Like anything that provides an opportunity for greater impact, there comes a greater amount of responsibility for those doing the ministry; but this is the life of a missionary. Ministry never was meant to be easy. It was meant to be impactful.

Pick and Stick

This paradigm shift to short-term missions is not a new thought at all. There are people across the world who have clued into this idea. One example is Bruce Bentley, founder of the Lakota Journey. The Lakota Journey is a non-profit organization that seeks to plug churches into a native community on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. What separates the Lakota Journey from other organizations is that it seeks out churches and youth groups that will commit to years of service.

"I tell interested churches to come with an open mind and consider the possibility of coming again in the future. What we want to see is the best possible ministry experience to the people to whom we are ministering," says Bentley. The Lakota Journey was created out of a weariness of the serve-them-and-leave-them mentality of so many short-term mission organizations. "I felt like it was too limiting in a ministry prospective. You did your thing and left, and it didn't seem adequate. The problem with the serve-them-and-leave-them mentality is that so many churches today are looking for this experience in their short-term mission trips without knowing it."

You don't have to start your own non-profit to take part in this paradigm shift. Here are some ways you can start building your short-term mission trips to have long-term impact.

• Look for a community to which you can make a commitment. Just because we are talking about a long-term commitment doesn't mean that it needs to be five minutes from where you live. Maybe it means that your group takes a 10-hour road trip every year to get to the community you're serving. The important thing is to pick a place and stick with it.

• Find locals who can help you plug in. Having a heart to help is great; but if you don't know how to help, you are just going to get in the way. Ask around the community for people who are already invested. These can be local pastors, non-profit organizations and/or schools.

• Plan long-term. When you plan your trips, don't just think about the itinerary for your current short-term trip. What goals within the bigger picture do you want to achieve? Maybe your plan involves developing strong leaders with whom you can partner in ministry, so it becomes less about you coming in and more about you becoming a part of the community.

• Find ways to establish your long-term connection apart from short-term trips. What's the point of a continuing relationship if you only commit to it once a year? You need to find ways to maintain the relationships you are building outside of the short-term trips. An easy solution is to get people to adopt a pen pal in the community. Do not let yourself slip into a once-a-year friendship.

These are just a few ways you can start to build your short-term mission trips to have a long-term impact. It's important to remember that it always starts with passion. If you are doing short-term trips because you need to put a mission trip on the calendar, than maybe you need to rethink why you are doing them in the first place. Take some time to stop and pray. Ask God if there's a community He wants you to minister to, with which you can build a long-term relationship. You might be surprised about whom God directs you to serve.