The Benefits of Short-Term Missions

When Kim Hall’s most recent team visited Honduras, Allen had the opportunity to speak to a couple of the women who were interested in getting churches and other groups in their areas to fill backpacks with school supplies. Those women may have gotten more than they bargained for! Asking Allen for details on how to fill backpacks is like asking Bob Ross how to paint happy little trees. It’s just in his nature.

Bunches of Backpacks

That’s why, when we last spoke, Trish was about to send out bunches of backpacks to the women’s hometowns in Colorado and Western Pennsylvania. 506 backpacks for each location, to be exact! She was also sending out 506 backpacks to a church in Kansas, who recently sent a visiting team.

Boxes of empty backpacks
delivered to Western Pennsylvania

There are differing schools of thought and much ongoing discussion about whether or not short-term mission teams are a good idea. You’ve probably already heard both sides of the debate, so there’s no need to rehash that. But those backpacks going out to be filled by churches and other organizations represent 1518 reasons the Sowers see short-term mission teams as a good idea!

Anyone who has ever scrolled through some pages of this blog already knows about the opportunity to fill backpacks with school supplies and have them shipped to Honduras. People already know those backpacks represent the opportunity for children to show up at school equipped with the necessary materials for learning. However, there’s something about getting personally involved during a mission trip to motivate people to take the next step.

The Bigger Picture

Collection of filled backpacks
at Edgewater Alliance Church in Florida!

Trish said, “We definitely think short-term teams are one part of the bigger missions’ strategy. They should never replace long-term workers (both native and foreign), but they help complete the bigger picture.”

Notebooks, to be used to
fill backpacks, collect
in Pennsylvania

That “bigger picture” has been all over my Facebook feed lately. Folks like Michelle Spanos, Megan Prence, and Jim & Denise Cofer are in the middle of receiving and storing the supplies, which will eventually be loaded onto shipping containers and make their way to Honduras. It’s exciting stuff!

Don’t miss out on a chance to be a part this. It’s like being a happy little tree in the big picture of missions.



- posted by Christi