Search Results for: blog the big picture in short term missions

Humility in Short Term Missions Part 2: After the Teams Leave

If you did not read my blog yesterday about the teams from Somewhere, USA and Anywhere, USA this will not make much sense to you. If you have not read my blog on how churches should support short terms missions, it will seem as if I’m speaking against teams coming to visit us. Indeed I am not. However, it is more supportive to your host ministry if your team is mindful of a few things. Let’s take a look at something no short term mission team has ever seen first hand. . .what happens when they leave! After the Team … Continue reading →

Humility in Short Term Missions

I struggled to come up with a title for this blog. What I really wanted to call it was too long: What Your Host Ministry Really Wishes You Would Understand Before You Come to Their Church on a Short Term Missions Trip–But They’re Too Afraid to Tell You. (See? Entirely too long. . .) Being in New York City, we are quite a popular destination for the conscientious young person going on a short term missions trip. We have it all: the homeless, drug addicts, teen age pregnancies, the general loopy population (not to mention cool tourist opportunities on your … Continue reading →

The Big Picture in Short Term Missions

Short term missions; trips that span from one week to a few months, sometimes don’t receive the support that I think they deserve in church. Some missions boards hate to support them because they don’t go towards long lasting ministries. From a pragmatic sense, it is true, you will not do a whole lot in a week in terms of your presence in another country or place. Some places hate to have teams and honestly, I can understand why. It tends to be a lot of hype for a week and then the team is going back home leaving the … Continue reading →

How To Decide Who To Give To?

There are so many worthy causes, charities and areas of God’s work that need money. Obviously we can’t give to them all, and to give to none is not what God wants as He wants us to be generous and share what we have. So, how do we decide which ones to support? In the Old Testament the tithe was given to the priest and Levites to support them as they did God’s work. The other area where money was given was to the poor. In the New Testament, giving was targeted towards meeting the needs of those who share … Continue reading →

The Community of Christ Within the Larger Community

Have you ever heard that catchy expression, “Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words only when necessary.” What does that mean to you? For us, it meant a life altering decision to live in the inner city. Our church is unique in a lot of ways, but one thing that sets us apart is that most of us live within a 4 block radius of each other. This is not at all to say that it is a requirement to do this to be in our church. . .but that as a body we have a vision to reach … Continue reading →