"'Moses, Moses!' God called out from the burning bush" (Ex. 3:4). He then instructed Moses to remove his sandals and told him that He is the God of his ancestors. God eventually told Moses, "I will send you" (v. 10). Let us see more clearly what God did before He sent Moses out on this mission.

God established a relationship and then set a purpose for Moses to go. Continuing to look at Exodus, we see that God did not call Moses (or anyone) for a short goal to be achieved and then end the deal. God clearly calls His people and walks with them, never abandoning the person. Our mission trips need to be experienced in this context. Not that short missions are bad, but there is more to mission work than a week or two, more than traveling anywhere we want for our own adventure.

God wants us to see who He is more clearly before we go, to understand the calling He has for us and to grasp that He goes with us always (even when we return). Short-term missions need to be viewed in three stages: before, during and after the trip itself. How do we prepare to hear God's voice more clearly? How do we follow God while we are on this trip? How do we see God once we return from the trip, realizing that it is not over but only just beginning? We must see that being called by God to go in His name is to be on holy ground.

Informed and Practical

Whether it is your church's first mission trip or the youth group's trip that has been happening for decades, we must keep a right biblical perspective before us. We must fight against missions being seen as an entitlement, as something we just do or as our next opportunity to scratch our itch to explore. A clear vision is needed, answering the question, "What makes our group going in Jesus' name different than a group going to do a good social work?"

This past summer, our senior high youth went on a weeklong mission trip to Mexico. We wanted the Bible to guide the planning and the actual trip. Although it was a work trip, our goal was to focus on building relationships.

We wanted the youth to wrestle with what it means to be called and to follow Christ. We had strict requirements helping the students to take ownership and listen to God's call. Trip requirements included: writing an essay, taking part in six vision meetings, raising most of the money needed, participating in local service projects, writing thank-you letters and sharing our stories once we returned.

Several months after our trip to Mexico, the youth are still talking about the trip. We continue to pray for those in Mexico. We are able to talk about Mexico not as a project but about the people we met and the relationships formed with them. This has opened doors for us to see that God does not see us as projects either but as His children. Trying to have the focus on the Bible and not on accomplishing another task (even for a good cause) really has helped our group grow in our understanding of Christ's love for us.

It is my prayer that we may grow continually in our understanding of the Great Commission and how to have biblically informed missions.