4 Ways to Bring a Mission Trip Home, Part 2

Read the first part of the series here. Today we continue on with part 2 of our series "4 Ways to Bring a Mission Trip Home."

“The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveler.” -Job 31:32

Some of you carry a deep love for a particular people group in your heart. You yearn to go back and live amongst them. You think about them all the time. You pray that God would open the door for another trip back to that area of the world.

Did you know that tens of thousands of refugees from all over the world are landing in our backyards?

I bet if you researched, you would find that the people group you love is right here in America. We should love everyone we come in contact with, but if you have a heart for a certain religion or people, make an effort to find them here in the States.

There are refugee and immigrant ministries all over the country that need volunteers like you. You can even volunteer at a government refugee placement center. Many refugees have lived in the United States for years and have never had an American talk to them.

If God has kept you in America, then He has a reason.

Find contentment in the ordinary

“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” -Philippians 4:11

What do we do when God has asked us to stay in America for an extended period of time? Do we complain about our lives and wish that we were living the dream of chasing the nations?

No. We find contentment in doing what God has asked us to do, where He has asked us to do it.

Don’t chase after the “missionary adventure” if that is the sole reason you wish to go. The truth is: life is not always an adventure—here or abroad. We have exciting days, and we have days when the sun doesn’t shine, the coffee is cold, we get rejected for our faith, and nothing goes exactly like you thought it should.

Did Jesus say that we would conquer the world in a rush of excitement? No, he said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33b).

Life is a beautiful thing. We can find true contentment in the mundane. As a millennial, I find that many of my peers are terrified by the normal, mundane life.

What do you think Jesus did for the first 30 years of his life? He was a carpenter. Are you putting your hands to work and living as God has asked you to? Or are you a thrill-seeker who jumps from one high to the next? I have found that my relationship with God is the deepest and strongest when I live it out in the trenches of regular life.

The offside to living on highs is the fact that you will have lows. We should be after not just regular work, but Kingdom work all the time.

Some could view mission trips as escapes from the ordinary. What if we viewed them as a way to take our steadfastness in Christ to others who are living ordinary lives, too? Mission trips are a gift to both the goer and the receiver. But they are not avenues of adventure. They are doorways to people in the world that desperately need the gospel that we have.

We are merely messengers, and then we return to continue as a messenger here in our home country.

The mindset you carry about mission trips before you leave affects how you will react after you return. The thoughts you dwell on here in America determine your effectiveness and obedience to His Voice.

Don’t just wait around until the next mission trip to live for God. Walk out your door and look for ways to bring your mission trip style to your life in the United States.