Short-term missions with long-term impact
Mark Wiens won’t be going home this spring break. He is co-leading a Global Projects missions trip to Calgary, Alberta. Mark felt a strong call to take this role after his positive experience leading last year’s missions trip to Sacramento, California. “Missions has always been close to my heart,” said Mark.
When asked why short-term missions trips are important, Mark explained that “you never know what impact your actions will have.” Short term missions can have long term impact. Huge learning and growth can happen when we get outside our ordinary surroundings. Spending “a week focused on other people and God has a way of changing [our] perspective.”
The students on the Calgary team will be volunteering with Mustard Seed, a ministry to the homeless. Each day they’ll serve lunch and dinner to the homeless and work with the local church in the evening. They will share responsibilities by assigning a role to each person. For example, a different student will be in charge of photography, money, cooking and planning the team’s “free day.”
Mark has been leading weekly meetings with his team they can get to know each other and feel prepared. His team of six includes four international students. They’ll be driving roughly 12 hours to get there. “Our top prayer request is that it doesn’t snow on the drive there and back.”
Every reading break, students travel to Calgary, Los Angeles, Chicago, Hawaii and other places on Global Projects missions trips. Some teams serve in homeless shelters, others build homes with Habitat for Humanity, and others help out in inner city schools.
The Global project trips are a chance to experience something new, to live out your faith by serving, and to see God working. Trips go in the fall, spring and summer breaks.
How can you find out more? Click here. or email sarah.julien@twu.ca.
Story by Gwendolen Gower. Photo by Rachel Klassen.