Who benefits from Short Term Mission Trips
The summer tour season is starting very soon with Christian Outreach International. Each summer, many mission groups come from churches and schools to one of our mission sites around the world. It is a great time to meet new friends that have the same goal as we do - sharing God’s love to a world in need. If you have ever wondered about short term missions, I am here to tell you that they are a wonderful blessing to literally everyone involved. Those who go, those who host, those who are met and those back home. Let’s look at the four groups.
Those who are met: Missions can open your eyes to the needs of others. The people whose needs are being met by the mission group will encounter the real God, lived out in the lives of the group members. They will see how beautiful are the feet of those who bear Christ.
Those who go: The mission team. They meet to prepare, grow as a team, grow individually closer to God. They are presented with chances to stretch themselves out of their comfort zones, and see boldness that they may not have even known that they had. They see God use them, and I believe that there can be no better feeling than that. Their faith is increased, their vision grown and their desire to serve God in all that they do is encouraged.
Those back home: The senders. They are the ones who cover the group in prayer and back them financially. They are the encouragers and the ones that share in the celebration of a job well done. They see a group that returns fired up for ministry and looking to continue ministering to others in their community.
Those who host: In our organization, there is staff at all of the sites ready to facilitate the ministry of the teams that come. We have opportunity to meet new friends with a similar interest in evangelism and Christian service. In the long grind of the summer, we are encouraged by each group that comes, as we see their desire to serve and their passion for God.
God’s design is so perfect that by answering his call to participate in short-term missions, in any way, you will be richly blessed and see Him working in your area and around the world.
