Ouachita Stories

CM is taking teams to California for Spring Break and to Poland for a couple weeks in May! We'd love to have you join one of our teams, but we know that people have a lot of questions before they sign up.

One of the questions we get a lot is: “What are y’all doing on this mission trip?”

Well, for our upcoming trips to California and Poland, we like to tell people that these are primarily relational mission trips. They’re not project-based (like painting a house) or event-based (like a VBS), but they are focused on you getting to know people, listen to them, and share the gospel. This can make it harder to define, and sometimes makes our work feel less “tangible” because there’s not a thing or an event to take a picture of. But we believe that these trips are also more like what long-term mission is—building relationships and talking to people about Jesus.

We will have some projects and events, but mostly we do whatever our ministry partners ask. In California, that’s a ministry called Voice of Refugees. In Poland, that’s the IMB missionaries and Polish church planters.

Second, many people want to go on a trip, but are concerned about money.

If that's you, you're not alone. Two common things  often keep students from a mission trip are money and safety concerns (especially if it’s an international trip).

On the money side, here are some tips to help you knock down this potential barrier.

1. Realize that there are resources out there beyond your bank account. God can and does provide every year to help students on trips. Usually that’s a combination of CM scholarships and fundraising, with a little extra work and savings on the student or family part. Every year we have some students fundraise their full amount. And in 10+ years, we’ve never let money alone keep a student from going on a trip.

2. Be realistic about fundraising. Yes, it can be awkward, but it doesn’t have to be. CM staff can walk you through the process, deciding how fundraising can work for you and your family. We provide the materials for you to send mail outs to family, friends and churches. And we have a free pamphlet on “5 Keys to Personal Fundraising” we’d be happy to give you if you stop by the CM office.

3. Don’t let money be the thing that keeps you from what God is calling you to do. If you’ve prayed about a trip, and been encouraged by the important people in your life to go, then don’t let money stop you. There are people out there who can’t go on trips, but they’d love to support God’s mission financially.

Applications for our Poland and California trips are due Nov 2. But if you’re thinking about them and just need more time, talk to CM staff.