Short Term Mission... Solving the Riddle of Your Return Home

It’s been more than three months.

In that time you’ve prayed like never before. Clearly you understood that God was calling you to join the short-term mission team your church was sponsoring. As you thought about that, you became convinced that in order to present yourself holy and pleasing to God, you had to make some changes in your life, both public and private.

In addition to prayer, you attended every pre-trip training meeting and have even been doing a daily bible devotional so you’ll be ready once you get to the field.

Your fundraising went well and you were able to raise over and above your goal, helping others on the team get over the hump. Once you arrived on the field, everyday seemed so vital. If you were not sharing Christ directly with your words, you were serving others in his name, a visible witness to the loving and transforming character of Jesus.

Each day seemed to show a new level of the depth of Jesus as you poured yourself into his mission 24/7. You had never experienced anything like this in your faith walk before. You were alive in Christ, living each moment for him. It was challenging, stretching and frightening, all at once.

And then the dreaded day came… the end of your mission. You found yourself at the airport with the rest of your team and that’s when you started to notice it. Looking around, with the trip in your rearview mirror, the team started to change. Incredibly, before even getting on the plane, many had already returned home.

Instead of the simple cup of tea your hosts made for you each morning, everyone now needed a Caramel Frappucino from Starbuck’s. No one even noticed that most of the drinks at that coffee house cost more than a days wages of the people you were serving. No longer was the team looking for ways to build each other up. Making fun of the way people looked as they traversed the airport was way easier. And a lot more fun.

When you arrived home the first place you went was to the bathroom. Your bathroom. You had never dreamed that the simple task of flushing paper could bring such great joy, but it did. Next was the shower, and gallons upon gallons of hot steamy water. You weren’t aware of it at the time, but you were washing your mission experience right off of you and down the drain.

The next day you and the team shared at church. Each team member brought up a moment when they felt uniquely connected to God and the people you went to serve. The pastor asked about future plans and most of you said you were already making plans to return, praying daily for your new friends on the other side of the globe and sharing Christ more in your home circle of friends.

And then it was over.

You went back to school, work, or the challenges of daily life. The remote control seemed like it was calling your name the moment you walked in the house. Texts from your friends started filling your phone almost immediately and when you opened your email for the first time in over a week, you had almost 800 messages waiting.

"Coming home from your STM without a clear plan in place to consider and apply the lessons of that mission is a recipe for disaster, one countless people and groups serve up every year."

Soon not only were you not reading your bible, you weren’t even praying. Life had crowded out your mission, making it indeed a short-term experience. You felt like a failure, to yourself, your friends and perhaps most, to God.

Relax, you’re not alone.

You’re not evil and you are definitely not a failure. You are like thousands of other people who have gone on short-term mission. You were incredibly impacted by God, but now back home no one seems to understand what you went through. You are struggling to keep your mission “game face” on as you navigate a world that seems designed not to encourage faith, but to push you everyday into a more self absorbed individuality apart from God.

So what should you do? The answer lies not so much in what you should do, but in what you should have done.

I’ve found in over 25 years of receiving short-term mission teams that the single most important part of mission prep is not getting ready for the trip. It’s getting prepared to come home. If leaders and participants are not preparing for the reality of reentry and the impending faith challenges back home, short-term mission participants will continue to struggle when they come home.

Coming home from your STM without a clear plan in place to consider and apply the lessons of that mission is a recipe for disaster, one countless people and groups serve up every year.

So, what should you do? Here are three simple steps to help you cement the faith and life lessons you learned on the field.

Set aside time for reflection. This seems so basic, but it is often overlooked. On mission, every day you were intimately connected to God, and you also should be when you get home. Pray and spend time doing nothing except listening to Him, seeking wisdom for your life in light of your mission experiences. As on the field, make Him a priority.

Don’t go it alone. Proverbs 12:15 says “The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.” In business we call this taking a partner. Get a trusted elder, pastor, leader or friend to walk with you on your return. Often they can help you better navigate the feelings, struggles and difficulties of coming home and understanding God’s will.

Get involved. Find a local ministry where you can serve others as you did on the field. God does something in us when we serve. We should do it at home with as much excitement as we do on the field.

Three simple steps. But they come with a caveat.

You’ve got to plan them ahead of time. Completely. Set dates, times and appointments with people before you even leave on mission. Otherwise, you’ll be like so many others when they return… wondering why just a few weeks ago God was so close to you, but now seems so incredibly distant.

A Cross Cultural Covenant... Stopping short term mission team disaster before it strikes!

Rod Fry in Oaxaca with my Men's Ministry last February

One of the hardest things for people serving cross-culturally is giving up the comforts of home. That’s true if you go for a week, a month, or years. There is just something about having things your way that causes us to struggle when we are faced with something that changes that reality.

Recently I was in Mexico City with Rod Fry, a 20-year Missionary there with Mexico Matters. We work together on a program called missionXchange where people come to Mexico for 6 weeks alongside both our ministries. Rod’s in Mexico City and Adventures in Life in Oaxaca.

As part of our orientation, we touched on the subject of our “right” to have things as we want them. We included them in a Cross-Cultural Covenant that Rod developed. Everyone who serves with us reads and agrees to follow the covenant their time here in Mexico.

Today I’m going to share part of that Covenant. It has been my experience that if someone going "over there" can get, or understand this, their time serving will be much more effective and rewarding. It can even save your mission and ministry by heading off difficult issues before you ever get on a plane. And, it gives you a basis for resolving the inevitable conflicts that arise when you are in a foreign place.

Thanks Rod for all of your work on this!

Cross Cultural Covenant

We live in world full of rights. Our particular culture is one where we take pride in rights. As a matter of fact, the rights of the individual are constitutional, but as we see the demanding of those individual rights increase, we are seeing the moral fiber of our society decrease. Jesus laid down his rights to the heavens and all his glory to become man and serve, not be served. 

We are asking you to consider laying down your rights on this short-term mission. Not to lay them down for better or worse, but to entrust them to Jesus. While many of these rights may seem reasonable, indeed, who can argue about a comfortable bed, on short-term mission, they can become an unnecessary distraction.

Please take the time to search your heart and consider this… are you willing to surrender your rights to God?

I Give Up My Right To:

• A comfortable bed
• Three meals a day on a set schedule
• Eating familiar food
• Dressing cool and fashionable
• Seeing the results and fruits of my labor
• Control what I do
• Control what others do
• Control the circumstances around me
• Have pleasant circumstances around me
• Make decisions about all that I am doing
• Be offended
• Be successful
• Be understood
• Be heard
• Be right, or correct
• To worry

I Will Entrust To God

• My strength and energy
• My health and hygiene
• My likes and dislikes of food
• My security in him
• His purposes, results and fruit in His time
• My need for the Holy Spirit
• His work in others
• His purposes in making me more Christlike
• The privilege of suffering for His sake
• His sovereign hand on my life
• My deepest needs
• My security in His love
• My reputation
• My need for recognition
• My need for His righteousness
• Divine Control

If you like what you see and want more info, contact us.

Mission and Ministry, Just Like a Great Rack of Ribs, is Best When it's Done Slow...

If you’re a barbecue lover, you know slow is good.

Few things make your mouth water like a rack of ribs that’s been slow roasted for hours over a low heat. Just the thought of it has me wondering if I can pull something like that off here in Oaxaca, Mexico, where I serve.

The idea that slow cooking was good seemed to really take hold with the masses in the 70’s with the crock pot. 

Rival, the number one maker back then was incredibly successful in teaching an entire generation that if you slow cooked your meat in their crock pot, using their recipes, you could have an incredible meal, full of flavor and as tender as can be.

Today you can find entire web sites and blogs dedicated to the art of slow cooking.

It’s too bad it is so difficult to convince people that when it comes to short-term mission [STM], just like barbecue and the crock pot, slow is usually better. Let me explain what I mean.

Years ago AIL Ministry partnered with First Baptist Church in Oaxaca [PIBO] to build a training center in Tlacolula. The plan was to have a dormitory, kitchen, restrooms and use the existing church building as a classroom to train Zapotec leaders from the churches where PIBO was planting missions.

We started construction in 2005 and in a couple of years we had it mostly finished. Except no one was ready to use it. So it sat, for a couple of years, mostly vacant, except on Sundays when there was a church service there.

Then one day the pastor and his wife asked me if they could live there while pastoring the church. That was one of the quickest answers I’ve ever given. “Of course” I said, “why not?” And soon, with the pastor living there, classes began to be offered to the very group that PIBO had dreamed about, almost 7 years earlier.

Now, more than 10 years after we started construction there, there’s been another change. While classes are still being offered from time to time, the church, under new leadership has started to grow. And grow. The church now has almost 100 people in their community and all the rooms we built for dorms and restrooms are being used on Sundays and during the week by this growing congregation.

Why is this important? Because there were some who wanted to see that facility used the minute we finished, but that doesn’t always happen in mission. One of the reasons for this can be found in culture. One of the things Americans do well is plan for the future. Other cultures, sometimes not so much. They won’t start planning the next step until everything is ready to go, because they’ve seen many unrealized dreams when funding, or resolve ran out.

It’s not wrong, it’s just different.

That difference can be very hard for Americans on short-term mission to understand, especially when their hard earned dollars are involved in the financing of projects like this. Understandably, if you’ve given money to a project, you want to see it being used as soon as possible.

But sometimes, the culture is not ready, even when, like in this case, the building was. Why? Because just like good barbecue, or a great crock pot dinner, the process cannot be rushed. Ministry and mission, especially when you are working in other cultures, takes time. Often, more time than us folks from the states want to admit.

To get a great rack of ribs, or an incredible stew from a crock pot, you need patience. Sure you can microwave your food, or add some liquid smoke to get that slow cooked barbecue taste, but it won’t be the same. The taste you want just won’t be there.

Simply put, there are no short cuts in mission and ministry, no way to speed up the process. No matter how much money we put into a project, or a mission, when we are crossing borders and working in other cultures, often times the best results come after a long, slow process.

Contrary to our thinking here in the US, over there, where ever there is, just like barbecue and a great crockpot dinner, slow is good! 

Think about it.

Taking the Kids on Short-Term Mission... how to make sure you get it right!

One of the emerging trends I am seeing in short-term mission from both the sending and receiving side of the equation is a desire for families to involve their children in missions.

To that I offer a hearty amen!

All of the pictures here show kids serving on mission with AIL and their families

From my perspective, the opportunity to “train up a child” from an early age about the importance of getting personally involved in cross cultural missions cannot be understated. Whether those children ever become lifelong missionaries will remain to be seen, but in a world that is becoming more multicultural everyday, cross cultural competence and fluency will be increasingly necessary to effectively share the Gospel.

Before I start, let me clarify where I stand regarding children in mission. I am a strong proponent of kids going on mission, provided they do so with their parents. I don’t believe parents should pass that responsibility on to another parent, even if that parent is a close friend. The family experience of serving together is central to a child understanding that this is a big deal for his or her parents, and the kingdom. It becomes about modeling the value of mission and self sacrifice together.  

As a host receiver, I have had a front row seat to some of the perils and pitfalls of family mission experiences. Generally in my role, I have tended to always say yes to parents and families wanting to be part of our work, provided I can reasonably accommodate them within the ministry we are doing.

This means there are going to be limits. If your host receiver primarily works in high danger areas, or in specialized ministries like rescuing women from the sex trade, those would not be appropriate places for kids and families.

With the above as a backdrop, here are a few thoughts 

Parents are more the issue than their kids. 

US parents are significantly more over-protective of their kids than many other cultures. This is not to say one parent loves their child any more than another. I simply want to suggest that if you are a “helicopter parent”, missions might be a struggle for you and your family.

Effective mission takes place when we enter into a culture, as opposed to standing outside of it as a pseudo-observer. One of the first points of contact, and struggle for kids and families on mission, is at meal time. When you are in another country and the food comes out looking different, smelling different and tasting different, what are you, as a parent going to expect from your son or daughter.

My son started coming with me on mission at a young age. From those very first days, he understood the biblical model of eating and drinking what is put in front of you that we learn from Jesus in Luke 10. To this day I still hear him respond to friends when asked how he could eat something so different at someones house with two simple words... “Missionary meal.”

Before you head out on the field with your bundle of joy, are you prepared to force the issue when it comes to food, or are your going to travel with a secret stash of goodies to give to your son or daughter when they tell you they don’t like what is being served?

Missions is about sacrifice. 

One of the reasons many parents want to bring their kids on missions is for them to learn about sacrifice. Don’t short circuit that lesson out of a perceived need to cater to your child. Once they learn that you expect them to eat what they are served, and that there are no other options, believe me, they’ll eat, and quickly learn the importance of the term “missionary meal.”

US kids have significantly less stamina than many children around the world.

Generally when I think of appropriate mission opportunities for kids, I like to see them involved in kid friendly activities. This usually means ministry to children. If you want to bore a kid to death, take them on mission with you where all the work is focused on adults. If you want them to thrive, make sure they have time and opportunities to interact with the kids their own age who they are going to serve and get to know.

This however can pose a serious challenge because of the stamina issue. Let me give you an example. Each year my ministry facilitates a series of children’s camps in Oaxaca, Mexico. The kids we serve are from very poor rural backgrounds and are often expected to help work the family land along with school and any other “chores” around the house.

They get up before dawn to work the field and leave for school around 8:00am. There is no bus, or car, so they walk. When they get home in the afternoon, they return to the field until dinner is served, around 8:00pm. After dinner they finally get a chance to do their homework, getting to bed between 11:00 and 12:00 each night. The next morning before dawn, it starts all over again. Every day, every week of their young life. 

When these kids come to camp, they are loaded with enough energy and stamina to go full bore, all day. Unfortunately, their peers from the US are not able to keep up. Before bringing your child on mission with you, think about this. We want people set up for success, not failure and if your child lacks the stamina to keep up, perhaps it would be better to wait a year and work on his or her physical endurance.

Recently I had a group serving with me and they were adamant that their kids were in good shape and well prepared for the ministry awaiting them. As would happen on any camp ministry in the states, we divided all the locals up into teams and then placed the Americans kids on teams with them.

We gave points and awards for everything from attitude to participation in the various activities at the camp. Across the board, the teams with more participants from the states scored the lowest amount of points. One of the primary reasons for this was because those kids from the US were simply not physically able to keep up with a full days’ activities. 

Incarnational Mission is not a museum.

One thing we do not need more of on the field is observers. We need people willing to role up their sleeves, get into the hard work of sharing the Gospel and helping the local church build bridges into the communities where they are working. We need people willing to actively seek out ways to live the Gospel for whatever length of time they are here.

This means that people on a mission site, whether they are 5, or 75 years old, will be expected to get involved. One way to gauge this is to see what your kid is doing as opposed to what the local kids are doing.

If the locals are playing a game of kickball, and your child is sitting quietly reading a book, or has decided it is time for a nap, what message does that send to his new international friends?

Trust me on this... the only way to ultimately get what you want for your child on mission is to arrive prepared to make sure he or she gets involved, whether they like it or not. It is that involvement, that living outside of a comfort zone that will stretch your child. It is that incarnational witness and decision to be directly connected to the life of another that leads to effective transformational mission.

Asher Sarjent of 16:15 Church Mission Coaching has a few rules for anyone going on mission that he always shares when he trains a team. Two of those are especially relevant here.

"Do everything you are asked, or told and no complaining."

As an adult, it is fairly easy for us to live this. For kids though, unless they are well prepared ahead of time, and constantly reminded, this does not come naturally. This is where the rubber meets the road because given the option, most kids prefer a mission that is a museum.

Let me introduce to you Jim [not his real name]. Jim was 12 when he and his parents served on mission with us in Oaxaca. One of the activities we had for the kids at our camp was a chance to go to the theater and see the latest animated movie that was showing. For most of the kids at our camps, this was the first, and maybe the only time they would ever see the inside of a movie theater.

Like a lot of theaters in the US, this one was connected to one of the local shopping malls, so when we announced to the group of Americans where we were going, they were all excited.

What was interesting about this group of kids serving with their parents was that their excitement had nothing to do with mission or building kingdom relationships. They were excited because they were going to a mall. You could sense their disappointment when we told them we were not going shopping but to a movie and that they could only go if they were willing to spend time with their new Mexican friends and see the movie.

Every single young person in the group decided not to go except for Jim. As we were driving over to the theater, I asked Jim, all of 12 years old, why he decided to go. He said to me “Dave, I may never get a chance again in my life to a movie I Spanish, in Mexico, with a group of my friends.” 

It should not surprise you that Jim was the star of that camp. The attitude he showed that day, being willing to stretch himself and live incarnationally among the people he was trying to serve should be an example to all of us.

If you are going to bring your children on mission with you, and I strongly recommend and support this, neither you or your children should treat mission like a museum. Mission that is effective, or that makes a Kingdom difference, is not to be observed, either by adults or by your kids. It is to be lived, all day long in relationship with the people you are trying to serve.

Final thoughts for parents.

Don’t bring your child before he or she regularly does not need a daily nap. We all know how kids are when they do not get the nap. Cranky, tired, whiny and everything no one wants to see on the mission field. Set your children up for success by waiting until they have passed this important developmental step.

Wait until your kids are potty trained. No one likes cleaning up a messy diaper. Trust me on this, you are gonna like it even less on some far away mission field location. You, your kids and your host receiver will all appreciate it if before you pack your future missionary off on mission, he or she knows how, and when to use a restroom.

Your kids are your responsibility. Period. No team you are serving with is there to baby sit your kids and neither is the missionary. Understand that if you have a relationship with a missionary host receiver who is willing to let you bring your child, that is going to be the exception. Honor that and take to heart the above points.

Final thoughts for missionary host receivers.

Be open to the idea of children on site with you. In todays world, kids are going to travel. Do we want a generation of children growing up feeling like God’s servants around the globe don’t want them around? Of course not. Who knows, one of those kids might just grow up and be the person who continues your ministry into the next generation. 

I am not saying allow kids on every site where you are involved. What I am saying is take a look at your calendar, see where it might be appropriate for young children to be involved and when a parent asks about bringing their child, give it a try.

In closing.

The idea of bringing children on short-term mission is enough to sometimes send even the most laid back host receiver over the edge. For parents, the thought of trying to keep a growing boy or girl under control in another country, where they speak another language, may be just too much.

But let me offer this encouragement to both sides of what I am sure we will seeing more of in the coming years. The Kingdom, the mission field, your family, and our ability to attract new leaders to the global Great Commission will be strengthened by having children on mission with us.

That alone should cause us to explore ways to make this happen.

Maybe Bucket List Christians are the problem and not short-term mission...

AIL Ministry Executive Director
Dave Miller

Recently Noel Becchetti, formerly of the Center for Student Missions wrote an article titled “Why Most Mission Trips are a Waste of Time, and how to make sure yours isn’t” that was shared by a friend of mine on Facebook.

In his article, Becchetti brought up all the requisite failures we’ve heard for years about short-term mission and ministry, and they all start with our need...

• to control

• to define the ministry

• to see results

As someone who has served in short-term mission [STM] for over 20 years, first leading teams and then ultimately, receiving teams and participants, let me begin by affirming Noel’s list.

There are few leaders in short-term mission, myself included, who would not agree heartily with each of these issues. As leaders, and in many cases, pioneers of the short-term movement, we’ve been guilty of each of the offenses Noel cites, and probably more. Look closely at each of the problems mentioned and you’ll see a central theme... US! Broken, sinful, prideful, controlling people who have grown up in a world that tells us it’s all about us. Sadly, lest we get too puffed up, that includes our churches too. 

What’s encouraging is that in response to a history of at best lackluster short-term mission, those of us in short-term mission leadership chose to do something radical about it.

We looked critically at our mission. We examined our methodology, our ministry, our planning, everything. You know what we found out? Our critics were right. About the only good thing we saw were hearts that were beating for people to come into an eternal relationship with Jesus Christ.

And with that as a backdrop, we set about to change the way short-term mission was done. No longer would our mission trips be all about us, the primary villain Bechetti finds in his Pogoesque “the enemy is us” critique.

This effort soon came to be known as the US Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission, an accrediting and resourcing body for those who send, receive, facilitate and support short-term mission. Not only did we not want mission trips to be waste of time, filled with busy work like painting fences for the 100th time, we wanted them to truly be about God and His glory, lived out on the mission field. 

7 Standards were soon developed by the short-term community that literally address all the issues that critics of STM have raised for years. Unfortunately, not enough people involved in sending short-term teams are even aware of the standards. Worse, some people and churches have simply decided to reject them as too difficult to embrace. I believe Standard 1, calling for a God centered life and Standard 2, calling for empowering partnerships are the biggest stumbling blocks for large numbers of churches and groups, known as senders. 

Let me explain.

Standard 1, a requirement of a God centered life would seem to eliminate many people without a faith in Jesus. As logical as that may seem, this requirement smacks up against the desire of many leaders, particularly those working in student ministries to use short-term mission as an evangelistic tool.

What should a youth pastor do if little Johnny wants to join his friends on a short-term mission trip, yet has never made a profession of faith, or is not currently living a faith centered in Jesus? Should he be allowed to participate in the hopes that he might make a life changing decision as a result of his time serving?

Let me put that question another way. Should churches and groups be sending people on mission trips to hear about Jesus, or should they be sending people whose lives already testify to life changing power of our risen Lord?

Standard 2 clearly states the primary focus of your mission needs to be on those we serve. Focusing on those we serve means that our mission isn’t about us or our spiritual development. Sadly, that realty stands in direct opposition to how many leaders and participants currently think about mission trips. 

Recently I have started hearing from people, God centered committed people, that going on a short-term mission trip has been on their “bucket list.” Even a best case interpretation cannot find a way to interpret this as putting the primary focus on someone else.

There is no calling from God involved in Bucket List Missions. An understanding that a short-term mission can, or even should be reduced to some sort of ‘bucket list” of things to do in life is very hard to square with Standard 2.

If people are still struggling with even the idea of short-term mission, and the comments I see whenever anything STM is posted bear that out, then there is still work to be done. But maybe all of the fault does not lie with the short-term community itself.

Short-term mission is here to stay. Making sure STM is not a waste of time will take all sides of the mission experience, senders, goer-guests and hosts, working together to more effectively grow God’s Kingdom.

Noel Bechetti’s post raises some valid issues that many in the short-term mission community have taken seriously and strived to improve. The next step I believe, is for the leaders on the sending side of this issue, those in churches and other faith communities to also step up and accept responsibility for their part in improving short-term mission.

More on that later.

Going on Short-Term Mission? 10 things you must know before you leave...

I recently presented a workshop at The Forum, an annual gathering of the Fellowship of Short Term Mission Leaders.

As an on field host receiver, I was asked to talk about short-term mission from my side of border, or as one who receives teams.  Here was my somewhat lengthy title...

10 Things Every Host Receiver Wants You To Know Before Bringing Your Team.

So here they are... think of this as Dave's Top 10 for Short Term Mission Teams...

1. The pace here is different.  There are not many places in the world where the pace of life is as it is in the United States.  Stuff just doesn’t get done here on the same time schedule as it does back home.  And that is not necessarily a bad thing.

2. Make it about relationship, not project.  Come to be, not do... And generally, you’ll get to do.

3. Adopt the "When in Rome" attitude.  Be a local... eat, dress, & act like a local... Learn the culture...Be an American when you return home.

4. Don’t overwhelm us with people.  We need and want smaller teams for longer periods of time.  

5. It’s not wrong, just different.... Corollaries... You’re not in Kansas anymore and You are not all that!  Just because we do it differently on the field does not make it wrong.  Also, things are different here, because sometimes they have to be.  Finally, and this is hard for a lot of folks from the US, but many people from other countries are not quite as enamored with the US as we think they should be.  

6. We drive the bus... or what is important to you, may not be what’s important to us.  You read that right.  The field missionaries are the folks in the front seat.  We are on the front lines so trust us.  Need more on this?  Check out the US Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission.

7. Don’t be critical with us.  Offer us ideas and support, but remember, life on the field can leave us feeling pretty fragile, and vulnerable.  We know where we are failing and coming up short.  Just like kids, we sometimes need people to come alongside and love on us unconditionally.  Be a blessing!

8. Think creatively when you give.  If your host receiver has kids, offer to baby sit so they can have a night out, or a day without the kids.  Schedule your vacation in a way you can take us with you.  Our finances seldom allow us a break from ministry and many nationals are reluctant to use what little financial resources there are for this.  Get a time share from one of your church members and bless your missionary host once in a while.  You might also bring a few I-Tunes gift cards so we can get some new music the right way while we are serving overseas.

9. We will still be here when you get home.  When you get that plane for the ride home, remember, we will still be here!  Our ministry does not just happen when you are here, it is ongoing 24/7!

10. The major work has already been done!  That's right.  The book has already been written about our great missionary focus and we know how it ends.  God Wins!  Praise Jesus...

After I presented this list, I asked a few of the other receivers in the room if I had missed anything.  They said I pretty much got them all... at least the ones we could share publicly.

That list is probably another post...

Leaving on a Jet Plane... getting ready for your short-term mission...

All your bags are packed and you’re ready to go… 

Or are you?

As we head into summer, thousands of people from the US will leave our shores on what has become some sort of Christian passage, the short-term mission trip.

Perhaps the destination will be some exotic locale like Fiji or Papua New Guinea.  Maybe they’ll be headed somewhere in the 10-40 Window, or perhaps, they will be driving across the country or even across town to serve.

But no matter the location, far or near, there are some important things short-term missionaries need to make sure they have safely tucked in their bags before they leave.  

1. Get some insurance. 

I recently met with someone who shared that one of the largest ministries working across the border does not provide medical insurance for short-term missionaries serving with them. 

When I asked him what they do in the event of an accident, he told me they just drive back across the border to the US.

As a short-term mission leader myself, this lack of foresight is stunning.  As a parent, it is frightening.  What if, God forbid, the worst happened and a short-termer died?  There would be no way to guarantee the safe, legal, quick repatriation of the body. 

For just a few dollars a day, leaders, churches, and families can get a policy that covers medical emergencies, baggage loss, and even a flight for a parent to be with their kids in the event of a major accident.

Do not leave our shores without mission trip insurance!

2. Get your Culture Gram.

For just a few dollars, you can get a real understanding of the issues in the country you are serving, some cultural clues, tons of demographic data and even on diet and holidays.

The Culture Gram is an invaluable tool that can really help you go better prepared to where God is sending you!

3. A list.

Make a list of the people who have supported you and enabled you to take part in your mission.

This will help you better pray for them and remember them when you need to pick up that something special to say thank you for participating in your ministry.

You do not want to get home and suddenly remember that you forgot to get a scarf or something for Aunt Lucy simply because you did not have a list of your supporters.

4. A bible.

This may sound incredible, but I have had a number of people serve with me who got to Mexico and realized they had no bible.  Don’t forget your bible and better yet, make sure it is bi lingual.

5. Additional memory sticks for your camera.

Let’s face it, you’re gonna take a lot of pictures.  You are part of the Facebook/Pinterest/Twitter/Instagram generation.  Be prepared!  Take more memory then you think you’ll need and while you are packing, make sure to put your charger and cable in the bag too.

6. A copy of your passport.

If something happens and you lose the original, a copy makes that replacement process so much simpler.  Now I know your leader is supposed to have a copy safe and secure from all alarm for you, but don’t rely on that.

Your passport, your responsibility!

Finally, take a couple of books.  I cannot imagine traveling without something to read.  The amount of time spent waiting for planes, trains, and automobiles will pass much more quickly if you are into a good book.

Besides, you won’t typically have a cell phone data plan in the country you’ll be visiting, so why not read?  it's certainly better than playing Angry Birds for hours on end.

There you have it.

7 things every person serving on short-term mission must have in their bags when they leave home to serve on short-term mission.

Like the old American Express commercial used to say… don’t leave home without ‘em!

Culture & Mission... Putting culture back in cross-cultural missions...

I was in the 450 year old Cathedral of Guadalajara a number of years ago when one of the people on a short-term mission I was leading asked me a question.

Looking at the hand carved confessionals and artwork that had been there hundreds of years, he wanted to know why we were wasting our time looking at that stuff when we could be outside “saving souls.”

I have thought a lot about that statement in my work in Mexico with Adventures in Life Ministry.

Most Christians would agree that the reason for mission is to help people know Jesus. 

However, few seem to agree that even a rudimentary understanding of the local culture is an important part of a successful mission.

There is a sense that time spent learning about the culture, history, and beliefs of the people you are serving is time wasted, because it takes away from the whatever is the central task of your mission.  

Whether it is outreach, construction, or even medical work, many short-term missionaries, out of great motives, are reluctant to spend part of their in country time to experience the life of those they are serving.

With a majority of short-term mission pre-field training focusng on logistics, health, food and bathroom issues, people leaving our shores to serve are getting on planes woefully unprepared to really understand the complexity of life abroad.  

Even taking the approach suggested by long time missionary to Honduras, Kurt Ver Beek, of using the first day or two after a team arrives to orient and expose them to the culture becomes a challenge to US based teams dreaming of high production and instant results from their mission work.  They want to get started on the “real” work.

This attitude of choosing to ignore the culture where we serve in favor of “the more important” work is one of the major shortcomings of short-term mission.  With limited time, participants want to be as productive as possible, but at what expense?

My Co-founder of Adventures in Life Ministry, Grady Martine was a long time worker with Young Life.  He always spoke of “earning the right to be heard.”  This was the idea that when you invest personally with people where they live, he would say you earn the right to have that important Gospel conversation.

It is too bad that for much of short-term mission, we see that value as only being useful in the United States, choosing to ignore its important ramifications when we leave our shores.

Successful cross-cultural mission, with long term lasting transformation only happens, when we truly understand the people whom we are called to serve.   Because as we get to know the people and their heart culture, we gain the respect and cultural insight necessary to take part in God’s work of “saving souls.”  

The Apostle Paul inherently understood this.  The only way he could become all things to all people was to understand who they were and what they were about.  And he did it all for the sake of the Gospel. 

For us, it is a lesson we must learn and practice if we are to truly realize the promise of cross cultural mission, both long and short-term.

“Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became a Jew to win the Jews.  To those under the law, I became like one under the law.... I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means, I might save some...” 

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

MISSION Focused and the Power of Photography...

Every once in a while, I get asked if short-term ministry makes any real difference in the lives of those we serve.

The answer usually is that it depends.

Certainly it can if you are part of a team that brings some significant improvement to a family, church, or area.

But those are the big obvious examples.

Far more times we are never going to see how our work impacts those in other countries when we go to serve.

Today however was different.

I was next door to a church we helped build in San Baltazar, Oaxaca, talking to the Jaime and his family as they were working in their trade, making shawls.  When it was time to leave, Jaime’s wife Marta invited me into the house to talk and have a cup of avena.

As I walked in the door, I saw it.  A picture I have seen a million times on my computer.  It is one I have used on the Adventures in Life Ministry web site.  It was a picture of my friend Doug and the new friend he made in Oaxaca, Julian, Jaime’s dad.

Everyone in the family remembered Doug and the day that photo was taken.  I listened as they shared about their dad helping us build the church next door and his work with us alongside Doug in Tlacolula. 

One of the ministries we have partnered with is MISSION Focused.  When we are on mission in Mexico, Brother Joe Ramirez and his team come with us to take photos.

Now I’ll be honest, sometimes I wonder if we need to take a million photos of us working.  But we are not the only people Brother Joe and his team are photographing while they are in Mexico.

Every ministry site we are on in Oaxaca, anyone in the village can come and get photos of their families, kids, their home, or whatever.  

For many, it may be the first color picture they have ever seen of themselves, or their families.  For most, it is the first tangible expression of God’s love they have ever received from the church.

Today when we finished talking next door with Jaime and his wife Marta, they asked if we could come back later and take some photos of his new son.

It is amazing to see what something as seemingly simple as a photograph can mean to a person, or a family.

Every day people around the globe are serving in short-term mission taking pictures.  And every day, for the most part, those people will go home with their photos, forever missing a chance to leave a lasting impact with those whom they are serving.

It is good to know that when we leave this week, alongside the photo of Doug and Julian, there will also be photos of Jaime’s and Marta’s baby boy.

And it is even better to know that the ministry of MISSION Focused is helping Adventures in Life Ministry and churches in places like San Baltazar Guelavila and San Felipe Guila build bridges into their communities for Jesus through the power of photography.