BOOTCAMPS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH

by Rafe Wright

Short-term mission trips are life-changing! They can be a 21st-century, water-walking experience with the living God.

A 2003 trip to Asia was a major catalyst in my wife Laurie’s life. Her experiences launched her into a lifestyle of missional living and deeper church involvement. It was the key event that moved us to adopt our twin boys from Russia.

Short-term trips are boot camps for spiritual growth. The process begins the moment you commit to the trip. There’s an intensive time of spiritual preparation. There is often spiritual testing from the Lord. You’ll be equipped with theological, cultural and team building and ministry specific skills for your work. You’ll be stretched in faith and boldness as you build prayer and financial support teams. All this before you even depart.

Then you go! There’s something unique about stepping out in faith, outside of your culture and comfort zone, and placing yourself in total dependence on God. Your only agenda, your only to-do list, is to be responsive to God’s leading moment by moment. And this happens because you’re free from daily routines, responsibilities and the ambient noise of a busy life. You’re free to have a personal encounter with God that broadens your parameters of how you see Him, the world, and even life. Short-term trippers return from mission on a spiritual high, and many gain a new vision for life at home.

These trips also forge collaborative partnerships to amplify Kingdom work. In 2010, we partnered with Victory Living Word Church Uganda to plant four churches in the bush north of Kampala . Pastor Makumbi Johnson said a normal plant would consist of a dozen new converts, with hopes to double that number in a year. In partnership, we took medical, dental and vision clinics to the people there. Together, we began four new churches that kicked off with 65, 65, 90 and 225 people at the first services. Pastor Johnson’s team said only by God’s grace and a collaborative partnership could this be!

Think I’m overselling it? It’s impossible to sell it enough, honestly. Real encounters with God are like that. It takes a personal experience to understand.

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