How to plan a women’s missions trip

In the spring of 2010 a women’s mission team from SecondBaptistChurch, Lancaster, S.C., arrived in Bolivia. The women from their partner Bolivian church were prepared to provide hospitality – like meals and evening snacks – for the American women.

But they weren’t prepared for the question their American guests asked: May we study the Bible with you?

“You could see the curiosity in their eyes: ‘You want to have Bible study with us?’ they were thinking,” said Kimberly Sowell, who led the missions trip.

Soon the curiosity turned into excitement as the Bolivian women realized they could lead similar Bible studies in their own communities.

It’s something Kimberly has seen over and over on women’s missions trips. When women from other cultures see American women sharing the Gospel, they realize they can do it, too.

“A little light bulb goes off in their minds,” Kimberly said. “They begin to realize, ‘I really could do that. Not just my husband or my brother, but I could do that.’”

Kimberly is director of missions mobilization and women’s ministry at her church. She regularly leads women’s missions trips and mentors other women to become trip leaders. The IMB asked Kimberly to give some advice to women interested in taking an all-women’s missions trip.

Let’s start from the beginning. Why should you take an all-women’s missions trip?

The atmosphere that’s created is entirely different than with a mixed gender group. Spiritually, there’s a different level of unity among the women as they’re preparing to go because there is no gender barrier. When it’s an all female team, every detail needs to be handled by a woman. It frees women up to do things some of them would not be willing to do otherwise.

Once you’re on the field, women have less pressure and the bonding is rich.

How have you seen God use all-women’s teams?

In many places, women are second class in society and, unfortunately, sometimes also second class in the church. It has been incredible for women in Africa, India and South America to see that a church in the United States commissioned women to go share the Gospel and to teach the Word of God gracefully, humbly and in a way that doesn’t make them lose their female identity. They realize that Christ loves, calls and equips women. It’s a great opportunity for men to esteem what God can do through women, and it’s a tremendous encouragement to the local women to see that we’ve gone all that way to minister to them. As a result, they’ll do things for the kingdom that they hadn’t done before.

How do you decide where to go?

First, call your pastor. Get his blessing and encouragement. Then go from there. If your church has partnerships with missionaries overseas, that’s a natural place to start. Otherwise, be in touch with the IMB. Look at their volunteer listings online, but if you don’t see something that works for you, call the IMB and see what other possibilities exist.

How does a leader assemble a missions team?

As a leader, you can do the cattle call message. Here in South Carolina we call that “Y’all come.” There’s a time and a place for that, like in situations where you can take a large team of women.

Sometimes, though, a missionary can’t take a large team for security or logistical reasons. In those cases, just pray about who should go. Come to God with no agenda, with a blank piece of paper in your hand. Once God leads you to certain women, go to each woman and say, “God is calling me to talk with you about this trip. Would you pray about it?”

I know mentoring is very important to you. How do you mentor other women to lead teams?

As you’re gathering your team, be intentional that you are going to duplicate yourself. Make your agenda to glorify the Lord on the mission field, to invest in your team so they’ll be transformed, and to invest in one or two people on the team so they can step up and be prepared to lead a team after they return.

How should a women’s team prepare?

Any team should go through training so they can be in tune with the Holy Spirit together. That’s important for any team. With so many different personalities, there’s potential for good but also for conflict. IMB Basic Training is a great one to use.

What advice do you have for men who are staying home while the women in their lives are going on a women’s missions trip?

For both men who stay behind and women who go, a women’s missions trip creates a new opportunity to walk by faith. Husbands often ask questions like, Who will lead? How will you get to the airport? How will you handle yourselves in difficult, unexpected situations? I encourage men to remember that if the Lord is calling us to do this, He has His hand on us, and He’s going to be our keeper.

How do women deal with homesickness?

I make sure that women can communicate with family when they arrive at the missions location so their families aren’t worried. Then if they want to, they can call again halfway through the trip. However, beyond that I really encourage women to try to emotionally detach from their families for the week. You can’t be focused on what God has called you to do if you’re just thinking about calling your family each night.

Culturally, what do American women need to be sensitive to when they’re overseas?

As American women, we have a tendency to be very unsettling in other cultures because we look people in the eye naturally, and we don’t shrink to the back of the room but stand right next to the man in charge. To reflect Christ in other cultures where women don’t have that luxury, we need to “be all things to all people so that we might by all means reach some.” In other words, we need to be culturally sensitive to gender roles in other countries. We’re not there to liberate women; if that’s what we go for, we may accomplish that agenda, but we won’t do anything for the kingdom of God.

How do women understand cultural sensitivities in countries they’re visiting?

You can research ahead of time online, but your missionary is your best resource. Ask the missionaries you’re partnering with before you go; they’ll help you know how to be respectful of the culture.

How can women stay spiritually focused during the trip?

Make sure you are spiritually preparing yourself every morning to be the hands and feet of Christ and to have eyes to see what He is showing you. Every evening, make sure that you are spending time as a team talking about how you are seeing the hand of God working.

Do you have any favorite resources for trip preparation?

  • Devotionals written by your team – Choose several topics important for your team to study before your trip (for example, love, power, hope and fear). Then assign each team member a topic. Ask each team member to find Scriptures and to write a prayer for her topic. Then compile all the team members’ topics and use them as devotionals for the last week or two before the trip. Team members also can share those devotionals with prayer partners who will be praying for them before, during and after the trip.
  • Impact YourWorld- Basic Training for Mission Teams – six-session resource from IMB that prepares teams spiritually, physically, logistically and culturally
  • Equipped for Adventure: A Practical Guideto Short-Term Mission Trips by Scott Kirby