Short-Term Missions

Spiritual preparation

As a follower of Christ, it is commonly understood that the words “mission trip” mean that you are giving of your time, money and skills to share the love and message of Christ in some way with people in another location. Whether or not your trip allows obvious, overt evangelism, or requires you to be more reserved about your faith, you must still be prepared or you‘ll miss what God is doing in the destination country, and your effectiveness will be diminished. It is important that you are spiritually prepared for the experience, and take time to assess your spiritual fitness and maturity ahead of time. Are you taking time for daily disciplines like prayer, Bible reading and quiet time before the Lord? (Psalm 46:10). Are you a regular participant in a church fellowship? If you‘re not doing these things, now is a great time to start!

The commitment to fellowship, Bible study and prayer will encourage and strengthen you, not just on this trip, but in your life at home as a follower of Jesus Christ.  Spending time with the Lord will give you growth, spiritual depth and knowledge in Him (2 Peter 3:18). Also, having a strong faith and being familiar with the leading of the Holy Spirit will help you tremendously in dealing with all the variables that come with international travel and a foreign culture. If you take the time to be spiritually prepared, you will be able to handle all of the inevitable challenges with peace and joy. Being spiritually prepared helps you have the right attitude (i.e., complete trust in God), and you will be able to be flexible and have a good sense of humor, which is extremely valuable to the success of any missions trip! 

CVM DEVOTIONAL GUIDES

CVM seeks to challenge, empower, and facilitate your spiritual growth.  We have pre-trip devotions for before you leave and on field devotions for while you are on the field.

Pre-trip 31 Day Devotional Guide

These devotions are designed for you to do on your own, sharing your response with your team members. For some of you, your team members will be scattered across the country and you will get to share your comments via email (usually sent to the team leader first, but they will let you know what to do). For others, you may be traveling alone, which means you get to be accountable to do these devotions on your own. Or, you may be part of a team that is all in the same area, which will allow you to share these devotions face to face as you meet as a team. Regardless of your specific situation, these devotions will get you into the Word and help you prepare spiritually. If you are part of a team, your team leader will be in touch with you about what to do and when. If you are traveling alone, we strongly encourage you to do these devotions as a way of preparing your heart for your time of service. 

CVM Devotional Manual for on the field

CVM Devotional Manual - Leader's Guide

On the field I would also encourage you to share amongst yourselves. Maybe assign a different person to share each day. Have them prepare a devotional to share with the group, and also share their testimony.

Unfortunately, at this time, we do not have post trip devotional materials to offer, but they would be a benefit for your team as you go through the “re-entry” process.  We recommend Deeper Roots Publications as they have great devotional materials for this process.