Being a Team on a Mission Trip
Short term mission trips force people to be in close contact with each other for an extended period of time. Not only will you be with your team during the trip, but you will also be with them during the preparation for the trip and the debrief after you get back. This trip is a great opportunity for you to build lasting relationships with the other members of your team, but that is only possible if everybody puts effort into making the team the best it can be. Whether you are a team leader or a team member, it is important to be a team player.
Tips and Warnings for Short Term Missions
Brent and Kelly share their tips and warnings based on their experience from working with teams in Haiti. Here are the first three tips they share:
1. Try to see more than just material poverty while you’re there.
2. Go to learn–not just work or evangelize.
3. Don’t assume you’re teaching biblically illiterate people.
Watch the video to learn more tips and warnings and hear the stories behind them.
Survivor’s Guide to Short Term Missions
Brent and Kelly take a less serious approach in this video, but don’t miss the practicality of their tips while you’re laughing! You’ll want to heed their advice.
1. Body Glide is your FRIEND
2. Prepare for Carb-polooza cause your keto diet ain’t gonna cut it.
3. Pack some TP unless you’re willing to risk single ply.
Watch the video to catch all 7 of their tips.
5 Reasons Not to Go on a Mission Trip
Unfortunately, sometimes we can have the wrong motivations and intentions going into a mission trip. Make sure you are aware of your reasons for going and what you are going to be doing while you are there.
2019 Webinar Series on Short-Term Missions
Our friends at Standards of Excellence in Short Term Mission (SOE) are hosting a series of webinars throughout 2019, and I’m excited to share with you what they’ll be covering:
To Hell with Good Intentions
The title of this article comes from a pot-stirring speech delivered in 1968 by Ivan Illich to a group of American volunteers. Thanks to globalization and airplanes, 50 years later, his intended audience has grown to include me and the estimated 1.6 million American volunteers going on short-term mission trips each year. We spend as much as $3 billion on these trips annually and have left many inside and outside the Church wondering if it does as much good as it could.
Reframing Fundraising
If you are someone who hates the idea of asking people for money and you dread fundraising with every fiber of your being, or if you are someone who is excited for all of the events and activities that fundraising can bring, or if you’re somewhere in between, it’s important to keep a proper perspective.
Thanking Your Hosts
You’ve just returned from your trip and you can’t wait to tell everyone back home everything that happened. Coming home is exciting, but make sure you don’t forget to thank the people who hosted you while you were away. Here are some ways you can do that! Remember that not every way is appropriate for every situation.
Fundraising Ideas
So you know that you need to start fundraising, and you know the basics, but you have no idea how to actually make it happen. You’ve started to feel the financial weight of the trip. Don’t worry. Fundraising isn’t as complicated as you might initially think. Thankfully we have a starting point.
Short-Term Mission Trip Book Suggestions
Your short-term mission trip is likely going to be a life-changing event. You will be pushed out of your comfort zone and you will see things you’ve never seen before. You will see God work in ways you never would have imagined. Through all of this, it is important to keep your mind and heart in the right place. Check out the following books help to prepare you for what you will experience on your cross-cultural trip.