How to choose a missions experience

Group, Nov/Dec 1999 by Borthwick, Paul

mission trips are now the youth ministry equivalent of lock-ins and winter retreats--everyone does them. But not everyone has a great experience taking their kids on a short-term outreach. Thats because the planning, preparation, and funding challenges can be overwhelming.

So before you jump into the missions deep-end and drown in the details, ask yourself two basic questions:

Why do we want to give our kids a missions experience? Make sure you have a clear purpose for your intended trip. Once you have that, you can answer all the other questions that will bombard you.

Should we organize the trip ourselves or go through an agency that specializes in short-term missions projects for youth groups? Large groups may have the ability to handle the administrative load a missions project requires. But most of us (especially first-timers) prefer to go through a "broker"an experienced organization that knows how to nail down the logistics and is skilled at preparing youth groups for a quality experience.

If you prefer to organize your own trip, this article will be of marginal help to you. If you go the broker route, your next task is to pick one. Fifteen years ago your choices were limited to a handful of organizations. Not true today.1 And that's where I can help.

Once you know exactly why you want your kids to go on a missions trip, ask yourself these 10 questions to determine which organization will best serve your goals.. .

what type of work will we do?

Many of us want to give our young people firsthand experience in cross-cultural ministry, but language and cultural hurdles often derail those hopes. Instead, our kids may serve as physical laborers. Is that acceptable to you? If so, you'll need to answer two more questions:

Can my group members do the required work?

Don't underestimate your teenagers` abilities. We once sent a group of junior highers to Philadelphia where they helped Habitat for Humanity install the wiring and plumbing in a house. And the house passed inspection!

* Will the host group provide the training needed for us to do a quality job? Our junior highers could work on the Habitat for Humanity project because Habitat staffers provided the training and an expert foreman.

what training is required?

If a broker organization encourages you to "just show up," beware! Without cross-cultural training, your team members will likely repeat dozens of past cultural errors. And without a biblical context and practical instructions for the work, your team members may never understand the "why" of what they're doing. In general, a low-prep project will yield minimal long-term growth for your young people.

So what kind of training should you expect your kids to receive?

Cross-cultural sensitivity training-Designed to help your kids observe and appreciate cultural differences without passing judgment on them.

Biblical training--Helps kids understand why service is a fundamental part of the Christian life.

Interpersonal training--Teaches team members to get along and builds unity.

Ministry or work training--Helps the team feel equipped to fulfill its mission.

Will kids have cross-cultural contact?

Will your team members get to know local believers, eat local food, and learn to appreciate Christian peers in other cultures? Or will you be living on an "island of middle-America" that serves as a protected base camp for forays into the culture you're serving?

One organization takes teams on international missions experiences, but teams live together in their own tents, eat their own food (that they bring in), and seldom interact with local believers. The coordinating group maintains these standards because they recruit large groups to undertake big building projects, but the young people end up getting minimal exposure to the local culture.

will we serve the local church?

Will your teenagers serve local believers or the expansion plans of Western organizations? We once sent a multiracial mission team to a very poor Caribbean island. They were mortified when they found themselves serving an Anglo-controlled establishment that failed to treat the local Caribbean people as equals. The African-American kids on our team nicknamed the mission location "the plantation."

To avoid this problem, find out how many nationals serve in leadership positions in the organizing group. This can tell you whether the group is promoting indigenous ministries or if it's just another outside group serving itself. It's ideal for your kids to serve under local leadership. It will give them a taste of today's missions reality-the best missionaries work alongside local leaders, not over them.

What ministry will kids do?

If you'd like more than a physical labor experience for your kids, you'll need to discover whether your team members will have opportunities to tell their faith stories, to share the gospel, to teach vacation Bible school, or to perform gospel-focused presentations.

Much of this depends on language barriers. If you can minister in your native tongue, your opportunities increase. If not, ministry might be limited to mime, singing, or puppet ministry, Whatever the limitations, the best organizations give teams a chance to contribute to local worship and outreach.