Short-Term Missions


A short-term mission team is a group of Christ-followers sent by a church or organization to a mission project, church, or other legitimate site. The purpose of a short-term mission team is to see ministry happen with the national leaders or missionaries, within the hearts of team members, and even back home in the sending church/organization. A short-term mission team also works as a catalyst for cross-cultural partnership, discipleship, and leadership development.

Gateway seeks to equip churches and organizations to do short-term mission well in the context of best practices and excellent missiology.

Goal of Short-Term Mission: Sister-Church Partnership

Short-term mission has been with us for at least thirty years, with millions of go-ers involved each year, yet one of its biggest ‘short’comings (pun intended) is contained in its name: short-term mission. One of the main characteristics of a missional lifestyle is the importance of relationships. To live out a missional life – at home, in your neighborhood, or in your community – is to live out a life of long-term, integral relationships.

Short-term mission, most often, is built around the idea of bringing a group of individuals to an international location with the hope of accomplishing a stated project in a relatively short amount of time and getting back home. By its very nature, short-term mission actually works against the missional lifestyle principle of building long-term, integral relationships. These mission experiences are built around projects first and foremost, with relationships, particularly long-term relationships, coming in a distant second. At Gateway, we seek to address this disparity in two types of trainings that we offer:

  • Sister-Church Partnership Orientation
  • ‘Best Practices’ Workshop for Short-Term Mission Leaders Training

 

Gateway Pathways

There are a variety of short-term mission pathways through Gateway:

YOU Lead / YOU Train
  • Prerequisite: Short-Term Missions Leadership Workshop ($15 training)
  • Cost: Free
  • Includes:
    • Use of online Project Management Software
    • Consultations
YOU Lead / NAB GATEWAY Trains
  • Prerequisite: Short-Term Missions Leadership Workshop ($15 training)
  • Cost: $750 for staff travel expenses to the Team Training Retreat for entire mission team
  • Includes:
    • On-site Team Training Retreat (2–3 days)
    • Team Member Manuals
    • Use of online Project Management Software
    • Consultations
NAB GATEWAY Leads / NAB GATEWAY Trains
  • Cost:
    • $750 for staff travel expenses to the Team Training Retreat for entire mission team
    • Mission trip expenses for NAB Gateway leader
    • NAB FUSE teams are one example of what this can look like
  • Includes:
    • Team leadership
    • On-site Team Training Retreat (2–3 days, just prior to mission trip departure)
    • Team Member Manuals
    • Use of online Project Management Software
    • Consultations