Taking Your First Short-term Mission Trip

Questions to ask AN AGENCY:
What questions do you need to ask an agency on the phone? Or as you visit their website?

1. How well do they match up with the answers you gave to the previous questions?
Does it appear from what you read or hear that they can meet your needs? It is very important for you to know what your expectations are and to find an agency whose project description matches up with your expectations.

Let me say a word about expectations. The first questions I suggested you ask yourself are designed to help you identify basic expectations. But you probably have some hidden expectations. The more you can fully understand those expectations, the better served you will be. BUT, you need to hear one word of caution. That word of caution is Flexibility.

One thing is for sure, regardless of the agency you go with, you will at some point in time hear them say, “You must be flexible.” Whenever you are doing cross-cultural ministry, nothing is guaranteed. The best-laid plans of the best agencies can fall apart before your feet touch the ground. If you are one to demand that your expectations be met, then you might want to consider something other than a short-term mission trip.

What I am saying is this: Have expectations, understand them and work to fulfill them. But remain flexible because (1) working cross-culturally is not like working in the United States. You cannot just insist that something happen a particular way. While in another country, you are at their mercy in many respects. They will most likely not have the same appreciation for the value of time as you do. So if you have only 10 days to get a construction project done and the supplies are held up for 3 days, you will see it as a loss. However, they will see it as an opportunity to do something more important than build a building, which is to visit together and interact.

You also need to be flexible because (2) even though you pray about your trip and your motivation, you are really on God’s trip and He will be far more concerned about His agenda in your life than in the project’s agenda. If those supplies don’t show up, see that as God doing a different work in your heart and life than you anticipated. You see, many people go on these trips with the anticipation that they are going to do for someone else, but they soon realize that there is a higher agenda at work. God wants to use your experience to make you more like Him. And He will and can use anything that happens, regardless of who is to blame, to accomplish His purpose.

Now, having said all that, don’t take that to mean that it’s okay if the agency you want to go with does a poor job of planning and set-up of your experience.