5 Ways To Make A Long-Term Impact on a Short-Term Trip

Will your mission trip have a lasting impact after you fly home? Will your week of serving abroad really make a lasting difference? Unfortunately, many mission trips do not leave a long-term impact. 

Long-term impact doesn't just happen; we have to be intentional about it. Follow these five guidelines and your trip will have an impact that lasts long after you've returned home.

1) Don't sacrifice spiritual conversations by only focusing on physical needs

Only the good news of Jesus ultimately has the power to save people from their sins and lead them to a life of hope and freedom. We select mission partners based on their commitment to Scripture, Gospel-centered ministry, and the opportunity for students to be able to share the good news of Jesus with those with whom they come into contact. Servant Life understands the distinction between humanitarian efforts and Christ-centered ministry, and is wholeheartedly committed to the latter. This does not mean that we will not seek to love people and meet their physical needs as well; we believe this is extremely important. But we believe that a holistic ministry approach involves both loving actions and the Word of truth.

 2) View your trip as a small piece in a big puzzle

Having long-term impact means focusing on the bigger picture. Development within a community takes time. You may not see immediate or final results on your short-term trip, but that's ok. Your trip is just one piece of the puzzle. Remember that there have been teams before you and will be more teams after you to continue the efforts for long-term impact. When you focus on the bigger picture, you will be more likely to focus on longer-term solutions.

3) Seek to partner with the locals

If the point is to assist the community in sustainable development, the local leaders and members of the community need to be the ones to lead the process. If there is a lack of local involvement, then once your mission team leaves, it could all fall apart. The local leadership is what will carry on the process after your short-term team completes their work. The locals will also have a better understanding of what will work and won’t work in their community. Be careful to not have the mindset that “we” know how to do something the best way.

All of our Servant Life trips feature work with established missionary partners. These are either missionaries or ministry leaders who have a history of service in the country (or location), as well as ministry opportunities and programs that align with the mission and vision of Servant Life, our core values, and what we believe. The people leading your team for the week are going to be the people who are staying behind and continuing to serve that context well after your team leaves. We believe this is important, as we do not want to be "rogue missionaries" dropping into a context, trying to find some ministry to do, and then departing without any kind of follow-up strategy or ministry plan. We know the importance of working with local partners who have a long-term strategy in place, viewing short-term teams as a catalyst for much larger kingdom impact.

4) Train your team before you go

What's the purpose of your mission trip? What does “success” for your team look like? If your team doesn't know the answers to these questions, it is unlikely that they will leave a long-term impact in the community.

It's nearly impossible to make a lasting difference if everyone has a different idea of what “success” looks like. On the other hand, if everyone is on the same page about the focus of the trip, your team will be more likely to accomplish something that lasts long after you return home.

5) Engage after you get home

Your trip doesn’t have to end once you get back home. Debrief and reflect on your time overseas and determine if you feel led to invest long-term in the community or organization you worked with. Prayers, financial support, and advocacy are a few ways you can create long-term impact past the few days that you were physically on their soil.

Putting it all together

It’s never been easier to cross an ocean. A ten-hour plane ride can take us from one continent to another. We live in a unique time in history and what we do during this time matters. A short-term mission trip is a great investment of our time, especially if we keep long-term impact our focus.