Youth Ministry Travel

“Daddy, don’t go!” Little legs ran furiously toward the church bus as it began its journey through the parking lot, loaded with high school kids, sponsors and my husband. Our little boy cried for quite awhile after the bus disappeared . . .Traveling and being away from home are a fact of life in youth ministry. There are weekend retreats, week-long conferences, camps, and even longer mission trips. If your husband also is a sought-after speaker or worship leader, he may be gone even more for extra conferences and retreats for other organizations.

This particular aspect of ministry life can be a hard adjustment. And it changes with each new family milestone (i.e., the birth of each of your children). As a young ministry wife I enjoyed going to all the camps and conferences (Well, I will admit to only tolerating church camp, though. Can I be stoned for that?). Yet, I will admit, it got old to me after awhile. Packing, unpacking, making arrangements to be gone, etc.

After our children were born, my traveling tapered off, although we all joined my husband on occasion. The hassle with traveling with kids among other things led me to choose to stay home frequently. And sometimes we did not have a choice, we had to stay home while Rondel traveled on.

If you do not have children, you may be free to join your husband on these trips. Or you may have a job that does not allow you to take a lot of time off. If that is the case, you may find that you are lonely while he is gone. I used to feel that way, but over the years I have found that I am able to accomplish a lot of things when my husband is gone. I tend to tackle big projects that I ignore at other times. I have more freedom to make plans with girlfriends. I eat whatever I want – not bothering to cook much – and catch up on “chick flicks.” There are a lot of perks to having a couple of days to yourself! You just have to keep these positives in mind and arrange your schedule in such a way that you don’t slip into resentment and jealousy.

These times are also perfect to really lift your husband up in prayer. (See 1 Cor. 7:5) It is important to guard yourself from any temptation that could occur if you are lonely or bored or frustrated with his schedule. If you decide to take the positive and proactive approach and devote yourself to lifting him and his ministry to the throne during these times, you will feel closer to him and still a part of the ministry, even from a distance.