Why You Should Take a Short Term Missions Trip
It is one thing to hear about something but completely different to see and experience it. I want to encourage you to take a short term missions trip. It will help you gain a passion for the world and better understand the missionary’s life and ministry in a different country. As a member of a church that is giving towards missions, a missions trip will help you to understand where your missions dollars are going. As a young person, it will help you to see how a missionary lives on the field and the possibility of serving on the mission field as well. As a pastor, it will help you to see the importance of supporting missionaries and having a missions program. Here are a few reasons why you should take a missions trip.
It will open your eyes
A recent study shows that over 40% of Americans have never left the country, and 11% have never left the state where they were born. If you have never left the country or left your state, it is hard to understand the global God we have. Although many times we are restricted by the price of airline tickets, I believe that it is well worth the cost to see God’s work in other countries. It will allow you to meet Christians from other countries and to see how God is working in the lives of others who speak a different language and have a different culture.
You will be able to see the vastness of the world outside of America and realize that we should be sending missionaries worldwide. The truth is that Americans only make up 4% of the world. The other 96% of people live outside of America. We make up a tiny percentage of the world. Sadly, many times we only focus on Americans and what is happening in America. We need to get a world vision, and taking a missions trip will allow us to open our eyes.
It will move your heart
The Bible says in Lamentations 3:51 Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city. In this verse, we can see that Jeremiah’s heart was affected because of what he saw. I believe the same will happen when you take a trip to the mission field. Seeing and experiencing something is entirely different than just hearing about it. You should take a missions trip to allow your heart to be affected by your eyes.
As a teenager, I had an interest in missions, but it wasn’t until I took a missions trip that I began to consider giving my life to be a missionary. One simple thing that you can do today to take the next step in taking a missions trip is to go to your local post office and apply for your passport. If you have your passport, you will be able to go on a trip overseas whenever the opportunity arrives. If you would like to see a list of missions trips my mission board offers, click here.
It will take you outside of your comfort zone
One of the hardest things for us to do is to get outside of our comfort zone. We enjoy knowing what is going on around us. We like going to the local restaurant where we know the food will be good. We prefer being in control and do not enjoy being outside of our comfort zone. However, many times that is precisely what we need. We need to realize that there are millions of people around the world that have never heard of Jesus. We need to see that people live differently than us in America and don’t have three or four Baptist churches to choose from in their town. They don’t have a single Baptist church.
I believe that every Christian should attempt to take a mission trip in their life. Maybe it is just the thing you need to open your eyes to the need of the world for missionaries. Perhaps it will help you understand the importance of having a missions program at your church. Maybe getting out of your comfort zone and taking a missions trip will convince you that you should give your life to be a missionary. If you would like to read my article on why you should be a missionary, click here. Whatever happens on the missions trip, I believe that it will encourage you and help you gain a passion for world evangelism.
