Effective Short-Term Missions—It Doesn’t Just Happen!
As associate pastor of Pine Grove Church in Lancaster County, PA, I was co-leading a short term missions team headed this summer to serve with BCM Peru in Iquitos and Lima when we ran into trouble. A weather delay in Newark, NJ, had led to missing our Miami connection, springing on us an unexpected 24 hour layover. Our team started praying. A few hours of haggling provided tickets on another airline leaving at 11:30 PM the next evening.
As a team, we rejoiced at God’s provision of tickets for such a large a group so early in the morning. After a greasy meal from a drive-thru restaurant at 2:30 AM, my co-leader and I deposited our team in a hotel, then headed back to the airport to confirm our new tickets, reschedule our missed connection to Iquitos and transfer 44 pieces of luggage. Bouncing back and forth from one airline kiosk to another, we finally returned to the hotel around 7 AM, content our trip would continue without problems.
We were sorely mistaken. Arriving later that evening to pick up our tickets, we discovered the flight was completely booked and the ticketing agent had not confirmed our group correctly. Putting our group on the standby list, we called out to the Lord in prayer. My co-leader and I called, talked to and pleaded with everyone we could think of, but in the end we were 22 teens and adults sitting on the floor of Miami International Airport, praying that somehow we’d make it to Peru. At 10:45 PM the airline supervisor informed me that 22 people hadn’t showed up for the flight. Our entire team would be able to board. Cheers and praises to God echoed through the airport as we lined up for our tickets.
We had a fantastic time serving in Peru. Lives we touched and the people and experiences that touched us are still being used by God to conform team members into the likeness of His Son. But the most impactful event of our mission trip never even happened in Peru, rather in Miami. God placed us in a situation where the only solution was Him. God answered the prayers of 22 teens and adults stranded in an airport, and those team members will never be the same again.
I’ve failed to mention one significant part of this story: our team’s response. Through this entire experience, they were never anxious, frustrated or angry. They didn’t complain or mutter under their breath. In fact, they exhibited the exact opposite reaction. Our team was excited, thrilled that God was taking them on an adventure, even if they didn’t know how things were going to end. We didn’t know whether we’d ever get to Peru, but we did know that God was in control and with us every step of the way.
Since returning home, I have been asked frequently, “Why do you think your team responded so well and was able to learn such a tremendous life lesson in trust before your trip even started?”
My answer is simple. We were prepared. Our trip preparation started seven months before saying farewell and kissing our loved ones goodbye.
The New Testament is filled with illustrations relating spiritual growth to farming. Paul talks of his role in seeing Corinthian believers come to Christ: “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.” (1 Cor. 3:6) Jesus uses the parable of the Sower to point different results from the same seed when sown in different soils: “But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.” (Luke 8:15)
I am not a farmer, but I live surrounded by Amish and Mennonite farmers. I’ve noticed over the years that farmers spend great time and effort preparing the soil before actually planting and watering the seeds. They spread manure in the fall. In the spring they spread more fertilizer followed by tilling the ground. They would never consider planting seed until the ground was fully prepared.
As a pastor, when I know lives entrusted to my care are going to be challenged, stripped of home comforts, schedules, culture and language to stand bare before God, I need to prepare them for that moment. Mission trips are definitely one of those moments. I don’t want those under my care responding to God’s challenge with a heart full of stones or weeds. I want them to respond to God with the same embrace good soil gives to the seed. So we start the process early and prepare ourselves seriously for what God is doing in our lives. When the trip is over, we spend significant time debriefing so that we can incorporate the things God has taught us into our lives from that point on.
When I plan a family trip, I get the van checked out. I get maps and look up information on attractions our family might be interested in attending. I rent a place to stay, call the people I want to see, etc. I prepare before I go so that my family and I can get the most out of our time and money when we go away. When I preach or teach, I strive to proclaim God’s Word in such a way that those listening will be able to put it into practice. I prepare them to live out God’s ways.
In the same way, I believe it is vital to prepare short-term team members for the experience on which they are about to embark. Every trip I’ve led has been different. Each has had at least one time when things didn’t go as planned. Usually there were several “disasters” on each trip. Wallets and cameras stolen. Luggage lost. People becoming seriously sick. Going to a country prepared for one sort of ministry to find they needed us to do something completely different. Cultural misunderstandings. Fights and arguments among team members. The list can go on and on.
But it was in those times of uncertainty and unplanned chaos that our team really pulled together and experienced God’s moving in a powerful way. Or, conversely, that we looked to ourselves and imploded as a team. Over my years of ministry and mission trips, I’ve found that the more time spent preparing ourselves as a team to be flexible servants for God, the better the trip is for our team and our church. Our hosts are also more appreciative to have us serving with them.
Without going into great detail, here are some key elements in preparing our teams I’ve found over the years to be truly helpful:
1. Application and Interview: No matter what kind of trip we’re planning, we require everyone to apply and interview. Part of the application is a contract team members (and their parents if under 18) sign, committing themselves to attend all training and debriefing, even for strictly work projects. It is as important for a skilled laborer to apply and prepare for the trip as for a middle school student. In reality, a church sends either one to invest in the heart and life of the person going, the church and the host mission. Having a skill doesn’t justify the expense of sending that person to another country to serve. Our hosts could hire someone local and get more done with the airfare money than that skilled person could ever accomplish in a couple of weeks. Short-term missions are about investing in people and the kingdom of God. The person with great skills will be challenged in their faith and relationship with God as much as that teen. Both need to be prepared.
2. Support Raising: We require everyone to write and send out support letters. Each team member must collect a prayer support team of more than ten who will commit to praying regularly before and after the trip and for each day during the trip. Financial support letters are sent to friends and family outside the church. In addition we have special opportunities for the church family to support team members. We started this practice after one of our first trips. Everyone in the church received dozens of letters and were put in the position of choosing who they would support or not support (especially with finances). Giving separate opportunities for those in our congregation to support the team or individuals without pressure or guilt has been a great source of unity within our church body. Even when we’ve had people fund their own trip, we still want them to have the experience of raising prayer support, which is even more important than the money.
3. Training: Monthly meetings prepare our team for the trip. We study culture, language, geography, and many other things. We bring in someone who has been to the area where we plan to serve to tell us what it is like, how to prepare, and what we might expect. We do team-building activities. We do a book study together, journal, study the Bible and pray together as a team. One way we’ve found to accomplish much of this in a short time is a weekend retreat a few weeks before the trip. Finding a weekend when everyone can be together is a challenge, but it is always worth the effort. We let people know when this weekend retreat is during the application process, so they can check their calendar before committing to the trip. Our training phase ends with a commissioning service in our church, in which the congregation sends us off with prayer and the recognition that we are being sent to do God’s work.
4. Debriefing: Bringing the team back together for two or three meetings after the trip is vital. Here is where lessons of the trip are internalized and incorporated into a person’s life. Our mission team plans and gives a presentation to the church shortly after returning. This helps team members reflect on what God did in and through them during the trip. It is also a great encouragement to the congregation who helped the team accomplish their task and invested in the lives of team members and the mission. Our follow-up meetings happen within a month of our return. These involve sharing stories and pictures of our experience along with how we are living out the lessons God taught us. We pray for each other and monitor any re-entry issues during this time as well.
Short-term mission trips can be one of the greatest opportunities our churches offer to stretch people in their faith and relationship with God. They can challenge participants to be more appreciative of what they have, how they live for God, how they serve others and demonstrate the love of Christ. If we in leadership are diligent in preparing the soil of their hearts before team members ever leave their comfortable homes, I am confident they will be more open to the planting of seeds and watering that others invest in them and ultimately to the growth and fruit that comes only from God.
