Six Steps for Thriving After Your Short Term Mission Trip

Katie Back Salmon • Aug 14, 2015

All short-term trips are supposed to end. But having a return ticket in your backpack doesn’t make the journey home a breeze. Below are six simple steps you can take to weather one of the toughest parts of going overseas: coming home.

1. RESUME YOUR OLD ROUTINE

Your body doesn’t know if it’s 3 a.m. or 3 p.m., your pantry is empty and your clothes are tangled at the bottom of a suitcase. After a season of adventure, it might sound like the last thing you want to do, but getting back into a normal rhythm of life is crucial.

Sleep when other people sleep, go to the grocery store and unpack your suitcase. A well-rested mind and well-fed body will create the sound environment you need to productively process the memories and emotions of your experience.

2. EXPECT REVERSE CULTURE SHOCK

You likely felt it at the beginning of your trip when you didn’t recognize the foods on your dinner plate, and you’ll experience it again when you return. Culture shock is an emotional reaction to a different way of life. Your worldview has changed because of your time overseas, so things that were once commonplace to you might elicit anger, confusion or sadness.

Intense reverse culture shock can surface suddenly, and familiar situations like returning to worship in English at your home church may feel difficult or foreign to you. More often than not, the disconnect will present itself subtly and may remind you of a similar feeling you had when coming home from college for the first time — finding that nothing had changed, but everything felt different, especially you!

In both cases, it is important to embrace reverse culture shock as part of the reentry process and examine your response. Make efforts to share these reactions with those closest to you, even if they cannot fully understand. Moving forward, consider how God can use you as you notice things in your home culture that others don’t see.

3. EMBRACE GRIEF

No matter how brief, a short-term trip can cultivate deep relationships with people and places. Leaving these behind comes with a genuine sadness that surfaces at unexpected moments. The grief can feel especially isolating if no one else in your home environment is experiencing it.

In this season, resist the pressure to hurry through this process and “move on.” Seek personal ways to celebrate these memories. Display photos and mementos in your home, or recreate your favorite meal enjoyed abroad.

4. PROCESS IN PRAYER

Good, bad or somewhere in between, you are returning home with a swirling collection of conversations, images and spiritual insights. Depending on your processing style, it could take you a week or a year to sift through each experience. Carving out time to prayerfully process your mission trip creates the space for God to continue to shape you through your experience long after it’s over.

You might find it useful to record these prayers and insights on paper to revisit when the memories aren’t as fresh. Consider and record answers to questions like, “How has my worldview changed?” TEAM has created a debriefing journal with intentional questions to help guide your processing. You can download it for free.

5. FIND AN OPEN EAR

There’s nothing like a simple “How was your trip?” to make you launch into a 30-minute monologue illustrated with 189 of your favorite photos. About six minutes in, you see this well-intentioned friend’s eyes glaze over, but you just can’t stop. The words keep coming. It only takes a few of these experiences before you edit your response to “It was great! I saw God move in unique ways. I hope to return someday.”

In the coming weeks, set up an hour-long meeting with someone to solely talk about your overseas experience. This person doesn’t have to be your best friend, but rather should be someone who has served cross-culturally and walked through the re-entry process. Email your missions pastor, your neighbor who served overseas or reach out to a missions coach at TEAM. You can use your responses from the debriefing journal (scroll down to download for free) as a launch point. This conversation will help you sift through the details and continue on with clarity and intention.

6. LOOK FORWARD

Luke 10:17-20 records a debriefing conversation between Jesus and 72 short-term missionaries. We can imagine the 72 were wild-eyed, describing their mountain-top moments saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” But Jesus cautions them to not rejoice in what transpired on their journey. Rather, Jesus encourages them, and us, to “rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Maybe your overseas experience was rich with fruitfulness and you witnessed a supernatural miracle or the salvation of a new believer. In light of that, resuming your normal obligations outside of ministry might feel insignificant. Or maybe you are looking at your trip in hindsight and lamenting that “nothing happened.” Both perceptions are painful.

Jesus reminds us though, that the only work that matters is his on the cross, securing our identity forever. In this freedom, prayerfully ask, “What is the invitation from God moving forward?”




download mission trip debrief journal




By Suzanne Pearson 08 Mar, 2024
Through God-ordained partnerships and creative connections, TEAM worker Keith Moore sees the global Church advancing in amazing ways. In the global missions landscape, a phrase that comes up often is “from everywhere, to everywhere.” God is calling His global Church in literal new directions, as He raises up cross-cultural workers to be sent from places that were once on the receiving end of missions work. We call this movement “polycentric sending.” TEAM workers Dawn and Keith Moore have seen first-hand this transition taking place. Their story involves the unlikely but beautiful intersection of Charlotte, North Carolina; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and Memphis, Tennessee...and beyond. The Path to Honduras Keith and Dawn joined TEAM in 1991 and served as church planters for nine years in Bogota, Colombia. After safety concerns precipitated their return to the States in 1999, they knew they wanted to continue serving in Latin America. The Moores felt called to Honduras but wanted to connect with a strong missional church to help send them. The Lord orchestrated a collaboration with Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. “Some people asked, ‘Why Honduras? Missionaries have been there for 100 years. It’s already reached,’” Keith says. “But there’s a whole section of Latin America that had not been reached - the upper crust.” Keith goes on to explain that he and Dawn felt called to reach college-educated professionals in Honduras – a ministry vision that resonated with the missional goals of Bellevue Baptist. Impact and Growth With the support of this new church partnership as well as another sending church in Birmingham, Alabama, the Moores embarked on their next adventure. Keith and Dawn started Impacto Honduras Church from scratch, and in less than 20 years, the church grew into four locations with 1600 total members. The Moores and other TEAM workers also created a “Bible school” type training program to help professionals who feel a call to ministry to make that transition. Throughout this period of explosive growth, church partnerships played an integral role. “It’s such a different vision when you have a church that says, ‘OK, this is our deal, we want to make this happen,’” Keith explains. “They helped us with everything. They took away every single obstacle to growth. Every time we needed something, they were there.” In 2017, the Moores once again found themselves on the verge of another decision. Was it time to leave Honduras? “I had no desire to leave,” Keith recalls. “People were coming to Christ every week! It was just so amazing.” However, back in the U.S., Keith and Dawn’s parents were in their 80s and would soon be in need of more care. “We realized that either we would leave in a crisis, or we would leave strategically,” says Keith. The couple began to implement a careful succession plan. By the time they left, the four churches were established with strong, Honduran leadership ready to carry on the work of the Gospel.
By Suzanne Pearson 23 Feb, 2024
Justin Burkholder, pictured here with his wife Jenny and their daughters Isabella, Olivia, and Zoey, has recently been named as TEAM’s next International Director. On February 19, 2024, with much excitement and gratitude to the Lord, TEAM announced that Justin Burkholder will become our organization’s new International Director, effective July 1, 2024. Justin, who is currently TEAM’s Executive Director of Global Ministry, will assume his new role upon the retirement of the current International Director, Dave Hall. ( Read the full press release here. ) We sat down recently with Justin to learn a little more about his background, his family, and the journey that has led him to TEAM. Q: Tell us a little bit about your “origin story” - Where did you grow up? What was your family like? A: I grew up in Mexico City as a missionary kid. My parents were focused on church planting. We were very close as a family. Both of my parents are still alive, and my dad serves as a pastor in southern Florida. I have one brother who is a pastor in Wisconsin, and the most special individual in my family is my sister, Amber. She was born with a very severe case of cerebral palsy and is entirely dependent on my mother...who is extraordinary! The three most impactful forces that have shaped who I am (outside of God’s grace) are growing up in Mexico, having parents who loved and planted churches, and sharing life with someone with a severe disability. My parents belonged at the time to a church and denomination that came with quite a bit of legalism and performance-oriented Christianity. Grace was a challenging concept to grasp. While I had an awareness of my sin and need for redemption, it wasn’t until I attended Moody Bible Institute that I began to grasp the fullness of God’s grace and His delight in His children. I have continued learning and trusting in the Gospel through formal education, like completing my M.Div., and through spiritual practices in community. Learning the Gospel and believing the Gospel has been a daily exercise. The Gospel is as beautiful and multi-faceted as a diamond! At an individual level, it is simple enough for us to live convinced that “Jesus loves me, this I know.” At a corporate level, it becomes the foundation that forms and informs our life as a spiritual family. At a cosmic level, it is redemption that reaches as far as the curse is found. It is hard to even grasp the multiplicity of goodness found in the Good News. Q: Share a little bit about your family life now. What does a typical day look like in the Burkholder household? A: My wife Jenny is my high-school sweetheart! She brings joy and kindness wherever she goes. She’s the best listener I’ve ever met, and we love spending time together. We have three daughters. Isabella is ten, Olivia is seven, and Zoey is four. Each of the girls is unique and has taught us a lot in our process of following Jesus together. We like to go out on walks and go to the park together. Once a month I try to get some alone time with each of my daughters which usually includes bowling or trampolines. A typical day in the Burkholder house starts around 5:00am. Because of traffic here in Guatemala City, we have to leave early for school. After school, the girls come home to different activities - sometimes swimming class, sometimes piano lessons. Four or five nights a week we have dinner together where we usually talk about our high and low moments of the day. On weekends, we enjoy time together, playing outside, or watching sports together. Go Cubs and Go Buckeyes! Q: What are your interests and hobbies? If you have the day off, what are you likely to be up to? A: I enjoy physical activity, running, strength-training and following sports. I also love music and, truth be told, am a bit snobby about my taste in music! I also am a very curious person and love reading just about anything that passes through my hands. A day off is usually an opportunity for time with family. Jenny and I like to cook something interesting together on our days off. Often there is time for some reading and watching some type of athletic event. Q: How did God lead you to TEAM? A: My wife and I were working in the Chicago suburbs. I was a youth pastor and she was a Spanish teacher. When we got married, we had already sensed God’s direction to serve cross-culturally, but it was a matter of discerning when and where. There was a driving desire in me to see a church deeply love the Scriptures and at the same time, be deeply engaged in loving and serving their city and the most vulnerable among them. As God directed our paths, we visited a variety of places and made some friends in Guatemala who opened up the path for us to serve here. While we were exploring, we knew that the International Director of an organization called TEAM happened to go to our church, so I decided I should probably invite him out for breakfast - his name was Charlie Davis. Charlie was extremely thoughtful, passionate about disciple-making, and very gracious in creating space for us as we stepped into this endeavor. Charlie connected me with Steve Dresselhaus, a fellow TEAM global worker who was at that time serving as the Senior Director for the Americas. I cannot express the debt that I owe Steve. He walked closely with me in the transition, encouraged courageous thinking about the church and her role in society, and blasted open the doors for us to serve in Guatemala. After meeting Steve, we spent some days praying about joining TEAM. One thing I will never forget – one night during the process, I found myself wide awake in the middle of the night. A peace like I have seldom experienced passed over me confirming that we should join TEAM. There is no doubt in my mind that God tied all of these pieces together to bring us into the TEAM family and community. Q: What roles have you held in TEAM? What have been the milestones in those roles? A: The most important role I have held in TEAM is that of a global worker. God in His grace has allowed us to help plant two churches here in Guatemala, serve in leadership development, counseling, and discipleship. Our greatest joy has been found walking with those who are learning to follow Christ more deeply. I served as the Ministry Area Leader in Guatemala from 2016 to 2019. We helped to establish and lead this ministry area as it grew from just four global workers to over 15. I then served as Senior Director for Mexico and Central America from 2019 to 2021, Regional Executive Director for the Americas in 2021 and 2022, and then transitioned to the role of Executive Director of Global Ministry which I’ll continue in until the end of June. 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