What Happens on a Vision Trip?

Katie Back Salmon • Oct 11, 2016

This summer, 15 people set out on TEAM Vision Trips across the globe. Teams traveled to Japan, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Guatemala to catch a glimpse of how God is building his church in each place and explore how he might be calling them to be a part of building it there, too.

Unlike a traditional short-term mission trip, a vision trip’s purpose is not ministry activity, but rather to explore the challenges and opportunities for long-term ministry in a different culture.

This year, participants spent time with long-term missionaries to ask them candid questions about missionary life and work. In just a few weeks, participants gained crucial cultural insights about daily life that can only be learned firsthand.

Since their return, this year’s participants have reflected on their vision trip experiences. Read their insights below as you consider how a vision trip might play a critical role in your missionary journey.

Why did you choose to go on a vision trip?

For most participants, the decision to pursue a vision trip comes after they sense God calling them to cross-cultural service.

This was the case for Kayla, who says she traveled to the Middle East “to learn about job opportunities that suited me, my skill set and passion,” an expectation that she says was “met and exceeded.”

For Jeremy, the decision to pursue a vision trip to Guatemala was about timing. He feels a strong desire for mission work, but his rigorous master’s degree program means long-term missions is some time away. He says the vision trip’s short time commitment fit perfectly with his schedule and allowed him “to catch a vision of what a two-plus year … mission assignment could look like for me.”

How did your vision trip shape your view of missions?

“[God] taught me that if I am to be used in international missions, I need to be living a missional life. I can’t compartmentalize ministry,” Andrea says of her vision trip to Japan.

“This was something that I understood conceptually, but God unquestionably affirmed this truth within me through listening to [a missionary] talk about his experience. … This is where I am now, striving to grow in missional living and seeking [God] out to guide me … where he wants.”

Emily traveled to Southeast Asia and says her experiences among Buddhists made her “convinced that we need more [long-term workers] … in this part of the world.” She observed cultural and language barriers that make relationship-building among locals and missionaries a slow effort. For Emily, this realization renewed her zeal to pray that God would send committed laborers to this region.

For Jeremy, interacting with current missionaries was the most formative. “[A vision trip] helped me realize that missionaries are ordinary people who really love God and seek to follow his call. It gave me real life experience with missionaries who still find time to go to the gym in the morning or hike a volcano in their free time.

“I got to sit in on serious conversations about how the church should react to homeless people being rejected from other churches . I got to listen to missionaries process difficult situations while trying to keep their American biases from intruding on their decisions. … It was a fantastic trip that affirmed my desire to do cross-cultural ministry.”

How has taking a vision trip helped you discern your next steps?

There is no correct conclusion from a vision trip. Some will return feeling affirmed that God wants them to pursue cross-cultural service, while other participants will sense God leading them another way.

After her experience in Southeast Asia, Emily found God leading her down an unexpected path. She imagined her trip would accelerate her to a long-term commitment overseas; however, through prayer and debriefing , God has given her peace to continue serving locally.

She cherishes this revelation, saying, “ Without having gone on the vision trip I would likely still be in a ‘half in, half out’ mindset, rather than diving all in to what God has for me in the here and now.”

As a result of her trip to the Middle East, Kayla is energized to continue pursuing missionary service. She moves forward now with a greater understanding of the Great Commission reflecting, “Christ’s commands and promises are the same whether we are located in California, Canada or the Middle East. We are called to love God and love people. By this, we will make a lasting impression wherever we may live or go.”

Bridging Dissonance: Finding Connection in Music and the Gospel

By Emily Sheddan • 18 Jul, 2024
TEAM worker Luke Standridge and his fellow musicians use music to build connections to faith in Japan. In music terms, dissonance creates movement or even suspense in a song. It invites tension. That tension is what helps grab our ear’s attention and the interchanging of these notes with pleasant melodious parts is what makes music such a delight. In a similar way, God is using music to grab people’s attention and catalyze Gospel impact in the largely unreached nation of Japan. TEAM Global Worker, Luke Standridge moved to Japan in 2019 with no clear direction on how he was going to use his passion for composing music while doing ministry. However, after Luke got involved with a local church and began developing deep friendships, the Lord opened unimaginable doors for Luke that in time, coordinating his creative skills with sharing the Word. “People Need to Come to Japan!” Growing up as one of ten kids in a family that was heavily involved in ministry and missions, Luke never considered that it would one day be a part of his own journey. In 2016, via a Japanese language learning class in Indiana, Luke and his brother had the opportunity to travel to Japan. Hearing, learning, and using the language in the context of Japanese culture was the goal. While it was Luke’s first international trip – even his first trip on a plane - it was also his first time hearing about the spiritual condition of the Japanese people. “And just through that, God did a huge 180 change on my heart,” says Luke. “More people should come here as global workers. People need to come to Japan!” The call God was laying on Luke’s heart is echoed when looking at the spiritual landscape of Japan. The nation is home to the second largest unreached people group in the world. It is one of the most difficult places for the Gospel to take hold and grow. Japan is also home to a deep and rich culture that prizes creative arts from pottery to ink to music to anime – a fact that would help Luke find his niche in life and ministry. God’s Guiding Hand In the short three-month timespan of that first trip, Luke found that opportunities came naturally to share about life, and people’s curiosity for Christianity grew. “I left Japan knowing I just had to come back,” Luke shares. “Even if I didn’t get back to the same area, I knew Japan was where God wanted me to be.” The Lord is good all the time and all the time the Lord is good. His plans do not fail. Luke returned to Japan in 2019, and less than a week after arriving, he was put in touch with a renowned composer in Japan. The composer saw some of Luke’s music and invited him to help write the music for a beloved in-country animated show. But God wasn’t finished yet! Fast forward a year, and more connections and opportunities allowed Luke to help with music for Pokémon - a franchise that has brand recognition around the world and was being developed into a TV series in Japan. Luke recalls how the Lord began using these connections in the production world to open doors for Gospel conversations. One night while having dinner in downtown Tokyo with famous artists and composers from all around the country, Luke was asked about his ministry-focused visa. This was a rare opportunity in a setting with people otherwise uninterested in Christianity. Luke shares, “The whole time I could see God’s hand in guiding the entire thing.”

Connecting in a New Kind of “Neighborhood”

By Lorena de la Rosa and Suzanne Pearson • 13 Jun, 2024
Through creative arts and other forms of innovative outreach, “The Neighborhood” is creating connections to the Gospel and the love of Jesus. CONNECTION. It’s a common word with powerful implications. Dictionary.com defines connection as a joining or linking together; a relationship between people or objects that unites or binds them together. God has created each of us with a deep need for connection with Him as well as connection with others. Hebrews 10:24-25 speaks to this, as the writer exhorts, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” This God-given need for connection lies at the heart of a creative and innovative ministry in Japan known as “The Neighborhood.” TEAM Japan global worker, Kelly and her family created The Neighborhood as a place where connections are formed through creative arts, educational opportunities, and simply just providing a space for people to be together. A Family Calling The journey to the creation of The Neighborhood began over 5,000 miles away from Tokyo, in California where Kelly, her husband Jeff, and their five children were living. The kids were the first to sense God’s calling to missions, and asked why their family wasn’t serving in this way. How Kelly and her family came to TEAM is a God-story in and of itself. “God placed a TEAM Japan worker at our lunch table the same week that the kids posed that question to us,” Kelly recalls. “We had never heard of TEAM and so we thought, ‘let’s check this out.’ After that, God just kept confirming that we were supposed to be here.” After a period of fundraising and with much excitement, the family of seven moved to Japan in 2014. For the first five years, Kelly and Jeff served as a part of other TEAM ministry initiatives, but they began to sense a stirring for something new. Creating The Neighborhood Kelly and her family truly have a deep gift for hospitality, and regularly opened up their home to others they met in Tokyo. They saw a great need for people to have a place to gather and connect, and they wondered what doors the Lord might be opening for them to meet that need. “About a year before we were to return the States on home assignment, we were just really thinking about our future in Japan,” Kelly says. “We saw a need for people to have a ‘third place’ – a place that’s not home and it’s not work. They didn’t have a church community or any other place where they could meet people and just connect.” Kelly goes on to explain that in Japan, the culture is such that people don’t generally invite each other into their homes, but as her family did so, people embraced that opportunity. “This idea formed in all of our hearts of a student ministry center – a place where we can create community and learning,” says Kelly. “It was born out of what we were already doing in our home, but seeing how we could expand it and have better space.” God’s Provision What happened next is a true testament to God’s provision. Kelly, Jeff, and the kids returned to the States and began sharing their vision for The Neighborhood with their supporters and churches who responded generously. Upon returning to Japan, the search was on for the right space. “We had a Christian realtor that we told our dream to, and he just went looking for it,” Kelly recalls. When the realtor found a 5-story apartment building, he said, “It’s kind of out of your budget but it has what you need and want.” The Lord provided the funds and the family moved into the space in November 2019. They now occupy all but the ground floor, with living space for their family as well as classrooms, areas to study or hang out, and guest rooms for exchange students or others who need a place to stay overnight. The first floor is occupied by a pizza shop – a welcome amenity for the many groups and students who visit The Neighborhood. “It’s very convenient!” Kelly says with a laugh. The Neighborhood began to see lots of activity right away until the pandemic hit in early 2020. During the height of the quarantine, Kelly and Jeff used the time to redecorate the space and plant gardens outside the building. Then as the restrictions eased, they invited individual students or families over for meals and fellowship. It wasn’t until March 2023 that The Neighborhood was able to fully open again as intended. Kelly shares that despite the setbacks of COVID, the Lord continued to provide the funds to pay the rent.
Share by: