Tips for the Journey

Preparing for a Mission Trip: Defining Your Mission

With summer and its many church mission trips just around the corner now is a great time to stop and make sure everyone on the team understands the “mission” of your trip. Every mission trip will have its own unique purpose. Making sure everyone on the team understands the purpose and their role in ensuring the trip accomplishes it is the key to a “successful” mission trip. Once you decide what the purpose of your trip is you can make plans that will ensure you include all of the elements needed to accomplish the “mission.”

When determining the “mission” of your trip think about who will be served while your group is on mission: a community, a church, a missionary, local residents, team members, your church could all be ministered to through your trip. Taking a moment to think about how local residents may be served, or how a host missionary might be ministered to, or how you church might be strengthened by the participation of members in the mission trip will help you get a whole picture of the potential “mission” of your trip.

So, what might a “mission” statement for a mission trip look like? “Mission Salt Lake 2009: sharing Jesus in word and deed on the street, the playground, and in homes.” Or, “Kentucky Bound: repairing homes and mending lives through the power of the Gospel in Lookout Mountain, Kentucky.”

Write your “mission” down and talk about it with the team frequently. Ask your team members to commit it to memory. Knowing what the “mission” is and how each member helps the team accomplish it helps to keep your energies focused and your passions ignited. Now you are ready to plan the things you need to do to get ready to accomplish your “mission.”

For more help in planning for a successful mission trip download the Logistics Manual from the Adult Volunteer Mobilization website.

Tips for the Journey are published in the Volunteers in Motion eNewsletter. To recieve future issues via email click here to subscribe.