Nathan Holloway (front right) in Macedonia with Youth in Mission team members
"All mission trips have the same themes: Love the people; sweat. Love the people; spend money. Love the people; eat weird food. Love the people. —Dave Bucher, missionary to Saipan
Resources for church mission trip management
Short-term mission experiences -- sometimes referred to by the acronym STM -- are cross-cultural missionary assignments ranging from one week to up to two years.
From a handful of people who were involved annually several decades ago, short-term missions now draw more than a million Americans each year.1 Is this a good thing? What can you learn on a missions trip?
Why short-term missions? "I support short-term missions," says noted author Philip Yancey. "Despite their drawbacks, such trips provide two distinct cultures a taste of the harmony that exists between members of the Body of Christ." Mission trips also give prospective future missionaries a taste of life on the field.
Every organization has a title for its short-term missions program. Within the Church of the Nazarene, for example, thousands of people go on one- to short-term Nazarene Mission Team trips. These will be focused on a variety of activities, including construction projects, children's ministry, outreach events, or medical assistance. Other people serve each year in mid-term volunteer assignments that can last up to a year, while others service in long-term assignments that last longer than one year. The old acronym NIVS for mid- and long-term volunteer assignemtns stood for Nazarenes In Volunteer Service.)
You should prepare yourself spiritually, mentally, and financially for your short-term missions experience. Here are resources for your short-term mission preparation.
"Every mission trip I've ever taken has opened my eyes to the beauty and complexity of our world. I've always been challenged to re-think my life and my response to God's Kingdom." -- Marty Michelson
1Statistics for the Church of the Nazarene alone indicate that in a recent year, almost 790 short-term Nazarene Mission Teams had more than 10,000 participants who served from one to three weeks. That same year, there were about 500 Nazarenes who served as mid-term and long-term volunteers who served on mission fields. In addition, there were nearly 500 Nazarene university students worldwide who gave part of their a summer to volunteer service in various cross-cultural missionary efforts.
Nazarene Missions International has published a number of small paperback books on short term missions. In chronological order of date published, these include:
While most all of these are out-of-print, they can be obtained through used bookstores.
by Alissa Gilmore
With a miracle from God, the country of Macedonia and SNU's New Student Institute (NSI) program became remarkably intertwined as a result of one student's summer ministry experience.
The miracle began more than a year ago when junior Nathan Holloway obeyed the call of God to apply for his second Youth in Mission trip. Macedonia had not been Nathan's first choice, but it became his destination.
Fundraising efforts for the $3,000 trip expense left him $1,500 short just three weeks before departure. Nathan's first miracle came a week later when he received the remaining funds. He left for the trip on May 29, thanking God for His supply and believing as well that his financial needs had also been taken care of for the upcoming fall school term after his return.
Nathan re-entered the U.S. on July 29 after his service. During the Youth in Mission debriefing, he called home and discovered something unsettling. Sadly, finances for his schooling that coming year had not come together as expected. He still needed $5,000 to attend SNU in the fall.
Nathan began questioning his earlier decision to go to Macedonia instead of staying home to work all summer. He knew God wanted him at SNU, and he had felt sure that God had wanted him in Macedonia. It was time for the second part of the miracle.
Nathan had been accepted early in the spring semester of that year to serve as an New Student Institute mentor for incoming freshmen in the upcoming fall semester. As he began to worry about finding the money to go back to school, he went to see Kathy Lebsack, the SNU mentor-to-the-mentors, to submit his resignation from NSI leadership.
"I believe the Lord wanted you to go to Macedonia, and He's going to work out everything else," Kathy told Nathan.
She would not accept his resignation, allowing Nathan more time to see how God would work things out. And, God's hand could be seen in the way things worked out. Though Nathan's school bill was not completely paid, he was able to return to school with a commitment to work to pay for the rest. He decided to follow through on being an NSI mentor and help incoming freshmen with their adjustments to university life.
To make Nathan's miracle complete, Nathan saw on the list of freshmen in his group the name Nikolce Gjoreski. Nikolce was a new student from (where else?) Macedonia. Only God could have brought these two together along converging paths that had been filled with obstacles and, more importantly, with the miracles of God.
Nathan Holloway (front right) in Macedonia with Youth in Mission team members |
from an issue of Southern Light, an alumni publication of Southern Nazarene University. Used by permission.
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Short-term mission service is one component of how the church works to complete the Great Commission. However, the planting of clusters of churches and the development, nurturing, and mentoring of local leaders is usually done most effectively by a career, long-term missionary force. [ more ] |
-- Howard Culbertson,