Your family should go on a mission trip.
I shared a rather strong challenge for parents on my blog about a year ago (and recently updated it), stating that much of the spiritual challenges Christian parents face would be corrected by going on a family mission trip. Here’s why:
American children need bigger worldviews. Taking your kid to an area of the world where not every teenager has a Wii or an iPod is, for many, an eye-opening experience. Many young people in the U.S. have been coddled and comforted, and they will tend to believe that everyone has such luxuries… unless you show them something different.
Mission trips instill a sense gratitude. Instead of telling your child about the millions of starving children in the world, you can introduce them to a starving child. And then, you can marvel at how grateful your son or daughter is after a home-cooked meal.
Shared experiences strengthen the family bond. Many pastors have stumbled upon the realization that camps and retreats create better community than a church service ever will. By sleeping, eating, and having fun together, families find a much stronger connection. When you add the element of service (as with a mission trip), this bond is only moreso reinforced, and it even perpetuates an outward focus for families that can carry on long after the project is over.
Parents need to disciple their kids. Many adults abdicate responsibility of deepening their children’s faith walks to youth ministers. But kids need to see how their parents are living out their Christianity every day. Moreover, they need to see radical examples of faith amidst adverse circumstances and challenges. And lastly, they need to see evangelism taught and modeled in a practical setting, which often doesn’t happen. A mission trip creates the ideal context for each of these lessons to be transferred from parent to child.
Kids can inspire their parents. The benefit doesn’t stop with the child watching their parent live out their faith, but continues when parents are able to watch the boldness of their children in stepping out in faith as well. It often surprises and humbles parents to see the willingness and ultimate action of the children meeting the needs and extending themselves in ways their parents have not seen before.
For more on this topic, read the following post: Families Need to Go On Mission Trips.
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