This week, The Bridge Church has 50 people going on a global mission trip to Mexico. Over the course of the week, they will construct two new homes for families, work at an orphanage, build relationships, and do various other projects. I love the life change that happens on mission trips.
I think for many, the motivation behind going on a trip is to help another person – to offer someone something they couldn’t have on their own. Without actually saying it, the feeling or thought is that they need us. Yet over and over again mission trips actually do far more for the one who goes than the one who is “being served.” Mission trips are transformative for the participant.
Here are 7 reasons why a mission trip makes a profound impact on the participant:
// 1 // Commitment – When someone goes on a trip there is a commitment being made. I’m going to put someone else ahead of me. I’m going to choose into being selfless. There is a time commitment. There is a financial commitment. There is a faith commitment. You are drawing near to God by going on this mission trip, and God will draw near to you!
// 2 // Fasting – This is the most unknown reality of mission trips. It might not be a fast from food (although it could be a fast from the normal foods and eateries that one would ordinarily partake in) but it is often a fast from different rhythms, technologies, and relationships. The normal go-to’s in the monotony of life, such as our phones or Netflix, are removed.
// 3 // Replacement – Not only are you giving up something or fasting but there is also a replacement happening. Time that may have been spent checking into social media is now replaced with reading scripture, praying, and journaling. Time spent sitting inside is replaced with being outside. Where someone might normally be at work with co-workers, on a mission trip, they would be in the presence of their brothers and sisters in Christ. This is a relationship replacement. When most of someone’s normal day might focus on the self, a mission trip provides the opportunity to replace it with serving.
// 4 // Obedience – You are blessed in your obedience to God. By going on a mission trip you are living out what Jesus asked you to do! His heart is that we would be a people who go. When you go, you are obedient, and obedience creates alignment with who you are called to be.
// 5 // Perspective – Left on our own, we only know what we know. Yet, on a mission trip, our eyes are often opened to so much more. Our eyes see poverty and joy. We gain perspective on what we have and what we need. We have fresh eyes for our own faith walk.
// 6 // Purpose – It is quite common for someone on a mission trip to think their goal is to help someone. Yet the bigger purpose is to be a servant. I have often watched people return from a mission trip with a greater clarity on their purpose – a new passion is born, a calling is identified, or something bigger than ourselves is discovered.
// 7 // Relationships – It is not good for people to be alone. Mission trips create memories with others. Life is lived in community. Meals are shared with one another daily. Stories and laughter, work and adventure, faith and prayer are all shared in the context of community with others.
If you attend The Bridge Church and are wanting to learn more about going on a Global Missions trip click HERE.
