New! – STM Brochure 2007Explore the “who”, “when”, “where”, “what”, “why” and “how” of a Short Term Mission (STM) trip!
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About Short Term Missions Trips
4 types of short term missions trip into 4 types:
An exposure trip is a first time short-term missions trip to an overseas country. The focus is to learn about the people and cultures of the country and how our existing churches and groups reach out.
An expedition trip is a 6 months to 2 years overseas pioneering attachment. It can either be a short term trip or one that leads to a permanent landing for church pioneering or strengthening a pioneered church without strong local leaders.
An exploration trip is an overseas trip designed to explore and establish entry possibilities. The focus is to either identify or secure a job or set up a business.
An extension trip is a short term ministry related trip to existing overseas (Hope) churches. This includes deployment of leaders to minister in camps and specific ministry assignments.
Tripping in Sibu and Sarikei (Malaysia)
Young Dan Feng, Zachary (Youth ministry)
Before the trip
We embarked on a missions trip without any prior knowledge on how to go about doing it. However, one thing the team was very clear about was that we were there to bless and to be blessed. Eventually, we decided to stop focusing on our inadequacies and turned our focus to God and let Him amaze us by the way He was going to use us.Energy filled and spiritually hungry – that is Hope Sibu
Though the schedule is set for 2 hours of informal sharing over dinner, we simply had to dump our initial agenda in order to satisfy their hunger. We shared our own testimonies, stories, methods and convictions. They were just bombarding us with countless questions, yet their attentiveness just encouraged us to keep sharing. That’s not all. They will not be satisfied with one person’s sharing. After one completed one’s sharing, they will go on to ask another person to absorb what he/she has to say as well. Their spirit of learning is indeed commendable.
Hope Sarikei – diversity is their trademark
This church is about 40 people, consisting of people from all walks of life (babies, university graduates and a few seniors in the same service). This is a very different experience for us as we normally find ourselves in church mixing around with people of similar age. Nevertheless, we walked around chatting with everyone and finding suitable topics to talk to each one. We went away learning much from them.
Our absurd encounters
We almost…
– Opened the door to an unruly stranger.
– Threw away our return portion of our air tickets.
– Missed one of the connecting flights.
I don’t even dare to imagine the consequences if we did those things. Thankfully, God saw us through somehow.
Lessons I took home
Through this trip, my eyes were opened to the world around me. I realised that we have much to treasure and appreciate in Singapore. Being a Christian in a developed country also means that we have a greater responsibility to extend the gospel to other countries. Since we are blessed with more things (finances, education, good transport system, a high level of education etc.), more is expected from us as well. I guess I want to be a good and faithful servant.
Summary
I would love to go for future mission trips. There is a huge trove of lessons to be learnt out there, and I’m not going to let them pass like that. Hopefully the next time, it will be even further!