Key factor in successful missions trip is planning

Key factor in successful missions trip is planning

Although the temperature still hovers at 90 plus, summer activities are winding down around Alabama as kids have headed back to school. Many churches are ringing with exciting testimonies of summer missions by youth, building ministries, medical teams and even senior adults. But what if your church missed out on the summer missions experience this year? Now is not the time to spend whining, “Why didn’t we try something like that?” Rather, it’s the perfect time to begin planning next year’s summer missions experience.
  
In fact, wise planners should start laying the groundwork for a major missions trip about 10 to 12 months in advance, according to Kris Segrest of NorthPark Baptist Church, Birmingham. Segrest serves as associate pastor of students at NorthPark where he also coordinates missions excursions for the entire church body. NorthPark recently sent a youth and adult missions team to New York City under his leadership — a trip that went on the planning table immediately after Sept. 11, 2001.
   
Segrest notes the first step of missions planning is prayer — and lots of it: “My planning always begins with choosing a location and praying over that decision, usually about 10 months out. And I look for a ‘little sign,’ some word from God like a personal connection or link that affirms this is His will for our group.”
   
Segrest’s next step is a scouting trip. A scouting trip involves two to four key leaders visiting a site several months in advance of the trip to discover ministry needs and establish contacts.
   
Hunter Street Baptist Church in Birmingham has approximately 10 international and stateside missions trips planned for this year.
   
Frank Blackwell, minister of missions at Hunter Street, agrees that beginning with prayer is key, and he also emphasizes articulating your goals early: “We are a purpose-driven church, so we want our missions experiences to be purpose driven. We ask ourselves, ‘Why are we going? What long-range effects are we looking to achieve?’ And we set goals based on the answers to these questions.”
   
Blackwell offers helpful advice for the church that wants to tackle doing missions for the first time: Partner with another church that has done it before.
   
“Reading resources is never quite as good as actually doing. Likewise, going on a missions trip is the best way to prepare for a missions trip,” notes Blackwell. Hunter Street often includes members of other churches and even other denominations. These members can then go back to their home church and lead them from their experience.
   
Hunter Street also finds it helpful to partner with International Mission Board or North American Mission Board missionaries in planning. “Working with … missionaries answers many of your planning questions. Often they will outline specific personnel needs and may even request a certain number of members for the team,” Blackwell adds.
   
Establishing your team size and personnel needs is important before publicizing the event and recruiting, he noted. Also, let your church know what specific skills are needed, such as medical construction or bilingual. However, Blackwell warns, remember that even a specific missions team like a mobile medical clinic needs nonspecific personnel on its team.
   
There is always a need for people who can complete paperwork, greet patients and pray with them.
   
Once you’ve set the location and recruited the team, the work really begins. How much time should be spent in training? “However much time you spend, it probably won’t be enough,” says Blackwell. “The basic teaching principle is four to eight hours of prep time for every hour of ministry.”
   
Segrest agrees, “The benefits of training go beyond the obvious. Training together turns a team into a family. It gives continuity to the project and raises the heart of the group to another level.
   
“You must emphasize the importance of your weekly training sessions early on — no participation, no go.”
   
Now is the time to start planning for next summer. Gather  prayer warriors and begin seeking God’s will for your teams.
   
The Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions offers help in planning missions trips and can partner churches with specific volunteer missions requests from missionaries.