By Elizabeth Barnard
When we take time and plan for a mission trip, we are typically thinking about and planning for the people we are going to serve—and that’s great. Another very valuable aspect of the mission trip is the friendships formed and relationships deepened within your own team.
Likely these will be friends, family members, or people from your church or school, so the relationships built can typically continue far after the trip is over. Taking time to know your team and invest in relationships prior to coming to Belize is critical.
The Importance of Sharing Stories
You can lay the groundwork for great team relationships at your initial team meetings. This will allow you to invest in one another as you pray, plan, and prepare for missions. It will also act as a resource for you when you are struggling, have questions, or just need a shoulder to lean on.
The Thirst Missions team took some time during our staff training this past week to intentionally meet and get to know our new members. We are super excited about the growth of our team this year and can’t wait to see God work in and through them. Taking time to get to know each other created a natural desire to pray for each other that has continued after training.
We can now encourage each other because we know each other’s stories. Through learning about one another you not only find out what people’s strengths are but how to help when others are weak.
Our God is a relational God. He wants a consistent relationship with us and He desires that we be in relationship with those around us.
Know Your Team Better
If we as trip leaders are intentionally relational our teams will reflect that. It’s natural to have certain people who are easy to connect with on the team, and if we don’t make a specific effort we’ll likely spent a large percentage of our time only with them.
Part of what we need to model for others (and then insist on in our team) is spending time intentionally getting to know those people you don’t currently know.
Sit With a New Person Each Time
Insist that each person sit with someone new at each meeting. You may even want to shuffle the seating order halfway through the meeting at times. You could also strongly suggest that people vary who they work with during fundraisers before the trip.
Ask Questions
Here’s a great list of questions that starts with some basics and works its way up to more “real life” territory. Highly recommended!
- What’s your name?
- Where do you live? Did you grow up there?
- Tell me about your family.
- How do you spend your time? Are you working or in school?
- Do you like to travel?
- Do you like to play sports, or what hobbies do you have?
- Tie into a previous question, ask about ideas to improve on things at work, in family, or perhaps in a hobby.
- What are your current problems/frustrations/challenges?
- What are your goals over the next few years?
- Can I pray for you about those?
Seriously, memorize this list. Being able to jump around in these ten questions can further just about any conversation. You don’t have to talk about all ten of these questions, and you certainly don’t have to go in order, but these will serve you well.
By conversing with one another you will be tuned into what’s going on in your team members’ lives. Are they planning for college and dealing with the application processes, or are they just ready for a fun summer? Is work stressing them out and Belize is their getaway?
Build on what you learn while you are meeting as a team. That will give you a great foundation when you come to Belize and see God working in each individual on your team.
Elizabeth Barnard is a missions consultant and trip leader at Thirst Missions. Author of Go Away Closer. Get ready for her to ask you all ten questions if she is leading your trip this summer!
