Two Traits You Need on a Short-Term Mission Trip

Emily Sheddan • Nov 12, 2015

Whether it’s your first short-term mission trip or your 10th, making a packing list is probably on your mind. In fact, your team leader may even hand you a list with specific details about the weather, appropriate dress, evangelistic materials to disperse or even the much-appreciated advice to throw in some granola bars, just in case. None of what you pack in your duffle, however, is going to make or break your trip. You are not a tourist but an advocate for God and His love.

The most important part of your preparation will be all about the heart. This leads us to ask the question: What are the most important traits you need on a short-term mission trip ?

One could endlessly name characteristics to describe the ideal short-term missionary : passion, selflessness, good health, availability, preparedness, enthusiasm, and teachability are a handful that come to mind. But as a missionary kid who has been on the hosting side as well as the sending side, I have found two of the most crucial qualities you need on a short-term mission trip.

Flexibility

A team usually prepares for many months, deciding how they will go and what they will do. They develop a strategy and purchase items needed in their place of ministry.

Changes arise, however, and flexibility is crucial. The ability to change will make or break the trip.

It may be because of a lack of communication or a lack of preparation. It may also be simply because of a change of plans that is out of your control.

In the New Testament, Paul set the bar high in mission work , though he often had to abandon plans of his own. A great example is Acts 16:6-10 , when Paul set out for Bithynia: He and Silas had a strategy for this great city, but the Holy Spirit would not let them go. Instead, the Lord revealed Himself through a vision calling Paul and his team to Macedonia. Verse 10 tells us Paul “got ready at once to leave,” showing no hesitation when the Lord communicated a new direction.

A change in plans is not where a trip turns into disappointment. This is where you learn commitment over drawbacks. This is where you learn that doing ministry with people is more effective than ministry to people. This is where you can reevaluate the reasons for and value of going on a short-term mission trip in the first place.

Once, overseas, a team came to serve with my family in an area where three tribal groups had united to form a 43-family community. At first, the team was denied access and had to withdraw. Within a short time, however, a fire broke out among these houses and the team was welcomed in for help with food and other necessities. The people immediately came together and decided they wanted to be Christians too. The team wisely promised to return and teach the people about what it means to be a Christian. After six weeks of ministry, the team was able to baptize 99 people who had made a true decision to follow our Lord. The team demonstrated flexibility and the need for change by being able to provide other needs and even come back at a later time. ­­­­­

Humility

Along with flexibility, is the need for humility. A short-termer needs to be grounded in the solid truth that our God is made strong in our weaknesses.

We can confidently go on mission trips knowing our strength is in Christ, as true humility creates a sincere recognition of our dependence on our Father.

Paul could have easily fallen victim to self-praise for his work, but God kept him humble and aware of his own thorn in the flesh ( 2 Corinthians 12 ). While we do not know for certain what this thorn was, we are told that it was an instrument of Satan by way of physical ailments and persecution. Paul begged the Lord to take it away on different occasions. The fact that God did not and that it remained as a humbling prompt for Paul to continuously seek the Lord is what qualified him. Likewise, when we are able to put aside what is distracting and serve the Lord first, it’s what qualifies us.

Construction teams would often come to my family’s area of ministry and would often arrive with expectations that they would be able to escape the heat, sleep in comfortable beds at night in hotels or that a Coke would be readily accessible. Instead, they found themselves in an area with no hotels, sleeping side by side on concrete, no air conditioning, eating what they were served and a nearby river to wash their clothes. Comfort was their “thorn,” and yet, they still got up each day, worked dawn to dusk, and joyfully did so knowing it was for the Lord.

As followers of Christ, even in the thousands of following generations after Paul, we learn God’s grace is enough to subdue these “thorns,” and His power is made perfect in our weaknesses. In many scriptural contexts, ( M atthew 18:4 and 23:12 , 2 Corinthians 11:7 , 1 Peter 5:6 ), the word “humble” is used as a verb, thereby implying action from us. We remain teachable with spirits of effectiveness when we humble ourselves and make a choice of weakness based upon the Lord’s strength.

Hudson Taylor, one of the most renowned missionaries to China once said, “God was looking for a man weak enough to use, and He found me.”

So, let us boast of our weaknesses so that He is made strong and fully glorified for the great works, once in a lifetime opportunities and seeds planted on these short-term trips. Let us be flexible so that our faith is tested, then deepened. Let us go with the right call and the right heart to minister and to be ministered to.

Loving Like Jesus Cross-Culturally (Part 1)

By Megan Lunsford • 23 Apr, 2024
When seeking to serve cross-culturally with an authentic love for others, there’s no better example for us than Jesus. If we sat around a table and threw out the question, “How do we love like Jesus?” I think we would have several commonalities as we respond. For example, Jesus loved all people right where they were. He loved those who were deemed the least, those hardest to love, or those who were His enemies. These are all beautiful realities of the heart of Jesus. When we step into relationships, it can be easier to take on the warmer, more gracious gestures of Jesus’ love, especially in cross-cultural relationships. Think about it––when doing life with those who look and act differently than us, we are already out of our comfort zones and would rather keep things as simple and familiar as possible. But there are other facets of Jesus’ heart we often overlook that can transform us and others even more into His likeness. Jesus is love because God is love. Everything Jesus did was out of love; it’s the mere definition of who He is. As followers of Jesus, He calls us to the same: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John:7-12) Every display of love we offer to others is an opportunity for them to encounter the ultimate love of the Father. That’s a pretty big deal! In this article, we’ll look at three expressions of Jesus’ love that we tend to overlook when engaging others cross-culturally. (Next month, we’ll look at three more.) 1. Jesus loved sacrificially. Everywhere Jesus went, crowds followed Him. We even see times in Scripture where Jesus had plans to step away for time alone but those who were hurting found Him and He had compassion on them and stayed with them. Can you imagine rarely having any time to yourself but, instead, constantly being surrounded by crowds of people wanting help from you? Jesus loved sacrificially. He welcomed all who came to Him with love and compassion, never turning anyone away. “When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36) In the same way, we can make room in our lives for Jesus to bring sacrificial interruptions which, in His eyes, are orchestrated encounters to transfer His love to others. It can be tempting to be so “on mission” that we are full steam ahead and find ourselves frustrated when the Holy Spirit sends an interruption into our path that we feel we don’t have time for. Or, perhaps, we have scheduled a meet-up but it’s the norm in another culture to be 30 minutes or an hour late. We anxiously think through how it will affect whatever we have planned next. While it’s normal to feel a little stressed, what if the very "interruption” standing in front of you was really a divine appointment sent by God? Or what if that person running late experiences how peaceful and gracious you are in adapting to their culture and therefore, they can encounter a beautiful display of Jesus’ love? To truly represent Christ, we should remain ready and willing for each assignment the Lord sends into our path, no matter the cost or how much we will have to re-route our day. He is always a hundred steps ahead and will work all things for His glory and our good. 2. Jesus loved by discerning each situation well. Think about how many situations Jesus had to respond to on a daily basis. We read in Scripture that there were lines of people waiting to be healed by Him, talk to Him, hear His teachings, or simply touch the hem of His robe. Jesus was fully dependent on His Father to discern each situation before addressing it. “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19) Another temptation we can have when in a relationship with those God has sent us to is to think we already know the solution or what God wants to do before we’ve even asked Him. We believe we are full of knowledge, so we just pull from the bank we have stored within and go with it. However, when we access what is familiar to us as our default, we risk missing out on a God-given solution that might truly be the key to unlocking whatever challenge is in front of us. What does this look like when interacting with others? We can simply ask, “God, what is on Your heart for the person standing in front of me?” Then we listen and respond as He speaks. When we make it a daily habit to pause and hear God’s heart for each situation before responding, we are guaranteed to be effective in loving those around us. He knows the heart of every person that will cross our paths. Imagine how impactful we can be if we first lean on His wisdom and discernment before moving forward. 3. Jesus loved by speaking truth. Most of us are familiar with the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. If we are honest, this conversation makes us a bit nervous as none of us would be comfortable with Jesus calling out intimate details of our lives that we would prefer to hide. But Jesus went further than just airing her dirty laundry. He offered her the hope of the Gospel and a relationship with Him - a divine fulfillment that could never be found in an earthly relationship. Jesus modeled a powerful example of loving others well cross-culturally. He took the low place and spoke truth, truly out of love––speaking to her heart from His. Like Jesus, our goal in sharing the truths about Him and His Word is to bring hope and satisfaction through Him alone. When we speak truth from Scripture, we are calling others higher into all God has for them. The tricky part here is we should avoid speaking truth if it isn’t first fueled by compassion. If it merely comes from a place of judgment, condemnation, or self-righteousness, it will fall flat 100% of the time. But if it truly comes from love, you are likely to not only win a heart back to the Father but, like the story of the Samaritan woman, even an entire village! If you see someone living outside of God’s best for their lives, ask God to show you your heart before engaging theirs. Once your heart is properly postured, you can speak truth out of an overflow of God’s love and trust Him for a transformation in their lives.

Hospitality, Help, and the Hope of the Gospel

By Suzanne Pearson • 16 Apr, 2024
TEAM Canada provides warm welcome and trusted friendships for diaspora populations living far from their native countries. As TEAM Canada workers Peter and Ruth (names changed) drive from their home to a nearby community center, they pass numerous apartment buildings and townhouses. Most of the families who live there are immigrants. They’ve left their countries of origin due to political unrest, trauma, and other difficulties. They’ve left family, friends, homes, jobs, and personal wealth behind. They search for peace, justice for the oppressed, and rest from fear and weariness. And as they adjust to a new country and a new language, they are often very isolated from others around them. “The sad reality is most immigrants are never even invited inside a Canadian home,” says Ruth. Peter and Ruth and their team try to change that reality. For the last nine years, the team, which includes workers from partner organizations as well as volunteers, has held English classes at the community center. Three days a week, over 60 students from more than 20 countries come together to learn English as well as to fellowship together and receive practical help in assimilating to a new normal. Meeting Needs and Building Trust That practical help may come in the form of procuring furniture, clothes, or dishes for newcomers, assistance with creating a resume and finding a job, or teaching people how to navigate Canadian laws and the medical system. As these tangible needs are met, relationships are built. “We invite them into our homes for meals and games,” Ruth shares. “We take them on hiking trips, picnics, outings, and out for coffee.” This is particularly important in this type of ministry because most immigrants come to Canada from cultures that value hospitality. Conversely, Canadians do not typically prioritize hospitality and consequently many newcomers feel lonely and isolated. Inviting folks to various gatherings and outings allows the team to spend extended time hearing people’s stories, struggles, hopes, and dreams. When she speaks about building friendships, Ruth’s heart for the people she serves is evident. “Hearing their stories, it’s easy to love them, and many have become close friends,” Ruth says. “We recognize the value of steady one-on-one relationships.”
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