Short-term missions — we are only away for a few days, and nothing much seems to change. So why do we go?
We do not go in order to transform a land in a matter of days. God is the owner of mission; we are simply joining, for a little while, in what God is doing. So when we look at short-term missions the question is not “how great a work can we do?” but “what will God do through us?” Short-term mission is participation in the work of God.
What good, then, comes of it?
First, it encourages our missionaries and the local church. Missionaries serving in loneliness, and the churches alongside them, are greatly comforted simply by a visit from believers who have travelled a long way.
Second, it sows the seed of the gospel. Not everyone changes in a few days. But the gospel is sown like seed, and your small acts of service and labour become a seed that God will one day use.
Third, the ones who go are changed. In truth the greatest benefit of a short-term mission returns to those who take part. We learn again how comfortable our life of faith has been, how precious the gospel is, and how open the church must be toward the world. We go to help the missionary, but it is also the place where we ourselves are broken.
Through your obedience someone is comforted, someone receives the seed of the gospel, we are brought back to prayer for the mission field, and above all you yourselves are changed by it. If that is so, I believe there is reason enough to go.
This year’s short-term mission to Dumaguete in the Philippines (24 November – 1 December) will run as a co-working mission at the request of Missionary Sung Kook Park. Places are limited to fifteen, but anyone who belongs to a house church and has completed Living Life Bible Study may take part. If God gives you the heart, please join in faith, expecting what God will do.
Word of the week
Registration for the second-half Life Bible Studies has opened. This term let us concentrate on the essential courses. Please sign up on the Life Bible Study noticeboard today.
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이동주 2026.08.08 16:44
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Short-term missions — we are only away for a few days, and nothing much seems to change. So why do we go?
We do not go in order to transform a land in a matter of days. God is the owner of mission; we are simply joining, for a little while, in what God is doing. So when we look at short-term missions the question is not “how great a work can we do?” but “what will God do through us?” Short-term mission is participation in the work of God.
What good, then, comes of it?
First, it encourages our missionaries and the local church. Missionaries serving in loneliness, and the churches alongside them, are greatly comforted simply by a visit from believers who have travelled a long way.
Second, it sows the seed of the gospel. Not everyone changes in a few days. But the gospel is sown like seed, and your small acts of service and labour become a seed that God will one day use.
Third, the ones who go are changed. In truth the greatest benefit of a short-term mission returns to those who take part. We learn again how comfortable our life of faith has been, how precious the gospel is, and how open the church must be toward the world. We go to help the missionary, but it is also the place where we ourselves are broken.
Through your obedience someone is comforted, someone receives the seed of the gospel, we are brought back to prayer for the mission field, and above all you yourselves are changed by it. If that is so, I believe there is reason enough to go.
This year’s short-term mission to Dumaguete in the Philippines (24 November – 1 December) will run as a co-working mission at the request of Missionary Sung Kook Park. Places are limited to fifteen, but anyone who belongs to a house church and has completed Living Life Bible Study may take part. If God gives you the heart, please join in faith, expecting what God will do.
Word of the week
Registration for the second-half Life Bible Studies has opened. This term let us concentrate on the essential courses. Please sign up on the Life Bible Study noticeboard today.