What Is the Purpose of Out of State Mission Trips?

M. S,

I don't have a good answer for you either. These things have gone on for a long time. Back when I was in college we did the "mission trips." It didn't occur to my young mind that it seemed odd to travel to Seattle or wherever else to do what I could and should do in my own backyard. Perhaps the trip put some type of "focus" on what should happen everyday? You don't have to contribute though. Especially in financially trying times. You can offer to pray for your former babysitter and also mention that you hope she has success at "home" with these endeavors. Enthusiasm in faith is a good thing even though everyone doesn't always understand or agree. Perhaps sister churches in different states are reaching out to each other and one will help the other. Maybe the outside help with ignite some sort of passion that does not typically exist like a revival. Sort of like when you have a family reunion there is more enthusiasm for family than other days of the year. Who knows.

You know, that is a good question and I can't find a reason to disagree with anything that you said. I can understand going to underdeveloped countries but traveling from one state to another seems like a waste of money. We should take care of our own cities and states. There are plenty of churches in Los Angeles that could do the same.

i dont really have any advice but i do agree with you!

Without sounding too "spiritual", as a follower of Christ,
His word tells us in Acts 1:8 to be witnesses in Judea [local] Samaria[national] and unto the uttermost part of the earth[international] Having had the joy of doing all three in my life,I have been blessed and hope was a blessing to all cities, states and countries where I felt God would have me go and both speak and sing.
It is sad, but many local churches do not have a vision to
help those at their door step.They are too busy building
bigger and better buildings.

My son went on a youth trip last year to Utah. No, we are not mormon, we are lutheran. The kids worked on houses that needed new roofs, painted etc. The folks were elderly or disabled. They signed up through their churches and got on the list. There were several churches in the country that participated in this event. The year before, they went to Alabama and Mississippi to help with hurricane homes. I think this is to get the kids out of their comfort zones and to help people all over the United States. Our church has also done youth trips in our state of Texas. Our kids do NOT fly. They take church buses and sleep in the churches in the area. This is not a vacation for them! But the rewards they come home with are beyond measure. My son really enjoys these trips and we raise all the money with fundraisers.

Heck, I don't even go to church, but I bet I can come up with some reasons for trips like this.
- Immersion. Gets people away from conflicting local
influences. You're surrounded by a team with a stated
mission and supervised activities for a period of time.
Fewer distractions, more ability to discuss what happened
and retain behavior and beliefs in months and years to
come.
- Bonding. Encourages bonding as part of a group.
You become a member of a team, and take its memes on
as your own. You know what happens in Army boot
camp? This is a lot less rough, but odds are, it's
developed with some of the same goals of building
fellowship, team, beliefs, unity of purpose, etc.
- Culture. Even if it's just Houston to Seattle or
Los Angeles or Philadelphia or Albany -- travel has
benefit. I can guarantee you that the culture -- and
sights -- are a lot different in most parts of the
country than "home". The people who go on these
missions will have the chance to get exposed to some
different things even in the same country. How much
is that worth? I don't know... but certainly it's
worth something.
- Focus. Sure, they could do the door-knocking,
homeless-feeding, shelter-building in their own
communities. But do they in practice? It's hard
to get most teens to devote a day to something
like this... but here's a chance to get them to
spend a week on not just socially acceptable, but
possibly socially beneficial things, while they
learn a bunch and get all the 'benefits' listed
above. Isn't that worth something?
- Peer pressure. The Bible says that "A prophet is
without honor only in his hometown." And, until you
have a real fire in your belly, it's also *hardest*
to be a prophet (or missionary) in your home town.
Shoot, I can easily get up the courage to make a fool
of myself going to preach to folks I won't ever see
again... but... if my friends from school might see
me? Yikes! And the people you meet in that new town
will also be more likely to listen to you because
you traveled a thousand miles to see them.
- Program. From the church's point of view, this
kind of thing is part of a program that they market
to potential and actual members -- "Look at all the
cool things we do!" And maybe it's a benefit to
the mission leaders that they get to get out of town
for a while every year, too -- although my guess is
that many of them come back with a lot less hair (or
a lot more gray!) than they left with.

Now, I don't know if you should give her money or
not, but I hope this helps you understand why the
programs exist. If you still don't think that the
church should be sending people off to Timbuktu for
missions, then I encourage you to get with the
leadership of your church and let them know.