Kara Eckmann Powell

An excellent companion for Christian youths undertaking a service project or mission trip. The journal guides students through exercises and reflections to be used before, during, and after the service initiative. The book’s compact size and light weight make it easy to take along on trips. The journal may be used for daylong projects or trips of long duration. The authors’ intent is to push students to think beyond short-term service to consider underlying social justice issues. Exercises in the volume encourage youths to move from merely undertaking periodic service projects to living a life of compassion devoted to obtaining justice for all of humanity. The journal has an explicit Christian orientation, making it inappropriate for those of other faiths or from secular groups. Recommended for service leaders who want to adapt the exercises in the journal to non-Christian groups is the Sticky Faith Service Guide by the same authors. Both the guide and student journal will help leaders and students move beyond feel-good outings to living a life of service.… (mere)

This is a guide for leaders of student service trips. The focus is explicitly Christian, but the guide may be adapted to other faiths or even secular programs. The exercises in the guide may be applied to single-day local projects or longer service trips. There are activities to be used before, during, and after the service initiative. Instructions and explanations of exercises are clear and identify materials needed. The designs of activities are research based and have been tested with youth groups. A strength of the guide is its emphasis on going beyond service tourism to creating a social justice mindset in participants of service projects. A useful resource for anyone facilitating a service trip.… (mere)