Adventures in Missions

AIM June 2009 Newsletter

God is doing some amazing things around the world and in the places AIM is visiting. In this month’s newsletter, learn how you can be part of something bigger than yourself. Whether you feel called to hold orphans, pray for the sick, or feed the hungry, God wants to use you to bring hope to the hopeless. Learn how you can make a difference in the lives of the “least of these” on an Adventures In Missions trip! This month’s newsletter features: Upcoming Trips – October World Race, Ambassador Teams (14-18 year-olds) Novas Project – An 8-month missions experience for...

Photo Contest: Portfolio Phase

Having selected 30 photographers in the first phase of the missions photo contest, we’ve entered the portfolio phase. This is where you get to see the strength of a photographer’s overall work. Each are submitting 20 pics. The photographers have another week or so to complete their portfolio. Here’s a sample portfolio: November 2008, Burma, Villagers wave farewell as we pull away from their dock after delivering some goods and playing with children. November 2008, Burma, Prayer. November 2008, Burma, Worship. ...

Do You Want a Job or a Calling?

I was chasing the American dream…I had the six-figure income and the corner office. I had the beautiful house in the exclusive part of town. And I remember coming home from Mexico and staring out my office window and saying, “Is this it? Is this all there is?'” -Rick Smith, an executive at a pharmaceutical company whose life was radically changed on a mission trip. (Read more…) Let’s face it: we’re going to spend a third of our lives working in some capacity or another. So, do you want a job or a calling? Do you want to slave away at...

Are Short Term Mission Trips Effective?

Gauging the effectiveness of short-term missions Being a short-term missions organization, we obviously believe that short term mission trips are effective, but there is a lot to consider in building a case for or against the effectiveness of short-term missions (STMs). In choosing a mission trip, someone should have a healthy amount of skepticism and reservation before engaging in any kind of short-term (or long-term) mission work, but one also needs to be aware of the potential fruit in a short-term missions experience. On one side of the argument, there are some...

Missions Photo Contest Winners: Final Results for Round One

After reviewing over 3000+ photos, the judges’ votes are in for the Missions Photo Contest. Below are 30 photos (from 30 different photographers) that they chose. Their selections were based on the criteria that the picture needed to capture a soul, a moment, a place, and a ministry. Given the vast amount of excellent photos that had to be reviewed in a short amount of time, this was quite a challenge for our panel of judges. Therefore, we’re leaving open the option for this week only that if you’d like to suggest one that we missed, please give us the URL in the...

Announcing the Round 1 Winners of the Missions Photo Contest

We’re proud to announce the first part of the Round 1 Winners of AIM’s Missions Photo Contest. We’re posting an initial group today and will post the rest on the blog tomorrow. Our panel of judges has selected 30 photos. The 30 photographers will now put together a 20 picture portfolio that will be available for public viewing. Stay tuned (you can subscribe to this blog by clicking here) for more. Once the Round 2 winners are posted, we’ll show you how to check the online portfolios that our qualifying photographers are building. On July 15 we will select...

The Case for STMs: Do Short Term Missions Work?

The Case for Short Term Missions Do Short Term Missions Work? AIM founder and Executive Director Seth Barnes expands on a previous answer to the critics of short-term missions and builds a case for the effectiveness of mission trips, explaining why how short term missions work: A random person recently wrote me saying, “Hey, I am doing a speech opposing short term missions [STMs] today, I was wondering if you have any data or statistics that would work for this?” I’m afraid my response wasn’t too encouraging: “You may have mis-read my...

Nicaraguan Princesses for a Day

Rebecca Chuckney shares the following story from Nicaragua: Even after living here for over half a year now, I am constantly discovering new parts of town that make me wish I had longer to live in this city! I was blessed to be able to spend last week with my brother and sister, Mark and Lindsay, as they were here leading a group of their friends on a spring break trip here in Nicaragua. Part of their week included spending time with eighteen beautiful girls who all live in an orphanage here in Granada. This was my first time even seeing this place and it was such...

How You Can Help Mexican Missionaries

In 1997, AIM began the Missions Training Institute (MTI) in Matamoros, Mexico. (For the full story of how the MTI began, click here.) Starting the MTI was something that God led AIM’s founder Seth Barnes to do in order to raise up long-term, national missionaries in Latin America. Since the inception of the institute, the MTI has trained an mobilized hundreds of missionaries, sending them into unreached areas of Mexico and all over the world. This year, the MTI is relocating and needs $35,500 to make some much-needed renovations on the new facility. These...

The Missions Training Institute Needs Your Help

AIM’s Missions Training Institute (MTI) needs $35,000 to continue operating. We need your help and support to keep this ministry going! Click here donate… To find out more, click one of the following links: About the MTI How You Can Help Hear the Missionaries’ Stories Ways to Get Involved About the Missions Training Institute In 1997, AIM started the Missions Training Institute (MTI) in Matamoros, Mexico. It was something that God led us to do to raise up long-term, national missionaries in...

Five Keys to a Successful Mission Trip

Five Keys to a Successful Mission Trip Important Factors to the Success of Any Mission Trip The factors for what makes a successful mission trip may differ in many ways, but they’ll share a few common denominators. Before getting started, it’s wise to look at the following: 1. Your purpose in going 2. Your partner on the field 3. Selecting & preparing team 4. How you set up & lead the project 5. How you follow up on your project Determining your purpose: In a broad...

Last Call for the Missions Photo Contest!

The way we’ve set up the photo contest, there are three rounds. The first, the qualifying round, ends in a few days, June 15. $3000 cash goes to the winner. All you need to qualify is one really great picture of ministry happening on a mission trip. By “ministry,” we mean it must capture interaction between people communicating the love of God. We’ll select the top thirty photos and those photographers will then submit a portfolio of their pictures in the second round. And in the third round, we will select the top portfolios and award...

Author: Adventures