Spring… the season of Missions!

It’s that season again. The sun is up longer, the weather is getting warmer, birds are chirping, flowers are blooming – allergies are acting up… Spring has arrived! In our generation of Disney movies, happily ever after, and hopeless romantics, Spring is often associated with love. However, for some reason, since my college days in Irvine, Spring has often been associated with missions.

Maybe it’s the fact that churches are beginning to advertise their mission programs. Maybe it’s because it reminds me of my many short term trips, and the mission training that would start in the spring as we prepared for our summer adventure. Or maybe it’s the fact that Spring is when many people around me are beginning to decide what to do with their summers, contemplating if they should look for a job, serve in a VBS or daycamp, or go on a short term mission trip. Whatever the reason, Spring often brings a heightened awareness and attention to missions in our churches.

I realize that many people may be asking themselves certain questions when they think about missions this Spring: “Is it more advantageous to go on missions, or try for that summer internship?” “Should I go on short term missions with church, or my campus ministry, or a missions organization?” “What kind of trip should I go on?” “How long should I go for?” “What country should I go to?” “How do I know I’m even called to go?”

These, along with numerous other questions, are common ones to have when figuring out what to do. And though I don’t consider myself to be an expert in missions, or one who has all the right answers, I thought I’d begin a series of blogposts to help answer some of these questions, share some of my personal and Biblically informed thoughts on missions, and hopefully aid those who are thinking about or preparing to go on short term missions this summer (if you have any personal questions you’d like to be answered, feel free to ask in the comments section below!)

And so the first question I’d like to tackle: “Why should I go out on short-term missions?”