Why Next Step?

Our Work Projects

One of the core reasons we started Next Step is because we had such a bitter sweet taste in our mouths about the type of work we had experienced on past mission trips.

You know the feeling, you spend three or four days scraping paint on a house or raking leaves. You no doubt made an impact on that family’s life and can’t put words on the relationships you’ve built.

But you’re left wondering…isn’t there more we could have done?

Who will be working on that house next week? Is the family really in better shape now that we’re gone?

As a result, Next Step is dedicated to provide work projects that make a real impact on a family’s home. We are set up in our communities so that we work on projects week after week, year after year. This allows your team to get involved in a bigger work project, something that might take more than four days, but your team can be challenged to be a big part of the change.

So whether you are building a bedroom addition for an overcrowded house, re-shingling a leaking roof, framing an interior wall or building a new house from scratch…you know that your work project is meeting the greatest need for the ones you’re serving.

Our skilled construction staff is on-site waiting for you in one of our awesome communities. We invite you to step up to the challenge. No matter what age, no matter what skill level, we are excited to work side-by-side with you… and build.

Our Worship

People always ask us, why do you do mission trips? And as great as our communities are, as great as our work project are…the answer is clear. It’s our goal that students have an opportunity to grow in their personal relationship with Christ…to learn deeper what it means to worship and serve Him.

That’s why we pour our heart and soul into providing a worship experience that gives all we have to God.

Just like a mission trip is anything but an ordinary experience, we pray our worship matches that level of excitement and is anything but an ordinary night of worship.

You can get ready every night of the trip to sing and dance along not just with a guitar and mic, but with a full band rockin’ out to their favorite worship songs. We are committed to providing the energy and excitement in worship that our God deserves. We also are dedicated to meet your students right where they are at, that they might connect with God in their own, unique way. We hope that worship can maybe open the eyes of students and leaders alike that worship can be fun, worship can be cool and worship can bring a joy that maybe you’ve never experienced before.

In addition to the great music, we’re excited to worship with you through some hilarious games, encouraging messages, challenging video clips and spirit-lead activities.

So weather your jammin’ out to some casting crowns music, humbled to your knees on Wednesday nights foot-washing or quieted in a time of personal prayer…we pray our worship provides a comfortable and open opportunity for God to work in your life, no matter what stage of your faith journey you are in.

And that is why we do missions.

MyStep

You’ve heard this story a thousand times. Some call it that mission-trip high. Some call it a mountain experience. But it’s all the same. We go on a mission trip and get lit on fire for Christ. Friday night we cry out to God, we say things like, “this time it’s going to be different” or “I will never lose this feeling”.

And then the reality hits, maybe it’s a week later, maybe it’s a month later, maybe it’s six-months later. But inevitably it happens. We loose that fire, we lose that passion. And we’re back to our ordinary lives. Falling away from Christ on a daily basis.

In our first year of leading mission trips, God convicted our hearts in a tough way. What are we doing to help this cycle? Do we just lift students up, provide that opportunity for a mountaintop experience and then let them fall?

What is your mission organization doing to support you the other 51 weeks?

Two years ago we created, MyStep, an online interactive follow-up program for students. The program is designed to take those aspects from your mission trip and provide them on a daily basis for the rest of the year.

The program is no magic ticket, but it’s a start. And we pray that God will take this seemingly little program and use it in big ways.

Starting in 2012, MyStep will provide students with a daily accountability program, weekly video devotions, trip journals and an online community to stay connected with your mission trip experience.

Do you ever think, “I wonder how my resident is doing?” You can also use MyStep to stay up-to-date on the building projects and families in your community throughout the year.

So whether you come back from your mission trip really struggling with an area in your life and need some immediate support or you just want to be able to stay in touch with that excitement you experience on your trip…we are praying God will use the MyStep program in a unique way in your life, helping you to take your mission trip experience and make it count.