You’ve decided to go on a short-term mission trip and your looking for ways to prepare? Here’s our 5 faves.

1. Connect  We feel the best trips are done in a group, either as a church, family, or just a group of friends. There’s power in community and you’re going to want to talk to people who have had the same experiences you have.
2. Meet at least a couple times a month for three months before you leave. Spend time together as a team just hanging out, learning about each other, and studying the bible together. 1 Chronicles 16:24 is a good place to start.
3. Look for places to work that you can return to year after year. Creating an ongoing relationship with a community gives you sustainability and good stewardship of the resources you’re investing.
4. Realize how small you are in the grand scheme of things, and how important you are to God. God is using you advance his kingdom! It’s humbling and honoring and scary and awesome all at the same time.
5. Pray for the mission you’re going to. Keep them in your hearts. Write to them with questions. Let them help you organize and list things they need.

These are the 5 things we’ve noticed have made the largest impact on short-term mission trips. Got another? Leave it in the comments.