Short Term Mission Trips
Our Short Term Mission Trips include Evangelistic English Language Camps, as well as family, discipleship, sports and specialty camps.
Learn more about our Short Term Mission Trips to find the one right for you
About Our Short Term Mission Trips
Adult Evangelistic English Language Camp
This camp is for adults over 19 years of age but is not a professional camp. There will be a mixture of adults from various occupations who will come to learn English as a second language. There is a great opportunity with this camp as these are people of greater maturity. This type of camp is ideal for a wide age range of team members coming from the North America. It also follows the regular EELC camp format and schedule.
Adult Professional English Language Camp
The Professional English Camp is for adults and focuses on professionals between the ages of 30 and 60. They have not had a chance to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. With the coming economic hard times ahead for this age group, they are more open to the Gospel now than ever before. They are searching for the meaning of their existence and life after death. We also wish to introduce them to the same Biblical vocabulary that their children have been exposed to through other missionary outreaches that they do not comprehend. We hope this will make a more harmonious home environment for everyone.
The professional camps will focus on teachers, business people and the medical profession. They have the most exposure to families in the community, and they want to improve their English speaking skills and learn more about their professions from North Americans.
Team members for the professional camps should have backgrounds in banking, construction, industrial, import/export, legal, manufacturing, retail, sales/marketing and service businesses. Medical teams would be made up of doctors and nurses with various practices and specialties.
The trips run approximately 14 days, with a 2-1/2 day training required over a weekend prior to the trip. International Messengers Canada does all the training required. All we ask is that team members be professionals, with a heart for relationship-based evangelism, have a vital relationship with Jesus Christ and can give a presentation in a workshop setting.
Youth Evangelistic English Language Camp
Youth camps are held for high school age students 15-19 years old. These camps are normally held with the support of a local church that wants to develop a youth ministry. This provides them with an “instant” youth group once the camp is finished. The challenge is in getting the church to find sponsors to develop relationships with the kids. The youth camps follow the same structure and format as the regular EELC.
Family Camps
Family Camps are a variation of the regular Evangelistic English Language Camp. This type of camp allows the European believers to invite unbelieving neighbors and friends with families to a camp setting where they can all work on their English and spend time with their families. This gives these European members a chance to share the Gospel in a comfortable, relaxed setting and also provides them time to interact with their kids. Schedules are busy with some parents working more than one job, so time away with their children is rare and provides them a unique opportunity to be with their families.
During the time that the teens and adults meet throughout the day, the children meet in a separate location. There will be worship time, Bible stories, English studies, outdoor activities, games, crafts and other “Summer Bible School” type activities. This is a place to plug in your own children into ministry. The team puts together the materials needed for this ministry from their church. Three or four team members are assigned to the children. Our staff will arrange for some local teens and/or moms to help with this ministry.
Daily Camp Schedule
7:30 am Team Devotional & Prayer Meeting
8:30 am Worship
9:15 am English Bible Reading Time
11:00 am English Study Time
1:00 pm Mid-day Meal Time for Relationship Building and for Family
4:00 pm Optional Bible Study
5:00 pm Conversation Time
6:30 pm Evening Meal
7:30 pm Activity Time – everyone together
9:00 pm Worship & Relationship Building
Where?
There are opportunities for teams in several countries including Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine.
Discipleship Camps
Since the late 80’s the main ministry of International Messengers (IM) in the countries of the former Communist Block has been Evangelistic English Language Camps (EELCs). God has used the camps to bring many people to Himself. However, many of these new believers have no chance of attending a solid Bible-teaching church. There simply aren’t any in their area. They continue to come to the camps, some as many as six and eight times, looking for encouragement in their faith. Because of the evangelistic nature of the English camps, they are not offered much spiritual “meat” there. It became apparent to our staff that the camp concept would also work to provide Biblical teaching and great worship for these precious one.
What is a Discipleship Camp?
IM Discipleship Camps are 7-10 days in length and are staffed by North American believers and national believers who work in tandem. The daily schedule includes two hours of worship, four to six hours of small and large group Bible study, and adequate free time to allow for relationship building and “one-to-one” mentoring. Students attending range from 16-30. Sometimes they represent the youth group of a local church but often come from across the country. The first few years of this work have gone extremely well and we are now attempting to develop a second level in “Making Disciplemakers.”
Who do we need?
We are looking for churches who would put together a team of 6-10 people. It works well to send a leadership board from the church or individuals that the church would like to develop as leaders. It is important the team include some couples, as modeling a Christian marriage is critical to this ministry. Team members should also include some gray hair as their experience in life is also important. This is an excellent refreshment trip for part of your pastoral staff as their teaching gifts will be utilized fully. Our most needed qualification for team members is a vital, growing relationship with the Lord, as so much of the ministry is built on personal mentoring in this camp setting.
Daily Camp Schedule
7:00 am Team Prayer & Planning
8:00 am Breakfast
9:00 am Worship & Prayer
9:30 am Small Group Session
10:45 am Large Group Session
1:00 pm Lunch
2:00 pm Free Time
4:00 pm Small Group Session
5:00 pm Supper
6:00 pm Large Group Session
7:30 pm Worship & Special Event
When?
Camps are normally held throughout July and August and during the Christmas and Easter breaks. Trips last between 10 and 14 days.
Sports Camps
Our Softball/English Day Camp is held in Hungary in either July or August. During this camp, the North American team teaches English in the morning and afternoon and play and teach softball to teens.
We are able to create an atmosphere in the camp to develop relationships, break down barriers and share the Gospel.
Basketball EELC
The Basketball EELC is an English camp with four to five hours of basketball a day. There are also residential camps where the team members live with the students. There are both males and females involved in these camps. For this ministry, a combination of short-term members will teach English to junior high and high school age youth.
Team members will also have opportunities to share their faith with the students. Basketball coaches are needed to go and teach the basics of basketball. This camp draws in some kids who would not necessarily go to a regular EELC.
Specialty Camps / Conferences
International Messengers has a variety of specialty camps each year. These camps include opportunities to minister to teens and young adults with HIV/Aids, working with orphans, children’s ministry in orphanages or villages, serving at our River of Life Care Home, special construction projects and many others.
Occasionally some of our European staff will offer ministries to specific groups such as women, men, Pastors and Elders. These ministries are generally in the form of a conference or retreat.
If you are interested in a being a part of a team for a specialty camp or a conference, please contact us for available opportunities.
