Flipping Missions

I can’t believe how many opportunities I’ve wasted taking students on mission trips.

I know I’m not the only one. Mission trips are an amazing idea…but what we tend to do with them (or not do with them) is the real issue.

How many of us have seen all the positives on a trip eventually fizzle out in the students who were once on fire from their experience?

It’s why I got together with a friend of mine who’s been a career missionary to start “Flipping Missions” upside down. We came up with a “before-during-after” strategy we really believe in, with a book that does three things:

Fundamentally flip students’ perspectives on missions so their short-term trips don’t end up hurting more than helping. For a trip to most benefit those beings served (and those serving), students must learn to see the trip from the perspectives of their leaders, their hosts, and especially the people they’re serving.
Intentionally address all three major stages of a mission trip: before, during, and after. We believe everyone needs a foundation, spiritually and culturally, weeks before the trip; as well as an anchor of guidance while on the trip, and then an “off-ramp” after the trip to make what was learned and experienced on the trip part of their everyday lives. This all-in-one concept of the book reclaims all the missed opportunities I had leading others on trips, which is perspective I wish someone else would have afforded me.
Offer two different perspectives. Between what my missionary buddy has seen happen as short-term trips came to visit him, as well as what I’ve seen taking students and adults on trips, we discerned plenty of personal stories and advice to make this book unique.

Flipping Missions is the title of our new book, and we’d like to share a slice of it with you.

Involve yourself and your teenagers in Group’s upcoming camp experiences. Click here for more information, or you can call us at 800-385-4545. We’d love to talk!

Week 1, Day 1: Helping or Knowing?

Imagine moving to a new town and attending a new school. As you walk into your first class, you’re not sure where to sit until a few students invite you to an empty desk. You take your seat and begin talking with them before class. Without learning anything about them, you start spouting off your opinions about what they should do to fix their lives. Do you think they’ll appreciate your help?

After class, you notice another student carrying a stack of books and papers. The student slips on a newly waxed floor. School supplies fly everywhere. You’ve never met this student, and you worry he’ll feel awkward that a stranger is helping him. You hurry past without helping. Do you think the student cared whether or not you knew him?

Which should come first, getting to know people or helping them out? Which is more important?

We choose option three: all of the above.

Flip it:

Imagine going on a mission trip where you aren’t allowed to do anything. You can’t dig wells, repair fences, or paint buildings. No one lets you pass out supplies to kids. Your only job is to get to know the people you’re visiting.

The ad for this trip might read:

Join us on this cross-cultural experience to fix nothing! Your job is to come, be still, and encounter others right where they are. You won’t be expected or allowed to do anything about their hardships. You’ll merely observe and listen.

Now imagine another ad describing a very different trip:

Join us on this cross-cultural experience to swoop in, do some work, and zip out, all without meeting the people you’re helping. You’ll build a school, paint a building, and construct a jungle gym. Do they want these things? Do they need them? Who knows? But you’ll feel like the answer to their prayers one way or another!

Both trips are obviously off track, but they could become something amazing if they were merged together. They might even resemble how Jesus spent his time on earth, first living among humanity relationally for 30 years, then filling his last three years with intentional acts of service, teaching, and investment. More than 20 centuries later, we’re still feeling the impact of his “mission trip.”

Looking to partner with Group to bring a youth mission experience? We’re looking for volunteers, churches, and co-sponsors to join us all across North America for 2018, 2019, and beyond.

Own it:

If you had to pick between the two trips described, which would you sign up for? Why?
Circle the statement that best describes you. Then explain why you chose that statement.
- I like to make a difference by fixing broken things and helping broken people.
- I like to build relationships with people by getting to know them and their situations before imposing my thoughts and opinions.

Read Acts 1:3–8. What does it reveal about waiting and doing?

Live it:

One day this week, do an act of service for someone you’ve never met.
Another day this week, try to go all day without giving your opinion or telling anyone else what to do. Instead, listen closely to what other people are saying to you.
Below, write down what you discovered from these two experiences.

What do you think?