February 11, 2008

1.6 million believers now making overseas mission trip each year

ORLANDO, FLORIDA -- Gerry and Sylvia Powell, a 60s-something couple from Beattyville, Kentucky, have spent almost all their vacation time volunteering on trips to help missionaries. To date, they have been on more than 30 volunteer trips with Wycliffe Associates, and they aren't slowing down.

Instead of heading to a resort or a favorite vacation spot, the Powells have found the experience of working in places that don't have resorts, hotels and vacation destinations to be more purposeful and satisfying. Their objective is to help missionaries with some sort of a construction project, a calling that has been extremely joyous and rewarding.

They are not alone. A growing number of Americans are using their time off to help others. "Vacations with a Purpose," is a growing trend where families and individuals use their vacation time to go on missions trips around the world.

One estimate is that 1.6 million American Christians are contributing $6 million in labor annually as they travel to remote areas of the world on short-term mission trips. The catch phrase to describe this increasingly popular phenomenon -- "vacations with a purpose."

Wycliffe Associates (www.wycliffeassociates.org) is one of those organizations whose investment into short-term missions is growing. Devoting $10 million a year in recruiting, training and sending volunteers overseas to assist missionaries, the "vacation" of choice for 1,500 Wycliffe Associates volunteers is missions.

Wycliffe Associates was founded in 1967 to support and encourage Bible translators in tangible, practical ways. The ministry provides opportunities for volunteers to use their gifts and abilities in hands-on projects, meeting the real needs of Bible translators on the mission field.

"Part of our investment in short-term missions is the completion of our new Volunteer Mobilization Center, a 16,000-square-foot facility in Orlando that will be used to mobilize thousands of volunteers heading out on short-term missions," said Bruce Smith, president and chief executive officer of Wycliffe Associates. "Designed and built primarily by volunteers, the center will service a growing tide of American's seeking to use their free time more productively."

Roger Peterson, president of STEM International -- Short Term Evangelical Missions -- (www.stemintl.org), estimates that 50,000 churches in the United States are sending members out on mission trips each year.

As one example, White Memorial Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, had almost 200 members go on 15 foreign and domestic mission trips in 2007, according to Danita Morgan, director of missions. The foreign nations were Haiti, Northern Ireland, Poland, Russia and Mexico. Several White Memorial members took the mission trip to Mexico with their teenagers in lieu of the time-honored spring break trip.

Global Crossroad (www.globalcrossroad.com), a for-profit firm based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, arranges volunteer vacations in 34 countries. It is one of more than 3,000 nonprofit and commercial enterprises catering to travelers who are more interested in serving than being served.

Mission Maker Magazine (www.missionmakermagazine.org) with a circulation of 150,000, is another example of just how large this phenomenon is. It is a full-sized, full-color, multi-page magazine whose editorial and advertising serve North Americans interested in Christian missions throughout the world.

Back in 2005, David Bernstein of Satisfaction Magazine quoted Doug Cutchins, co-author of the book "Volunteer Vacations: Short-term Adventures That Will Benefit You and Others," as saying "this phenomenon continues to grow."

"It's gone on in small ways for a very long time," Cutchins said. But the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks brought on a surge of interest in this small, but growing segment of the travel industry, according to Cutchins.

The 2004 tsunami disaster that wrecked havoc on Thailand and Indonesia sparked even more attention to service-oriented tourism.