As you plan to travel for your upcoming gap year or semester abroad, you may have considered going on a short-term mission trip, but are wondering “Do mission trips actually make an impact?” At Adventures in Missions, we believe in making a sustainable impact through short-term missions by partnering with local missionaries in projects that build up their communities and share the love of Christ in their cultural context. Here are 5 Adventures in Missions ministry partners that are making a positive impact on the communities they serve.
1. Essentials for Families in Guatemala
At the Adventures Base in Parramos, Guatemala, local missionaries have started large scale food distribution to families hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. During the lockdowns, many families lost work and were unable to provide the daily needs of their families.
However, members at the Guatemala base, alongside local missionaries, are making the effort to provide goods and basic needs. These daily visits also give workers the opportunity to build relationships, pray with families, and share the love of Jesus.
Click here to read more about this project
2. Postage for Prison Bible Studies During Social Distancing
Due to social distancing barriers and the hygiene practices necessary for COVID-19 prevention, many prison facilities have instituted full lockdowns as preventative measures, confining inmates to five-by-nine-foot rooms or crowded dormitories. Facilities in New York City, Chicago, and Michigan, have all seen explosive infection rates.
As prisons shut down to volunteers and visitors, many of the 2 million incarcerated Americans are living in increased fear and loneliness.
However, World Race alum, Paige Deur, is continuing to send hope to prisoners through Crossroads Prison Ministries, which is committed to providing people in prison with correspondence Bible lessons and letters from caring mentors. Adventures in Missions is partnering with Paige and Crossroads Ministries by helping cover the cost of postage for these lessons going between the students in the prison and their mentors.
Click here to learn more about this project
3. Food for Families in Cambodia
The Coronavirus pandemic has taken a massive toll on the economy of Cambodia. The tourism and hospitality industries that provided many of the jobs in Cambodia have all but vanished, leaving many families struggling
Together with local efforts, the Adventures in Missions International base in Cambodia is
putting together “family food packs” of staples that could sustain a family of four for nearly a month. The base is then distributing these packs through local ministry partners within Cambodia to both deliver necessary items and offer a gateway to build relationships and disciple families in unreached villages far outside the city.
Click here to learn more about this project
4. Hunger Relief in South Asia Due to COVID-19 Lockdown
Countries in South Asia have been hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. People who were already in extreme poverty are now losing what little income they had and many are going without food.
The Adventures in Missions base in South Asia is in a unique position to help the most vulnerable of the rural villages through their network of National Missionaries. The base began raising funds to distribute rice to struggling families. For every $500 donated, we can distribute rice to 70 families in a village.
The South Asia base has already raised enough funds to feed over 700 families. Together with their network of local missionaries, the Adventures South Asia base set up distribution plans to bring the rice to rural villages, all while maintaining the strict social distancing guidelines of the area. The base continues to raise funds and work with their missionary network to provide for rural areas and share the Gospel.
Click here to learn more about this project
5. Refuge for Trafficking Victims During COVID-19
While the Coronavirus pandemic has restricted much of the activity in Thailand, it has also created an incredible opportunity to reach marginalized women.
As bars, clubs, and massage parlors in Thailand remain closed, women previously working in the sex industry are looking for new ways to survive. Bella Goose, one of Adventures in Missions’ strategic ministry partners, is reaching out to offer relief to women in these exploitative situations by providing food, housing, and vocational training opportunities.
As Bella Goose provides meals and housing provisions to these women, they are also able to share with them the hope and restoration of Jesus. It is there hope that these discipling relationships can empower these women to leave the dangerous, exploitative situations they found themselves in and accept the love of Jesus.
Click here to learn more about this project
If you would like to work alongside ministries like these to make a lasting impact for Jesus, check out the World Race. The World Race is a Christian mission trip taking 21-35 years to 11 countries in 11 months. You can also check out World Race: Gap Year, a Christian gap year program for high school graduates ages 18-20 to 3 countries in 9 months.
