Missions as the Mission
What short-term missions can do for you, Christians abroad, and the church
I walked into Grace Church for the first time almost 29 years ago, being a fairly new Christian and having only sporadic church experiences in my life. I soon realized how much I needed a church, and became a member later that summer.
Whether our church was about 40 people in a conference room at a hotel (when I started), to thousands of members among 23 services across 10 campuses, we have always had the same mission: to make mature followers of Jesus Christ.
I have taken part in virtually every kind of community and serving that the church has offered. And one of the best ways that I've grown as a follower of Jesus is through mission trips.
For context, here’s a recap of my short-term mission trip experiences:
March 2003 — Nicaragua. God opened my eyes to how He is at work all over, and how it is a blessing for me to see that.
November 2007 — Kenya.
January 2011 - June 2014 — Allendale, SC. Our family lived and ministered there as a part of the community.
April 2014 — Eleuthera (Bahamas). Yes, I went on a mission trip while living as a missionary.
2015 - 2019 — Allendale, SC. We (as a family) went back to Allendale three times over spring breaks, and twice for weeks in the summer.
May 2018 — Puerto Rico. My first post-Allendale mission trip, when I realized how natural and fulfilling it felt for me to spend time in a different culture.
July 2018 — Kenya. With my daughter, as a part of an adult-student trip.
June 2021 — Puerto Rico.
July 2022 — Puerto Rico. With my wife and sons.
July 2024 — Puerto Rico. With one of my sons.
(and going back to Puerto Rico this summer as well)
How Missions Grow Me
Through missions, I have learned to depend on Jesus as I give up of my time and money. And missions have helped me grow through being humbled. God reminds me (a Type A person) that I'm not in control. On each of the short-term mission trips I’ve been on, there is ALWAYS something that comes up that was not planned. I need these experiences regularly to remind me that I’m not in charge.
How Missions Grow and Strengthen the Church
There’s also an aspect for missions outside of myself. When we look at the New Testament, people traveled to other places for a couple of reasons:
to spread the Gospel, and
for mutual encouragement with other Christians who live in other places.
The same holds true for us today, when it comes to missions. We go to spread the gospel and to have fellowship with other Christians.
As I noted above, our family lived in Allendale, SC for 3 1/2 years, in some sense as missionaries. So I can speak of missions from the perspective of someone who was on the other side.
In Allendale, there was real work that needed to be done to bring comfort and hope, and we needed others to be involved. But we also needed encouragement and fellowship. I always said that if we had the choice between someone sending $100 or them coming to visit us for a day, we would always choose the latter. (But if it was $10,000, . . . well, that’s another story.)
As a church, we have a great opportunity to go for these same two reasons — to be a part of God's Kingdom work, and to encourage believers in another place. Serving on a short-term mission trip may not require you to be skilled. You just have to go with a humble and loving heart, and a willingness to experience God in a new way.
As you do that, God will use you to bless others, and God will use others to help you grow.