A Pastor’s Prayer for a Short Term Mission Team

This month our church will send a team of 43 on a short term mission trip to Kenya. 15 will go one week, 16 will go the next week, and 12 will stay both weeks.

As a pastor, I’m excited and anxious about this trip. Excited about what God might go through and in a team like this on a trip like this. Anxious about the ease with which some people waste short term mission opportunities. So, in my excitement and in my anxiety, here is my prayer for our team:

I pray you would continue to prepare to share the gospel, not looking to share a bare bones gospel, but looking to share all of the good news …
I pray you would continue to prepare to share your testimony, and as you prepare you would remember that you’re not the hero of your story …
I pray you will be intentional about the opportunities you will have to share Jesus, redeeming the time, and coming home with no regrets …
I pray you will jump into the ministry that takes place, serving people and engaging people, not waiting for the Kenyan people to approach you …
I pray you will resist the temptation to spend too much time behind a camera, and instead focus on being present with the people you came to serve …
I pray you smile a lot on the trip, even when you are exhausted from traveling, and even when you know the locals are laughing at you …
I pray you have the decency to eat whatever food is put in front of you, as well as the stomach to handle what you eat …
I pray you are broken by the desperate poverty you experience, while also seeing that joy is in no way dependent on financial abundance …
I pray you feel the inadequacy of only doing missions through short term teams, feeling the weight of the unfinished work you will leave behind …
I pray you will see the importance of sacrificially giving money to send long term, career missionaries who plant their life on the field …
I pray you realize the preparation and boldness associated with a short term mission trip should mark your life here in America …
I pray the story of your trip and the enthusiasm you have for Kenya would inspire others to personalize the Great Commission and go …
I pray you experience the kingdom of God that transcends boundary and ethnicity, and I pray you would be more faithful in praying for the nations …