Going on a short-term missions trip can be a life- and faith-transforming experience. It can enrich the way we view the world. It can cause us to rely on God more fully. It's an opportunity to develop deep relationships with our team and the people we serve. A short-term missions experience can also involve weeks of physical and spiritual challenges. An unprepared team can wreak havoc on each other and the people they intend to serve. To get the most out of a missions trip, we need to go prepared. Whether we're going on our own or with a team, the keys to preparation are here in this workbook. In this ten-week course, you will find a concise summary of crosscultural principles help in facing spiritual warfare tips on avoiding a tourist mentality spiritual preparation through individual or group Bible study questions for individual reflection and group discussion This revised and expanded edition includes updated content throughout and new chapters on facing risks, fears, and suffering, and making the most of the trip after returning home. If you are planning to go on a short-term missions trip, don't leave home without working through this book!

ECPA Top Shelf Book Cover Award Can a one-time crosscultural experience truly be life-changing? Veteran trip leader and intercultural guide Cory Trenda says yes-if we let the trip launch a journey of integrating the experience into our ongoing life. In After the Trip Trenda provides a unique guide for individuals and teams to make the most of a crosscultural trip after returning home. Readers will find help with navigating the crucial reentry process, remembering and sharing key stories, interweaving new insights into everyday life, and engaging in continuing learning and service. Combining practical tips, reflections, and stories from Trenda's own decades of crosscultural travel, this is an essential resource for organizations, churches, schools, and all travelers who want crosscultural trips to be a catalyst for lasting good. The trip itself is just the beginning; real life change happens after the trip.

Racism. Immigration. Gun violence. Sexuality. Health care. The number of ethical issues that demand a response from Christians today is almost dizzying. How can Christians navigate such matters? What are faithful responses to these questions? Edited by two theologians with pastoral experience, this volume invites engagement with these issues and more by drawing on real-life experiences and offering a range of responses to some of the most challenging moral questions confronting the church today. With an unflinching yet irenic approach, this resource can help Christians as they seek to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

How is the church being affected by globalization? What does wider and more direct contact between the world religions mean for Christians? What is God doing in the midst of such change? This important volume explores the implications of today's emerging global society for local churches and Christian mission. Prominent scholars, missionaries, and analysts of world trends relate Christian theology and ethics to five clusters of issues-stewardship, prosperity, and justice; faith, learning, and family; the Spirit, wholeness, and health; Christ, the church, and other religions; and conflict, violence, and mission-issues that pastors and congregations will find critical as they think through the mission of the church in our time. Contributors: David Befus Susan Power Bratton Ronald Cole-Turner Tim A. Dearborn Ian T. Douglas Kosuke Koyama John Mbiti James H. Ottley Richard Osmer Scott R. Paeth Cecil M. Robeck Jr. Lamin Sanneh William Schweiker Donald W. Shriver Jr. Max L. Stackhouse Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen Allen Verhey John Witte Jr.