East Asia Trip 20112

Apply Here

WHY ARE WE GOING?

This mission trip is aimed at supporting the long-term goal of establishing Christian community among an unreached people group.

Sometimes the only part of East Asia we get a taste of is the Americanized Chinese food they sell in the food court. It’s hard for us to realize that there’s so much more to East Asia than what most people have experienced. The good news is that Hillside Missions Organization wants to take you on a trip to East Asia!  We will be going on a mission trip to support the long term goals already existing in the area.  The goal of these efforts is to establish a Christian community among the people.  There is a place for you in this effort.  You can get started by reading more about this trip, filling out an application, and by talking to our staff. An adventure awaits, and a legacy is yet to be made!

THE NITTY- GRITTY DETAILS:

Dates: Summer of 2012.  (Dates TBA)

Destination: East Asia

Cost: Approx. $2,500 per person

You can go to East Asia and make a difference!

COUNTRY INFORMATION:

Religions: Our destination in East Asia is officially atheist. There are as many as 1 billion Buddhists living in this area, and about 400 million (or 30%) of citizens are Taoists. There are also many religions called “folk religions.” It’s almost impossible to count the exact number of believers of these religions because many people identify themselves with one or more of these faiths.

WHAT WOULD THIS TRIP DO FOR YOU?

Short-term trips give us a new perspective about Christianity and what it means to love our neighbors. On the mission field we are able to recognize things about God, the world, and ourselves that we wouldn’t encounter elsewhere.

This trip will be an exciting and rewarding adventure for each participant. It has been our consistent experience as trip facilitators that these experiences often serve as catalysts for both re-energizing congregations and individuals.

This specific trip will give you the adventure and satisfaction of knowing that you have brought Christ’s love to unreached people as you!

• Invest yourself in meaningful ministry
• Meet and work closely with long-term missionaries living in the destination countries.
• Experience life and faith in a foreign culture
• Work in communities in need of aid, relief and care.
• Support a long-term goal of establishing and encouraging the establishment of Christian community/church in areas unreached by the gospel.

TYPE OF MINISTRY:

Gospel Storytelling: In many countries we travel to, it makes more sense to tell stories informally instead of organizing a big rally or church service like maybe we would in Richmond, VA. One of the reasons this works well is that many unreached people groups share their traditions orally instead of recording events and customs in books. Storytelling events are fun. On past trips we’ve told gospel stories on the floor in people’s houses, outside in remote villages, on cement basketball courts, around bonfires and other places. People are sometimes surprised by how non-stressful and downright fun it is to tell stories. Don’t think public speaking-think swapping tales while having marshmallow roasting competitions. We will hold at least one storytelling event in an unreached community with people who have little or no access to the gospel.

Missionary Encouragement: It is often times incredibly exhausting to live in a foreign country full time. As we partner with long term missionaries with their projects, we will have the chance to bless their ministry with our resources, time, and willingness to serve. Short term trips like this one can serve an important purpose in encouraging and supporting these long term workers. We will develop specific and intentional plans for our group to show the team in East Asia that they are appreciated and remembered.

Teaching English We will plan to spend days teaching English to high school age kids and students from a Christian seminary. Don’t worry if you don’t speak Mandarin. It’s okay. Seriously. We’ll spend some time during our training learning how to teach English. A lot of teaching doesn’t go on in a classroom setting like you’d think. Much of this ministry is done by simply conversing with the students. Learning a language takes practice with native speakers, and we are able to give this kind of practice to the students.

Relationship Building

There will be many occasions to build friendships, both within the team as a whole, and with people we meet on the trip.  A valuable part of this trip to East Asia will be the opportunity to engage in everyday life with the people of the host culture and “Rainbow” people (cooking with the women in their kitchens, hanging out in the rice fields with the men, etc.)

Logistics:

The team will meet together in Richmond Virginia at Hillside Mission’s office 2 days before the trip to take part in a “bootcamp” training session. We will travel together from the U.S. to East Asia, traveling by air until we reach our destination city. We will probably be taking a combination of planes, trains, busses, and taxies to get to the areas we will be going to. We’ll be hosted by full time workers and missionaries and bunk, eat, pray, laugh, cook, and live together for the duration of the trip. At some point, we’ll travel to a more remote area for a few days for the opportunity to minister to people with less access to the gospel.

The Next Step:

Apply now!