Listen: How to make the most of your short-term mission trip

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The concept of a mission trip may bring to mind different things, depending on your experience, age, and context. But no matter what initial image comes to mind, Christ-followers should be no strangers to short-term missions. Yes, mission trips have been promoted within Western church programming for decades, but this particular expression of missions does have its roots in Scripture.

The commission Jesus gave to his disciples still applies to us today, including the short-term mission trips we take. If you’re going on a short-term trip—whether across your city or on the other side of the world, consider how you will be going in terms of the attitude and posture you’ll adopt as you go—as servants, desiring to obey God, etc. But could there be more to how we go?

We’d like to suggest that Christ-followers’ approach to mission trips should be primarily based on listening. In this short-term trip field guide, our hope is to help you consider why listening truly is the way to make the most of a future short-term trip. We will encourage you to focus your listening on what the Holy Spirit has to say to you about this trip and what He desires for it. We will also help you learn to listen to your teammates, your church leadership, your on-the-ground ministry partners, and to the people and culture of the place you are going.

Ready to get started? Let’s make the most of your mission trip.