I’m pumped! Tomorrow I leave for Dallas for the Dallas Orange Tour. This year I’m taking about 24 volunteers and staff. This year I’m actually bringing more student ministry volunteers than those in kidmin. For the last 6 months I’ve been far more involved in student ministry than I have in the past and I wanted to make a big investment in these leaders… plus I want them to start thinking Orange. These student ministry leaders were so excited to be invited, which is why I have about 18 going.

I can’t over-communicate how important these kinds of events are for ministry teams. I’ve been to the Orange Conference for the past 4 years and I’ll probably continue to attend for some time. The conference has impacted me and influenced me tremendously and I want the same for my staff and volunteers, but I can’t always bring all of them due to money issues, but something like the Orange Tour is a complete no brainer. I’m taking 24 and by the time I pay hotel, food and registration, it cost me less than sending 2 to Atlanta for Orange. To help out, I’m even having the volunteers car pool and cover their travel expenses.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the Orange Conference, but there is something really special about the Orange Tour. Because the entire thing is hosted directly by Reggie and Sue, it feels far more pure and concentrated. You’ll leve the Tour with a strong grasp of what the Orange strategy is all about… maybe even better than the conference. I’d encourage everyone to attend a tour stop… even if that means catching a flight into one of their locations. I’ll be blogging about my tour experience next week (since I don’t blog a lot over the weekend), so stay tuned!