In the life of a youth minister there are many defining moments – the first time you hear a teen say, “Thank you, that was a great Life Night,” and really mean it or the first time you dress up in a goofy costume for a pulpit announcement in order to get teenagers to come to a Life Night. There is one moment that I know was definitive for my ministry career – my first long bus trip with teenagers.
We were driving from a town near Green Bay, WI to Steubenville Atlanta with 55 teenagers, 8 adults, a newly ordained priest, and me. As we all piled onto a coach bus, ready for the 12 hour trip down to Atlanta, a thought crossed my mind:
“I am now responsible for the lives and well being of over 60 people and an ordained member of the clergy who has never been to a youth conference before.”
I felt the blood rush out of my face and my legs get wobbly. Here I stood, no more than 23 years old and I suddenly was the patriarch of a very large, very crazy family. I needed to make sure they got enough sleep, enough food, didn’t annoy each other, didn’t sit too close, and that they all made friends with one another during that fateful bus ride where anything could happen. I mean, on a bus with teens for 12 hours a lot can go wrong:
The A/C could go out making for one long, sweaty bus ride in the mid-July heat.
We could get a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, waiting for hours for help to arrive and be forced to play endless rounds of “signs (A.K.A. the invisible ball),” and “Johnny Whoop.”
A teen could get food poisoning and projectile vomit all over the bus – and what if that happens when the A/C is out?
And on top of all that, what if we get attacked by bears?
Okay – perhaps my mind wandered a little bit on that last one, but still, I can say that as I stepped onto that bus of rowdy teenagers, excited adults, and one very confused priest, I had a newly renewed sense of trust in God. I mean, what other choice did I have?
I miss those bus rides. As terrifying as it was to be in charge of 64 people, it was so humbling that God had put me there to keep them safe so He could do His work. And on some of those bus rides people did get sick, and the A/C once went out, and we did get a flat tire that forced us to play a solid three hours of cheesy youth ministry games. But through it all there was great relational ministry, lots of laughs, and conversion.
And if it takes me getting on a bus for 12 hours with a crazy bunch of teens so they can know Jesus – I’ll take that leap of faith every time.
Question: What is your favorite long bus ride activity?
On my first long bus ride with teens we did an ice breaker where you had to talk about a childhood nickname. Somehow my students transformed my nickname into their own creation: Sha-Nai-Nai. The name stuck, and now I have youth of all ages calling me this who have no idea where the name came from.
Its amazing how those kinds of things stick around…forever. Great story – thanks for sharing!
My FAVE bus ride activity of all time occurred back when I was a teen: random bus dares. We were on a trip to St. Augustine and a few of the older teens and our Seminarian decided it would be a great idea to give each other random bus dares that included making up songs to serenade the person next to them, pretending to be Spiderman and surfing down the bus aisle on their belly shooting out “webs”, going up to our youth minister and making our best dolphin and aquatic noises, and other awesome/awkward shenanigans.
As a (slightly paranoid) YM/DRE now, I sometimes wonder how our YM growing up had the patience to let us do these slightly dangerous/weird things…and I remain grateful!
As a former teen who became a YM, I completely relate. God bless our youth ministers for having the patience to deal with us – and God, bless us with that same patience!
Making Call Me Maybe lip dubs, complete with kids coming out of the bathroom for solos and dancing in the aisles. Oh, and once, our 8 hour trip to a Steubie conference had AC going out every 2 hours, and the way back was 10 hours with no AC whatsoever. Did I mention that this trip was from Texas to Louisiana in June? Oh yes, it was lovely. We dunked bandanas in the ice chest and put them on our faces. It was cooler in the 100 degree Texas heat than it was on the bus! Needless to say, we all grew pretty close
Nothing is more terrifying than the words “The A/C is broken.” The bandana idea though, that is clutch. Resourceful thinking and relational ministry – I say that is a win.
One of my most memorable bus rides was as a teen. Two of us served as YAs for Steubie West in 2006. So we flew out early and were supposed to ride back with our group, our YM forgot to plan seats for us on the way back so all the seats were full. We made it work though, I sat in between two people I barely knew who were actually twin brothers. They both were sick and all they wanted to do was sleep. Well it was a known fact that on our bus as soon as you closed your eyes you would get hit with the permanent marker to the face. So as one of these kids was laying on my lap the other was leaning on my shoulder and I “stood guard” as they slept so no one would mark them. Such a strange memory, but that moment was when we became the best of friends. And I am still great friends with them today. Nothing like those moments of bonding bus style!
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