Unique Ministry Ideas

When choosing our own ministry options, we tend to stay with what we are familiar with. Vacation Bible School if your gift is working with children, construction if you’re effectively able to wield a hammer and nail, sports camp if you can run soccer field lengths without keeling over…you get the idea. We encourage groups to get creative when they go on mission trips and here are some of the most unique and impactful ministry ideas I’ve seen. (Disclaimer: These are from the super creative brains of leaders from across the country. I can only take credit for one of these. Guess which one…)

Concerts in the park: Loud noises! They attract people! And when the message you are delivering is best heard by as many people as possible, concerts are an awesome way to gather people in a central location. Make sure you put the local church in a position of leadership at this concert. They are the “full time missionaries” in that community, following up with people long after we go home.

Family Festivals: There are plenty of opportunities to bring children into the church, but a festival is a great way to bring entire families into the local church. Bust out your face painting skills, get together lots of games and prepare to have an awesome time. Share the schedule of a events at the end of the festival so the community knows what is happening each day.

Cookie Ministry: Was it that obvious? Yes…this is the one that I had a hand in creating. Here’s what happened mid-week: Women from a Mayan community were making us the best food ever and teaching our team a thing or two about authentic, Mayan cooking. As they were finding common ground when it came to this domestic task (turns out Mayan men don’t do the dishes either!), the conversation turned to cookies and how to make them. All they needed were the ingredients and a recipe. Realizing that my vehicle and internet access could turn into freshly baked cookies for me, I hopped to it. Three hours of laughter, conversation and baking was an unexpected, but really cool way of spending an afternoon in fellowship.

Dinner Ministry: Again with the food! This idea came from a crew based out of Montana. At the beginning of the week, the local pastor identified families that could use an extra meal. On Sunday, our team shopped for enough ingredients to make chicken cacciatore. On Monday, they cooked. Come Monday evening, the team split up to 6 different homes and shared a meal with them. These were families that were either down on their luck or who didn’t go to the church. Testimonies were shared and a foundation for amazing relationships was laid.

Bunk Bed Building: A team of twenty built not one, not two, but sixteen bunk beds in less than four days! Not many kids have their own bed in Belize and a space efficient, personally decorated, newly built bunk bed turned into a huge blessing for families in the Sandhill, Belize area.

These are just an example of the many creative ways to serve God that I’ve witnessed. What unique ministry ideas do you have?