{"id":5756,"date":"2011-07-26T15:23:43","date_gmt":"2011-07-26T22:23:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sharefaithblog.wpengine.com\/?p=5756"},"modified":"2017-11-01T16:12:23","modified_gmt":"2017-11-01T23:12:23","slug":"ten-remember-summer-mission-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sharefaith.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/ten-remember-summer-mission-trip\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Things to Remember after a Summer Mission Trip"},"content":{"rendered":"

So you went on a short term mission trip this summer and you are getting ready to come home (or you just returned home).\u00a0 Here are ten things to remember about the gospel, missions and humility as you process through your trip.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ten Things to Remember after a Summer Mission Trip<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Your identity is in Christ, not in what you do or have done for Christ.<\/strong> (1 John 3:1)<\/li>\n
  2. The greatest need for all people, in all nations, is the gospel; not to become more or less like another culture.\u00a0<\/strong> There are beautiful expressions of culture in other contexts.\u00a0 There are beautiful expressions of culture in America.\u00a0\u00a0 There are sinful expressions of culture in both.\u00a0 Be careful not to pit one against another and neglect the gospel which is our greatest need regardless of the culture in which we live.<\/li>\n
  3. Be patient with those who know nothing about the country from which you just returned.\u00a0<\/strong> Patiently endure questions about food and dress and other stereotypical questions.\u00a0 Think through carefully how you will answer typical questions graciously and in a way that points people back to the gospel and the reason for why you went in the first place.<\/li>\n
  4. Even though you have experienced a lot, your knowledge about your host country is not exhaustive.\u00a0<\/strong> Remember you have only begun to understand their culture.\u00a0 Keep being a learner about the culture that you just began to experience;\u00a0 not an expert.<\/li>\n
  5. This world is not your home\u2013\u2013in either place.\u00a0<\/strong> Fight against the temptation to make your identity in any one culture. We are all away from the Lord, from our true home (2 Cor 5:8,9) and our citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:20).<\/li>\n
  6. Fight romanticism.\u00a0<\/strong> Your trip (especially if longer than a month) was not all a bed of roses.\u00a0 Take time to journal and remember the hardships of living in a foreign culture.\u00a0 The temptation will be to be to romanticize missions and minimize the difficulties you encountered.\u00a0 Romanticism does not help promote and mobilize people to missions because the hardships are real.\u00a0 Be realistic with others who would consider such a project in the future.<\/li>\n
  7. Fight pride.\u00a0<\/strong> You did not gain standing with God because you lived in a foreign context for a year or a lifetime.\u00a0 We can only stand before God because of the death and resurrection of Christ not because of what we do for Christ.\u00a0 (Romans 8:3; 1 Peter 3:18)<\/li>\n
  8. Fight Laziness.<\/strong> As you re-acclimate to life in the States, fight against the temptation to be lazy by neglecting the Word of God and cultivating your relationship with Christ.\u00a0 Relax and be encouraged but be intentional in how you do so in order that you do not fall into sinful patterns of behavior and thought.<\/li>\n
  9. Remember to pray for those to whom you ministered.\u00a0<\/strong> In most cases, you will never see the men and women with whom you spent so much time.\u00a0 For the brothers and sisters in Christ that you met and worshiped with, pray for them as Paul prayed as he remembered them.\u00a0\u00a0 (Philippians 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 1:3)<\/li>\n
  10. Proclaim the need for the glory of God in the gospel to to be brought to all peoples.\u00a0<\/strong> Keep the least reached peoples of the world before people who may not know of the need.\u00a0 (Matt 9:38)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Jeff Brewer has been involved with church planting in the States for the last 13 years and currently serves as Lead Pastor of Hope Fellowship<\/a> in Lombard, IL.\u00a0 During this time he has helped prepare and lead short term mission teams both internationally and domestically.\u00a0\u00a0 Prior to church planting, Jeff and his wife, Jen served for a year working with College Students in Istanbul, Turkey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    So you went on a short term mission trip this summer and you are getting ready to come home (or you just returned home).\u00a0 Here are ten things to remember about the gospel, missions and humility as you process through your trip.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[4142],"tags":[1291,1294,1290,472,1292,1293],"class_list":{"0":"post-5756","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-outreach-ministry","8":"tag-church-mission-trip","9":"tag-evangelization","10":"tag-mission-trip","11":"tag-missions","12":"tag-summer-mission-trip","13":"tag-youth-mission-trip"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogrouting.sharefaith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/SummerMissionTrip.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nTen Things to Remember after a Summer Mission Trip - 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