Adventures in Missions

No Ordinary Summer: Real Life College Missions vs. Summer Camp Counselor

February 23, 2011
Adventures
College Mission Trips

Oh, the joys of summer camp – color wars, arts & crafts, food fights and quality time with the swimming pool… If you’re a camper, that is. When you’re one of the camp counselors, probably not so much. Being camp counselor means running things behind the scenes. You’re the referee. Or the lifeguard. The babysitter. The chaperone. The lunch lady (or man). If the campsite keeps the cabins separate from the bathrooms, then you’re also on-call for potty patrol, ready to respond to a little one’s pleas to pee in the middle of night and escort...

It’s Not Summer Camp: High School Missions Trips

Spring’s almost here and that means summer will soon follow. And for many of you, summer means Christian camp. You close your eyes, and you can clearly see the sign, “Camp [Insert Native American sounding name]”. It’s in the middle of nowhere but you’ve memorized the route by heart. You’re hoping that this year’s t-shirt will finally come in your favorite color. You take a look through your foot locker of camp gear. All of it’s still in good shape, so there’s no excuse to go shopping. You hope last year’s...

No Ordinary Summer: Real Life College Missions vs. Internship or Summer School

February 17, 2011
Adventures
College Mission Trips

If you’re a college student, chances are you’re in the thick of midterms. You can hardly wait for spring break. Before you know it, you’ll hit finals then school will be out for the summer. Maybe you’re looking for an internship that’s remotely related to your major. You might be willing to do anything that might boost your resume, even if all you end up doing is making coffee, answering the phone, copying/collating/stapling – for free. And you have to dress up – at least – business casual. Okay, you might get a stipend for...

The End of Short Term Missions As We Know It?

February 16, 2011
Adventures
Short Term Missions

That’s great. It starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes and aeroplanes… -REM, “It’s the End of the World“ Lately, there seems to be a lot of criticism about the effectiveness of short-term missions. To be sure, there are plenty of pros and cons to short term missions, and there have always been critics. But I’m wondering if the growing number of these discussions is any indicator of a new season of ministry for the church that may provide new opportunities for the kingdom of God to advance. Are we approaching the end of...

Are You Unemployed if Not Working for God?

February 15, 2011
Adventures
Missions (General)

As a short-term missions organization, we often minister with people who are torn between their careers and a calling to missions. For some, the calling came later in life — once they had a house and a family and a job. For others, the prospect of full-time mission work is intimidating. How does one begin exploring such a calling? I came across this interesting article on the Christian Post that addresses this issue. Here is an excerpt: As far as God is concerned, someone is unemployed if the person is not working for Him, said a Latin American mission leader at a...

Real Life: Learning to Love

February 12, 2011
Adventures
College Mission Trips

While out on the field, Real Life participants learn the true meaning of love. As this semester’s participants enter the second month, they begin to learn what being called to love really looks like, whether that means loving a teammate, an orphan or even the man on the street who is buying a prostitute for the night. Hannah Walsh, who is in Phuket, Thailand, right now recounts what it’s like to walk down Bangla Road, this city’s hub for prostitutes and tourists. “As you begin walking down, lights are flashing and people are either brushing by you...

It’s Not Too Late to Sign Up for a Short Term Mission Trip

February 11, 2011
Adventures
Short Term Missions

It may be hard to believe, but school’s been back in session for more than a month and time definitely seems to be passing by quickly! Before you know it summer will be here. There will be fun summer events, cookouts, vacations, lemonade, sporting games and embarking on a life-altering youth mission trip for your students. If you haven’t finalized or even BEGAN your summer mission trip preparation – don’t worry, it’s not too late! There are so many reasons to take a short term mission trip. We’ve talked about it often. And then talked about it...

World Race: Through the Fire

February 10, 2011
Adventures
World Race

It started off as a typical day off for a team on the World Race in the Dominican Republic. They had plans to go to dinner and were running late. But what started as a typical day soon turned into an adventure in which they saw God move in an incredible way. As they walked down the street they saw flames erupting from a nearby house and knew to do only one thing–move, and move quickly. Joel Dutton tells the story of how he made the quick decision to go into the building and save whoever he could. “My first reaction was shock, but before it...

Why Go On a Short Term Mission Trip?

February 4, 2011
Adventures
Short Term Missions

When I first met a friend of mine, who is now a long term missionary in the Philippines, she told me her heart for missions began on a short term mission trip to New Orleans. She’s not the only long term missionary who’s experienced the impact of short term missions. Many other long term missionaries’ heart for missions began on a short term mission trip. Most of these trips happened during their formative years, through a youth group. Short term trips affect each participant differently. Some will feel called to full time missions, others will feel called...

Real Life: Learning True Community on a College Age Mission Trip

One of the core things we like participants in each of our programs to experience is a feeling of deep community. For our college aged students participating in Real Life this spring, the goal is no different. As the most recent group of Real Life participants dives into ministry all over the world, they’re also finding a ministry that may have been unexpected: the ministry of each other. Daily they live together, share their stories, and bring in God’s Kingdom. They face trials together, celebrate together, and love together. By doing this they realize...

Short Term Missionaries as Bridge Builders

February 2, 2011
Adventures
Short Term Missions

The question of whether short term missionaries actually make a lasting impact is not only a popular one, but one that’s legitimate. Karl Dahlfred (M.Div, Gordon-Conwell) is a missionary with OMF International, working in Thailand. In this guest blog post, he explains how short term missionaries can best serve the communities in which they work. He blogs regularly at Gleanings from the Field. Short-term teams are often limited in their language ability, cultural knowledge, and depth of relationship with the people they are seeking to minister to. The number of...

Prayer on a Mission Trip: Asking the Lord in Philly

February 1, 2011
Adventures
Prayer

We have a practice that is unique to our ministry called listening prayer. In our training, we teach you how to listen to God and respond to what he is saying. This is more challenging for some than others, but the bottom line is that we believe God wants to communicate with us and that most of us could make more room in our lives to listen. Usually on your typical AIM mission trip, you will have at least one opportunity to do an “Ask the Lord” (ATL) exercise. This is basically a more focused time of listening prayer, in which your ministry team asks God what type of...

Author: Adventures