We all look for new ways to infuse creativity into our youth ministries. The fact is, our creative well can dry out and we struggle for ways to make the student ministry fresh.

If you’re one of those who struggles with this, here are some things to remember as you infuse adventure into your student ministry.

Create an Adventure

Look for experiences outside the norm. Certainly being in nature can intensify the sense of adventure, but adventures just as easily can happen inside. For instance, the 30-Hour Famine serves as an adventure for many, as teens challenge themselves to fast from food for 30 hours.

Know Your Kids

Different youth need different types of adventures. A group comprised of mostly seniors will be ready for a bigger adventure than a group of freshmen. Some teens never may have left the county, while others have been halfway around the world. Knowing your youth will help you determine the best ways to challenge them.

Know Your Adventure

Always test drive an adventure before taking a van full of youth with you. What sounds as if it would be the perfect adventure actually may be inappropriate for your teens. Know what to expect.

Manage the Risk

 Look for activities that heighten and intensify awareness of the world around them. This intensification can happen through challenge or through appropriate risk. For instance, climbing the mountain or fasting for 30 hours provides challenge with minimal risk. Ideally, any risk should be carefully controlled and effectively minimized. High ropes courses provide a practical example of minimizing physical risk while allowing and encouraging psychological risk: The risk of high ropes is not the possibility of falling, which is quite low, but the fear of falling, which many be quite high. High ropes provide a challenge and an intense physical and emotional experience.

Involve Church Leadership

Once you have identified a potential adventure and assessed the risk, it’s time to speak with your church leadership. Provide a description of the possible risks, and develop a plan to ensure everyone’s safety.

Keep Parents in the Loop

Keep parents informed. Over-communicate. Send letters. Call a parent meeting. Speak to parents one-on-one. Make sure you accurately (and calmly) are able to communicate the risks, as well as what you will be doing to keep their children safe. When appropriate, invite parents to join your adventure.

Be Prepared

A little preparation can go a long way in keeping everyone safe. Make sure kids are dressed appropriately. (This has been one of our biggest challenges.) Bring snacks, water bottles and a first-aid kit. Clearly communicate expectations. Require partners. Make sure adults have cell phones and know how to contact you and each other. Identify a rendezvous point in case you get separated.

Draw Out the Deeper Meaning

Adventures require framing. Why are we doing this? What does it mean? Appropriate framing and explanation can expand and intensify an adventure. A leader can deepen the sense of adventure by helping teens understand the challenges they face, and by giving context and shape to the event. A leader can provide perspective, assisting youth in recognizing what has been revealed in the midst of their experience. A leader can help youth understand the importance of this event within the narrative of a student’s own life. A good leader not only provides guidance, but also meaning.

Take Time for Reflection

It’s important to provide opportunities for reflection. Offer times to pray, ponder and process; especially when these times of reflection are interwoven throughout the adventure, they can intensify and deepen the experience. Contemplation provides opportunities to own the experience and incorporate it into one’s own narrative. Reflection makes the experience mine.