Mission trips invite teenagers to gain a deeper vision of God’s heart for all peoples (Rev. 7:9-10) as they serve alongside the global Church. The opportunity to see God’s heart for all nations also helps to define our students’ faith stories. When we invite students away from their home environment to serve on mission, they must depend on Jesus in new ways.
Even though we may understand their significance, mission trips intimidate many youth workers. The thought of taking the same students who screamed and ran down the hall at the lock-in on a plane to a foreign country seems overwhelming. For this reason, we do well to consider which students might be spiritually and developmentally ready to serve in a way that will benefit mission partners. We want to be a help, not a hinderance, to those we visit. With proper planning, a mission trip can be both a blessing to people in another location and a significant week of discipleship for our students.
Defining the Goal of a Mission Trip
Anything we do of importance must begin with a reason or goal. For a mission trip, we can define goals unhelpfully if we’re not careful. The goal of missions is always to proclaim the Good News about Jesus in word and deed, making disciples and teaching them to observe all that God has commanded us (Matt. 28:19-20). Still, the reality is that our students are not going to save anyone by spending a week serving on mission. God is the one who does the saving (1 Cor. 3:6-8), which Jesus secured for us by his substitutionary death on the cross. Similarly, our short-term visit is not going to fix social issues. Our week of ministry is a drop in the bucket compared to what God is doing through the local church and any long-term missionaries on the field. It is therefore helpful to think about more realistic goals.
We want to do all we can to make mission trips mutually beneficial for all involved—the team of students as well as those interacting with teams in a given location. Our first goal for a trip should be to come alongside missionaries or a local church to help their ministry move forward in some way. This step forward could be assisting with a project they need help completing or making relational connections to new people through an event or community outreach. With this goal in mind, we are able to support and encourage mission partners rather than being a burden to them.
The goal for our students should be for them to grow in their relationship with Jesus and to trust in him more fully. For our students, these opportunities to serve others can help them to grow in discipleship. As a leader on a trip, you will want to look for opportunities to appropriately challenge students. We want them to learn cross-culturally, rely more fully on Jesus, and watch God work in and through them.
Selecting a Mission Trip Location
Language, distance, and culture come together to create the difficulty level of a mission trip. For students going on their first mission trip, it might be helpful to only have one or two of these factors in your trip selection. Costs typically increase based on distance. Depending on the preferences of parents and mission partners, you may want to consider taking only high school students on international trips.
It might be helpful to think about a trajectory of mission trip locations with a starter trip, a returning trip, and an advanced trip. In this case, you might present the increased difficulty as potential steps corresponding to growth in a student’s discipleship journey. This kind of model helps to ensure that teams will contribute helpfully.
It is also important to consider the safety level of mission trip locations. The United States Department of State website provides a resource to look up countries for travel and security risks. The riskier the trip location, the harder it may be to get parents on board, and the older the students you may need to take on the mission trip.
Choosing Mission Trip Partners
Not all mission trip partners are the same. We want to make sure that we are working with healthy partners who are ministering to people effectively and relationally. It is important to learn whether our involvement will truly help the people we are going to serve, rather than driving them deeper into poverty or addiction through ineffective or harmful mission methods. We want to work with ministry partners that work toward sustainable ministry in order to empower the people they serve, connecting them to a relationship with Jesus. For a deeper dive into this topic, check out the book When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert.
Many mission partners don’t understand students very well. Imagine a trip with a mission partner who constantly tries to shush students and expects them to behave like they were in the quiet reading area at the local library. That would lead to a terrible trip for everyone. Mission partners who love and understand teenagers will be most likely to facilitate a trip that is beneficial to all involved.
In selecting a partner, you want to consider what a partnership looks like. You might want to consider the following questions:
- Does the partner share our church’s theological values and understanding of the gospel?
- Are we aligned with this partner in how we view evangelism and outreach?
- Does the partner regularly host mission teams?
- Have the teams returned to this ministry or location for a second trip?
- Has the partner previously hosted any teams of teenagers?
- Do they have a minimum age for participants for the mission trip?
- Can the mission partner explain how the mission trip team helps further their goals on the field?
- Would this be a place that teams could return for multiple years?
You may also want to spend some time calling some references of the mission partner to learn about past teams’ experiences. Another youth pastor who has served with the mission partner before could be a good resource as you plan.
Planning Trip Logistics
Logistics for a mission trip can be a lot to tackle. There are many details to consider, from flights to local transportation to meals to lodging. Ideally, the mission partner should run logistics on the ground while you run logistics to and from the mission location. If possible, a scouting trip to visit the mission partner and explore all the logistics is ideal.
Strategic partners who specialize in mission trip logistics can help to ease some of the logistical burden. For example, Servant Life plans travel for mission trips and has great connections to student-friendly and vetted mission partners. Another recommendation, Service Over Self (SOS), facilitates gospel-centered community development in Memphis, TN and welcomes student teams to join their work. A Christian travel agency specializing in mission trips like High Point Travel can also be a big help in flights for international trips.
Mission trips require significant planning and preparation, so give yourself six months to a year to map out a trip. When we facilitate ministry in way that is mutually beneficial to both the team and the mission partner, trips are well worth the effort. Our students gain a greater perspective of the global Church, take active steps of faith, and serve the mission of a partner on the field.
For more practical tools for gospel-centered youth ministry, listen to the Rooted Youth Ministry Podcast with host Danny Kwon.