Short Term Missions

My wife is a big Tom Hanks fan, leading us to watch Road to Perdition a couple of nights back. The context of the movie revolves around the Irish mob in Depression-era Chicago. The film showed how the mafia owned the police, banks, businesses, and politicians. Halfway through the flick, I exclaimed, “This is exactly what’s going on in Tijuana right now!” Her response was, “Pues claro!” (a little tough to translate into english, but let’s just say it’s a strong “Of course!”)

We’ve had posts about why people go on mission trips, what you need to believe if you’re leading one, and who to partner with on the field. Because so many mission trips these days have a strong construction focus, I thought it was time for some practical advice on how to take on these projects with a group of enerjetic, unskilled, volunteers from your church. Here are ten quick tips I’ve picked up organizing and working with teams here in Tijuana […]

Here it is the groove slightly transformed
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Riding around in your Jeep or your Benzos 15-passenger
Or in your Nissan sitting on Lorenzos, oh man, does my back hurt
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Honking at the honey in front of you with the light eyes jerk who just cut you off
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The temperatures about 88
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You just finished wiping your car down [b/c of all the dust]
Its time to cruise so you head to the summertime hangout [tacos]
It looks like a car show demolition derby
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Two miles an hour so everybody sees you b/c of all the potholes
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And this is the Fresh Prince’s Ben’s new definition of summer madness [in TJ]

You’ve heard about other mission trips – some that went well, others that … ok, were a bit of a disaster. So you’re wondering, what can you do to make this mission trip the best it can be?

I could give you a hundred ideas about how to prepare, but there’s something even more important. Instead of starting with detailed instructions, let me just share 4 things you need to believe if you want your team to be a success.

Below is a list of the three most common options for organizing a mission trip to Mexico (most of this applies to other countries too). Each have their own unique advantages and disadvantages — no one is better than the other. The job of a group leader is to know his group’s strengths and weaknesses — especially his leadership and organizational abilities — and to decide who to work with based on that […]

Toddh left a good comment on my article “Down on VBS.” I think a fair assessment can be made that I’ve beaten up missions a little, so at Toddh’s request, it’s time for a “constructive proposal.” While we’re still waiting on Aaron’s list of “top 5-10 things groups from the States can do on a short-term mission trip to Mexico,” I think it would be good to start off with a bit of theory.
I recently heard a story of a man who camped on the outskirts of a Muslim tribe, sleeping, eating, and waiting […]

When I heard Felipe Calderon, the new president of Mexico, was sending 3000 troops to Tijuana in an attempt to clean up the corruption and curb drug related murders I was ecstatic. I figured the city would be a safer place and, as a byproduct, more mission trip groups would be willing to come down and do ministry with us. Well, it looks like I was wrong — at least for the short-term. This morning the message on my answering machine was from a group in Southern California saying that due to the military involvement in the city they were canceling their trip that was scheduled for mid February.

Except for exceptions, I’m strongly opposed to cross-cultural Vacation Bible School.
Last Saturday a well meaning church group dropped into Tijuana for their annual Christmas Party including a gift giveaway and Gospel presentation. This is my third or fourth time, passively participating in their event. The leaders are nice, straight-forward, and well organized. Their youth group is all smiles, upbeat, and well behaved […]

One morning earlier this summer I went to the orphanage I work at to greet a church group that had arrived for a weekend mission trip. After making the rounds chatting with the members that made up the small team of ten adults I started talking with the leader about the different projects they […]

The founder of a small missions organization told me: “Short-term mission trip volunteers come to serve, not to suffer.” There are a lot of theories regarding this topic, and I’m definitely not the expert. Nor do I land in one camp. Hopefully Mission Trip Coordinator Aaron will throw out his take in detail in an […]