What is SERVE?

SERVE mission trips for teens cost $475 USD if online paperwork is completed by April 1. Everything is included except transportation. Between April 1 and April 15 a $25 late fee is applied.  After April 15, the late fee increases to $50. Not ready to pay? That’s okay. The final payment isn’t due until May 1.

Find a mission trip destination here »

We get this question a lot: “How old do you have to be to go on mission trips with ThereforeGo?”

High School SERVE Mission Trips: Any student who has completed grade 8 through graduating seniors in the same year as the SERVE mission experience

Adult Leaders: Adult leaders must be 21 years or older.  Due to insurance and liability stipulations, Adult Leaders cannot bring babies or children under the required age for any SERVE mission experience.  Adult Leaders are required to complete and submit a current background check to the ThereforeGo Ministries office.  See more information under the question “What are adult leader expectations (and how many are needed)?”

Find SERVE mission trip locations here on our trip locations page.

When choosing a mission trip, we recommend taking the following factors into consideration.

Dates: It’s important to figure out what dates work for your church and the largest number of people in your youth group.

Location: Do you want to drive? Are you willing to fly? Transportation can be one of the most complex factors to a mission trip so it is important to factor in how far and by which method you are willing to travel.

Capacity: If you have a large group we recommend that you look for a SERVE site that has a larger capacity. We have found that SERVE sites are more successful if we can place 3 or more different churches at any one site.

Browse trip locations here »

Short Answer: Most Everything

Long Answer: Your registration fee includes most everything you need once you arrive onsite, except transportation to the site and daily transportation while at the mission experience.

What’s included?

Spiritual Life Guide with small group leaders training notes, theme-based small group discussion outlines, pre-trip lesson suggestions and commissioning litany, post-trip debriefing and follow up guides for adult leaders
Spiritual Life Guides with daily devotionals for students
SERVE theme t-shirt
Supplemental medical insurance
All meals
Lodging (usually in a church or school)
Daily schedule with planned activities
Engaging worship and speaker
Organized service projects and supplies

Saturday
Registration, welcome, community-building games.
You will usually be introduced to your small group, which consists of six to eight students and one adult leader from different churches.

Sunday
Breakfast, personal devotions, commissioning service at the Host Church. (Interested in hosting a mission trip as a “Host Church”?)
Lunch, team building, orientation, and organized fun.
Dinner, session with a speaker, worship, and small group discussions.

Monday through Friday
6:30 AM – Wake up
7:00 AM – Breakfast/prepare lunches
8:00 AM – Devotions
8:45 AM – Leave for work sites
4:00 PM – Showers/free time/organized games
5:15 PM – Leaders’ meeting
6:00 PM – Dinner
7:30 PM – Evening session with a speaker and worship
9:00 PM – Small group discussion
10:00 PM – Snack and free time
11:00 PM – Lights out

Saturday
Pack up and head home to serve in your own community!

Other:
Recreation/Sightseeing: At some point during the week, a half day or full day is set aside for recreation (organized by the Host Team). Expect to visit a local attraction, such as beach, theme park, do some sightseeing, etc.
Detailed schedules are set by the local Host Team and may vary from what’s described here. Please be flexible, and follow the schedule set by the Host Team.

After you’ve picked a site (see mission trip destinations), follow this process to register:

STEP ONE: Place a $50 deposit per participant to save spots at a particular SERVE site. You’ll just need the number of youth and adult leader spots for your group. Within 1 week of submitting this form, you’ll receive a site confirmation letter by email confirming which site your group has been placed at and providing you with the access code that your group will use to complete your paperwork in Step 2. Save your spots starting November 3* at Noon (EST)! *Typically you can save your spots starting on November 1, but since November 1 is a Saturday we’ve moved that to Monday, November 3.

STEP TWO: After you place your deposit and receive your site confirmation letter with your access code, you can then complete your online registration for each participant individually. You must complete your paperwork by April 1. All registrations completed between April 1 and April 15 will be charged with a $25 late fee.  All paperwork completed after April 15 will be charged a $50 late fee.

STEP THREE: Payment in full is due on May 1 for all SERVE sites.  Background checks are due for all adults on May 15.  For more information on the ThereforeGo background check policy, click here.

Check the site description page or contact us to find out whether there are still openings available at a particular site.

Our current SERVE mission trips model does not accommodate 19 & 20-year-old participants. For more information contact us.

How Many Adult Leaders Are Needed for a SERVE Mission Trip?

One adult (21 years of age or older) is required for every five youth. At least one adult of each gender (if students of each gender are attending).  For example, if you bring 10 students, you need 2 adults for the 5:1 ratio.  If 7 of those students are girls and 3 of those students are boys, you need to bring 1 female leader and 1 male leader.

Adult Leader Responsibilities

• Serve as small group leaders.
• Act as work site overseers.
• All adults are required to attend the entire week with SERVE.
• Driving their small group to and from work sites throughout the week.
• Be safety-conscious at all times.
• General crowd control and spiritual coaching throughout the week. Download the leader handbook (PDF).

Other Details

Due to insurance and liability stipulations, Adult Leaders cannot bring babies or children under the required age for any SERVE mission experience.   All Adult Leaders (21 and older) are required to complete and submit a current background check to the ThereforeGo Ministries office. To be considered current for the 2026 SERVE season, the check must be completed after June 15, 2023. See how to submit a background check here.

The host team will place participants in small groups with students from different churches, trying to not have more than two people from the same church in the same group in order to promote community among the entire SERVE Site.

Within 1 week of placing a deposit for a SERVE Site, you will receive (by email) a site confirmation letter confirming your SERVE site with instructions to complete your online paperwork.  If you’re not seeing it in your inbox, please check your spam.

The listing for your SERVE site on our Trip Locations page has a lot of information!  Additionally, the Host Team for your SERVE Site will be sending out a welcome letter which will include more details about the week and a packing list. You can expect to receive the information approximately 30 days before your mission experience begins.

Still have questions?

Reach out to us with general questions about SERVE or reach out to your Host Team Coordinator about site specific details.  Their contact information can be found on the Site Confirmation letter that was emailed to you after saving spot.

We believe that whether mission trips help or not depends on the type of mission trip you have. Real lasting impact is never accomplished in a week. This is why we partner with local churches to provide our SERVE mission trips! All of our sites are run by volunteers who live and work in these communities all year long.

We believe that SERVE mission trips provide a two-fold impact:

On the individual involved in SERVE. We hope that each student and adult:

• Become doers of the Word and not hearers only
• Become justice conscious, meeting needs while being introduced to the root causes and concerns
• Grow in their personal faith
• Continue serving others when they return to their home church and community

On the relationship between the church and the community. We hope that the week of SERVE helps them to:

• Identify community assets and needs
• Provide an infusion of energy to their mission, vision, and outreach efforts
• Help deepen personal relationships and partnerships within their local community.

Our host sites are encouraged to partner with ministries that they have an existing relationship with and allow this group of teenagers to bring energy and excitement to the long term partnership.

Traveling with Minors:

Any adult who is not a parent or guardian should have written permission to supervise the child from the parent or guardian, as well as the child’s identification, and carry it with them. A letter would also facilitate entry for any one parent traveling with their children. This permission letter should contain addresses and telephone numbers where the parent or guardian can be reached. An example Consent to Travel Form can be found on in our SERVE Resource Box. It is strongly recommended that the letter is notarized.

Passport and travel requirements for U.S. and Canadian citizens vary according to the country where you are going. For more information about passport and travel requirements you may check the websites below:

Canada Border Services Agency — www.cbsa.gc.ca
Foreign Affairs Canada — www.travel.gc.ca
U.S. State Department — www.travel.state.gov
U.S. Customs and Border Protection — www.cbp.gov

*15-passenger vans are not allowed into Ontario due to MTO restrictions

It is your group’s responsibility to have the correct documentation if you are crossing a border.

Initial information about crossing the border for SERVE can be found in our SERVE Resource Box.

Keep It Safe:

Make photocopies of your passport’s identification page and/or of your identification cards, and keep the copies separate from the original when you travel. For added security, leave a copy with a friend or relative at home.

For more information, contact us.

There are numerous resources for your church to use in the planning and preparation for your trip. Visit our SERVE Resource Box!

Need-based scholarships are available for SERVE. Download a scholarship form from the SERVE Resource Box and/or contact us for more information. Deadline for request is April 1.

ThereforeGo Ministries accepts check/cheque, money order, e-transfer, or credit card payments.

Payments can be made through the registration system while registering or they can be made after registering.

Checks/cheques in USD should be made out to ThereforeGo Ministries and mailed to:

ThereforeGo Ministries
Attn: SERVE
4695 44th Street SE Suite 130
Kentwood, MI 49512

Payments can be made in CAD using the current exchange rate via e-transfer or cheque.  Please reach out to discuss paying in CAD.

Contact us if you have additional questions.

ThereforeGo Ministries carries secondary health insurance and liability insurance. All insurance claims must be submitted to the participant’s individual insurance first. ThereforeGo’s insurance will begin where the participant’s insurance ends for any medical expenses incurred while at the site.

If a participant does not have insurance coverage, ThereforeGo’s insurance becomes the primary coverage. Participants are not covered while traveling to or from the youth mission experience. Check with your insurance provider to verify your coverage in the state/province/country where you are traveling.

Registration fees do NOT include transportation to and from the sites. Each church group must provide vehicle(s) and adult driver(s) for the entire mission experience regardless of whether you fly or drive to the site. The vehicles you bring will be used to transport small groups to the work site each day, so 12-passenger vans, SUVs, or mini-vans are preferred. (Note: 12- or 15-passenger vans may have restrictions in some Canadian provinces.) Cars do not facilitate the transportation of an entire small group in one vehicle, so please do not bring them. If you wish to bring a bus, please check with the Host Team to see if this is acceptable before you make arrangements. If your group is unable to provide van transportation, please have a youth leader call the ThereforeGo Ministries office to discuss options and additional potential charges.

In the case of extreme weather or disaster: TGM has your group’s safety in mind as we host events. If we are unable to host an event due to weather conditions or national disaster, deposits cannot be refunded. Refunds of final balance payments will be made only if properties and/or locations refund TGM for these costs. If an event is hosted as scheduled and your group cancels or reduces numbers due to weather conditions or other concerns, all payments are non-refundable.

If a registrant or immediate family member has an emergency prior to or during the summer mission experience, TGM will do what we can to refund a significant portion of the money.

If you request a change of location or substitution of participants within 30 days of the start date, an additional fee may be charged to cover administrative costs.

Would you like to hear from a youth pastor or volunteer who has either brought their youth group on SERVE or been a part of a SERVE host team? We would love to connect you with a reference! Contact us today to request a reference.

You can email us through the form on this page or call us at (616) 241-5616 x3038.