one of the most frustrating things about short-term missions is how quickly a person forgets what they experienced. for a pastor or team leader, sometimes you wonder why you even went...nobody from your short-term team was changed for the long-term.
a good friend of mine and the former director of this network eldon wright told me once that a good STM team leader plans a trip with the "now that you're back home" part in place first. ask: "why are we going? what do we want to do with this once we're back?" if you don't do anything @ home with what you xp'd on the field, you wasted your money and you should have just gone to a resort!
i've come across some great STM curriculum that offers practical tools to enable leaders to plan, conduct and FOLLOW-THROUGH with short-term missions trips for long-term impact. it is called "The Next Mile", and you can check out their web site at www.thenextmile.org. if you decide to order the leader and goer kits, use code SMS01 when you order. they'll know you're a canuck then and they'll send it with extra special mail detail.
think about the end before you start. it might change everything in the long run...including the people who went!
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