I’m headed home from another mission trip, thinking back to the times we took our own family mission trips. Our kids were 5-10 years old at the time, as we traveled deep into the mountains of Mexico. If you ask my kids, they would tell you those trips were some of the best we took.
Why did the Becks took their Kids on Family Mission Trips?
1. Serve God
When I first started this blog post, I completely missed this reason. However, it was the #1 reason we went on mission trips. We wanted to serve God where he was leading Steve & me. We wanted to share the GREAT news of Jesus Christ saving us from our sins. We wanted to encourage other believers in their walk with God.
Although this may seem like a reason that Steve & I took mission trips, it was really the most important reason we took our kids on family mission trips. We wanted our kids to practice serving God, even at a young age. If they serve God alongside us (their parents), hopefully that would set a pattern for their adult lives.
2. Give Appreciation & Thanksgiving for God’s Blessings
In the United States, we have so many material “things” that our kids take for granted. When they travel to a third world country, they see a different side of the world. Their homes are small, often one or two rooms. Many homes have dirt floors. Even though families may keep the inside of their home clean, streets are littered with trash.
Kids do not have the latest toy or even the latest phone. They do not have disposable income to buy whatever they want. Families in these areas appreciate the little they have. They can teach our kids to appreciate what they have, as well.
3. Exposure to Different Cultures
Mission trips allow your family to discover how other cultures live. Before you leave take some time to learn about the history & culture of the country you’ll be visiting. Once you are there, talk to your kids about what you see.
4. Relationships are More Important than Things
When we visited Mexico, we saw people who value people more than stuff. Of course, they didn’t have as many things as we did. But their culture values relationships, just like God does. There are two things that will last for eternity: God’s Word and the souls of men.
These people spend time together. They help others in need. They know what’s going on in their neighbors’ lives. What a great lesson for our kids to learn.
5. Give Opportunities to Serve Others
Even though our kids were young, they had plenty of opportunities to serve. Hunter was 5 years old and helped paint walls. Ashley & Gentry were 8 & 10 years old; they helped prepare materials for VBS. All three of them played soccer or baseball with the kids in the village to encourage them to come to VBS. Once VBS started, the college kids taught the Bible story and memory verse while our kids helped lead songs, hold up Bible story props or help with crafts.
As you may already know, Steve & I work with Shelter the Homeless International Project now. We go down to El Salvador several times a year to work with an orphanage and poor community. Our kids have joined us on several of these trips, so it’s exciting to see our kids as adults continuing their service to God in missions.
Help International Missions
On July 9th of this year, SHIP is hosting their first teen girls retreat. We are flying in Carmen Maxwell who experienced many of the situations our El Salvadoran teens have experienced. If you can’t take your kids on a family mission trip right now, you can still involve them in missions. Here are a few ways you can partner with SHIP and build relationships with one of the scholarship students.
- Pray for one of our student. Click here to see a list of our students.
- Sponsor one of our students…& be a penpal with that student. Here’s where you can choose your penpal student.
- Sponsor our teen girls retreat. Even $25 would help send our 18 teen girls to the retreat.
To donate to our Teen Girls Retreat, click here. Include a note saying your donation is for the Retreat.
To read more about our girls retreat, click here.
Question: How do you involve your kids in missions? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
