Today’s Message from Jason Pfingsten, Founder & CEO of Thirst Missions
Many of life’s most formative lessons come from people who have already traveled the path ahead of us. For much of history, and still in many parts of the world today, it has been normal for three and even four generations to share one home. Grandparents, parents, children, and grandchildren live side by side, sharing meals, responsibilities, stories, and the rhythms of daily life.
I experienced a glimpse of that when I was 11. For an entire school year, my family moved in with my grandparents and my great-grandmother while my dad attended graduate school. In hindsight, that season was a remarkable gift. I learned through relationships, conversations, everyday moments, and the steady wisdom that older generations carry.
At the same time, I believe my grandparents and great-grandmother were encouraged by the presence, energy, and life that younger generations brought into their home.
In many ways, it was a win-win, and it captures what mentorship is meant to look like.
As you plan a mission trip, whether for a youth group, a school or university team, or an adult mission team, I want to encourage you to think deliberately about who is coming with you as mentors. I’m not talking about chaperones, but in addition, intentional mentors.
Effective mentors are not limited to pastors, professional counselors, or people with decades of mission trip experience. What matters most is simpler and more foundational: someone who loves Jesus, genuinely cares about people, is willing to invest in others, and has life experience that others will respect and learn from.
Faith: Supporting spiritual growth by asking meaningful questions, praying with participants, and sharing what God has taught them.
Life experience: Providing perspective, wisdom, and encouragement when life gets tough.
Hard work and teamwork: Modeling a servant’s heart, stepping into projects, and demonstrating how to work together.
Travel experience: Helping the team navigate airports, unfamiliar places, cultural differences, and unexpected changed.
Practical support: Assisting with driving, ministry activities, and serving as a steady, dependable adult presence.
Lasting relationships: Building connections that often continue well beyond the mission trip.
Often, the conversations that shape a mission trip most are not scheduled moments. They happen while painting a wall, washing dishes, riding in a van, or sitting together after a long day of ministry.
It is also important to remember that mentorship benefits everyone. Older generations bring insight and lived wisdom. Younger generations contribute enthusiasm, fresh perspective, energy, and a contagious excitement for serving Christ. Both groups are strengthened, encouraged, and both return home changed.
Before beginning His public ministry at approximately age 30, Jesus spent years growing within a family and community. Scripture summarizes that season clearly. “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” –Luke 2:52 (ESV)
When His public ministry began and Jesus gathered his disciples, He did not teach them from a distance. Instead, He lived alongside them. He traveled with them, ate with them, served with them, corrected and encouraged them, and prepared them to lead.
In doing so, Jesus modeled discipleship rooted in intentional relationships.
Your mission trip creates a meaningful opportunity to pursue that same kind of growth together.
Here is my challenge for you this week: Identify two people in your church, school, or community who would be exceptional mentors for your mission team.
It might be a retired teacher, a grandparent, a business owner, a longtime church member, or someone whose faith you have quietly admired for years.
Invite each of them to coffee. Tell them why you thought of them specifically. Make it clear that you are not simply trying to fill two open spots. You are inviting them to join yoru team as mentors, with a role that includes encouraging and supporting participants, sharing wisdom, modeling Christlike service, and investing in relationships.
And who knows? The invitiation may be as meaningful for them as it is for your team. Do not underestimate what a personal invitation can do.
1. Start Looking at Flights with Worldhopper Ministry Travel!
If your team will be flying, now is an ideal time to connect with our travel partner, Worldhopper Ministry Travel. In general, the best window for booking group airfare is 6-9 months before departure. Beginning early typically provides more options for competitive pricing and stronger flight schedules.
Worldhopper specializes in group travel and can help you research flights, compare options, and coordiante your team’s arrangements. They can also support you if flight changes or travel complications come up.
Action: Reach out to WorldHopper MInistry Travel and have them begin researching your group’s flights.
[Contact Worldhopper Ministry Travel]
2. Schedule a Meeting with Your Mission Consultant!
Your Thirst Missions consultant is your primary point of contact throughout the
planning process. They know your location, understand your mission trip, and are
committed to helping you prepare for an excellent ministry experience.
If you have questions about lodging, ministry opportunities, schedules, payments, transportation, or what to expect on the ground, your consultant is the right person to ask.
Action: If you haven’t already, schedule your next call or meeting with you mission trip consultant!
3. Explore Your Managed Missions Portal!
When was the last time you explored your team’s Managed Missions online portal? It includes a wide range of resouces designed to simplify your work as a group leader.
Inside, you will find:
– Trip update and change forms
– Promotional videos and flyers to support participant recruitment, as well as available mission trip upgrades and options
– Important mission trip details, resources, and planning information
– And much more!
Your portal is designed to keep your mission trip organized and moving forward.
Action: Set aside 15 minutes this week to log in, explore the resources, and see what tools are available to support your team.
As you prepare for your 2027 mission trip, remember that you are doing more than organizing travel and service projects. You are creating a space for people to grow in faith, serve others, build relationships, and discover how God can use their lives. Some of the relationships formed through this process may last for decades. A mission trip can be a multifaceted ministry opportunity for those who lead extraordinarily.
I still think about that year living with my grandparents and great-grandmother. At 11 years old, I could not have understood how much those ordinary moments would mean to be later.
Who might God be prompting you to invite into your team’s story?
Idenify those two mentors this week. Take them to coffee.
Identify them into soemthing meaningful.
We are excited to partner with you as you prepare to put your Faith in Action!
Serving Together,
Jason Pfingsten
Founder & CEO of Thirst Missions
