Here are just a few interesting finds this week from around the Youth Min Multiverse:

😂 From Our Online Community

Last week, we asked our Instagram followers and Facebook Group members to tell us about their worst youth ministry-related injury. They did not disappoint. Here are just a few of our favorites:

  • 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.

  • Built a Karate Piñata Game 🪅
    Leader is blindfolded in the middle. He goes hard and kicks a piñata… kicks too high and the carabiner clip someone goes right into his calf muscle. He is bleeding. He can’t see anything, and keeps going. While attached to the mechanism, he pulls the arm down that’s holding the piñata. The game is now destroyed. Blood spewing everywhere. It’s a mess in so many ways. Leader needed to be taken to the hospital. Meanwhile I’m running a parent meeting in the other room.

  • 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…

  • Set of twins. First 24 hours of camp.
    Twin 1 -Sunday night, one twin tries to jump a rope fence and his foot nicks the top, and he fell head first – concussion.
    Twin 2 – Monday Mid-day, tries to do a gainer off the diving board. Water pushes his legs back into his face on impact – he knocked one of his front teeth out with his knee and also gets a concussion.
    Needless to say, they hit their deductibles that year!

If you didn’t get a chance to contribute, don’t worry! We post a new discussion topic every Friday. You can find them on our Instagram feed and in our Facebook Group.

👀 Meet DYM Author Janelle Prenkert!

“I have been serving in youth ministry since 1998 in both volunteer and staff roles. Small groups have always been a passion of mine. From leading my own group to coordinating and training small group leaders, I love watching God work!”

See all of Janelle’s resources!