28 March, 2024

From the Campus to the World

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by | 30 May, 2010 | 0 comments

By Greg Swinney

Short-term mission trips are part of the meat and potatoes of campus ministry. In the past 20 years these trips have grown by leaps and bounds to become massive global efforts. During summer months, winter break, and spring break, university students travel the planet to offer all they have for the glory of the Lord.

They work in orphanages, inner-city churches, medical clinics, children”s homes, and in countless Third World regions. Hundreds will go this year. Thousands of dollars will be spent. And lives will be transformed for eternity.

This article intersperses how campus ministries make short-term mission trips effective with journal entries of what went on in my mind just eight weeks ago with a group serving in the region of Sabinas, Mexico.

Journal Entry: Traveling Day

Here I sit in the back of this dusty 15-passenger church van at the very beginning of the 2,400-mile, round-trip drive. We”ll spend more than 50 hours in this van. I”m crunched down and leaning against a sleeping bag, ready to eat my brown bag lunch prepared for me by someone who helped send us on this journey.

As I stop to think about the weeks of preparation that have gone into this trip””the culture lessons, getting ready for the work projects, and preparing VBS lessons””I”m excited about the possibilities. Some people in this van are veterans of short-term mission trips; others have never been out of the country, or even the state.

I can”t help but ask why on earth we do this. This is spring break for these college kids. It”s a time for fun in the sun, sleeping late, picking up a few extra hours in that part-time job, or taking a big bag of laundry home for Mom to wash while you eat some of her amazing meat loaf. Why are we here?

We are headed to a region that had two drug-related shootings just three days ago. The drug cartels along the Mexican/U.S. border continue to wage turf wars. We hear stories of the local police standing by helplessly as shootings take place. The churches and the economy of this region continue to limp along with too many people to help and too few resources.

Will we be able to help? What difference can we really make? For the past eight weeks our team committed to prayer, and many individuals fasted. Each person recruited partners to pray for them throughout this week. We have entrusted this trip to the Lord; only he knows the difference we can make.

Seek the Lord”s Wisdom and Direction

Campus ministries planning short-term mission trips do all in their ability to seek the Lord”s wisdom and direction in their plans. Where will this group serve? When is the best time to go? With whom will we minister?

Certainly some areas have more needs than others. Haiti is a country in crisis because of the recent earthquake. Our min-istry sent a team to Haiti just weeks before that disaster. Little did we know the two suitcases of pharmaceutical supplies would be used to help earthquake victims just days after we left the country.

Seek godly counsel and devote time in prayer to determine where the Lord would have you serve.

Journal Entry: Day One

Victor, the Mexican minister hosting our group at his church, brings morning devotions to our team today. I”m sitting on a broken folding chair, and I finish my breakfast as Victor speaks in short, choppy sentences through a translator.

“The Word of God says in Haggai 1:8, “˜Go bring materials to build the house of the Lord,”” he tells us. As he opens his heart, he looks at each one of us and says, “The materials you have brought to build with are not wood and cement. What you brought to build with is hope in the Lord and the encouragement we need in our churches. The materials you bring that build our churches are your faith in Jesus and your desire to obediently serve him. These materials are building us into the mature Christians God desires us to be.”

As we divide our work responsibilities, the team is excited to begin interacting with and encouraging the nationals as much as possible. The day seems pretty full. Three work projects at area churches, a Vacation Bible School with about 50 children, a conversational English class, and a men”s leadership class (beginning at 8 pm).

The day started at 5:30 am, and will finish sometime between 11 pm and midnight. The smiles on the faces of these students and sponsors tell me “I can”t wait.”

A Commitment to Prayer

Luke described the start of Paul”s first mission trip this way, “So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off” (Acts 13:3). Campus ministries committed to have a global impact devote much time to prayer and fasting in preparation for these efforts.

Seasons of prayer that focus on the missionaries, churches, region, and team members will sometimes last long into the night or for 24-hour periods. Prayer partners and churches pray for safe travel, health of the participants, and a lasting impact through the mission effort.

Journal Entry: Day Three

At breakfast this morning I see one of our team members rubbing lotion over the sunburned neck of a guy in our group. Sore muscles are the topic of several conversations. Today”s devotions are led by one of the newbies. Her thoughts are not about cold showers, the short nights, or the blisters on her hands. She talks of the joy she sees in the faces of others, and how she can”t imagine doing anything else this week.

I stop and think: she”s eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, sleeping on a hard floor, working long hours, and had to raise financial support to be here. Her list of things to complain about is longer than I can imagine. But she”s grateful to be here. I can see in this 19-year-old a deep, abiding joy that goes beyond her circumstances. Her prayer partners for this week will be happy to know all the lessons she is learning and the encouragement she is bringing to so many Mexican people.

Now it”s afternoon, and a local policeman has asked us for a bribe. We told him we are working for the church and for the Lord. Our Mexican friend José Julio told him we”d rather pay the fine than pay a bribe. The policeman gave us three parking tickets (total fine of $60).

We take them to the chief of the police department of the city (population 50,000-plus). In answer to our prayers, the chief voided the parking tickets and asked us to help his small, growing church. He offered the services of the police department to our group in any way necessary! What an amazing answer to our prayers!

The Importance of Preparation

The time spent preparing for a short-term mission trip may be as important as the trip itself. Training on cultural issues, basic language phrases, goal setting, and team-building exercises are essential in making the trip as fruitful as possible.

Learning cultural taboos, gathering tools for work projects, and receiving community donations for distribution involve much time and energy. Conference calls with missionaries help build enthusiasm and excitement among members for the trip.

Journal Entry: Day Five

It”s only a few minutes before the huge fiesta””a celebration service for all the Lord has done in us and through us this week. There”s plenty of food, laughter, and hugs.

Eight churches in this area have come together for this nighttime rally. I see about 250 people in the crowd, and it”s still 30 minutes from the start of the service that will probably last three hours.

I”ve been asked to preach and I feel inadequate and overwhelmed. Their conversations are about work projects completed, the new English phrases they have learned, and the ever-present question, “Will you come back to see us again next year?” I respond in my limited Spanish “yo esperanza””””I hope. . . .”

Debriefing Is Essential

A time of debriefing is vitally important after a mission trip of this sort. We play the high/low game. What was your high point and low point of this trip? Team members share and encourage one another with their stories and insights.

One participant who recently returned from Kenya told me, “My high point and low point came from the same experience. The massive poverty just overwhelmed me, but then to see all that was being done to reach out in the name of the Lord was so encouraging.”

Journal Entry: Home Again

We”re home now, and the applause in the van when we crossed the border back into the United States still rings in my ears. It”s been only a few hours and there are already pictures on many Facebook pages. Comments are flying back and forth. Team members are contacting family members and prayer partners and expressing their gratitude.

At the conclusion of one of Paul”s missionary journeys, the Bible says, “They gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith” (Acts 14:27). It seems the door of faith has opened wider these days. Not just in the region of Sabinas, Agujita, and Nueva Rosita, but also in the outer regions of my own heart. The words of Jesus are becoming more real in my life, and in the lives of these students and sponsors: “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39).



Greg Swinney is statewide ministry director for Christian Student Fellowship of Nebraska. CSF has a 19-year history of short-term mission trips, with more than 1,500 participants through the years. Students have served in Haiti, Pakistan, Japan, Romania, the Philippines, Mexico, and regions throughout the United States.

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