The Importance of Mission Trips

Roger Davis, YM360 President, has always had a heart for missions. He takes his family on mission trips, he gives leadership to YM360, but also, he provides leadership to one of our partner organizations, Servant Life. As a long time participant in missions, Roger understands the power of mission trips.

Roger was in Richmond, Virginia, recently and saw a brochure for a commissioning for an international mission board sending out several family units. In the pamphlet, it mentioned how people got their start in mission, and according to Roger, over 75% of them started with some short term mission trip, probably when they were teenagers.

In missions, people tend to focus on the Great Commission. In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus says: "[19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” There is nothing about that command that feels optional. Jesus isn't saying, “Go when it’s convenient." Jesus is telling us, “go.”

The last thing that any youth minister wants when he or she is planning a missions experience is to have an excellent location, an awesome group of people to work with, and everything planned out, only for the mission to fall flat on its face because they didn’t adequately prepare their students. Some resources are specifically designed for preparing your students to do everything on site in the context of the Word of God, asking "why am I here, who am I serving, how is the going to affect the world"? Missions Journals from YM360 are a perfect example of this resource. We created our Missions Journals in a partnership with Servant Life, and they function on a 4-week framework helping your students process the before, during, and after of their experience.

A trip is like a vacation; it has a beginning and an end. Your trip to the beach begins and ends, and then you go back to normal life. Same with your trip to the mountains, or your camping trip; they have a beginning and an end, and then it's over. But, if you are on missions, your mission doesn’t just end because you get home. When you return home, your journey is just starting. Don’t look at your mission trip as “checking the box” and then coming back and posting pictures on Instagram; look at it as a chance to learn and grow from your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

Being on mission can happen in a country in Africa, or it can happen in the halls of the high schools in your community. It’s important for your students to grasp that their mission field is wherever they are.

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