Are Short-Term Mission Trips Really Needed?

Believe it or not, there is actually some debate around this question. I believe Pioneering With Passion Ministries (PPM) has a unique ability to offer an answer as we are committed to both long-term mission endeavors as well as hosting short-term teams.

Let me be honest for a minute…it’s really hard work serving extreme-loss refugees in war zones  where our small staff has been called to serve. There is a huge need before us. Some people tend to think churches should donate the thousands of dollars it takes to bring mission-trip team members to our area and instead purchase aid and discipleship resources.

But that is not what PPM desires.

We love hosting teams from around the world and realize that it’s an invaluable part of our ministry. But hosting teams does add extra levels of preparation to our mission in serving refugees.

So why not take the easy way out? Why do we go through all the extra effort to host short-term mission trips?

First, having a team of people join us in reaching refugees who fled the war in their home country really is helpful. Each person who joins us represents another individual who can tangibly display the love of Jesus to those who need it. There are more feet to hike into camps and offer a meal to hungry families. There are more hands to lay on those injured or in pain and pray for healing. There are more mouths to proclaim the love of our Savior and His saving message.

Second, and maybe most important, each person who joins a short-term mission trip with PPM, becomes a carrier of the stories they experience. A team member’s experience serving on the mission field often has a deep impact in changing their life along with those they go to serve. It connects them tangibly to Jesus as they live out His words to make disciples of all nations. It breaks them out of their comfort zones, opening their eyes to a larger world in need. The stories they experience travel home with them, being re-told to their family and friends. These stories inspire new groups of people to go out and continue to offer hope, ensuring the refugees are not forgotten.

Harper, a young woman who joined one of our recent jungle missions, shared how the trip changed her life:

“It’s a total perspective change…and it really makes, at least my life, more purposeful. The knowledge that there are other people on the other side of the world who are facing really hard things, not having food, not having enough clothes, or the things that we have…it makes you want to live with, not only an awareness of yourself, but with an awareness for others. It's not comfortable, but is life-changing. You can look at these things and say, ‘hey I can do something about that’.”

That says it all! From our perspective, short-term mission trips are still incredibly important and always needed. The investment on our staff’s part is worth it to see lives transformed, both for those being served, as well as those serving.

For now, PPM is limited to hosting teams from partnering churches and schools in the States as a high level of security is needed for the areas where we work. But there is still an incredible opportunity for you to be a part of the story. Your prayers and financial support ensure extreme-loss refugees have the aid they so desperately need. Also, know that your support helps ensure short-term mission teams who join us have a powerful experience that they can bring back home with them. It’s an investment that is multiplied many times over as the stories are shared and team members begin living transformed lives in their own communities.

Interested in investing in our powerful mission? Check out our Get Involved page to learn how you can take some next steps.

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God is Trying to Talk To You

God wants to talk to you. I know that may come as a surprise. For many, God seems like a distant father, tolerating us but not really interested in our lives. Believe it or not, quite the opposite is true. God wants to be a part of every detail and wants us to know who He really is.

Now here's where it gets tricky. For reasons only He fully understands, God rarely chooses to speak to us in an audible voice. But that doesn't mean He isn’t revealing Himself, and His desires for our lives, all the time. So how do we recognize when He is speaking to us?

In my faith journey, I've come across one very simple way to discover God’s voice. More importantly, I’ve seen the transformational power of sharing this simple method with others around the world, even with persecuted refugees in war zones who are hearing about Jesus for the first time. Maybe it could be transformational for you too.

So what is this simple way to hear God’s voice? It’s actually pretty easy…read your Bible.

Wait! Before you write this off with “been there, tried that", hear me out.

God loves talking to us through His written Word. Let’s be honest, often times we take this one for granted. For many, the Bible is a book filled with rules that we feel guilty about not making a habit of reading more. But the Bible is actually a beautiful narrative of God creating, saving, and interacting with the people He loves. Reading it on a regular basis can give us insight into how He is currently moving and operating in our own lives. Most importantly, it's filled with actual words from His mouth, written down by people who heard His voice. 

Reading the Bible to understand God is a great place to start, but it's even better when the words on those pages leap out and begin to speak directly to you in real-time. The Book of Hebrews says that God's Word is living and active (Hebrews 4:12). If you want to experience the Bible in this way, try using this simple prayer: “Holy Spirit, please speak to me through these ancient words today." Now pay attention, because as you are reading there will most likely be a theme or verse that suddenly feels like it comes to life and speaks directly to your heart.

The first time I experienced this, I was overjoyed. It felt like God wanted to talk directly to me. If you sense this happening while you are reading the Bible, stop. Dwell on those words. Read them over again carefully, continuing to ask God to reveal what He has for you. Reading the Bible should never be a race to finish. If all you were able to get through during your daily reading is a paragraph, that's okay. He can speak to you in just a few words. Stay there, because it's a holy moment, worthy of your attention.

We at Pioneering With Passion Ministries (PPM) believe in the simplistic power of the Bible and its ability to connect people to God’s voice so deeply, that our teams risk persecution to bring the Word of God to those who’ve never owned their own copy. Recently, one of our Southeast Asia teams encountered a brand new group of refugees who had fled a civil war back in their home villages. The group was comprised of 85 families and 72 children, of whom some had lost relatives to the fighting. Most had never heard the name of Jesus.

We brought these families survival resources and then spent time sharing the saving truth of the Bible’s message through the stories it contains. We were overwhelmed with excitement when over 95% of refugees raised their hands to receive Jesus as their Savior. With great joy we handed out Bibles to each eager recipient in their native language.

Even brief fear from a loud mortar explosion nearby (the war they fled continues on just a few miles away) could not keep these precious people from embracing the hope they had discovered. One man shared this with us:

“I have a wife and one child. [The fighters]  forced me to become a slave for them off and on for 30 years. They mistreated us. They shot one of my relatives and he died in front of me…In my village we are scared that we will have to flee again. Fighting is really close to my village now and we always hear it happening…When I was young, I heard the name of Jesus, but no one taught me about Him like you guys did today. I accepted Jesus today, and my heart is very happy and bright. It is also the first time I received a Bible and I am so happy.”

-Shawen, 56 years old

This is how it begins. We share the character of God and Jesus revealed in the Bible to those we are led to. These truths draw those who hear into relationship with God. Then with the incredible resource of having their own copy of God’s Word, refugees who were once hopeless learn to hear God’s voice for themselves.

Think about the original design of creation. God walked with Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden, talking with them. This is what God has always wanted - with all of us. Because of sin, things changed. That's why the story of Jesus is so powerful, both for us and for the extreme loss refugees we serve. It was God's way of bringing us back to original design and intimacy with Him. God is speaking to us in many different ways, but one of the simplest is through His Word. The Bible is timeless, and the power it contains is alive and active. Take time to see for yourself. Who knows, He may even have something to say to you today!

Interested in providing our teams with relief aid and Bibles so they can reach extreme loss refugees? Click on the the below critical needs to see how you can get involved and become a pioneer.

3 Powerful Prayers That Can Change Your Life

So let’s get real for a second. Does prayer actually work? Or are we who believe in prayer simply misguided individuals throwing our words into empty air?

There have been times when it feels like I have a direct connection to heaven, like God is able to hear my request before it’s even made and immediately answer me. But other prayers seem to be met with silence from my Heavenly Father, requiring patient waiting before His answer will be revealed.

So why is it that some prayers seem to work, while others miss the mark?

Let’s be clear. God is God and I’m a human who could never possibly fully understand His sovereignty. That being said, I believe the answer to the above question many times lies in the context of relationship. Unlike any other religion in the world, Christians get to experience our God in a very personal way. We serve a God who sees us, knows us, and desires to be known by us. Through the incredible gift of Jesus Christ’s death on our behalf, the veil that once separated us from God has been torn in two. 

Prayer that is heard and answered by God most often occurs when we are living rightly in the gift of this relationship. Think about this from a human perspective. The closest relationships in your life offer you deeper insight into the other person’s desires, hurts, and joys. The longer and more frequently the relationship is cultivated, the deeper this connection becomes. We are designed after God’s own heart. That means the dynamics of relationship are mirrored between Creator and creation. Want to pray prayers to God that are alive and powerful? Then spend more time getting to know Him and what He desires.

So where do we start?

I’d like to offer three simple prayers that you can begin praying today that will help you connect with the heart of God. You will find these words are nothing fancy, but if prayed earnestly, have powerful results. But be warned: when you pray these prayers you have to be willing to watch and wait for the answer. And trust me, the answer may surprise you.
 

Prayer #1: “God, break my heart for the things that break Your heart.”

The reason this prayer has been so powerful for me is that it pulls my eyes away from my own insecurities, fears, and stress, and instead draws them outward toward a hurting world in need. Suddenly, all the things that I’ve been fretting over and worrying about become small and less significant. My heart is open and compassionate toward things that I never saw before. People around me begin to matter. Their stories matter. Their hurts and their brokenness matters. This is the first step in opening your life to be used powerfully by God. You first have to understand His heart.

When you pray this prayer, expect to be interrupted, especially in the midst of seasons when you’re focused on your own problems. Be willing to take the time to listen to someone’s story, research important causes, and understand needs that arise around you.

Prayer #2: “God, show me where You are working and use me in Your story.”

God is telling a story - one of rescue, redemption, and restoration for His creation. Once your heart begins to break for the same things that break God’s heart, you will want to ask to be a part of this story. 

Our culture tells us that we should pursue our dreams and not let anyone or anything get in the way of doing so. The intent is to inspire people to go after things they are passionate about. The problem is, without God, those things can amount to absolutely nothing of eternal substance. When we pray this prayer, we are first asking God what His dreams and passions are, and how we can align ourselves with that mission. The interesting thing about posturing yourself in this way is that God usually shows you how to leverage your biggest passions so they produce larger and more beautiful results than you could’ve ever thought possible.

This prayer is very dangerous to a comfortable life. When you pray this prayer, watch for opportunity everywhere you go. Watch for people in need. Watch for situations requiring wisdom and solutions that only you can offer. It will take some risk to follow God into some of these places. Trust Him - it’s worth it!
 

Prayer #3: “God, reveal Yourself through me.”

This final prayer invites God to show who He really is to an unbelieving world. Praying this prayer allows God to do God-size things, things that are only possible if He is involved. I want people to look at my life and have to acknowledge that a Higher Power exists because of the things I’m producing. I want His grace, love, mercy, and Creator Spirit to be revealed through my life and the work of my hands. Jesus reveals a similar mandate for us. “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16). Ask God to reveal Himself by producing rare and beautiful things through you that the world has never seen before.

When you pray this prayer be ready to undertake things that feel much too large for you. There are many instances in the Bible where God invited men into His work who felt they were unqualified for the huge task ahead of them. He does this so that when the impossible is accomplished, He gets the glory. People watching have to acknowledge God’s existence and involvement when God-size things happen.
 

Friends, remember that this is not a formula. This is simply a helpful guide to better connect you with the heart of God. That’s what God is most interested in - to know you and to be known by you. 

These prayers are a great place to start. As you connect more deeply with God, life will begin to change. It definitely has for me. Praying these prayers has opened the door for God to use me through Pioneering With Passion Ministries (PPM). While praying these prayers, He gave me a broken heart to serve hurting and forgotten refugees. It was through these prayers that He gave me a vision for where He was working and how to build this organization in a way that joined His rescue story. As a result of these prayers, He is doing bigger and better things through me than I could have ever thought possible.

So what are you waiting for? Join me in praying and then watch the incredible things that await.

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