgatory is.

I thought it was about time. Yeah, um, that's fantastic. We're not talking about that. Yeah, um, but. But yeah, just that idea of the in-between and it has like a lot of um, it's just so rich because you're reaching back to the old testament and you're, yeah, it's just going to be a really cool place to live. I'm very excited about it. Yeah, I'm kind of nerding out a little bit. That's great.

No, I can tell by listening to talk about it that you're very passionate about it, which is awesome, um, like it. You know you wouldn't want the the move theme to feel like a chore or something that's like man, I feel like we need to talk about this, but it's kind of a slog, like the fact that you're so pumped about it makes me pumped about it too it is not a slog and we like, uh, on our last episode two weeks ago, we talked to Richie Shilladay and like this theme.

You know, richie, yeah, this theme of like story you know, really really kind of rose to the top of that conversation as well. Yeah and uh, yeah, the the idea that our testimony is kind of all we got. Yeah, is.

It's a big deal. Yeah, I mean, it is a very big deal. You can't mess with someone's personal right you know, experience with what, with what they're going through, what they've been through? Yeah, it really speaks a lot. I love it, yeah Well.

I cannot wait for 2025. I love CYY Summers and I'm not a programmer, so it's always fun for me to.

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