Source: The Upstream Collective
Listen: How to Make the Most of Your Short-Term Mission Trip, by Larry McCrary, Melissa Fu, Caleb Crider, Debbie Stephens, and Nathan Sloan. The Upstream Collective, 2021. 131 pages.
What would it look like to approach every aspect of a short-term mission experience as a listener? This workbook is designed to help mission trip participants focus their listening on what the scriptures and the Holy Spirit have to say to them about the mission trip and what God desires for it.
It is also designed to help readers learn to listen to teammates, church leadership, and on-the-ground ministry partners. The authors propose ways to engage in listening before, during, and after a mission trip. Included are tips for learning language and culture, understanding worldview, asking questions, telling stories, debriefing, reporting back, and more, with lots of space for writing your own notes along the way.
While listening may seem simple enough, it may be challenging for those of us accustomed to a more task-oriented approach. Making this shift, though, can make a huge difference for a mission team as well as those who send and host them.
Get the paperback from Amazon or elsewhere for US$9.99. If you find this book helpful, you will probably want one for each member of your team.
See also Tradecraft: For the Church on Mission and First 30 Daze: Practical Encouragement for Living Abroad Intentionally. These books and others are also available through the Upstream store.
