So How DO We Prepare for a Mission's Trip? - Nassau Here We Come

Four summers ago, at the age of 61, I volunteered to be a chaperone for the senior high youth group’s mission trip to New Orleans, Louisiana.  It was my first mission’s trip EVER and I was VERY excited!

I had left the ministry of Bible Study Fellowship that winter so while I used to be busy in the summer, finding leaders and preparing to train them, I suddenly found myself facing a long summer without all that activity.  So when I heard that the youth group was looking for a chaperone, I “heard” the Lord speak clearly to my heart saying, “Dot, this is for YOU!  You’re free to do that now”!  So I volunteered.

I remember meeting with our youth pastor and having him ask me all sorts of questions, like:  

How do you think you’ll get along with a group of teens?

How will you manage in the high heat and humidity of Louisiana in the summer?

Will you be able to keep up with the high energy of teens?

I remember thinking about each question and then truthfully, giving the same answer:  “I don’t know, I’ve never done it.”   For some reason, despite those noncommital answers, our youth pastor took me anyway and I stepped into the unknown.

There were many reasons why I found that trip difficult.  I didn’t know any of the teens beforehand, nor did I really know any of the other adult chaperones, so there was a time of real relational awkwardness for me and it lasted much of the trip.  I was a chaperone, but what that meant, I wasn’t really sure, so I felt uncertain of what I was supposed to do or not do.  It was a time of feeling my way but it was also a time of getting to know the teens and adults better.

When the next year came and the youth group was going to a camp for people with HIV/AIDS in the Bahamas, I volunteered again.   This time around, knowing what caused my anxieties and awkwardness the previous year, I did a lot more praying.  I also made time to meet with each of the girls going on the trip - to get to know them, to find out how I could be praying for them, and to pray WITH them as well.  That went a long way toward helping me to prepare relationally.

Once again, I wasn’t really sure what my role would be as the oldest member of the team.  I knew that in my mind I wanted to work right alongside everyone else – but my 62 year old body would never have been able to keep up with hand mixing cement and then breaking up an old, and laying a new, sidewalk.  Nor would I be able to be very hands on in the carpentry needed to frame a house.   So once again my preparation was to pray.   I began asking the Lord to reveal to me when I got there just what my role should be.  I was there to minister – to our team and to the people of All Saints Camp – but what that would look like I didn’t know, so I was counting on the Lord to reveal that as we went.

As things unfolded, the Lord provided a very practical way to minister to our team.  Since they were all working very hard in the hot Bahamian sun, I made the rounds among the work crews all day filling water bottles and encouraging everyone to stay hydrated. At lunch, I'd remind them to reapply sunblock. I also held all the cameras, so when someone was busy working, I’d take his/her camera out and take their photo to show the church and their family back home.

If that was all the Lord had assigned to me, I would have been satisfied to do it, but He surprised me by giving me a prayer ministry as well.  

Prayer is very important to me.  The Lord taught me its importance through some really difficult life experiences that drove me to my knees in utter desperation.  Prayer (and the reading and studying of God’s Word) has become a life line in my relationship with Jesus.   

When I left Bible Study Fellowship, where I learned to pray, and where so much importance was put on prayer for the success of the ministry, I grieved the loss of the prayer partnership I had there.  So the Lord spoke to my heart and led me to approach individual women for the purpose of introducing them to the joy of praying together for one another.   So prayer became not only my own personal life line to God, it was also a way of bringing others into the presence of God as well by praying for them one on one.

So it should not really have been a surprise that when we reached the Bahamas the Lord opened the door to praying with others there as well.   One of the leaders of the group that ran the missions trip from the Bahamas was struggling with giving the devotional messages at night, so I asked how I could pray for her – and then did.  When one or the other of the teens got up and was obviously struggling with exhaustion and not looking forward to facing another hard day of work – we prayed.   One of the guys had volunteered to lead the devotionals in his work group every day and the Lord helped me see the potential in him for spiritual leadership – so we prayed about that.  Another day we visited with one of the residents and prayed.  Prayer, something so precious to me, became the primary ministry the Lord had prepared for me there.

In just 5 days we leave again for that same camp in the Bahamas.   This time around, there are more of us – 24 in all – leaders and teens.   Another group will be there as well, which wasn’t the case last time.   It may change the dynamic.  Quite a few of the teens coming have never been on a missions trip before and they have no idea what to expect – and maybe wonder whether they’re up to the challenge.  Others of us went last time and had such a blessed time we’re wondering whether our expectations will be too high and we’ll be disappointed by this one.

We want to be prepared – physically, emotionally and spiritually, but not one of us knows what the Lord has in store for us there. How DO we prepare?

Preparing physically is probably the easiest.  We pack, we bring water bottles and disinfectant wipes, we make sure we drink plenty of water all day once we’re there, we apply and re-apply sunscreen, we get to bed early.  

But how do we prepare emotionally for the things we haven’t yet seen or experienced?  Like walking into a small cottage smelling heavily of urine to visit someone in the last stages of AIDS?   Or dealing with the grief that tugs at our hearts when playing with small children whose parents have a deadly disease that may leave them orphans.   What do we say to the mother whose children haven’t seen her in years because of her disease, or encourage the one woman with some nursing experience who takes care of everyone else when she’s sick herself?

How do we let go of the things that annoy us about our team members so we can work together in unity?

How do we loosely hold onto our expectations so we can experience the joy and surprise of watching the Lord do something NEW?

How do we prepare spiritually to BE the hands, and feet, and lips of Jesus, to the residents of the camp, to the staff of Next Step Ministries, and to our own leaders and teens?   

How do we prepare?  We pray.  We pray in advance for the strength and grace of God every day, all day.  We walk by faith in Who God is and what He has promised in His Word.  We depend on God’s grace.   We CHOOSE servanthood and selflessness - with one another, the other crew that will be there, the staff of Next Step Ministries, and the residents of the camp.  

When we look back at the likes of Joseph (Genesis), Moses (Exodus), Peter (gospels), Paul (epistles), and a host of others, we see that when we choose to walk by faith, the Lord is faithful.   

How did they manage when unjustly thrown into prison, when leading a group of ingrates through the desert, when persecuted for having been with Jesus, when beaten for preaching the gospel?   They trusted that those whom God calls to a task, He also faithfully equips.  And they kept their eyes on the big picture, just like Jesus did.


We read that in the New Testament book of Hebrews, chapter 12, verses 1-2:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles , and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

WE may think that building houses, or laying sidewalk, or entering the home of someone in the last stages of suffering from AIDS, or letting someone else shower first, or letting go of an annoyance, is beyond our ability – but it’s never beyond God’s ability to enable us.  

So how am I preparing for what lies ahead next week? 

I’m praying now for every aspect of the ministry.  I’m praying for everyone going and for the concerns they expressed.  I’m praying for what the Lord has in mind for me, and for all of us - and I’m waiting to see what He will do with 23 people, plus me, who are fully committed to Him and wanting to serve HIM above all.