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5 Reflection Questions to Ask After Your Mission Trip

Coming home from a youth mission trip can be much like falling off a mountaintop and walking away very disoriented. You have experienced so much in such a short time that coming back to real-life can be a letdown.

One way to prevent disorientation is to spend some time in reflection and share your experience with others. Below are a few questions to ask yourself and your trip companions as you try to process your experience and integrate what you learned into daily life.

1. What are the top three things I will miss from my mission experience?

Mission trips often come with new friendships, a new love for the location you were in and a spiritual high. While we know that the trip can’t last forever, it is okay to think about what you will miss about being there. Recognizing things that will be missed is also a good way to think about what you may do differently at home.

2. What are the top three things I’m most thankful for at home?

Maybe you are really thankful for your family, your home church, the school you go to or that you have a stable place to eat and sleep each day. Spending some time to reflect on these things will help you have a greater appreciation for all that you have been blessed with!

3. What is one thing I want to remember from this experience?

We hope that we will remember it all but we also know that our memories can fade over time. It’s important to think of some of the highlights and make note so that you can hold onto this impactful experience for many years to come.

4. What do I feel like God was communicating to me during this time?

Do you feel like you learned a big lesson or felt a little nudge? Are you leaving with a renewed conviction to spend more time in the Bible or to get connected with a non-profit at home? Sometimes you don’t even realize what God was trying to tell you until you take a little time to process your experience.

5. Who will I share with when I get home so I can be held accountable for continuing this growth?

We are not meant to go through life alone. Talking about your experience and the things God communicated to you throughout the trip with someone you trust can be a great way to follow through on the promises you have made yourself.

Take the time to reflect on your mission trip

As you ask these questions really reflect on your experience. You may notice lessons that you learned without even being aware at the time. Maybe you want to write down some notes about the benefits of your experience and your answers to these questions so that you can look back on it in a few months.

After you have spent the time reflecting on your experience and preventing the disorientation, you will want to think through the conversations you will have with people at home. You’ll want to be ready to share one story about how the week impacted your life. When people at home ask, “What did you do?” they often really mean, “Whom did you serve, and how did the week impact your life?” Be ready!

Above all, don’t let all the transformation that you experienced during your mission experience fall away when the trip is over. Be intentional about bringing it home with you and always remembering the lessons God was teaching you.

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Ten Questions for Debriefing after a Mission Trip

• The Other 6
• Dave Miller

Your church group has just returned from a fantastic mission trip to some far-flung corner of the world, or from someplace much closer to home.

But once people get home, CNN, Twitter, soccer, school, work, and church activities have a way of crowding out the spiritual focus that, just a few days earlier, seemed certain to shape their lives.

That’s why it’s important to have an effective debriefing plan in place even before leaving home.

Roger Peterson, author of Maximum Impact Short-Term Mission , says that the debriefing process, a time of reflection after your short-term mission, is more important than the actual mission. While not discounting the work that’s been accomplished, real life change comes as people return home and reflect on their experience.

Over the years I have served alongside thousands of people on mission trips in Mexico and attended countless conferences sponsored by denominations and mission organizations. Here’s what I have learned: the most effective people in God’s kingdom are the ones who take seriously the need to stop, reflect, and consider what God is saying to them through their mission.

Tim Dearborn, director of faith and development at World Vision International, says that in order for people to really gain insight from this debriefing time, they need to know what to look for. This means letting your team know ahead of time what you expect of them on their return.

Here, then, are ten potential debriefing questions adapted from Tim Dearborn and Dr. David Livermore, author of Serving with Eyes Wide Open . Share them with your team before you leave, and then make sure you carve out time upon your return to reflect on them.

1. What did I learn about myself on my short-term mission?

2. What did I learn about God?

3. What did I learn about the people, the church, and the Christian community in the area where I served?

4. What did I learn about how culture impacts the ways people live and understand the gospel?

5. What did I learn about justice, economics, poverty, and politics during my short-term mission?

6. As a follower of Christ, what did I learn that can help me be a more fully devoted disciple?

7.How might my faith be different if I had grown up where I was serving, as opposed to in my home community?

8. What did I learn or experience that will change the way I live and represent Jesus in my home community and church?

9. What have I learned about my own Christian calling?

10. How can I continue to support the ongoing work in the area where I served?

There you have it. Ten questions to consider as your team returns to your home church. But let me go one step further and give you a bonus question: What difference would it make if you lived each day with the same intensity and focus on Jesus and others as you did on your mission? And then ask your team this follow-up question: What keeps you from living life at that level now?

For most of us, the lessons learned from serving on short-term mission trips may take years to fully grasp.

But that’s okay. It’s a journey.

About the Author

Dave Miller is executive director of Adventures in Life Ministry, a mission organization serving Mexico, and a member of Grace Valley Christian Reformed Church in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Top 10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Going on a Mission Trip

When thinking about signing up for a mission trip, especially your first one, it can be overwhelming—you have no idea what to expect and don’t even know where to begin asking questions! You know there are things you should be asking and considering in order to prepare yourself, but you aren’t sure what exactly they are. So, I teamed up with Courtney Spink, a graduate student at Baylor’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work, who recently returned from a mission trip and had a fresh perspective on this topic! Here are some questions we think are important for you to consider before embarking on your first (or 20 th ) mission trip!

• Have I considered my motivations, intentions, and reasons for why I am going on this trip?

Courtney : “If your intentions for going on the trip don’t line up with the mission of the trip or goal of the trip, it may not be as enjoyable for you or other members on the trip. If you’re looking for a tourist experience, a mission trip is probably not the right fit for you.” Katie : “In addition, before you go, you will want to consider your personal, spiritual, and professional goals for any trip you may go on to weigh if it’s the right fit. Be sure to take time to consider if you’re going for the right reasons or have the right attitude about the trip.”

• Do I know what the “mission” of this trip is?

Katie : “Before you go, make sure you understand what it is you’re going to do, what your team is trying to accomplish, and who you are working with. If you already have some basic knowledge about the Global Partner or organization you are working with, you will be able to make the most out of the short week you’ll be serving, rather than wasting time trying to figure these things out once you arrive in another country.” Courtney : “When you’re working on a team for a common goal, if the mission is not clear or understood there can be tension, confusion, and miscommunication among team members and how time is spent.”

• Do I have the skills necessary to aid in the success of this trip?

Courtney : “Once you have identified what your intentions are and what the mission of the trip is, consider if your vocational skills will be of value or if there is opportunity for personal growth and learning.” Katie : “ Will I be of help or more of a hindrance on this trip? This isn’t the most fun question to ask, but after having gone on a mission trip where I felt more like I was in the way than was of use, I know personally that it’s a necessary question to ask! For example, if your background is in Literature, serving on a medical mission trip might not be the best fit…. speaking from personal experience here!”

• Are there expectations before or after the trip I should know about?

  Courtney : “Be sure to ask if there is an opportunity to meet the leaders of the team and other students who will be attending the trip, as well as if there will be a time to ask questions and gain a better understanding of expectations for the trip.” Katie : “Hopefully the person leading your trip will cover this with you, but it’s always good to be prepared to ask this! Before going on a trip, ask your leader if your team will have opportunities to prepare and get to know one another before leaving the country. And if not, suggest it! If team members already know each other, it will make service projects run smoothly and be more enjoyable.”

• What do I know about the culture I will be serving in?

  Courtney : “It’s important to know what is appropriate dress, to identify language barriers, and to be aware of cultural sensitivities.”   Katie : “Service requires cultural humility and respect, and this can only happen if you understand a bit about the culture you’re going to serve in. If you don’t know anything about the place you’re going, do some research. Google your country, the organization you’ll be working with, and the city you’ll be serving in. Find out what people wear, how they eat, what language they speak (if they speak English, find out if any words we use regularly happen to be offensive in their culture), and what appropriate interactions with people looks like. When I mentored a little girl from another country, she would never look me in the eye and I thought she hated me—until I found out that in her culture, making eye contact with adults is considered disrespectful. If I had known that when I first met her, it would have made building a relationship with her a lot easier!”

• Will there be different perspectives represented on the team?

  Katie : “What will the team dynamic be like? Will there be opportunities to get to know people of differing cultures, vocations, and socio-economic backgrounds, or will only a one-sided perspective be represented? If diverse perspectives will be represented, your experience will be enriched. Consider the importance of getting out of your comfort zone through experiences that will stretch you and allow for growth.”

• How will this trip differ from other mission trips I have been on?

Katie : “Not all mission trips look the same, so if you go into a trip expecting it to be a certain way, it can be a shock and hard to adjust to when it turns out completely different than you expected. Be open & flexible—it’s impossible to anticipate everything. But be sure to ask about anything that will be a significant difference from your previous trip experiences in order to prepare yourself.” Courtney : “You may want to consider, if you’ve been on mission trips before, what the expectations will be of how time is spent, the work that you will be engaging in, where you will be staying, and other safety considerations.”

• What types of opportunities will we have to engage in spiritual conversations?

  Courtney : “When you go on a mission trip, consider what you have to gain from this in a spiritual aspect. Will there be morning or evening devotional times? Will there be times provided for conversations with leaders, peers, or locals?” Katie : “Ask your team leader if there will there be time for silence and reflection built into the trip; and if not, suggest time is set aside for it. Reflection is an extremely important part of mission trips, yet often overlooked. Make sure and take time for yourself to personally reflect so you can begin to see how God has been working in your throughout your experience.”

• What will be the biggest challenge, difficulty, or barrier I will encounter?

  Katie : “It is important to prepare yourself for a bit of culture shock, as well as uncomfortable, long travel or less than ideal conditions you may stay in. Again, be flexible and open to these situations. Lay down your agenda for the week and lean into these uncomfortable moments—you might just learn something from it!” Courtney : “Once you’ve learned some of the parameters of the trip, consider what barriers will arise that will make the trip uncomfortable, unenjoyable, or difficult for you, and spend time preparing yourself in order to minimize or overcome those challenges.”

• What is the cost of this trip?

  Courtney : “Ask yourself literally: how much money will this trip cost me? Will there be fundraising opportunities available? Am I responsible for the full cost of the trip or will there be other help or resources provided?” Katie : “Also ask yourself figuratively, ‘what will this trip cost me, and is it worth the cost? Is this an opportunity I should take advantage of now or could my skills be better utilized on a different or future trip?’ If the benefits outweigh the cost, go for it! Begin preparing yourself for this incredible and life changing journey!

Special thanks to Courtney for sharing her perspective! If you have questions about how you can participate in BU Mission Trips, stop by the Bobo to talk with our staff and start to get answers or directions as you start your missions journey!

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So you’ve touched down on good ‘ole American soil once again, your head reeling with thoughts of your mission experience, and the scenes of the life you lived abroad – however brief or long – flash in your memory. Maybe you’re relieved to be back in the comfort of your own home, or maybe you are already aching to be back with the people who became your family — either way, you have returned with a story to tell. When we have the gift to travel as a missionary to near or distant communities, it is our responsibility and privilege to carry back with us pieces of the stories we encountered that now reside in the folds of our heart.

As I sit down to write this, it is exactly a year ago today, in March 2018, that I set off for a spring break mission trip to Albania – the first of its kind – with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students. It was my first foreign mission trip, and I was so excited about the opportunity to challenge myself and journey alongside my fellow missionaries in a place that has continually ached for the joy of the Gospel post-communism. When I came back, I was left in awe of the people I encountered, but especially in awe of the ways that the Lord used that time set aside to remind me of His goodness and His faithfulness. I couldn’t put into words all that I experienced, but even in my speechlessness, I wanted to scream from the mountaintops the goodness I had seen and the joy I had received.

It’s only natural to want to share with our friends and family the reasons why we came back a different person – fully alive and bursting at the seams to tell our stories and theirs. But in our social-media-consumed world, sometimes the first inclination when we go on mission is to come back and to post a glamour shot surrounded by minorities from an impoverished community to Instagram with a trite caption featuring a bible verse and cute little saying about how much more was received than what was given. Those kinds of pictures – you know the ones – just reek of bravado. It’s an inauthentic display of a privileged person seeking validation for the good deed they did. “Look at how accepting I am of people different than me. Look at me, I am a good person. Look at me, I am sharing the Gospel and looking good while doing it.” And honestly, that is just the worst. In the end, how much are these kinds of posts really impacting anyone?

Don’t get me wrong. People who post-mission trip pictures like this aren’t automatically inauthentic, and it is not like all people who do this are terrible people who just care about likes or looking good to others. It is good to go on a mission trip, and it is good to share about it. But the way I see it, there is a time and a place and a way to share your mission experience without turning it into a spotlight on your own goodwill . Here are some ways to share your experience in a way that truly builds up the Kingdom…

Actually Pray

If you were impacted enough by a mission trip to want to share about it, chances are the Lord worked on your heart. Maybe you can’t even fully articulate or comprehend what happened that week. Maybe you still have so many thoughts and feelings and emotions about what took place but you don’t even know what to do with it. Take it all to the Lord. The good, the beautiful, the hard, the heartbreaking… All of it. He brought you there for a reason. You may never fully know why, but He desires to show you the fruit of your mission, and He desires that you would allow your experiences to bring you closer to Him.

Spend some time with our Lord and talk with Him about everything you lived and encountered on your mission trip. If you took a journal with you, read over it and reflect on what you wrote. If you have certain memories that persist anytime you think of your mission trip, chances are the Lord wants to meet you there. Go back to that moment in prayer, invite the Holy Spirit, and say to the Lord, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.”

Discuss and Discern

While it is your responsibility to share the fruits of your mission, you don’t need to share everything about it with everyone you know. As with everything in life (including every story that deserves to be told), there is a time and place to share your mission story and certain parts of your story are more appropriate to share with certain people. Let me explain.

You should feel free to share honestly with anyone you encounter who asks about your experience and who genuinely desires to hear your answer. But consider who you are talking to and how personal your anecdote is. On the (very) long trip back home from Albania, I had plenty of time to reflect on the highs and lows of my trip, and what I considered most important to share with people who asked that very simple yet complicated question: “Oh hey, how was your trip?” I had prepared a little elevator speech – about 30-seconds to a minute long – containing a quick anecdote and something valuable I had learned. This was something I could whip out for people I met in passing, or people I didn’t know so well. Of course, if there was more time and if the person was genuinely interested, I was able to share more and answer their questions more fully.

But still, there is no one better to process experience with than someone who was there and who can relate to what you felt. Discuss your trip and its meaningful moments with your fellow missionaries, or better yet with your mission leader (or any priests or religious that accompanied you on the trip) if possible. They can help you reflect on the meaning in what you feel has been most impactful for you, and can help you discern what the Lord wants to speak to you through your time on the mission.

Share Thoughtfully Online

Now that you have taken some time to reflect on your experience, you are more prepared to share your experience with others in person and on social media. When it comes to social media, what you share probably will look more like that elevator speech I mentioned before – since some of your followers may not know you personally or vice versa. Don’t be afraid to be honest and share the hardship of your mission, the joy you feel, a lesson you’ve learned or a favorite memory from the trip, something that the Lord revealed to you — but it’s all a balance.

You don’t want to reduce your experience to a glamour shot and a trite caption, but you also don’t want to share anything more than what you genuinely feel called to share with the whole world. Some things are meant to be kept between you and Jesus, some things are meant to be shared with certain people in a one-on-one conversation, and even fewer things are meant to be broadcast across your social channels. Invite your followers to reach out to you if they’d like to know more, and that will open up more opportunities for conversation.

Share Intentionally in Person

It’s especially important to share the outcomes of your mission if you fundraised to go. Your family, friends, and mission partners care about you enough to invest their money and time in prayer as sacrifices for your mission – and that is such a blessing! Take the time to follow up with these people, whether that’s through talking over a coffee, giving them a phone call, or shooting them an email with a newsletter or video you’ve made. It’s important that these people in your community understand the tremendous impact that they’ve made and how grateful you are that they joined you on this mission, because without them. Whether they’re family or virtual strangers, they deserve to know how this mission has changed your heart – so don’t be afraid to follow up with them and share your experiences – with photos and videos if you can.

Hold Onto What You’ve Learned

Your mission experience isn’t meant to be filed away and out of sight in a cute little Marie Kondo box somewhere in the closet of your memories. It’s meant to be carried forward into your “real life.” Whether you feel like it or not, this mission trip has been given to you as a tremendous opportunity to be touched by the Lord and to see Him through the lens of a different culture and worldview. I hope that no matter where you go on mission this year, you are able to be fully present to the people you were sent to serve and that the Holy Spirit would reveal to you the ways you are meant to incorporate the fruits of this mission into your everyday life.

Laurie Medina

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Now What? What to Do After Your Mission Trip

Way to go! Your mission trip is complete! Hopefully, you and your team faced new experiences, discovered new depths to your faith, and made a small but lasting impact on the community where you served. And while the trip may be over, the good news is that your opportunities to grow and serve others are just beginning.

The following are some great next steps to help ensure your team gets the most out of their mission trip experience as you return to the routines of normal life.

1. Follow up with your supporters

It likely took a team of supporters back home—through fundraising and prayerful support—to send you and your group to serve on your mission trip. Now, it’s time to take a minute to say thank you! This can be as simple as an email, a handwritten note, or social media post with a few highlights from the week; whatever you do will go a long way in making sure that those who supported you through prayer and financial gifts are recognized for their role in making your trip a reality.

If your church or organization as a whole was supportive, this could be a great opportunity to share something meaningful about your trip during a church service or special post-trip sharing night. Which leads to the next point…

2. Share your stories

Processing stories from the week allows you the time to adequately debrief and consider what the experience means to you and your team, both now and in the future. Sharing stories with others also spreads the joy of serving to those who weren’t able to go by detailing how your team and the community were both changed and uplifted by your experience serving.

This can take place in a variety of settings, like during a post-trip debrief, on social media, with family members, or even in front of a larger group like a church service.

Not sure what to share? We recommend picking a theme or question to consider as a team and encouraging your whole team to write down and share their thoughts and answers. Here are a few questions that might help you get started:

Which single relationship had the biggest impact on you throughout the week? What word, phrase, or new thought you have taken away from the trip? Which scripture verse was especially impactful for you throughout the week and why? How was your relationship with God changed or strengthened during your mission trip?

3. Continue serving!

You’re on a roll! Don’t stop serving just because the trip is over! At EM, we like to incorporate the phrase “Live Your Mission” into just about everything we do, and the reason is simple:

We believe “our mission” isn’t confined to one week in another place. It’s something we live, day in and day out.

A mission trip is great practice, but living our mission means carrying our experiences home with us and serving others within our local community as well. Need a few ideas? Check out our 3 Ways to Continue Serving After a Mission Trip .

4. Start planning your next mission trip

Now is a great time to figure out the dates and location for next year’s trip . No doubt, your team came back from their mission trip excited to continue serving. They have stories to share with family and friends, a new sense of purpose, and it’s likely people are already getting excited for next year’s mission trip opportunity— both those who went this year and everyone who wished they did! Knowing next year’s trip is already on the horizon will help spur on your group’s excitement for missions and serving others all year long.

As you consider potential mission trip dates and locations, we highly encourage returning to the same community! It is such an incredible experience to continue relationships started over the course of a week and reconnect each time you return, deepening those bonds. Volunteers who return to the same communities year after year truly feel a connection to people who have become more than just faces in photographs— they are brothers and sisters in Christ who love and care for each other.

If you’re looking for a change of pace, EM connects mission teams to a variety of international mission trips , in communities like Jamaica, Belize, Cuba, Costa Rica, South Africa, and more. If you’re hoping to stay a little closer to home next year, explore all of EM’s domestic mission trip opportunities in rural, urban, and disaster relief communities all over the U.S.

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5 WAYS TO THRIVE AFTER YOUR MISSION TRIP

Many of us have felt a pull in our lives to go on a short-term mission trip. While this is an extremely practical way to become part of the solution, we often come away only to be engulfed in a dust storm of problems. Sometimes fully engaging at home means setting aside the wonderful revelations we receive while we are on the field. It’s amazing how clearly God shows Himself to us in the eyes of an orphaned baby girl, in the signals of an impoverished deaf student, or even in a simple conversation with someone holding a different worldview. While we are in the moment, we have every intention set on cherishing the gift we have just encountered, but we step away. As time passes our hearts float further and further away from that very special moment, in that incredible place, with that unbelievably fascinating person, in whom we saw clearly the face of God. The feelings that we had are distant memories seemingly unable to be revived or relived now.

It’s so easy for us to fall back into life as we knew it before our trip, almost as if we didn’t just experience some sort of transformation. As Christians, we are to count every step of our journey as an act of grace from our Creator – not to be so easily forgotten. Here are some ways we can challenge ourselves to step outside of what seems like a natural slip, and continue to live on mission.

1. ASK – Who Am I? Where Am I? What Am I Doing?

The first thing we learn when we turn the phone back on is this – life didn’t stop just because we left home for a little bit. The world kept spinning. There’s a birthday party here, a coffee date there, the laundry is piling up and what used to be a kitchen is now a room that will be quarantined until the day of Christ Jesus. Then there’s work, and there’s school, and there are friends, and it never, ever stops.

This self perpetuation of life wraps our missional experience in layers. We soon discover things take too long to unpack so we toss them to the side and move on. Life doesn’t allow for proper reflection. If we don’t stand in wonder at the many awe-inspiring experiences we have had on a mission trip we will forget them.

When I need things to slow down so I can reflect on this incredible life I am gifted with I take a deep breath and ask myself very specific and intentional questions.

Who am I? Not who am I expected to be at this particular moment. Who am I? I can answer this question by remembering who I was on the mission trip. I find my truest, most fulfilled self when I am on the mission field – serving others. It’s a glimpse of who I am in the eyes of the Creator, in His Kingdom.

Where am I? Right now I may be sitting at a coffee shop in Nashville. But it is extremely important I remember that I am embraced, and close to the heart of Christ. This is not a question I ask myself in regards to my actual, physical location. This question is directed at my relationship with Christ. How much space is there between us? There are many times I ask myself this question and come away challenged to surrender myself again.

What am I doing? Sometimes my actions don’t match up with the person I am meant to be. I do things that interrupt my relationship with Christ. This question pulls me back and keeps my heart asking for more. It helps me remember who I was as I built a home for a family or held a malnourished orphan and invites me to live with that heart.

2. Connect with Team Members

Most of us don’t go alone to lands far away from home. We usually have people with us, sharing the same encounters and experiencing very similar feelings. When we come home, our friendship starts to take on new paths. Sometimes we form strong bonds with people while we are on a trip only to return and find ourselves drifting away. We can even become bitter – wondering why this person we got so close to isn’t returning the same desire to communicate.

Be aware, those feelings have roots in fear and shame. We start to feel inadequate, like we must not measure up to the expectations of others. We don’t feel good enough for them. Take a breath.

Connect with other team members. We all need your voice.

3. Meditate with Music and Notes from the Trip

There is a song, playlist or album that reminds you of events that happened on the trip. Just streaming that music will bring you back to the place where you left a piece of your heart and could even challenge you to get involved in serving those in your own community.

While you listen to this music, you can open the journal you kept while you were on your trip. Start to read through some of your notes. Close your eyes and remember the feel of the pen in your hand as you wrote that sentence. If what you wrote was about playing soccer with a boy in Jamaica, place yourself there. Feel the heat of the day and then listen to the laughter of others as the boy shouts gooooaaaaalllll .

Get weird with it. It’s healthy.

Maybe you don’t want to get weird with it. Maybe you remember playing soccer with the boy and you just want to pray for him. Good! Do that.

While on the trip, chances are you listened as someone shared about their struggle with something back home. You held a child that has been rescued from a serious situation. You were placed in uncomfortable circumstances with other people that are just as reckless as we are. There will always be a single moment, or conversation that stands out to you. Remember the people there, in that moment with you, and pray for those people.

May we become burdened for those we served to the point of unceasing prayer for and with them.

5. Plan for Next Year

Your mission trip did not end because your feet left the soil of that unfamiliar region.

The summer of 2009 marked my first year with Mission Discovery. I was in Tecate, Mexico and had no clue what I was in for. We built a house for a family with a little girl named Bianca. In the middle of the week, her puppy died. Her tears were heartbreaking and in an attempt to focus everyone’s attention back on building the home I took the puppy, along with the family, and together we buried him in the desert. I held her hand as she tried to wrap her mind around the idea that her puppy wasn’t coming back. By the end of the week we had finished the house. We all held hands, prayed for each other, and said our goodbyes.

A couple of years went by without seeing Bianca, but I always remembered her. She marked my heart. Then one day, I was back in Mexico building in the same colonia and our paths crossed. I was hesitant. Now she was eight years old. I was sure she wouldn’t remember me. But, she started to run. Faster… and faster until she was engulfed in my arms.

For you, maybe her name wasn’t Bianca. But at some point during your trip something changed. You started to transform and began to see things through a different lens. You went to impact their world and your heart was changed. You went to be a part of someone’s solution and in the process someone became part of your solution. Let me be the one to remind you, your mission isn’t finished. We need you.

I’ll see you next year.

Nathan Walters

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Drawing Close to God: Mission Trip Devotions

Eight days of mission trip devotions to help you carry the closeness you feel to god on your trip back home with you, in each daily devotion:, scripture reading, a key spiritual takeaway, reflection questions, read the devotions, day 1. listening for god's whisper.

Scripture: 1 Kings 19:11-14 , Matthew 3:13–4:11 , Mark 1:35-39 , Luke 5:12-15

This week, you will have the opportunity to spend 30 to 45 minutes each day in solitude, reflecting on God’s Word, journaling, and praying. God is calling to you. Take advantage of this time to listen for God’s whisper.

Reflection questions:

• Why do you think that God came to Elijah in the gentle whisper instead of in the wind, fire, or earthquake?
• Why do you think Jesus was led to the desert after his baptism, before he began his ministry?
• Why do you think Jesus found it necessary to retreat to a quiet place to pray so frequently?
• Are there a lot of distractions in your life?
• What are they distracting you from?
• Do you feel hurried? Why?

“For most of us, the great danger is not that we will renounce our faith. It is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we will settle for a mediocre version of it. We will just skim our lives instead of actually living them.” —John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People

Day 2. Not about us

Scripture: Luke 12:22-34 , 2 Corinthians 4

Anxiety and the things of this world often consume our lives. The world tells us to constantly focus on ourselves: how we feel, what we need, what makes us happy. Yet the Scriptures constantly remind us that our lives are not ultimately about us. We don’t need to worry because our power comes from God. We matter because we are children of God, and our focus should not be on ourselves but on our Creator.

• What makes you anxious? Why?
• Do you really think God will take care of you? Why or why not?
• What causes you to lose heart?
• What do you think is the “god” (or the gods) of our age?
• What does Paul mean when he tells us to fix our eyes on what is unseen instead of what is seen?

“Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrows; it empties today of its strengths.” —Corrie Ten Boom, The Hiding Place

Day 3. Building each other up

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16 , James 3 , Hebrews 10:19-25

To live in community, we need to pay attention not only to ourselves but also to others—how they are doing and what they are feeling. This week, look out for others who are struggling and take time to encourage, build up, and pray for them.

• How can the community we find ourselves in build us up? How can it tear us down?
• How do you think James 3 fits into the idea of community? How does this affect the way we act on this trip?
• Is there someone on this trip that feels like a burden to you (someone that bothers you)? What does it look like to treat this person with respect and love?
• Whom do you need to encourage this week?

“The body of Christ was alive, no longer trapped in stained-glass windows or books of systematic theology. The body of Christ was literal, living, hungry, thirsty, bleeding. Church was no longer something we did for an hour on Sunday, and church was not a building with a steeple. As Don Everts says in his book Jesus with Dirty Feet , ‘Referring to the church as a building is like referring to people as two-by-fours.’ She came to life. The church became something we are —an organism, not an organization.” —Shane Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical

Day 4. Serving Judas

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37 , Matthew 6:1-4 , James 2:14-26 , John 13:1-17

It is amazing that Jesus washed his disciples’ feet before he spoke of Judas’s betrayal. Even though he knew Judas was going to betray him, he still treated him the same and served him by washing his feet. We don’t know how long Jesus knew about Judas’s plans, but the fact that the other disciples had no idea who it was demonstrates that Jesus showed no favoritism, even as his death approached.

• Why should we serve others?
• Is it hard for you to serve? Why?
• How do you think your faith is seen by others?
• How does serving others like Jesus compare to what our society teaches us to do?
• Where is God calling you to serve? If you don’t know, pray that God will show you.
• Read the Chesterton quote below. What does it mean to have faith like a “love affair”?

“Those who really wish to give glory to God by their lives, who truly long to grow in holiness, are called to be single-minded and tenacious in their practice of the works of mercy.” —Pope Francis, Gaudete et exsultate

Day 5. Sacrificing for the kingdom

Scripture: Mark 10:17-31 , 1 Peter 3:8-22  

Mark 10:17-31 is one of those passages many of us would rather ignore. Like the rich man, we would have a hard time giving up all of our possessions for God. But sometimes God does ask us to serve in ways that feel extreme to us, ways that require sacrifice. Putting God above everything else in your life is no small commitment. Are you ready to make it?

• Can you relate to the rich man?
• Would you give up everything you own to follow Jesus?
• Why would Jesus ask the man to do that?
• Could God be asking you to sacrifice something in your own life? What might it be?
• Can suffering actually be a good thing? In what ways?
• Are you willing to suffer for Christ? Have you already? How?
• What things in the Bible do you tend to ignore (accidentally or on purpose)? Why?

“You guys are all into that born again thing, which is great. We do need to be born again, since Jesus said that to a guy named Nicodemus. But if you tell me I have to be born again to enter the kingdom of God, I can tell you that you have to sell everything you have and give it to the poor, because Jesus said that to one guy too. … But I guess that’s why God invented highlighters, so we can highlight the parts we like and ignore the rest.” —Rich Mullins, quoted in Shane Claiborne’s The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical

Day 6. Lord of all creation

Scripture: Psalm 104 , Isaiah 45:18 , Colossians 1:15-20 , Romans 8:18-27

While we often focus on God’s relationship with humanity, God created and rules over the entire universe. We are called to serve as stewards of God’s creation, to care for it responsibly and compassionately. And when we explore the natural world, we can experience the one who created it in new ways.

• Do you experience God through nature? How? If not, how could you try looking for God in nature?
• Take some time to be silent and listen for God’s voice. What is it about God’s creation and silence that helps us experience God’s power? 
• What do you think Paul is referring to when he says that God is reconciling all things? Does that include nature? If so, what does that mean for us as we follow Christ?
• Paul also says creation has been groaning. How do you see this happening in the world today?
• How can we be better caretakers of God’s creation?

“If I could live another life, I think I would devote it to ecology, because I also believe that this is a truly spiritual and Christian work. Genesis begins with our mandate to take care of God’s creation, and never has our failure to do so been more acute than now. Learning to live as caretakers of creation and friends to our fellow creatures must be at the core of a new kind of Christianity.” —Brian McLaren, A New Kind of Christian: A Tale of Two Friends on a Spiritual Journey

Day 7. A different kind of blessing

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

Spend some time thinking and praying about this passage. It seems Jesus’ message turns many “normal” or “mainstream” ideas in our culture upside down.

• How is the view of blessing in this passage different from our culture’s view of blessing?
• Why do you think Jesus challenges our ideas about blessing?
• How does your life look different when you think of blessing as Jesus describes it in this passage?

“When I say I trust Jesus, that is what I mean: I trust that the way of life leads through perishability, not around it.” —Barbara Brown Taylor, quoted in The Other Journal: Body

Day 8. Changed hearts

Scripture: John 8:1-11 , Galatians 5:16-26 , Luke 9:28-36

Peter’s response to the transfiguration is classic: “Hey, let’s stay up here! I’ll build some tents, and we can hang with Elijah and Moses and Jesus. That would be awesome.” Many people feel the same way after trips and retreats. We encounter God in new ways and want to preserve this spiritual momentum. But the disciples don’t stay on the mountain. In the next passage, they are back in town, and Jesus is healing once again. Like Peter, you will be returning to everyday life. But that doesn’t mean that your experience “on the mountain” doesn’t matter. Our mountaintop experiences bring us closer to God, and that changes our lives and our hearts. We learn how to better love our neighbors, and we deepen our commitment to loving and serving God.

• How have you encountered God this week?
• What is one area in which God is working on your heart right now?
• How might God’s work in this area begin to change your perspective or behavior?

“The cost of discipleship is to live the life God has given us, serving in mundane ways the people he’s put in our path.” —attributed to Mark Galli

Looking for more mission trip devotions?

Three other sets of devotions for mission trips are available for free as printable e-books.

Browse more mission trip devotions

© Reformed Church Press

Missionary Life

5 ways to debrief after your short-term mission trip.

August 8, 2017 by admin

Short-term mission trips are once-in-a-lifetime experiences that can be highly impactful for both the participants and those they serve. However, coming home after such an intense foreign experience is often a difficult process to navigate.

You’re likely to experience reverse culture shock , and accepting the realities of being back home may take longer than you anticipate. That’s why having a plan to debrief your short-term mission trip is so important.

If you’ve recently returned from a short-term mission trip, here are five practical tips for a healthy and productive debriefing process:

1.     Share your experience with others.

People want to know about your trip, but they often only think to ask vague questions , such as, “How was your trip?” or “What was it like over there?”

Where do you begin? One of the easiest ways is to come up with a 30-second highlight reel.

Anything longer will most likely be overwhelming for you and too long for whoever is listening. Coming up with 30 seconds of things you want to emphasize from the trip is a good way to keep the big picture fresh in your mind and offer others important information in digestible chunks.

Another fun way to share your experience with others is to host an international night with friends and family members who weren’t able to join you on the trip. Prepare dishes from your host country, tell funny stories about cultural blunders you made and turn up the foreign music!

“When a dear friend of mine returned from Italy, she made espresso for her family from the moka pot she purchased in Italy, because one of her favorite memories from Italy was drinking espresso and praying for the ministry every afternoon,” says TEAM missions coach Kristin Schambach. This is a great example of sharing your experience with loved ones in a tangible way.

2.     Keep your zeal for missions fresh!

Don’t lose the passion for what God’s placed in your heart when it comes to global missions! Stay in touch with fellow team members as well as with the missionaries and locals you met abroad.

Ask to be put on the missionaries’ newsletter email lists, write them letters and assure them of your consistent prayer for them. You might even consider supporting them financially as a way of investing in their long-term vision.

It’s also important for you and fellow team members to remind each other of the experiences you shared while abroad and express how God has been using those experiences to shape your life since you returned.

On your own, read about new organizations and ministries as often as you can, and stay up-to-date on missional efforts.

3.     Continue growing.

TEAM ’s manager of short-term ministry advises jotting down three areas in which you want to keep growing after you return home. These can be anything ranging from something personal, like becoming a better friend, to something more spiritual, like developing a more consistent prayer life.

Be sure to dedicate yourself in these three areas over the next 12 months.

Then, when you hit the one-year anniversary of your short-term mission trip, look back and pay attention to how the Lord has grown and stretched you in those three specific areas.

Remember: If you haven’t left for your trip yet , ask that the Lord will open your eyes to exactly which three areas He wants you to focus on. He will make it clear.

4.    Reconnect with your home church.

Re-entering church life is often an unexpected difficulty. You may feel like fellow church members can’t understand what you’ve experienced or who you’ve become. You may even find yourself missing the worship style you experienced in your host country.

But it’s important to be intentional about reconnecting with your home church after your short-term mission trip. This will help you not only to debrief after your foreign experience but also to stay alert to what God is doing around your community, even though that work may look different than what you experienced abroad.

A couple of easy steps for reconnecting with your home church include finding a mentor to meet with on a regular basis or joining a small group, where you can explore what God has done — and what He is doing now.

You can also help facilitate or even head-up local mission efforts . This will let you spread your excitement while you personally stay missional in both your actions and mindset. It will also help you channel the momentum of passion and energy that often accompanies a mission trip into something positive, rather than allowing yourself to become discouraged by differences in your home church.

5.    Lean into the Lord.

One of the Enemy’s favorite times to attack us is after we’ve recently experienced a spiritual high point, which often happens during and after a mission trip.

Prepare yourself for spiritual warfare by surrounding yourself with people who will encourage and uplift you.

Most importantly, be sure to carve out daily time for prayer and scripture reading. Strengthening yourself spiritually during this time is essential for a successful debriefing process.

As you follow each of these steps, consider taking some time to be alone and reflect on your experience. Record your emotions verbally, keep a journal of your thoughts or create a scrapbook of pictures you took while abroad. Not only will this help you cement what you’re learning in your memory, but it will also be a reminder of God’s faithfulness for years to come!

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Best Practices for Short-Term Mission Trips

There is no single “right” way to do a mission trip. What works depends very much on the goals of the congregations and participants, the strengths and concerns of the host community, and the context of each mission group and each trip. But after several years of talking to short-term mission participants, reading scholarly accounts of the short-term mission phenomenon, and going on mission trips myself, I have found that some conditions and practices seem to support better mission trips — ones that best contribute to alleviating conditions of poverty and to creating genuine relationships between communities.

Volunteer service is a manifestation of compassion and an act of concern for others, and a way to learn and grow.

Establish Long-Term Relationships

Although short-term mission is, by its very definition, limited in duration, it is most effective in the context of a long-term relationship. This can be achieved in a number of different ways — through a direct partnership between congregations or a sister-parish arrangement, by working with a faith-based or nongovernmental organization with a long-term presence in a community, or through one-time participation in a longer-term denominational program that links congregations globally. Even in the case of a natural disaster or other emergency, when a congregation may feel called to send aid and volunteers to a region in which it does not have any existing relationships, this aid is much more effective if it is offered through an existing organization with an established presence “on the ground.”

Choosing a location, going back repeatedly, and allowing a relationship to develop makes the biggest impact and has additional practical benefits as well. Working through a long-term partner helps to ensure a smooth experience for travelers and keeps surprises — and the stress of unanticipated circumstances — to a minimum. Visiting the same location repeatedly may also make the trip seem less like a tourist jaunt.

Reflecting on the Experience

Mission trips are more effective, in a host of different ways, when participants are engaged in examining the purpose of their experience not just during the trip but also before and after the trip. Orientation and debriefing can help to provide participants with a space to reflect on their personal and spiritual development, the meanings that the experience carries for them, and a sense that their involvement in a mission trip can enrich their “ordinary” life. The opportunity to contextualize the short-term mission experience through reflection before and after an actual trip can be another incentive to conduct a short-term mission within a long-term partnership or stable relationship with a host community or organization.

Projects that Make a Difference

Channeling service through effective development projects, ones that have proven themselves to make a difference in the lives of people who are economically disadvantaged, puts the time and resources of short-term mission to their best use. The best projects begin with planners seeking out and listening to the opinions of host partners. Good projects also happen when planners shift as much control as possible to individuals and groups in the host community. They build on strengths — the strengths of the host community, the skills and talents of volunteer participants, and the resources that are available. Focusing on strengths and available resources shifts the ways in which participants think about a “poor” community, pointing out its advantages rather than simply its deficits. It also can make projects more sustainable if they are less reliant on outside support. In order to be most effective, outside groups examine charity, development, and social justice and work toward creating projects that address the causes and not just the symptoms.

Understanding the Role of Culture

Culture is not just the clothes one wears or the music one listens to, but it refers to more fundamental patterns of thought and behavior through which people understand the world and one another. Short-term mission explicitly creates a framework for interaction between people from different cultures. But participants have a tendency to collapse cultural difference, seeing “the poor” as interchangeable or as homogenous. This tendency is an obstacle to cultural understanding as well as a barrier to the creation of authentic relationship across cultures. Discussing culture and cultural difference is one tool to avoid this pitfall. Investing time to learn about the political, historical, and economic context of the host culture provides participants with a better understanding of the significance of the work they do. Learning the language of the host culture, even at a rudimentary level, can lower barriers and facilitates more interaction.

Making a Difference

Short-term mission, at its best, is a way of recognizing and appreciating human dignity. Through service, participants find new meaning in their own lives and reflect on their relationships with others. Through the encounter with poverty, they experience the effects of social injustice and inequality. Through developing relationships, they learn the stories of others and gain a perspective on our shared humanity. Their volunteer service is a manifestation of compassion and an act of concern for others, and a way to learn and grow. It has the potential to transform not just those who are served, but also those who serve, in ways that can make a genuine difference in the world.

Related Resources:

• Eight Reasons I Was Wrong About Short-Term Mission Trips by Rich Birch
• Helping a Congregation Connect to Mission  by Tom Berlin

About Author

Laurie A. Occhipinti is Dean of the School of Liberal Arts, Education, Humanities and Communications at Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, MA. Previously, she was an assistant dean and professor of anthropology at Clarion University in Clarion, PA. She wrote Making a Difference in a Globalized World: Short-term Missions that Work (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014), available on Amazon .

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This article is reprinted by permission from Leading Ideas, a free e-newsletter from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary available at churchleadership.com.