You’re back from the mission trip and after all the shared stories and pictures and some intentional debrief, you soon slide back into the busyness of life.
Over time, you resign yourself to the lie that only on mission trips do amazing things happen and you, like many others, start living mission trip to mission trip.
The liminal experience of being outside of your comfort zone and growing tremendously during your trip is all but forgotten and the rich soil of community that was cultivated among the team members on the trip has quickly dried up due to the scorching demands of the day once you return.
As the days turn into months, you talk less and less to the team members that had become like family. When you do run into each other, an exchange of memories and smiles occurs, but deep down you long that God was still doing amazing things through each of you, “like God did on that trip.” Over time, you resign yourself to the lie that only on mission trips do amazing things happen
and you, like many others, start living mission trip to mission trip.
It doesn’t have to be like this. There’s more than just living mission trip to mission trip.
So, how do you transition from just going on mission trips to ongoing missional living?
By leveraging social media we can help students go from a one-time mission trip to a multiplying movement of missional living.
In this article I will outline necessary goals that can be taken after a mission trip to ensure ongoing transformation in the lives of your team, but more importantly, the continuation of the work that God has started in and through them.
With a proper theological and sociological mindset, social media can help you and your ministry accomplish these goals:
1. Enable the team to remember their story
2. Gather the team around their mission
3. Provide a sea of communication
4. Facilitate ongoing and collaborative learning
5. Invite people to join what God is doing in and through the team
Though technology and social media is always evolving, today Facebook is the most popular social networking site among teens. For that reason, the practical applications within this article all occur within a Facebook Group.