The Greatest Commandment - Matthew 22:37-40:
Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
The Great Commission - Matthew 28: 18-20:
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore GO and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
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Some thoughts when planning overseas mission trip:
1. Balancing the Great Commission and the Greatest Commandment as guides, mission programs should address the needs of the whole person
--- spiritual, physical, intellectual; ultimately, impacting the whole village. Don’t go to just preach; or to just to hand out care packages;
or just do church repair; or just do medical check ups; or just do musical concerts. This may mean going with a team with various gifts and talents.
Some may have the gift of preaching and teaching, while some may be good with their hands repairing or building churches, or good in administration and planning logistics,
and some may share their professions in medicine, legal, or technologies. Jesus, being the ultimate missionary, just didn't preach; he fed the hungry; he healed the sick;
he taught ---- addressing not just the spiritual aspect but also the earthly needs of the whole being. Let's pattern our mission programs similarly.
2. You go to mission trips to serve, and not be served. One time a team that just returned from a mission trip was making a report, and one of the
delegates was excited to report that
“we were treated like rock stars”. Maybe this person just felt blessed from the trip and thankful to the hospitality of their host.
Let's just remember that when going on mission trips --- we're there to serve, and not to be served.
Make sure your hosts are not burdened by your presence.
There may be a tendency by the local host to treat you as a special visitor. In their effort to be hospitable,
your host may spend extra expenses and resources to make your stay special. This could negate the purpose of the mission trip
when resources and focus are diverted more for the comfort and special treatment of the mission trip delegates.
Remind yourself and your team that you're not there for a vacation.
And remind your hosts that you are there to serve, and not to be served. And compensate or reimburse them appropriately.
3. Partner with an existing church structure or established charitable/humanitarian organization, instead of just working directily with a person, say, a pastor.
This helps the logistics in planning the trip, organizing local volunteers, and
can provide some local intelligence of the needs to the community.
The local church or humanitarian organization should be able to provide transparency and accountability of any financial transactions and donations. They will also
be able to help any follow-up work after the mission trip.
4. Tap local leaders; provide support. There are great leaders already in those local churches --- at times, they just need additional resources to propel their ministries to the next level.
They know the people, they know the language; they know the issues; they know the local customs. Sometimes, the best we can do is provide support,
instead of being in the front and in-charge. This is sometimes a big mistake when going on mission trips
--- thinking we can just take over the preaching, or the church repairs. Don't insist implementing your plans without consulting local leaders;
what you had in mind may not address the local needs.
Be flexible; well laid plans may not always pan out --- some materials may not arrive on time or lost during travel,
some key team members may have some last minute cancellations, local weather may not be as what was anticipated.
Again, work with the local leaders and ask them what are their needs and how you can help and be fully utilized. Otherwise, you can just be a burden for them.
5. Monitor/follow-up progress of whatever work left behind after the mission trip.
This is not one of those "been-there-done-that" and check off from your list.
Were there people you introduced to Christ who needs support to with his/her new faith?
Any unfinished repair construction work that still needs to be completed?
If it included a medical mission, were there patients who may need follow up care?
Were there needs in the local church you may be able to ship the resources?
Make sure that whatever initiatives you started in your mission trip will not cease
because you already left and you're back to your regular life.
Updated: Sept. 1, 2020