Odds are you have been on a short term mission trip, or at the very least, you have been sent a fundraising letter. Either way you probably have wondered if the trip actually met the intended purpose. I always feel this tension whether I am preparing for a trip myself or considering to financially support someone going. If you want to read some of my thoughts on this tension, check out this blog post – The Shocking Truth about Short-Term Mission Trips
What does it take to successfully lead a short-term mission trip?
But what if you are planning or have been asked to lead a short-term mission team? I know you want to not only lead  your team well, but you want the team’s efforts to be worth the time and financial resources applied to the mission trip.
I remember the first team that I led with Danielle. While the trip led to some major life transforming decisions for us, the team-leading experience for me was exhausting. Bottom line is that I took on way too much responsibility.
Since that first team leader experience I led many teams of all sizes to different parts of the world. I also, along with Danielle, hosted many short-term mission teams while we worked in Thailand for six months. Both roles taught me a lot about how to lead and how not to lead a short-term mission team.
I know you want to know how to lead a team well, so here are some general ideas that I am sure will help you succeed.
Prepare yourself
- Take a wholistic approach to preparing yourself for leading the team. If you don’t lead yourself well, how can you lead the team?
- Physically – Avoid as much as possible over-booking your calendar in the weeks leading up to the trip. Continue (or add to your schedule) some light physical activity. Even if the trip doesn’t involve heavy physical activity, your body will get tired.
- Mentally – spend time reading or reviewing books like How Helping Hurts and Toxic Charity. Study the culture and people where you are serving. Interact with church and mission leaders on the ground. Listen to them.
- Spiritually – sadly this is often overlooked. Perhaps a team leader will spend time preparing a devotional for the team, but that is different from personal time abiding in His presence hearing from Him.
Understand the team’s role and impact
- Avoid having a god-complex. Remember that God is no respecter of persons and has gifted each believer, both on your team and those in country, as He sees fit.
- “Short-term” is a little misleading. It is short-term for the team going, but remember that God was at work in that place before your team arrives and will continue after your team leaves. Encourage your team to attune themselves to what God’s intended purpose is for them while they are present in country. I liken it to stepping into a moving river.
- Understand the impact the trip has on team members. One of the benefits of going on a short-term mission trip is what it will do in the lives of your team members. For some team members, this trip will be life-altering. For others it will overwhelm them. Be sensitive to their emotional, physical, and spiritual state.
Ask these questions before committing to the trip
- Is it possible to partner with a local church? Or are we working on a project completely separate and void of local believers?
- Are we doing things that the local people can do for themselves? Is our presence taking away jobs?
- What will remain of our work after we leave? I hear stories and have witnessed firsthand of walls getting repainted by another team, vegetable gardens dying, and undried-in construction rotting.
- Would it be more beneficial to send the money rather than a team? Many places that have the most need to hear the gospel are parts of the world that an American could not or would not go.
- Will the presence of our team hurt the work of God in this location? Sometimes our ignorance or over-zealous behavior can damage years of work by local believers and longterm missionaries.
I am considering turning this into a more in-depth article or even a book if I get positive feedback. If you see some value in this information and think that going deeper in some form is a good idea, Leave me a comment below and share the blog via social media is a great way to give me feedback. Thank you!
Great comments! I’ve struggled myself with the concept of short-term mission trips. How effective are they? Would it be better to use that money to pay for a long-term missionary? Would it be better to focus on the internationals long-term who live in Austin? I would love to see more writing about this topic.
Dawn, yes those are questions I think many ask. I will drill down on some of these thoughts for future blog posts. Thank you for your input!
A great challenge to trip leaders and great questions to ask. I find the more research that is done ahead of time (not just getting an invitation – come bring a team, here’s what you can do) gives the trip a better chance of being successful for both sides. (team and home ministry)
Who are the people you are going to minister to and/or with?
What is the history of the area?
What is the history of the ministry you are partnering with?
What is God saying to you individually and collectively about your team and the trip. Write it all down.
What are the cultural nuances that can make your team be an innocent stumbling block or a Holy Spirit led powerhouse team.
EX: This happened to a team I was with, we didn’t realize that no collars on the shirts and wearing sunglasses meant we were a gang. Needless to say, that afternoon, we scrounged up collared shirts and the sunglasses were put away. After an apology, and prayer as a team, we were able to minister.
Ahead of time really practicing sharing your faith or praying with each other in different scenarios, etc.
The more preparation done ahead of time, the more BOTH groups benefited.
The team going can benefit from the prayer before, during and after and from cultural differences training and see that God had prepared their hearts and they were more sensitive to the people and each other during the trip because of the time spent in training and prayer.
Anyway… obviously I love the topic because I think some of the biggest keys to a successful short term trip is the research and training and prayer time spent on the trip.
Your team and the people group you are ministering to can both be blessed. It truly is more than raising money and just going to serve or you really do risk undoing years of precious work.
Ginger, thank you for your well-thought out comment. I can tell that it comes from personal experience. Great insight that I hope others who read this will apply, especially the questions you posed for a team to consider. I completely agree that the more a team can prepare beforehand, maybe even before a trip is lined up, the better they will bring value to the mission rather than running the risk, as you stated, undoing years of precious work. Great to hear from you!