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Relaunching Short Term Trips Post COVID The Future of Missions Let’s explore the future of missions.  Ha!  Okay, so only our Lord holds that knowledge.  But… we do have glimpses of what’s coming.  We know that the global stage is more cautious now post a significant global health crisis. We know that visa restrictions are requirements are changing.  We know that short term workers may be more cautious to engage.  Like it or not, things have changed.     Pre & Post COVID Compared Let’s start with a grid to look at how each group’s perspective may have changed.     Download full FREE ebook: Relaunching Short Term Trips Post COVID  

Can't Send Short Term Trips? Tip #1 - Focus Your Message Big Picture: Focus your message on living a missional life whenever and wherever you are. It’s a lifestyle, not just a single experience. Missions and the vision we are inviting people into is far greater than simply engaging in a short term trip. We are inviting people into a radical lifestyle shift and a challenge to how they view the world. Short term trips are an excellent way to achieve that but they are not the only means. And in a season where trips cannot be sent, there is still a need for your leadership and direction. Focus your message on the bigger picture... the vision that we are all called to serve others and that missions is a way of life, not just a trip we attend. Even reflecting on the Great Commission, Christ doesn’t say “go...”, He says, “as you go...”. And so our invitation to people who serve is both inviting them into specific opportunities to serve but also into a lifestyle of service and mission. Help unpack this for your participants. Here are a few ideas: Drip Emails - send a series of emails to your alumni and current participants to coach them on this mindset. Just remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day and it’s okay to take your time coaching and walking people through this process. Teaching Nights - organize teaching nights of fellowship and teaching around this bigger picture. Adjust Your Website - take a look at your website and see where you can communicate this greater vision in your overall message. Train Your Leaders - make certain your key leaders and team leaders are fully “in the know” and equipped to teach others in this mindset. Create a Course - create an online or small group course specifically for your organization or church to guide people through this vision. Remember the big picture WIN... creating a movement of people who live on mission. Yes, the short term trip is a goal but it’s a stepping stone goal to a larger goal. Everything shifts to when you focus on a greater goal. Download the full FREE ebook Today

Results from this Strategy So what’s all of this going to add up to in the end?! Great question! We believe there are four primary results that will come from you leading this strategy in your organization. Let’s quickly unpack them. #1 Change Your Culture - leading a Local Engagement strategy in your organization opens the door to shift your culture so that your members are leveraging well their skills to serve their local community. Their serving may not be directly with your organization but you are the one leading them to serve and use their skills. And by leading more people to serve you are building a stronger culture of volunteerism. #2 People Mobilized - Part of that culture shift is people engaging which is the straight forward benefit of people being mobilized. Mobilization has its challenges and this strategy helps unpack tips and tricks to overcome many of those. #3 Personalized Matches - A major challenge in mobilizing people is helping to connect each individual with things that interest them... where they can see their gifts and talents being used. This strategy first helps you build a plan to catalog your opportunities based on various interests and then it helps you have the volume to present to your audience. #4 Centralized Search - the brass tacks problem many of us have had in bringing this to life has been the means to create that centralized search capability with the ability to match to person interests. This strategy will help you build the plan to create that centralized search tool that automates the vast majority of the work. There are many more benefits and results you will experience from leveraging this strategy, but there are the core ones we wish to focus on through this ebook and this strategy.

What is a Volunteer Engagement Strategy? So what really are you talking about here?   Volunteer Engagement is when you build a collective listing of serving opportunities from your local community partners and global partners so that your members can search one list to serve other organizations.   It’s essentially a fancy list of serving opportunities that are automatically aggregated from a number of other organizations into one central list.  That list becomes the easy place for your members to come and find a serving opportunity without you or them having to manually hunt down various options.  It’s automated so that the manual work of providing this list is history. We’ve seen this strategy emerge more and more as organizations desire to partner together, as we’ve learned that none of us can do all of it on our own, and as we’ve seen a stronger desire to lead our members into volunteer matches that make the most sense for them and their skills.   Picture it like this… you’re a church of several thousand or you’re a high school.  For the church, you desire to get your members out serving in the community with any number of your local partners.  For the school you require your students to complete a certain number of service hours per month.  Your aggregated list allows you a single place to point your members (to one place) where they can find volunteer opportunities (through partner organizations you approve) so that they can serve AND you can keep track of the impact they are having.   This ebook is designed to help you build that strategy for your organization and leverage tools to make it a reality.    Download the Full eBook: How to Launch & Lead a Volunteer Movement    

So what in the world is mission trip software?!  Great question.  Essentially mission trip software are tools that help you run the logistics of your short term missions trips.  But all things are not created equal.  It all starts with understanding your overall goals and then evaluating the tools that make the most sense for you.  Let’s navigate a few key tips to set you up for success on selecting the mission trip software that’s best for you.     Tip #1 - Know Your Goals Everyone has a different set of goals but we believe there are a few that we all agree on and ones that we see quite often.  Most everyone is looking for ways to do the following: Reduce Stress - there are so many logistical items for managing a short term trip - the software should help relieve some of that stress. Save Time - the average short term trip takes around 150 hours to manage - the software should greatly reduce that amount of time. Expandabilty to Grow - the reduction in both stress and time should allow for the expansion of your missions program. Keeping People Engaged - short term trips should always have a way to keep people engaged with your organization and in a life of missional living.     Tip #2 - Determine the Features that Matter You have an idea in your head about what features matter most to you.  Take a moment to write those down and talk those over with your team.  And if you need some ideas for features that you should be considering, take a look at our free Guide to Choosing the Best Technology to Grow Your Missions Program.  The best thing you can do is map out your desired features and then start evaluating which tool works best for you.    Tip #3 - Ask the Right Questions There may be a ton of questions you want to ask about any technology, as you should.  Many of these questions you can answer on your own as you look through their sales site and explore features.  But there are other questions you’ll have that might be specific to your needs or processes.  Be sure to contact the tools you’re exploring to help answer those questions.  Here are a few questions we recommend considering when looking at any new software: Does it manage online fundraising? Is it simple for our staff to use? Is it simple for our participants to use? Can it scale to our ultimate vision in missions engagement? Does it help mature our participants toward greater life engagement? Do applicants need to fill out application data from scratch each time? Can you control what each trip admin can and cannot do? Do trip members have dedicated fundraising pages? Are your trip participants notified of financial progress? Does it help you tell your organization’s missional story?   Tip #4 - Engage Others on Your Team Don’t make this decision on your own… certainly don’t feel the weight of the decision needs to be completely on your shoulders.  Consider engaging your boss, your finance department, your IT department, your communications department, your team leaders, and whoever else helps make the whole world of short term missions a reality at your organization. You will be thankful for their wisdom and insights.     Tip #5 - Build a Comparison Chart You know what you’re looking for in a mission trip software solution.  As you look through various options and solutions, create a simple comparison chart of your own that helps you see things side by side.  You know what’s important to you so, in some ways, you’re the only one who can build that chart.  Feel free to take a look at our comparison page to get an idea of how to start building your comparison chart.     Most of all… have fun!  I know, how is selecting a technology fun?  But it can be… this season of exploring is short-lived and it really is one that can help you dream of what you could be doing.  Enjoy this exploration as you investigate all the possibilities and narrow in your selection.   

ServiceReef announces new way to level-up your short-term trip program: Missions Made Simple We invite you to learn more about how Missions Made Simple —the digital course in missions—can help you achieve greater engagement with your program Louisville, KY-- Mobilizing people to short and long term missions can be cumbersome and confusing. Thousands of missions programs and missions leaders across the globe need more training to equip and engage their teams for short-term and long-term missions trips. We have the tools you need to overcome these challenges and see exponential growth.  Introducing: Missions Made Simple. Created by ServiceReef, Missions Made Simple is a digital course for missions that will help you take your program to the next level. Missions Made Simple was created to help set you up for amazing success as a missions mobilizer, organization leader, team leader, or anyone walking down a path of greater missional engagement. “This felt like the perfect time to release the work we've been doing for years with so many others. Digital is the quickest, most easily accessible way for you to connect yourself and your team to training that fits your missions goals.” said Micah Pritchard, Co-Founder of ServiceReef. How can Missions Made Simple help you? Many ways. Here are three major ways we can help you: #1 Resources to Grow: You will find many resources to help equip you to better lead, guide, and engage those living a missional life.  Explore our courses, worksheets, videos, assessments, and other resources. #2 Connect with Others: We believe you should never feel alone as a missions mobilizer. That's why we have created an online community of others who are equipping and mobilizing people to missional living. Join today to connect with others just like you. #3 Confidence to Lead: Mobilizing and leading people to missional living can be intimidating while at times leaving you to wonder if you're doing it right or well. Here you can find the confidence to go further faster with these tools and the community of others who are mobilizing. About the Missions Made Simple course Level-Up Your Short Term Trip Program will be a game-changer for your missions program. Here you will talk through 10 strategic categories critical to your enhancing your short term trip program. We're certain these sessions will help you and your team achieve greater engagement and program success. Watch the introduction video to learn more about Missions Made Simple:    Here's what you will get from this course: 10 critical tools to equip you for leading missions 10 short video-guided courses Facts about these 10 core functional areas Assessments questions to help you evaluate your current engagement Tips for how to improve One key action item for you and your team Downloadable worksheets with more ideas Discussion board to discuss more ideas with key leaders  Sign up today... we're certain this will help you better your short-term missions program in no time! “This course isn't just for ServiceReef members. This is for all missions leaders to watch and learn—so you're equipped with the tools you need in your missions toolkit." said Will Rogers, Co-Founder of ServiceReef. The course aims to encourage and equip every missions leader and your team to achieve greater engagement and program success.  ServiceReef has set up a special page for missions leaders to be encouraged and equipped with resources to help you grow, connect with others, and give you the confidence you need to lead well. Find out more details and learn about creating a free account today right here.    ServiceReef knows managing mission trips can be time-consuming and stressful. ServiceReef brings all the pieces of missions - participants, forms, team leaders, fundraising, donors, meetings, & more - into a single platform so you can reduce stress and focus on leading your teams. ServiceReef is everything you need for missions Learn more at https://servicereef.com/.

Now, you may not yet have the mindset for leading missions that we're talking about in this post. But, you will be amazed at how this single action will radically increase your effectiveness and your intentionally. Here’s the concept...always be working to “exit the scene” of any missions project. Does this sound negative to you? It shouldn't. Let me explain. What I mean by "exit strategy" is to be thinking in terms of sustainability, empowering nationals, and trying to avoid building dependencies. Here’s what this is going to do to your mindset:  #1 You’re going to think more strategically. Working toward an exit strategy helps make us all more strategic. What if we can’t sustain engagement in a certain area forever? What if we were working to make them more self-sustaining? You will find the strategic questions you ask about purpose and value shift when this takes root.  #2 You’re going to allocate resources more intentionally. You are already working to be a good steward of your resources. Adopting and working toward an exit strategy will help you make even better decisions in how you allocate resources, budget, train, and more.  #3 You’re going to send short-term teams with more purpose. This is a rich opportunity to equip and train short-term workers with a mindset that your overall strategy is to see each field healthy and self-sustaining in the big picture, not just the short-term trip. Many short term trip participants come home asking the questions about the purpose of such a short visit. This helps give that question context and helps them see short term work can be significant for long term impact.  #4 You’re going to ask different questions. Inevitably you are going to ask different questions as you select partners, as you evaluate projects, as you choose short term trip locations, as you select team leaders, and more. This provides a different framework for each step of the process.  #5 You’re going to evaluate your trips with a new lens. You will take such joy in how you evaluate your short-term trips and see them now with a greater purpose for a longer impact far after the short term trips or your organizations ability to be involved.  #6 You’re going to reach more geographical areas. It may seem strange, but this will open new opportunities to engage more geographical opportunities...not to mention new types of projects.  #7 You’re going to build more long-term relationships. You will find yourself being a better partner with field teams and organizations as you are working to truly help them for the future and in so doing building lasting relationships with them that make them part of your family.  #8 You’re going to honor people well. Perhaps most convicting is asking “how would I want this done to me?” if someone were to come and “do missions” to you right here at home. This mindset helps you honor people well, just like you would want to be treated.  #9 You’re going to do more. Yes, and you are going to do more! You will be amazed at just how much more you will be asked to do and will be able to do when you work toward not being the lynch pin of each project. You might be invested longer in each field, but the overall scope of your involvement will increase.  This is a mind shift for most of us, but this is such an important question and philosophy to adopt. In our opinion, this only makes the case for short term trips stronger. We desperately need short term teams who can go and leave a lasting impact. Properly adopted exit strategies allow you the opportunity to greatly increase your impact and effort.  Action: Evaluate how you could be working toward an overall exit strategy. Discuss how you could be training your team leaders toward this end. Read When Helping Hurts by Steven Corbett and Brian Fikkert.    This is just one strategy of five (5) we have for doubling your impact. Download all five (5) strategies you can implement immediately that will double your missions impact. This post is written by Will Rogers. Will is the Co-Founder and CEO of ServiceReef.

It's amazing how God often uses short-term trips to be a catalyst for someone's missional lifestyle. And we know you want your participants to view a short-term trip as more than just earning a merit badge, but rather something that impacts the way they live their life. We agree! We believe short-term trips are a gateway to someone’s heart taking in a rich meal of vision, purpose, and even calling. But this is also a very challenging task when this isn’t modeled well many places. It takes time and there aren’t many tools and resources available. No problem! Let’s talk about what you can be doing to plant deeper seeds of purpose in someone’s heart.  #1 Make it an objective. It starts by making it an objective of your church or organization to move people from a “one and done” mindset to seeing missions as a part of their life.  #2 Talk about it. This is super simple, but take the time to talk to your trip participants once they are back to explain how to take a next step and give them tangible ways to do that immediately. If they don’t know what to do next, then they most likely won’t take any action. As a leader, be sure you're communicating well. For example, be sure you're setting proper expectations before, during, and after missions trips. #3 Train your Team Leaders. Your team leaders are your advocates for your mission and vision...and spend the most time with your participants. Make sure to train them so they are guiding participants into a perspective that this is more than a single short term trip but an opportunity for a lifetime of mission work.  #4 Debrief the day and the trip. Take advantage of great debrief questions to help shape each experience into a step for what’s next.  #5 Capture stories. Stories are powerful ways for sharing your vision, but also powerful ways for your participants to unpack what’s going on in their lives and share it with others.  #6 Journal. Similar to sharing stories, journaling helps us internally process our experiences and gives us time to work out what the Lord might be calling us to do next.  #7 Missional.Life. Have your participants complete a free Missional.Life profile where they can build a plan for mission engagement, invite in family and friends, and post stories, prayers, and goals. It’s free and it’s extremely powerful for helping people see it’s more than a single event.  #8 Training resources. Point participants to great resources like Perspectives, missionary biographies, and other training materials. We have tons of resources and support here. #9 Sign up for another trip. Take the momentum of the current experience and invite them into signing up for another trip or even more, signing up for a longer trip somewhere to get a deeper experience.  Andy Stanley once said, “think steps, not programs” as he presented guiding principles for his organization. We agree. Short-term trips are steps toward a greater goal, not an end in themselves. And your calling is to guide people into a lifestyle of mission with countless engagement points.  Action: Have a conversation with two (2) key staff members about how to engage participants within the first week/ month after they return from a trip. Have your team members create a Missional.Life profile at https://missional.life    This is just one strategy of five (5) we have for doubling your impact. Download all five (5) strategies you can implement immediately that will double your missions impact. This post is written by Will Rogers. Will is the Co-Founder and CEO of ServiceReef.

Doubling your impact but reducing your stress may seem simpler than it sounds. I get it. This is an epic challenge when it comes to short-term and long-term missions goals. The key is finding a technology that works best for your organization. It’s important you find a technology partner who can help you scale your growth and relieve the stresses of administration on your staff. Here are a few things to consider when deciding on a software to help your organization reach its missions goals: #1 Does it manage online fundraising? This is a given expectation of any tool that handles short-term trip logistics but make certain to map out what exactly you want the online fundraising to look like. Do you want individual fundraising pages? Do you want weekly fundraising emails sent to trip participants? Do you want team fundraising updates?  #2 Is it simple for our staff to use? Any new technology is going take time to learn but make certain to find a system that’s both intuitive to learn and has the training resources you need to learn it well. You should feel like your software solution is part of your team and working for you.  #3 Is it simple for our members to use? Often, we shop for software from the perspective of the administrators but also make sure to think of the end user experience (your members) and if the tool has all the features and simplicity they need. Read: the easier your technology is to use, the less stress your admins will feel because users can do it themselves! Meaning, you get your life back! #4 Can it scale to our ultimate vision in missions engagement? This is an important question to ask as you choose a solution. You might only host a handful of trips right now but does the solution scale to your growing needs? Also, does the solution help you not only handle short-term trips but also scale into sending long-term missionaries and helping people build their long term missional goals? This may seem way off, but it’s good stewardship to be thinking of this now.  #5 Does it help mature your members toward greater engagement? We have no doubt you will be asking all the right questions about the functions you need for short-term trips but we also know you have desires to see your short-term trip participants turn into so much more. Does the technology solution you choose have the ability to nurture and walk with people long after their short term trip? This is important as you want to keep the continuity of the engagement moving.  #6 Do applicants need to fill out application data from scratch each time? Application management is complex and it can be very frustrating for your participants. Imagine filling out a 60 question application for a trip this summer to find that you have to fill out all the same questions again to apply for next summer? That’s not good! Does your solution offer the ability to retain application field answers to make it easy for participants to serve year after year?  #7 Does it allow granular permissions to be given to your administrators?  There are about a thousand different combinations of how you might see trip admins assigned, but the common thread is the need and desire to assign very specific admin permissions. Does your solution provide the right granularity (choice) of permissions needed for your organization?  #8 Do trip members have dedicated fundraising pages? We discussed this above, but it is important to mention specifically. Does your solution offer each individual a personal fundraising page to help them fundraise, tell their stories, and build a community of support? Personal fundraising stories should allow for someone to raise funds online but also allow them to tell their story well so that donors are engaged in understanding your vision and impact (beyond the writing of a check).  #9 Are trip members notified of financial progress? What automated notifications are associated with your solution? It’s important that your tool helps make your communications simpler which means it should provide robust automated notifications along with tools to easily send “as needed” communications.  #10 Does it help you tell your organization’s missional story?  And last, but certainly not least, you are not only stewarding short term trips, you are stewarding the vision of your organization and telling a significant story. Does your solution offer a way for your participants to tell their story? Does it engage donors in that story? Does it offer a team blog tool that you can embed in your website?  These are only 10 questions you should be asking but these are important questions to help you be more strategic in your missions goals and choose software that’s going to set you up for the greatest long-term success.   Action: Brainstorm and build your own list of required and optional features that you need. Download the ServiceReef scoring sheet at Choosing a Technology.    This is just one strategy of five (5) we have for doubling your impact. Download all five (5) strategies you can implement immediately that will double your missions impact.   This post is written by Will Rogers. Will is the Co-Founder and CEO of ServiceReef.

One big mistake we often make as leaders is putting all the focus on our staff and forgetting that we have an army of extremely “bought in” trip leaders. Shift gears and instead, think of your leaders as more than great people who lead your trips but people who can carry your vision forward. To participants and field partners, here are some suggestions on how to engage your trip leaders to a higher calling:  #1 Equip them. Remember, they might be your greatest tool for mobilizing your audience to mission. Help them become better recruiters, mobilizers, and senders.  #2 Encourage and gift books. There are so many great mission books (When Helping Hurts, The Great Omission, Shadow of the Almighty, and so on.). Consider having an annual book you purchase and send out to all of your trip leaders to continue building their own personal mission philosophy and worldview.  #3 Appreciation meals. Host appreciation meals for your trip leaders to pour into them, keep them connected, share what’s new and upcoming, and to allow them to build a tighter community with each other. Spread these out throughout the year to avoid the “see you next summer” mindset that some trip participants and leaders may accidentally fall into.  #4 Provide trainings. Host at least one annual trip leader training. Whether it's by video or something else, the most successful we’ve seen is for organization to have a time where you stop thinking about everything else and focus on your larger purpose for mission trips.  #5 Brainstorm sessions. Host brainstorms sessions throughout the year (especially out of peak trip season to keep leaders engaged) and collect feedback on ways to do things better: preparation, process, communications, resources, debriefs, and more.  #6 Give note & gifts. Sure, giving gifts for a volunteer role may not be the norm, but think creatively about this. Sending a note card and a $5 gift card to Starbucks to say thanks for all they are doing goes a long way.  #7 Recognize the work. While trip leaders may be working with you on the direct details of a specific trip, they are often mentoring and connecting with their participants long after the trip. Be sure to recognize and thank them for continually pouring into the people.  #8 Invite to team meetings. Invite trip leaders to key team or staff meetings when you are working through short-term logistics, strategic changes that impact them, and/or celebrating key things.  You have a unique opportunity to equip and send so many people. We often fixate on the trip participants and forget what amazing resources we have in our trip leaders. More so, these trip leaders really can essentially be your pro bono staff members giving you an army of equipped mobilizers.  Action: Select at least one item from above that you can implement this week. Maybe it's having a zoom call over coffee with a few team leaders and asking them what they need most to be equipped well.    This is just one strategy of five (5) we have for doubling your impact. Download all five (5) strategies you can implement immediately that will double your missions impact.   This post is written by Will Rogers. Will is the Co-Founder and CEO of ServiceReef.

Staying on mission at home isn't easy. For many, the mission trip begins well before they even touch down on a foreign land. It starts in their city maybe even in their neighborhood. With so many trips being shut down right now and living in uncertainty, I want to provide five ways we can encourage our mission trip leaders and their teams to engage the world right around them. After all, that’s what Jesus did. 1. Take your neighbor or those in vulnerable situations a meal There is a phrase that begins with “You never really know someone until...”, the facetious side of me wants to say “until you know them” but one way we often see Jesus getting to know people involves a meal or inviting them into a meal. So take your team or encourage your team to share a meal with someone they may not know. 2. Spend time online with people from the community Know a local church that focuses on that demographic, check out their website and see what they are doing to carry on through the quarantine. Maybe watch their live service, and see who can learn more words or pick up phrases and then debrief with your team. Remember things may be different, but they aren’t weird. 3. Go to a restaurant that serves food from the place you would have visited Two years ago I was sitting in the Louisville airport when a conversation began between myself and an older woman from Ethiopia, we began sharing stories of traveling and different cultures. She encouraged me to visit an Ethiopian café and share in a coffee ceremony. Most people think the way I make my coffee is ceremonial in and of itself (Chemex pour over anyone?!). 4. Read a book or watch a movie. I have found books to be more accurate than movies, but unless this quarantine plans on lasting a couple months I better just watch a movie. If you love books and reading grab a book from that country or city and learn everything you can about it, study it, research it, and get together with your team over Skype or Zoom and share what you learned. God has created some amazing cultures that reflect the uniqueness and beauty of who he is so go learn about them. PS. Geography Now is a must on YouTube, you can thank me later.   5. Serve When in doubt, don’t over complicate it. God has you right where He has you. Live out the confidence and hope we have in Christ by serving those around you. Write a card to all of your neighbors, call your grandparents, or the nursing home to check in on them. Thank the superstore workers when you can only get one roll of paper towels. Deliver food to families who might be affected by the loss of a job. When in doubt, do something, anything, don’t overcomplicate it. You are an image bearer of the Father, live out of your identity in Him and walk confidently and wisely into serving those around you. This is one post of many we're doing related to the current crisis. Download Cancelled: A Guide to Maintaining Missions Engagement When Your Short-Term Trip is Cancelled.

Who ever wants to be quarantined?! Maybe a few people out there but it’s not likely. Thankfully there are tons of creative things you can do (and should do) to engage your participants even now as people are home. We've mentioned how vital communication during a crisis can be. Don’t miss this opportunity to guide your people into a greater missional journey. Point to God with these ways to serve during quarantine. Prayer - create a prayer guide around missions (partners, projects, people, regions, needs) to send out to your participants to be praying each day for something missional. Learn - encourage them to keep learning in their missional journey either through a missions book or programs like Perspectives on the World Gospel Movement. Books - send out books about missions that people could read - biographies of missionaries, missions philosophy, stories, etc. Support Local Healthcare Workers - remember the work that local healthcare professionals are doing to combat the COVID-19 virus and reach out to provide a meal or help them in some way. Elderly in Area - reach out to local nursing homes or other facilities to see if could use assistance with supplies, errands, or other needs. Encouragement - write encouragement notes to missionaries, partners, donors, or others who are part of your missional community. Assessments - encourage your participants to take an online assessment (Enneagram, Meyers- Briggs, Strengths, etc.) to learn more about themselves and how their unique design could be used for missional purposes. Donate to a Cause - there are tons of causes out there now helping people in need around the current virus or financial circumstance, donate to one of those causes. Missional.Life - create a Missional.Life account to learn more about who God has made you to be, what story He has written, and where He might be calling you. Research - learn more about the specific field you were planning to visit to learn more about their culture, the religious makeup, their history, and their needs. Zoom Meetings - host a team Zoom meeting to keep everyone connected and engaged. Zoom meetings can be great to keep everyone’s mind in the game. Share Stories - have everyone share stories (online if possible) about what they are learning through this season about their short term trip hopes. Have you or are you planning on using any of these ideas? Let us know on our facebook page.    This is one post of many we're doing related to the current crisis. Download Cancelled: A Guide to Maintaining Missions Engagement When Your Short-Term Trip is Cancelled.