Mission Trip or Vacation?

If you go to Disney World, it is a vacation.  What about going to India for two weeks?  

There is a steady stream of groups heading out from churches in the USA on short term mission trips.  We are days away from heading out as a family on a mission trip.  So are mission trips really mission, or are they poverty tourism or some form of sanctified Christian vacation.  Few will say this out loud, but are mission trips an opportunity for; "all the vacation, none of the guilt"?

No.  I have been on many vacations and involved with many short term missions, and they are two different animals.  Yes, they are both travel, a change from normal life, but on many levels, they are opposites.

  Avoidance vs. Awareness

           Escape vs. Engagement

  Spending vs. Investing

Rejuvenation vs. Outpouring

 Getting vs. Giving

Vacation is a chance to escape "real" life, avoid problems (or e-mail), spend what you have earned on yourself, and hopefully find mental or physical rejuvenation.  Vacations are about getting, while a mission trip is about giving.  It is taking the focus off ourselves, and putting in on others; becoming aware of their challenges, engaging in their lives, investing in something much bigger than ourselves.  A mission trip is a chance to connect with what God is doing in the world.


It can get confusing.  By God's grace; when we give, we receive.  When we pour ourselves out for others, we often find rejuvenation.  When we invest in what truly matters, we receive what we don't deserve.  In teaching, helping and serving - we are taught, helped, and grow.  It isn't a vacation, but it is a very good thing.  A mission trip isn't a vacation, but it can be so good that people looking in from the outside might think it is even better - because sometimes it is.

On this trip we are holding onto our American tendencies a bit - there is vacation involved.  Which will leave a larger impression; touring the Taj Mahal or being introduced to the lives of the poor in Delhi?  Which will truly revive the soul; sharing with pastors persecuted by Hindu fanatics or spending two days touring London?  This is first and foremost a trip to serve God and further what He is doing in the world and in our lives.  I have little doubt which will leave a lasting, life changing, impression.


There are a billion people who don't think that India is a vacation, it is their life.  We look forward to being used by God in the daily lives of real people whom God loves dearly.  As we do so, we know we will be more blessed than any blessing we could possibly give.