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Going
with the right attitude.
Having an attitude that’s honoring to God will make or break
the trip for you. Going with the right attitude and mindset
will not only help you overcome and enrich your trip but it
will also reflect Christ to people who will be watching you.
Watching to see if you walk your talk. You may pack wrong
but whatever you do, don’t pack a bad attitude.
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Ready
to serve One of
the most common mistakes people make on visiting developing
nations is having the mindset that they are there to “save”
the local people. Only God can save people and preferably in
His time in His way. We expect you to go primarily as a
humble learner and a servant. Our role and calling is always
to serve the people God has brought us into fellowship with.
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Right
expectations-
Make sure your expectations are realistic. Wrong
expectations can destroy an experience. Expect to see things
you’ve never seen before. Expect to see God at work but with
the vision that you can’t see it all and do it all in one
trip. We promise you that it will always be different to
what you expected!
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Prayer
Supporters-
Gather for yourself a team of prayer supporters who will
pray for you each day of your trip. Give them specific
prayer requests as you see fit. Ask them too how you can
pray for them while you’re on your trip. Remember life goes
on for everyone and it’s not all about us.
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God’s
agenda- Be
sensitive to the fact that God will be working in your heart
and it may be in a different way than you thought. It’s far
more important to get on His agenda than on your own.
Obey the Holy Spirit’s prompting when you feel led to meet
immediate needs.
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Reflecting -
Journaling your experience and reflecting on what God is
teaching you at the end of each day will truly enrich your
experience. It also allows you to slow down to worship and
appreciate Him for the things He is doing.
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Learn-
Before the trip, learn what you can about where you are
going. This will really enrich your experience as well as
make the local people feel far more appreciated and loved
when you show interest and are knowledgeable about their
homeland.
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Flexible- One key
characteristic you will have to acquire before you go on a
mission trip if you don’t already have is flexibility.
You’ll quickly learn that in any Third World country plans
change fast and the unanticipated may happen. Be ready to go
with the flow, keeping a positive attitude. This is a
powerful witness when people look and see how real God is in
your life. A sure litmus test of that will be seeing how
flexible you are when a turn of events happens.
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Walk in
faith – Missions is about not just about learning about what God is doing
in the world but also about what God is doing in you and
through you. Before or during your trip, you may meet
situations that are scary, prove challenging or impossible
to overcome. Your willingness to trust God to make a way is
an important part of what God wants to in you at this point
in your life in where you are.
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Receive
- Allow the local
believers to minister and bless you when they want to pray
or give to you. Just as it gives you joy to support and to
give to them in the work that God is doing in their midst,
likewise for them when they desire to bless you with the
fruits of all that God has given to them to give to you
also.
