Moving from one culture to another can be difficult and even stressful. As you return home from your short-term mission trip, you are likely to experience emotions that you didn’t expect such as:
- Irritability
- Depression or sadness
- Fatigue
- Conflicting feelings about your life or lifestyle
These feelings and more can leave you disillusioned and exhausted, but there are ways to connect your mission trip experience to your life at home that are beneficial to you, your community, and those you left behind in another country.
Seek the Lord’s direction
Continue to pray and seek the Lord with the same conviction and passion you had on your mission trip. You are likely learning some new and exciting things, but learning and change can be difficult. You need to remember that your natural tendency will be to resist change, but it’s important to seek God and look for ways to use this passion at home to tell your own community about Jesus Christ.
Share your feelings with others
You’re not alone in this change. Your mission team members are probably experiencing the same emotions at home. Keep in touch through phone calls, e-mails, or letters. Walking through this life-changing process can be more joyful when walking with others who understand exactly what you’re going through.
Share your experiences with friends and family
Much like sharing your testimony, sharing your mission trip experience with your family and friends should be specific and practiced. Tell one or two specific short stories about people you met, how you grew on the trip, and specific things you learned. Use your favorite few pictures instead of showing them everything, and avoid preaching or sounding superior because of your service overseas. Most importantly, give God the glory for all that happened.
Stay involved with your new friends
Pray for the new church and your new friends from your time overseas. Write to them to let them know you are still praying for them and think of them. You could also send photos of them from your time with there as a special surprise.
Start getting your church involved
Talk to your pastor or missions committee about the possibility of taking a group from your church on a future short-term mission trip. Think about ways to get your church involved by praying regularly, or create fundraisers to raise money for future mission trips or to support the church and national workers you met overseas as they continue to minister in their communities.
What did you learn on your last mission trip?
