SUGGESTIONS FOR CHURCH
QUESTION From: Andrew Gossard <ATGOSSARD@aol.com> I have been asked to plan a [one-week] short term for [up to 60 families in] my Conservative Baptist church... A few years ago a group went to St. Lucia and built a building for a church there. But I was hoping for something more "front lines" oriented this time while staying within my parameters. Any suggestions or good resources...?

ANSWER From: Chris Vannoy <vannoy@juno.com> I am not sure where you and your church are located geographically, but let me challenge you and them to take a short term that will build a vision for the unreached people of the world. If money prohibits you from getting to the 10 / 40 window, please consider this: missions is crossing a CULTURAL boundary not neccessarily a GEOGRAPHIC boundary.

As such, there are endless minority peoples all over the US. Los Angeles and New York City are unbelievably diverse. If you've ever been to Chinatown in any big city, you realize that you can find different culture in lots of places here. You could work to see one of these people reached. Let me point out that Detroit area has the largest population of Muslims in the US. There is a huge group of Yemeni Arabs that as far as I know has had little work. You would want to find a church or individual that could make the link. I know a fellow that works in Atlanta with the Persians in a fruitful way. He serves the Persian church here. On another vein, I know a lot of folks have gone to North Africa - Morocco since it is relatively cheap, close, and very in need of the gospel. Its also open.

Let me encourage you to make this a step that is moving in connection with focus to reach the unreached.

ANSWER From: Bruce Sidebotham <73362.1503@Compuserve.com> Get a hold of the JP2000 unreached peoples list. Choose some groups that are not too far away either by location or by diaspora and not too alienated from Americans. Then try to connect with an advocate for that group to find out if there's any way a short term team can participate. Just off the top of my head I know there are advocates for Kurds, for Uzbeks, and for Bosnians. These groups are not as inaccessible as you might think because of the refugee situation.

ANSWER From: Shane Bennett <Shanedar@aol.com> What about combining some prayer walking with an intense overview of Perspectives among an unreached ethnic concentration here in the U.S.? If this sounds like it might at all be in your ballpark, I'd love to discuss it with you.

ANSWER From: <WScottW@aol.com> Assuming your church supports some field personnel, why not contact them and see if there might be a project they need or have dreamed of, with which you could partner with them. These kind of projects build active bridges connecting field personnel with their sending bodies for an extended period (usually), often birthing new supporters and helping to "seed" the home church with new ongoing missions vision. Bottom line is, why be "where driven" when you can be "what driven." After that, the details and any hurdles can be worked out and through by the Holy Spirit.

ANSWER From: Kim Hurst <KJHurst@aol.com> So often we plan short-term mission activities which seem right to us or to some missionary we know. But how often do we take into account the ongoing ministries of national Christian leaders in the host country? Wherever you go, whatever you do (short of the most pioneering sort of thing) do it in service to, and perhaps under the direction of the Christian leaders that God has chosen from among His people in the destination city.

ANSWER From: Peter Nicoll <PNicoll@compuserve.com> There are a number of Missions Organizations that are involved in this. I work with Operation Mobilization and I know that this is somethingt hey do every Summer. Giving Church Groups the opportunity to take mission Trips and providing training, briefing and debfriefing so that it can really benifit, both the group and the church from which they come. Contact OM USA - Short Term teams Coordinator <postmaster@usa.om.org>

FAMILY SHORT-TERM MISSIONS
QUESTION From: Mike Kroupa (mgkroupa@aol.com) 26 Feb 96 Does anyone know of any good short-term mission trip opportunities suitable for families... relatively short...two to four weeks...I would be especially interested [in] opportunities that would allow exposure among an unreached people group.

ANSWER From: mitch.arbelaez@cbn.org AIMS publishes the "World Christian Expeditions (WCE)". It is an index of the current year's opportunities for short-term cross- cultural ministry for pastors and laymen. For your copy contact AIMS at P.O. Box 64534, Virginia Beach VA. 23464 Ph: 804-579-5850 fax: 804-579-5851 or E-mail your request with address information to <aims@cbn.org>

ANSWER FROM: Meg Crossman (crossm_m@aztec.asu.edu) There's a group in Denver that sends whole families into Mexico. [International Family Missions, POB 589, Boulder, CO 80306 Phone: 303-665-9407 Cenerting on short over-the-border trips into Mexico--NW] We have planned several short terms to the Navajo reservations here and taken whole families. The children are a great blessing--even little ones--and help break the ice as they play with the Navajo kids.

Some of the best short terms are done by Church on Brady in E. Los Angeles. I don't know if they take children, but they have taught their children how to do prayer walks, using everyday signs to mobilize their praryer. Ted Haggard's church in Colo Spgs. sent both Men and boys 9-11 on their prayer walks in Albania. Ted felt the results were really excellent!

ANSWER From: George Beals <76747.116@compuserve.com > The best group I have worked with for short-term family teams is World Servants. They send out a few family teams domestically and internationally each year interspersed with their other teams they send out. I have been out with them and am sending two more teams from our church with them this year. Contact: World Servants 8233 Gator Lane, Suite 6, West Palm Beach, FL 33411 USA. Phone 407/790-0800 or FAX 407/790-4242

ANSWER From: On Thu, 11 Dec 1997 11:44:26 EST PABlevins <PABlevins@aol.com> writes: Would you consider doing some work with the deaf? These are truly an unreached people! Many have never heard of Jesus at all. (Many have no language at all.) Some of the Carribean uses our American Signs or English Signs, so you could actually prepare by learning some of the language here. When I was working at the deaf school in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, we at times had a family come down and work with us for a week or ten days, and they were very helpful. Jamaica has a Christian school for the deaf, as does Haiti. There may be some opportunities along that line. If you are interested, I could do some checking around with missionary friends.

Short Term: YOUTH MISSIONS
QUESTION From: lane01@juno.com (William L Leverett) I recently came on staff at my church's high school group and I have been given a great opportunity to direct and oversee the missions area of the group... We really want to see these kids grow into World Christians, knowing about the lost in other countries and cultures as well as the our own needs in the urban areas of the US. What groups out there work well with youth groups in connecting them to and equipping them with a missions experience? We are looking currently at two major mission opportunities, one during spring break and the other over the summer. I would be greatly appreciative of any information you could give, whether it be books, videos, contacts, mission agencies, or just your own experiences...!

ANSWER From: Graeme Dunkley <gdunkley@shoal.net.au> I saw a great video called Generation V, details are available from Brenda Bowman <brenda@mars-hill-media.org>. The full video is available on the CD ROM just relased from the AD2000 network. If you don't have it yet - get it. It only cost me $7 & it's absolutely choc full of mission stuff for all ages & tastes.

ANSWER from Jim Au <immx@integrityonline.com> There are two excellent agencies in the Portland area who also work with churches around the nation. One is Forward Edge with Joe Anfuso at the helm. Contact him at (360) 574-3343 or (360) 574-2118 fax. The other is Delta Ministries with Brian Heerwagen leading and Tim Young as business manager. Contact them at 1-800-5DELTA2 or at e-mail: <76265.40@compuserve.com>.

I highly recommend Global Missions Fellowship from personal experience as I have traveled with their San Diego team to India last September. Contact Dan Hitzhusen or Diane Ault at (619) 485-8127 or (619) 485-6794 fax, or at e-mail: gmfhitz@sisna.com , or check out their web site: http://www.gmf.org . Their particular approach is the best I've seen as they target the planting of church-planting churches; there's nothing better one could leave behind in a country. Also, they have the most unreached people focus I've yet encountered in an agency focused on short-term (the people we went to is one of the 10/40 gateway peoples; we saw 140 decisions for Christ and 7 churches or home fellowships started). There were 2 college-age youths in our group and they were very well integrated into the program; each had a dynamic testimony to tell at the end of our week together.

ANSWER From: Michael Fast <mifast@fcmr.com> Contact Diane Weber at the Baptist General Conference of Canada office. She will tell you about BGCC's work in Tijuana. Lots of High School students head down on short term trips building churche and the like. She can be reached at: Diane Weber, GLOBAL Ministries Administrator, BGC Canada, 4306-97 Street, Edmonton, AB T6E 5R9, CANADA Email: bgcc@datanet.ab.ca Phone: 403-438-9127 FAX: 403-435-2478 P.S. Don't be scared by the Canadian Address =8-o. We have a sister in the US (BGC-US) that we can put you in contact with as well :-)

ANSWER From <NateWilson@XC.org> I would also recommend Teen Mania. I have heard really good reports from their conferences and short-term mission trips in terms of the enthusiasm that it generates for missions among the high-schoolers that have participated in it. (They are Charismatic-oriented.) Call 1-800-329-FIRE for more information.

ANSWER From: Neal Pirolo <Neal_Pirolo@eri.org> If you will give me you mailing address, I can send you some literature on the finest resource we have to offer for building teammanship and helping a short term trip to be more than a "been there, done that!" event. It is a four-hour video series, professionally done in a three camera studio. If deals with Culture Shock and Culture Stress in four areas: How I View Myself as a Cross-cultural Worker, How I view the Organization I am Going with, How I view the People I Plan to Minister Among, and Culture Stress in Reverse. You can also check us out at our WebSite: <http://www.eri.org>. Let's be in touch! For His glory!

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