I had Volunteer Leader who didn’t want to wear the helmet in the Sumo Suit…fell backwards and cracked her skull.

Dislocated my pinky during dodgeball game and popped back in…unfortunately the tendons never reattached in the “healing process “ so now have a janky pinky

Leader hid on a roof for a game of capture the the counselor. Got too into getting away that he jumped (1 story about 8 foot) and broke his ankle. He didn’t have insurance. I did a duct tape splint to get him to a doc we knew… after he finished the game.

Just say no to the blob. You are in your 30’s, and landing on your feet because of a panic attack isn’t going to feel good. (Spoiler alert, you broke your leg in front of 75 students, parents, and children)

Ugh. We were playing marshmallow baseball at a lock-in. It inevitably turned into a marshmallow food fight. A 7th grader pelted me in the face with a jumbo marshmallow from point blank. So I picked it up and chucked it at him as hard as I could, as he ran away laughing. I missed him and tore my labrum (shoulder ligament).

Broom hockey. Metal handle broke. Girl kept playing with the broom. Sliced a girls finger almost off. Bad. No more metal handles. But we still play broom hockey. But only wood handles. Let that be a lesson to you all.

Going all in on slip slide kickball led to 5 months of intense pain, discovering a major herniation on my back and ending in surgery. Now I cheer.

Broke a students finger playing volleyball during a mission trip. Thought it was just jammed, and we kept pulling and tugging on it all week. We got home, and the student had surgery for a separate finger, and split bone. That’s only one

Brought a group to Alaska in 2021. Our pastors son broke his leg within 24 hours of being there. He had to have surgery IN Alaska… I still have my job and we’re going back this summer with the same kid. This time our pastor is coming too haha

We had a volunteer leader who was wearing a suit of armor for a VBS skit…a student whacked the helmet with a sword, the face guard fell off and split the volunteer’s lip and knocked a tooth out.

Jumbo beach ball, kid ran straight into it not seeing the kid on the other side. Kid on other side goes flying. Compound fracture to arm. Thankfully it was the child of a volunteer and the family was very gracious.

We were doing a massive slip and slide event, decided to use stakes to pin down the tarp. A student found one of them with his foot and severed the webbing between his toes. It was gnarly…

There is the deadline you set, then the deadline you’re working with for the “Is it too late to sign up?” crowd.

The Youth Pastor gets to keep all the points when the bus stops at McDonalds, Chick-Fil-A, Taco Bell, or Chipotle. There is no wiggle room here.

Whatever time you actually need to leave, tell everyone you’re leaving 30 minutes earlier.

When you’re at camp with a few hundred middle schoolers and we pass out grape juice boxes for communion, you are NOT allowed to poke the hole in the top and SHOT GUN your juice box.

On the way to camp, when we stop at a gas station for a bathroom break you are NOT allowed to buy 2, 2-liters of orange soda and try to drink them on the bus, even if they were on sale for $2.

It would also be in your best interest if you also knew first aid, how to edit videos, broadcast online, run a soundboard, drive a bus, fix a vehicle on the side of the road, work a snack shop, lead worship, know everything there is to sound systems, live on 3 hours of sleep, be well versed n the law, this and many other things in the “other duties” section 😂. I feel very well-rounded now, though.

The students are where you lead them, if you are dissatisfied with where they are lead differently.

An eating contest is a pre-show for a vomit contest.

Hear me out: NO GLITTER OF ANY KIND… EVER…

Do not hand cash to the youth minister on Sunday. Give it to a mom in an envelope.

Don’t grow the kids ministry from the youth ministry.

The same number of people that leave on the trip come back on the trip. No more no less.

Don’t post negative comments about anyone in your church thinking they’ll certainly never see it and infer it’s about them.

When you cross the border, NO ONE SAYS A WORD. For example, when the border agent asks. “Do you have any weapons to declare?” A student should not say, “just these guns,” as he tries to make muscles.

The person before you in the job had way more kids show up.

No licking your boyfriend’s face.