The Effects of Student Mission Experiences
The lives of most teenagers are very focused on self and the opinions of their peers. Daily routines in the summer usually reflect material values, and summer jobs and hanging out with friends seem to revolve around entertainment. A mission trip breaks students away from what could be a completely self-absorbed summer. Foreign Mission Opportunities allow each participant to take a journey to the top of the “mountain” where the air is clean and where they can suddenly see for miles, figuratively and at times literally. Students quickly realize that they don't live their lives in isolation. There are people around the world who don't have the benefit of education, three square meals a day, a steady job, or even a loving home. Local Mission Opportunities allow them to see others that live in "their backyard" in a different light. Yet it often is not until students have those experiences away from their "backyard" before they begin to notice the places in whi...