Seven Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission

Want to make sure the short-term mission program you’re considering is effective and high quality? Standards of Excellence in Short-term Mission (SOE) was developed by several hundred people in the short-term mission community who saw the need for standards in mission trips. Today, entities show they are committed to excellent, effective short-term mission by adopting the Standards.

The SOE consists of seven standards: God-centeredness, empowering partnerships, mutual design, comprehensive administration, qualified leadership, appropriate training, and thorough follow-up.

1. God-Centeredness

An excellent short-term mission seeks first God’s glory and his kingdom, and is expressed through our:

• Purpose—Centering on God’s glory and his ends throughout our entire short-term mission (STM) process
• Lives—Sound biblical doctrine, persistent prayer and godliness in all our thoughts, words, and deeds
• Methods—Wise, biblical, and culturally appropriate methods which bear spiritual fruit

2. Empowering Partnerships

An excellent short-term mission establishes healthy, interdependent, on-going relationships between sending and receiving partners, and is expressed by:

• Primary focus on intended receptors
• Plans which benefit all participants
• Mutual trust and accountability

3. Mutual Design

An excellent short-term mission collaboratively plans each specific outreach for the benefit of all participants, and is expressed by:

• On-field methods and activities aligned to long-term strategies of the partnership
• Goer-guests' ability to implement their part of the plan
• Host receivers' ability to implement their part of the plan

4. Comprehensive Administration

An excellent short-term mission exhibits integrity through reliable set-up and thorough administration for all participants, and is expressed by:

• Truthfulness in promotion, finances, and reporting results
• Appropriate risk management
• Quality program delivery and support logistics

5. Qualified Leadership

An excellent short-term mission screens, trains and develops capable leadership for all participants, and is expressed by:

• Character—Spiritually mature servant leadership
• Skills—Prepared, competent, organized and accountable leadership
• Values—Empowering and equipping leadership

6. Appropriate Training

An excellent short-term mission prepares and equips all participants for the mutually designed outreach, and is expressed by:

• Biblical, appropriate, and timely training
• On-going training and equipping (pre-field, on-field, post-field)
• Qualified trainers

7. Thorough Follow-up

An excellent short-term mission assures debriefing and appropriate follow-up for all participants, and is expressed by:

• Comprehensive debriefing (pre-field, on-field, post-field)
• On-field reentry preparation
• Post-field follow-up and evaluation

Find trips from organizations that have adopted the SOE by refining your ShortTermMissions.com search results by "affilliation."

Learn more about the Standards of Excellence, or for a handy printable check it out on our Go.Serve.Love. blog. Checklist: Standards of Excellence

Definitions

• Intended Receptors: the people on the field who will receive the Goer-Guests' service or mission activity. Intended receptors can also be aspects of God's creation (animals, natural resources, etc.) and aspects of human creation (civic or corporate structures, oppressive systems, etc.)
• Goer-Guests: those who go to the field to serve (i.e., all of the individuals or team members who are being sent, including team leaders)
• Host Receivers: the on-field persons who receive short-term missionaries (i.e., everyone at the on-field location: full-time missionaries, other expatriates, national pastors and local leaders, local nationals and any local organizations which they represent such as churches, civic organizations, NGOs, etc.)