As your children get older and they want to put their faith into practice, we’ve found that going on a short term missions trip is timely. The entire process of deciding to go, attending preparatory meetings, borrowing/gathering/purchasing the necessary items to go, writing/sending letters to potential prayer partners and those who would give financially, packing, then going promotes maturing. Furthermore, actually getting away from the daily responsibilities and “all that clamors for a young person’s attention eg. phone, computer, internet, xanga, etc.” allows the student to focus on putting others first. Jesus poured Himself out for His people. He suffered the punishment that we deserved.
When a young person goes to a different part of the USA or into another country to be a witness, great things can/do/will happen. Being exposed to others who are different, or poorer, or who speak another language is life changing. A resource that we have found very useful in our children’s lives is a book called Operation World by Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk. “When man works, man works; when man prays, God works.” This is a quote on page Xiii fo the book. It was Hans von Staden, the man God used to name Operation World, who often quoted those words. This manual is a catalyst for prayer as dozens of countries are described. This is definitely worth having. And there is a children’s version, too, for the younger students.