Samaritan's Purse Teams

Testimonials

Tweet Samaritan's Purse Mission Team participants share about their experiences and the impact of the trip on them, their church, and community.

Darren Rish of Lloydminster, Alberta
Trip Destination: Trinidad
When:  2006 

"Short term mission trips have definitely made an impact on our church. I've seen adults and young people come together on mission trips and really bond and begin to understand each other better and even become good friends as a result of working together shoulder-to-shoulder in difficult circumstances."

"I've watched as people's eyes were opened to the great physical and spiritual needs of others in places far from home, and I've seen peo

Life Lessons

“In a culture where so many of us have an internal focus, short term missions provide people with the opportunity to gain a greater world view. Short term missions enable people to realize the tremendous diversity of God’s creation and the need that such diversity offers."

-- Graham Beer, Leamington, Ontario.

(Graham Beer traveled to Nicaragua as part of a Samaritan's Purse Mission Team in 2004.) 

ple become much more involved in doing more to help as a result. I've also seen young people bond as a team to the extent that when they got home, they continued to work as a team in different areas of ministry within our own church.”

Pam Vokey of St. John’s, Newfoundland
Trip Destination: Kenya
When: 2006

“Going on a short-term mission is something everyone should experience. It's LIFE CHANGING. A group of 23 Newfoundlanders - used to cool temperatures, with lots of wind and rain - went to Chengoni, Kenya, a hot arid region. Life was very different in Chengoni. We had so much to learn. Although we had spent months preparing; learning about the language, culture and land, nothing prepared us for the love we felt for the people we met in Kenya. We spent time eating, talking and working together. We built relationships. Their burdens became our burdens; their struggles ours."

"We could not return home untouched by the Spirit-filled joy, love, and hope our Christian Kenyan brothers and sisters demonstrated. They had so little materially, and we have so much. They are so rich spiritually. But we, who have much materially, are often very poor spiritually."

"We left Kenya richly blessed by the people and their generosity. We left with a greater love and respect for the Kenyan people. And we left with a deep desire to give more of ourselves and our resources for the needs of the world."

Jason Fan of Calgary, Alberta
Trip Destination: Costa Rica
When: 2005

"Short-term mission trips give churches a clear focus and goal to gather around. It mobilizes and motivates groups to contribute in many different ways: with finances, time, resources, and skills. For our church, short-term mission trips have allowed us to partner with churches over a four to five year span, to focus on small components of growth, such as children's ministries, youth camps, and evangelistic meetings and outreaches.

“Trips have also allowed opportunity for very specific training among our own congregation, preparing and equipping them to minister, and at the same time, strengthening our own church body.” 

Dr. James Adams of Sherwood Park, Alberta
Trip Destination: Nicaragua
When: 2002

"The impact of short-term mission trips on the sending church:

"God blesses the church in meeting its regular budget and more. When we sent 101 men to Nicaragua in 2002 and raised around $312,000, we still met our regular budget without special appeals. God honors churches that sacrifice for His work."

"God draws the church together as they plan for the trip. The whole church gets involved in praying and preparing for the trip through fund-raising activities and getting children supplies together and sending them off. God also raises leaders for the trip who then return and are better leaders in the church."

"The level of worship rises when the group returns. One group that went to Nicaragua was told by the local people: "You have a lot of money and have a lot of stuff; but you have a small God. We have almost nothing; but we have a large God. We want to show you our large God." And when that group got back (to Canada), they knew God in a deeper way and wanted to worship deeper, taking the rest to that level."

"More short-term mission trips are wanted. When the first team gets back and tells of the ways God worked, that makes others want to go, too. The church develops a "world view" as a result of the missions trip instead of just a "local view."

"Prayer life in the church also increases. Because of the planning and the trip itself, prayer becomes more real. When the group returns and shares how powerful prayer was, prayer is deeper. It takes those on the trip to a deeper level of God and brings some to face God and accept Him for the first time. The team learns how to evangelize and brings back that style to use at home."

Laura Hartell of Black Diamond, Alberta
Trip Destination: Nicaragua
When: 2006

"The short term trips I've taken have increased my trust in God as my eyes have been opened to who He is, and to what He is doing and desiring to do in our midst today. Jesus Christ is still changing lives, and He's doing it through anyone just willing to step out in faith and obedience.

"Most recently, our church sent out its first team and I cannot describe the love that grew up among this very diverse group, or the spiritual growth we witnessed take place in each member. We experienced what it meant to be the body of Christ, and when we came home our congregation was able to see it as well."

Marinus Hus of Calgary, Alberta
Trip Destination: Nicaragua
When: 2007 

"The congregation is aware of the mission effort through announcements before and during the trip, and has the opportunity to re-live the mission trip through word and pictures at a presentation after we return. This nurtures the general mission focus within the congregation."

"The team is supported in a direct way by individuals that aren’t called to go and (who) remain behind. There are people who support us financially, directly to individuals or generally to the team. There are people who get involved by making or buying gifts for us to hand out in Nicaragua: a sewing group makes teddy bears, a lady at home makes school bags, people contribute school supplies, gifts for workers, clothes, etc. We have a large prayer support team that prays for prayer requests for individuals and for the team: monthly via emails before the trip and daily while we’re in Nicaragua."

"The people that actually go on the trip grow hugely in their personal lives through the hands-on experience of being a very real part of faith-in-action, of being Jesus' hands and feet in a tangible way. Because the team is formed largely of people from our own congregation, the bonds that start to form as we go through our team building meetings firm up as we do our work in Nicaragua, and then to varying degrees continue to build as we interface through our regular church life. The two weeks in Nicaragua become a strong base for getting to know each other and individuals remain close, providing encouragement, accountability, and a sense of being fellow travelers on a common Christian journey."

"As group coordinator, I am enormously blessed by spending my efforts on something that makes a difference in building Christ’s kingdom and making a meaningful difference in the lives of the individuals that go on the trip, and of course the people of Nicaragua that we are working with. My life is enriched by the new people I get to meet on all fronts as I go through the various tasks involved with coordinating a mission trip. It is indeed a privilege to be one of the people who is able to deliver the teddy bear, the food, the building materials on behalf of others who are giving but are not able to go themselves."

Ways You Can Help
Pray Please pray for all of the Samaritan’s Purse Teams that are at work around the world – for lasting relationships to be built and the Name of Jesus Christ to be glorified.		Give Your gifts support the work of Samaritan’s Purse and our teams around the world as we meet people’s needs. Donate Here.