The summer trips and camps we lead in our congregations are among the most visible and widely supported components of our ministry. The summer experiences are also very often the most transformational times for our students (I would argue that the transformation is often meaningless without relation ministry work before and after the trip, but that's another article). The stories of these trips are a great reflection of God’s work in our communities. These stories must be shared, and a blog for your congregation to follow while you are on the trip is a great way to share those stories.
The definition of a blog has changed a little bit over the years. The main difference between a blog and another website is that a blog is designed to have regular updates on a topic (such as day to day stories about a summer trip), and a regular webpage is theoretically more static (such as telling a potential congregation visitor about the programs in your ministry- something that does not change day to day, hopefully).
Image while you are on the summer trip that you can share what God is up to in the lives of the young people and adults that are traveling. A blog allows you to share prayer request, it allows you to post pictures (we'll talk about that in a week or two), it allow you to tell the story of the trip in an unlimited medium rather than trying to cram it into one page of the newsletter.
Last summer I happened to over hear a telephone conversation one of our middle school students was having with her mom while we were on a trip. This was a kid that was having a great trip, but the story she chose to tell her mom was about the boys that had misbehaved earlier in the day. Because we had a blog all set up for this trip, we were able to tell many other stories that reflected what we wanted to celebrate about the trip and let that mom and other parents know that there was great stuff happening (the parents of the boys had already heard from us, on the phone!!)
Perhaps the greatest benefit of having a trip blog is that it is a great channel for young people to share their gifts with the community. Typically, when setting up a blog I recruit one "techie" young person and one young person that I know is a good writer. They work together to take care of the blog (the "techie" bar is as low as it's ever been with the new tools available). Another key to helping the young people in charge of the blog is to give them permission to recruit others to write. Asking someone to write about the bus ride, for example, is much less intimidating that asking someone to write about the entire week. This also allows for a wide range of young people and adults to contribute their stories.
For parents and other congregation members, the blog is a very exciting read while they sit in their cubicle or return home from a day out and about. It’s also a great way for them to share the stories with relatives, coworkers, etc.
Next time we'll be looking at some tools to set up a blog and picture sharing. We will be talking about using two free blogging platforms; Wordpress and Blogger to set up your blog and to free photo tools; Picasa and Flickr, to share trip pictures.
Today I would like to share some ideas about some of the hardware and other logistical details that you will need to blog on the trip.
Laptop
Mac or PC will work for the tools I’m going to be talking about, since they are web based and don’t need any software beyond a web browser. Your computer will need to be able connect via Wi-Fi (wireless internet) or you’ll need another way to connect to the internet. If you don’t have a laptop you may consider putting the word out in the congregation and someone will likely donate one. This can be handy, especially if you don’t want students handling your personal or work computer. However, keep in mind that an older computer will likely run into a few more problems than a newer one. Shoot for getting a computer that is four years old or newer (this is arbitrary, and if you know computers you can probably make just about anything work). Even though I advocate using Wi-Fi, bring a network cable and telephone cord with you just in case.
Don’t forget the cords
For downloading pictures from the cameras on the trip to the computer you will need to be sure to have the appropriate cables or a card reader. A card reader is relatively cheap and will be very handy if you’re dealing with several digital cameras. (If you forget to bring them to the Gathering, visit the Adult Academy and we'll bail you out!)
Perhaps the most important detail is to figure out internet access. Depending on where you are traveling, you will need to look for a Wi-Fi connection nearby. If you’re going to something like the National Youth Gathering in New Orleans, your hotel will likely have Wi-Fi (though you might have to pay for it), or you can ask around at local coffee shops, etc., that may have a free Wi-Fi connection. If you’re traveling to a camp or to a rural location for a mission trip the internet connection may be more of a challenge. The camp we take our students to (lomc.org) has an open Wi-Fi signal in their camp office that they let us use. If you’re working with an organization, chances are they have an internet connection that you can use. Don’t be shy about asking around.
Blog Anyways
Even if you can’t find an internet connection while you are on your trip, have your students write about the trip anyway and then post the text one day at a time after you return. The trip will be documented and the kids will have a blast re-living their time.
People
As I mentioned earlier, blogging is a great way to engage the gifts of students. You may consider putting together a team that might include a “techie” person, one (or a few) good writers, a photographer (or three), and an adult to help coordinate and edit the final product.
Speaking of editing
Consider recruiting an adult that is not going on the trip to edit the writing for grammar, spelling, and inappropriate content from back home. This person can access the blog from where they are (home) and make any changes that they deem appropriate. One year our students miss-spelled “collard greens” on our blog, I’ll let you use your imagination on their error. Because one of our church secretaries had the password this embarrassing mistake was corrected before anyone else noticed.
Our young people are naturals at using technology to share their experiences. The practice of blogging the trip will be very natural to them, and it will allow you to communicate to a large group of people. Come back next week for an introduction to Blogger.
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