Mission trips, in general, are a very interesting concept within the local church. There has been criticism that mission trips don’t do enough good, as in they are not worth the amount of money spent to go on them. For example, taking a team of 15 to another country for 7 days could cost $2,000/person, which would be a total of $30,000. Would it be better to raise the $30,000 and use that money to aid the people of the country you were going to visit? How much impact can a team of Americans really have in a 7 day span anyway? How deep can relationships get in 7 days, only to never see one another again? I think these are all great questions, but I also want to give my reasoning for why short-term mission trips, especially in Student Ministry, are worth the time, sacrifice, and money. See Part 2 of the post, “How” Short-Term Mission Trips in Student Ministry.
1. To EXPOSE Students to Missions
What future would-be missionaries do you have in your ministry that don’t become missionaries because they’ve never experienced missions?
The truth is, students that going into missions or decide to become missionaries, typically do so, because of an experience they’ve had in missions. There aren’t many people that become missionaries having never gone on a short-term mission trip. So, while short-term mission trips may not change the world, long-term missionaries do, and long-term missionaries come from short-term mission trips! I also believe the younger you get exposed to missions, the more inclined you will be to continue going on mission trips as you get older.
2. To EXPERIENCE God Outside Their Life Bubble
Without the mission trip experience, most students will go through their entire adolescence with only one view of God: the God they experience in their life, in their home, in the town or city they live in. Mission trips tend to broaden a student’s view of God, when they see the heartache and pain and poverty and likewise, the faith, the perseverance, and resourcefulness of people not like them. We always hear how the people going on mission trips are the ones who are usually impacted more than the ones they’re going to serve. That’s usually true, and as youth pastors, I believe that’s also a valid reason to take your students.
Yes, we want to serve others and make an impact for Christ, but yes, I also want my students to be impacted and for their lives to change!
3. To ENGAGE in Serving Others
I want our students to get to the point where they don’t have to wait for the youth pastor to plan a serving event to serve, but where serving is on their radar consistently.
The more opportunities students have to serve others, the more they see the need to serve others.
I also believe in order for serving to be on their radar consistently, we need to plan serving events/trips for them to engage in serving regularly. We typically do a good job preaching and teaching about serving others, so when that’s paired with actually doing it, I believe it starts to sink in. Mission trips are a great way for students to see a need and make an impact. And while this can happen with service projects, service projects don’t typically have the impact that mission trips have.
I did not take students on one single mission trip my first 6 years of Student Ministry. I regret that.
Because now I’ve seen the impact that mission trips have had on our students these last 6 years. I’ve seen students return to these place on their own. I’ve seen students do internships overseas that probably would’ve never happened. I’ve seen students get plugged into serving locally as a result. I cannot imagine not going on a mission trip every single year, and our students can’t imagine that either!
In your mission trip experiences, what are some of the why’s you would give for doing them?
Student Ministry Life by Nick Ballard 