5 ways to make your next missions trip a success:

1 – Be Prayerful
Pray before, after, and of course during your trip. Pray for those you will minister to, but most importantly pray that God will speak to you during your trip.

2 – Be Ready to Share
The underlying point of a gospel mission trip is to share….the gospel! Make sure you are ready to do this! Sign up for evangelism training at your church before the trip. If that’s not an option, one of the best ways to prepare is to think about, write down, and practice telling your own testimony of coming to Christ.

3 – Go with a Gameplan
You should know what your goals are before you set out. This means partnering with a missionary or organization with a specific mission. They should be able to tell you exactly how you will plug in to their system, and what effect you will be able to have. They should also have a follow up system for those people you reach.

4 – Be Teachable

Just because you are from North America doesn’t mean you know everything (I know, it was a shock to me too). We have had mission teams come over to “teach” our church teams how to do drama – only for them to realize that we have a whole staff of professional level drama instructors who produce their own dramas every month! The point is to have a servant attitude. Maybe you will be able to teach, or maybe you will be able to learn!

 

5 – Keep a Record
Keeping a journal will help you process every day what you have seen, and reflect on what God is doing around you. It will also help you greatly as you prepare to give reports on your trip to friends and even your church.

 

Mission trips are most powerful because you are out of your routine. If you do these 5 things, God can use a missions trip to radically change your perspective on life and serving Him.

 

These are my thoughts garnered from the past few years of experience. What would you add?