We continue to look at some of the good aspects of short-term mission teams
3. Expect the unexpected
In the lead up to our own team visits there is a plan and a schedule. But we encourage team members to be prepared for the unexpected. Activities will be far less ‘programmed’, more ‘last minute’. Flexibility without frustration will be essential. Travel can be a challenge. Flight times change due to weather; luggage is loaded onto the next flight without passengers being informed; a hotel no longer has the rooms you’d booked in advance.
One team was stranded in Delhi airport due to a volcanic ash cloud over Europe followed by 5 days of uncertainty in a hotel, before boarding then disembarking the aircraft and returning to the hotel! Such unplanned events challenge our desire to have control over situations and provoke us to trust God in a deeper way.
4. A broader vision of the church
What a privilege to discover through visiting another culture that we have ‘family’ members all over the globe. 
Cultural expressions may be very different but it’s the same gospel, the same Jesus, the same Father and we are sealed with the same Spirit. It’s a great privilege to be part of a local church in another nation even if that’s for a brief moment; a foretaste of Revelation 7:9 as we join ‘with one voice’ and get to worship the Lamb alongside believers with whom we share so much in common.
When, after much travel and some discomfort, we arrive at our final destination and have the 
joy of meeting the church communities we’re visiting there is the moment when we connect with Jesus’ church. There is often an instant sense of connection and recognition. We are back home again. The language may be unfamiliar, we may be barefoot and sitting on the floor during the meeting, but we’re home amongst family members we’ve never met but with whom we share so much in common. We come to appreciate that the church is bigger than you think, as Patrick Johnstone titled one of his books. This is good.
5. A deeper appreciation of the need
Very real and severe deprivation is part and parcel of the lives of most people on our planet today. As a short-term team we exit the bubble of affluence and enter the raw realities of life for most people. It’s no longer just a fleeting image on our TV screens alongside ads for beauty products and dog food. It’s up close and personal. It’s human and far more complex than perhaps we think. This can be distressing for some and leave us feeling overwhelmed. But it brings a much needed perspective to us.
That, too, is good.
6. A greater engagement with World Mission
World mission for many is a few pins on a map in the foyer of the church hall, remote and separate from the day-to-day life. We recognise its importance but we don’t feel involved.
Short-term teams can change all that. They help take what is remote and separate, and make it relational and central. Friendships are forged in another culture and connections are made. The result is the local church becomes relationally involved with other gospel communities in very different contexts and cultures. We’re no longer just praying for remote people in remote places; we’re now standing shoulder-to-shoulder with friends. No longer do we pray for ‘pins on a map’ but for people with whom we have a relational connection. This ensures that world mission is strongly relational and central.
That also is good.
7. A strengthening of our own Church Communities
In the West, lives tend to be very compartmentalised with high demands on our time. Much in our culture makes it difficult to cultivate community. Short-term teams made up of people from within local churches 
are a great way to promote and strengthen relationships within those local churches. In 2 weeks of long haul flights, meals together and prolonged road travel, church members probably spend more time in close proximity than they have in several months if not years of church life. A few cross-cultural pressures (and bouts of diarrhoea!) break down the walls and deeper relationships result. Quickly toilet tales and laughter – and the occasional tears – result in deep relationships being cultivated as we share in this rich experience.
Yet another good thing.
Next time we will consider some of the things that are not so good.
Go-fest
Finally, let me encourage you to register for Go-Fest, a leadership mission conference at Moorlands Bible College including a session by Mile Jarvis (Commission) for those arranging short term teams.