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Christianity Today, February, 2008 |

Missions Boot Camp

As these teens prepare for short-term trips, they learn more about how to talk about Jesus.

Amy Green | posted 2/15/2008 07:26AM

Jamaal Simmons went to Zambia to wash the feet of AIDS orphans. For nearly a month he slept in tents and bathed out of buckets. It was a humbling experience for the 19-year-old, but the hardships of Zambia ...

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Kim Marshall

Posted: February 21, 2008 2:11 PM

Thank for the article covering TMI. I'm a former team member from the Malente, Germany team 1983. Both of my sons have gone with TMI. My oldest Wood went on the first foot washing team to Zambia in 2005 & the he went to Wales in 2007. My youngest son Josh went to Tanzania & Mozambique in 2006 & is going to Samoa this up coming summer. All of us have been deeply touch by TMI & my oldest is now planning to be a Missionary where ever God will lead him. He is hoping it is Africa, because he left part of his heart with the AIDS orphans. Thanks for the article. Anyone reading this, please share it with a teen. TMI is an awesome life changing expericence!!!!!!!!!!!! I am grateful for Bob & Bernie Bland's answering the call to start TMI.

Richard

Posted: February 17, 2008 1:53 PM


As a 12 year old, My daughter went with TMI in 2001 on a trip that stayed within the United States. They evangelized at state fairs. My daughter came back with stories of how the group faced persecution while sharing the Gospel. Sometimes they were spit at and things like that. She said, "We were persecuted for Christ. Isn't that cool?"

H. D. Schmidt

Posted: February 16, 2008 6:52 AM

Is this not really why God allowed America to be "invented" for other than what is going on right now with America, where the most inhumane and horrendous war machinery ever put together is that of America, and with a Christian President whose hero is Jesus, shooting parts of the world to pieces for really no other reason than material gain? Yes, in reality this war making satanic thing, is actually one of the greatest hindrance world wide for the Gospel to be taken to all the world, as ordained by Jesus himself while on his earthly ministry. Yes, the Founding Fathers would be greatly saddened were they to wake. From George Washington: It should be the highest ambition of every American to extend his views beyond himself, and to bear in mind that his conduct will not only affect himself, his country, and his immediate posterity; but that its influence may be co-extensive with the world, and stamp political happiness or misery on ages yet unborn! Yes, my hats off to this Godly ministry!

Ronald M. Tolls, MD, General Surgeon

Posted: February 15, 2008 9:35 PM

I survived six years as a career missionary in the Congo and at least a dozen short term mission trips. My opinion of short term missions? - They can be of some help if the group goes with the goal of supporting the existing work, both missionary and national, realizing the inherent limitations in projecting 20th century care to third world. - The worst thing the short termers can do is fail to support the existing work, i.e. a sense that those who are there 365 days a year are second class. - Too often I have arrived after considerable expense and time away from family and practice to find that somehow know one on the field seemed to know we were coming! No patients. Frustration. Little accomplished. Surely with the internet this should never happen. - There is a tendency for short termers to want to do as many procedures as possible, their focusing being on numbers and doing procedures that greatly exceed the capabilities of small mission hospitals. Itinerant surgery !!!

Al	Posted: February 15, 2008 7:09 PM

I have been on both sides of the short-term missions agenda. We received short term groups in the country where we ministered for 14 years and we have been envolved in sending short term groups from churches where we have ministered for 30 years. The key is specific training that involves nationals from the country where the group is going to serve and situations that are as real as they are going to face in the experience. A pre-evaluation of each participant needs to be made by more than one person and a post evaluation period with the whole group together for several days either in the area where they ministered or in a similar spot as where they had the prior training. The local U.S. churches that send the young people must be totally envolved both in the evaluation, training and the follow-up of each person in the group.

Sarah-Kate

Posted: February 15, 2008 6:42 PM


TMI is LIFE-CHANGING!!!! Thanks for covering it! -- Sarah-Kate Pre-teen Venezuela '93 Indonesia Boot Camp '96

Chris Willeke

Posted: February 15, 2008 2:44 PM

As a former leader for the 1990 trip to Australia, I was particularly delighted to find this article online and reminesce about my first international mission trip. What a blessing it was to lead a group of students and what a transformation that took place in their lives! Yes it is a challenge to the basic worldview of the modern youth, but one that is vital in order to prepare the team for the challenges that they will face. This is why teams have multiple male and female leaders to help the students make the leap from their provincial worldview to a more international worldview where people simply don't think the same, believe the same, or even live in the same way. Seventeen years later, I am delighted to see that Teen Missions has remained faithful to it's mission--to harnace and mobilize today's Christian Youth. If only Russia, where I live with my family and work, had something similar.

Rosemary

Posted: February 15, 2008 1:14 PM

Over 20 years ago my son went to Honduras with TMI. That was a challenging, but very positive experience. We briefly checked out the boot camp when we left him there. He had good adult team leadership and coordination with the ministry they served. His second TMI trip to Peru was not as good. The adult leader left during boot camp, many campers became ill and there was poor commun-ication with the Peru missionary. Parents and family members should strongly support their teens in PRAYER before, during and after a short term mission. The boot camp of TMI is vital to success at the places where the teams go. So is faithful adult leadership to mentor and guide the youth. Thanks for highlighting a long standing ministry and the need for pre-field cultural readiness and debriefing at the end to help teens recognize God's work in their own lives as they learn to serve others.

Chris Jones

Posted: February 15, 2008 10:35 AM

As a former TMI member..I am shocked, that this is the first time TMI has been covered by CT. I am grateful though for it's exposure now. It was a life transforming experience for me and almost everyone I know that has gone there. I have seen a deeper love of Christ there in the leaders and members than many places since. If anyone reading this has teens, talk to them and see if this is something they would do. It is worth it.

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