We live in large houses. Families drive two or more cars. Our pantries are full of food, but we think we have “nothing to eat”. Our dressers are overflowing with clothing for each season. The grocery stores are crammed full of choices… do we really need 15+ kinds of Cheerios? We have an abundance of wealth in this nation. Our children are growing up thinking that this is normal. But is it normal? American life isn’t normal as compared to much of the rest of the world. Therefore, I believe that every family needs to make it a point to go on a cross-cultural missions trip together. This will help them see what the real world is like. Families will have experiences that will change their hearts, their minds, and their future plans. They will not be the same… and that is a good thing. Why is taking a cross-cultural mission trip with your family a good idea? Here are my top six reasons.
1. Bonding for the Family
There is nothing like the bond of a family who has travelled internationally to do missions work. This connection will last because the memories are imbedded into the identity of your children. The sights, sounds, and smells that a family encounters together is nothing like they have ever experienced. It reshapes hearts and minds. These memories bond families together as they discuss the people they meet, the foods they tasted, the things they saw, and the experiences they made.
Since our family has lived in Africa, we have shared experiences that a taste, smell, word, or name will instantly bring us back to. Dusty feet remind us of playing barefoot on the football pitch with scores of Zambian children. Pineapples remind us of the roadside stands where Zambian women sell fruits and vegetables to provide for their families. We have also bonded by the work we have done for Jesus: caring for orphans, vulnerable children, and widows. We can recount other special memories about orphaned elephants, monkeys stealing playing cards, and bloody lions eating a baby hippo. When people ask me, “Your children seem to really like each other. Is this true? We don’t usually see that in families.” I reply, “Yes, they genuinely do. This is in part due to the bond that we have while serving Jesus internationally.”
2. Depending on God through Prayer
What happens when you exchange all you know — the familiar places, foods, roads, people, and language — for another country and culture? This is when you must rely on God for all you need because you feel unqualified and unfamiliar. In the comfortable home and culture that you are used to, you can live like you don’t need God. But when you venture off into another country, God feels nearer. You reach for Him, making sure He is holding your hand every step along the way: as you step onto a plane for the first time, navigate unfamiliar roads, eat strange foods, share your testimony on a street corner, or play with terminally ill children at a hospital.
This is the type of faith and prayer life we desire for our families. We want an intimate faith, living like we need Jesus for each breath. Oftentimes, though, the familiar of daily living doesn’t take us to that next level of faith. A cross-cultural missions experience with your family will do that. Families begin praying together at the start of the day, praying as they drive on the road, praying in the middle of ministry, and praying at the end of the day. Not only does this bond a family together even more, it creates a family cultural of dependance on God which will hopefully follow them back home. There is nothing quite like it.
3. Strengthening or deepening Faith
Over the years my husband has kept a prayer journal. This journal was filled with prayer requests and praises. It shows ways that God has worked in our lives. It is more than a prayer journal, though. This is a testimony of the goodness of God, which gives us faith in the hard times we are going through. We see His hand of faithfulness in the past, and we trust Him with present and the future. The same is true in cross-cultural missions with your family. These experiences strengthen and deepen your faith as you see what God is doing around the world and through your ministry. Speaking with believers in another country gives you the courage to be bolder in your witness when you return. Your faith deepens as you see God perform miracles for your group — whether that is providing for the cost of the trip, physical healing, supernatural protection, or spiritual renewal.
These experiences are imprinted into the hearts and minds of your family. They will never be able to forget the time that God came through to provide or answered your specific prayer. This is the faith that will carry over into the “real world” when you get back home. Your faith will never be the same.
4. Seeing our blessings as compared to the rest of the world
America is one of the wealthiest nations in the world, but most of us know that only that from statistics and pictures. But when you take a cross-cultural mission trip with your family, you will see first-hand how blessed the United States is. Much of the rest of the world does not have the latest iPhone, million-dollar mansions, and abundant food. There is a huge gap in the wealth of America and the poverty of much of the world, where children go to bed hungry, mothers drink polluted water, fathers have no jobs, kids beg to attend school, and a cardboard box is considered a house.
We one had a teenager coming with her family to Zambia to serve in our Camp Life program for a week. On her way to Zambia she told her family she simply had to have the newest Iphone when she got home. All her friends had it, and she would just “die” if she didn’t have it by the time school started in the fall. But you know what? After seeing the conditions here, meeting the precious children, and talking with the believers here, she was ashamed that she had really had those thoughts. She realized that having any phone was a blessing, far more than she deserved. She was overwhelmingly blessed with all of the worldly things she had. What was once a “necessity” in her eyes, became an embarrassment. “How could I have ever really thought that I needed to have that phone? How selfish of me! That’s not what really matters in this world!”
When we see the world through the narrow lens of America, we often become discontented. We think we “deserve” things. Cross-cultural missions with your family breaks your heart for what breaks God’s heart, points you to what really matters, and opens your eyes to see the blessings that you already have. This is a lesson we need at any age.
5. Obeying the Great Commission to Go
In Matthew 28 Jesus gives us the Great Commission. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” It is here that Jesus gives His followers the mission to go into the world with His message and provides the comfort of the Spirit to accompany them. But many in the evangelical community live like Jesus gave a “Great Suggestion” instead of a “Great Commission”. This experience will be your start to obeying Jesus’ command. It is imperative for every believer to “GO”. A missions trip is not the only way to “GO” in order to obey this command. We “GO” when we share Jesus with our neighbors, teach at VBS, encourage a coworker, or minister at a food pantry. But I believe that attending a cross-cultural mission trip is a unique way to obey this command as a family.
6. Edifying the Body of Christ around the World
Many American Christians are blessed to have several copies of the Word of God. This is far more than many of the pastors that I know. Pastors and church leaders around the world, would love to sit under great Bible teaching and have more resources — Christian literature, study materials, and more. Our presence and our presents can be a tremendous encouragement to the believers we encounter. Bringing study materials for pastors, teaching in their services, and teaching new songs can be just what believers need to grow in their faith. Oftentimes, teams will be able to do more for a church than they could do in a year. They could paint a church building, distribute tracks to a whole city, facilitate a Vacation Bible School, and more. If done correctly, these can help to significantly grow a church body.
Overall, it is very beneficial for your family to travel internationally to go on a cross-cultural missions trip. This life-changing experience will bond you together, deepen and strengthen your faith, allow you to see your blessings, help you obey the Great Commission, and edify the body of Christ from around the world. Where should you go? Ask your church for a list of the trips that they are going on over the next year. That is the best place to start!
To find out more about our mission, check out our website: http://www.familylegacy.com.
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