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The Lasting Impact of Short-Term Missions

As parents, we feel pressure to prioritize our children’s future — enrolling them in the best SAT prep courses, hiring the perfect pitching coach, and encouraging them to be involved in numerous clubs and activities. But do we place enough emphasis on opportunities to grow in faith and service? As we raise a generation of Christ-followers, we should empower students to become servant-leaders, following the example of Jesus Christ. One great way to accomplish this is through short-term mission trips.

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People often question the value of a short-term mission trip, wondering if there are better ways to spend our time and resources. Sending a student on a mission trip is a sacrifice of both money and time. Some would argue that it's more beneficial to serve in our local community. However, this view overlooks the lasting impacts of a mission trip. The experiences gained in the mission field shape a student’s perspective, foster a lifelong commitment to serving others, and change the way they engage with their own community for years to come. Short-term mission trips leave a lasting impact by transforming students' hearts, deepening their faith, and creating a desire to continue serving both locally and globally.

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The Ripple Effect of Short-Term Missions 

There are many reasons to go. Short term mission trips can be the catalyst for a long-term love of serving and obedience. Serving on a short-term mission team can spark growth in a student’s faith and create a ripple effect in their life. Parents may wonder whether a one-week trip can truly make a lasting impact. While long-term missionaries play a crucial role in transforming the communities they serve by sharing the name of Jesus, almost every long-term missionary first participated in a short-term trip.

At Mount Paran Christian School, the focus of our mission trips is on the development of the participants' faith walk through exposure to different cultures, ways to worship, and training disciple-makers. One shining example of this is when, during a mission trip to the Dominican Republic, a student was able to share their testimony in Spanish to a villager — a culminating moment of academic knowledge paired with spiritual growth. While we should never discount the direct impact a trip can have on the people being served, a greater impact often comes in the way the trip changes a person's heart and behavior once they return home. According to the Barna Group, three-quarters of people who travel on mission trips say it has changed their life in some way — deepening their faith, broadening their spiritual understanding, and becoming more aware of other people’s struggles. (1) "What impacted me the most was the little connections you make with all the kids," says MPCS alumna and mission trip team member Sarah-Neal Knight. "Giving them a hug, showing them what the love of Christ is — it impacts you far more than you'd ever imagine it would." 

 

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Scripture Calls Us to Go 

Why should a parent send their student on a short-term mission trip when there are so many needs in the local community? Scripture gives us clear direction — Jesus commands us to go. In the Great Commission, Jesus does not offer a suggestion but gives a command for His people to go into the world and share the Good News (Matthew 28: 16-20, Mark 16:15). Serving on a mission team is one step in simple obedience.

The mission field unveils the infinite needs of people around the world — needs that can be overwhelming. In cultures where people struggle with basic necessities like food, shelter, education, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. However, the greatest need is spiritual. Missions can help students adopt a mindset of service, learning to make sacrifices and walk in obedience at a young age. 

 

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Fostering Faith at Home

Sending a student on a trip often sparks a desire to share their faith back home. On nearly every short-term trip, participants are asked to share their testimony and pray over local residents. Students often begin their trips feeling unsure about sharing their faith story with others, but being removed from their everyday environment often fosters courage and a greater willingness to share their faith. On recent MPCS trips to both the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica, students shared how they have seen God working in their lives, encouraging others in their own faith walks. "Sharing my testimony really helped me in my self-confidence to do it at home. It wasn't anything special like I'd write in an essay. It was just my story." Says Sarah-Neal during a "From The Mount" Podcast interview. 

Speaking the name of Jesus over people creates powerful moments for students to experience God working among His people, despite differences in culture and ethnicity. Upon returning home, these students are more confident sharing how they’ve experienced God move in their lives.

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The Power of Teamwork and Community   

Lastly, mission trips create a sense of community and bond among team members. Many students who would not normally cross paths in a regular school day form deep friendships that often last for years to come. New connections born on the mission field provide accountability in a person’s faith walk. After returning home, many students from past mission trips stay in touch, sharing Scripture and encouraging one another. "You see someone in the hallway you know from the mission trip, and the connection is so much deeper than a friendship. You served together... you did the good stuff," Sarah-Neal remembers of the time at MPCS after her mission trip. These relationships provide a sense of belonging and foster mutual encouragement, as we are called to do as the Body of Christ (Hebrews 10:24-25). 

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The Lifelong Impact of Short-Term Missions   


The impact of a short-term mission trip extends far beyond one week. These trips teach sacrifice, obedience, and nurture personal growth — and students have fun while serving others. The experience ignites a lifelong passion for service, faith, and transformation — both for the students who go and the communities they serve. Serving abroad give them a heightened sensitivity to others' needs and can open a student’s eyes to the needs within their own community, increasing their passion for those they interact with daily. The relationships formed and community built among team members help strengthen a student’s faith once they return home. The courage, compassion, and  deeper understanding of the world’s needs, combined with the opportunity to witness God’s work firsthand, are invaluable outcomes from serving on a short-term mission team. 

Our prayer is that students learn to love serving internationally and locally, taking this newfound knowledge into the world to teach the good news (Acts 14:21) and encourage believers to be in community together (Acts 14:22). We are called to act in obedience to the Great Commission, and we see more and more students living this out through local and global mission initiatives. These experiences leave a lasting impression on participants that they will never forget and which plays a big part of how they go forward in their everyday lives.

 


This article was written by Jean Ann Murphy, Assistant Director of Christian Life at Mount Paran Christian School. 

 
Resources (1):
https://www.barna.com/research/despite-benefits-few-americans-have-experienced-short-term-mission-trips/
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