Plan for Reentry

• Help people to share what they learned, about God and about themselves, and what they believe God is asking of them upon their return home.
• Plan for ministry involvement for team members when they return home.
• Debrief the team before returning home, while in the destination country. Help them prepare for encountering family and friends who haven't had the same experiences and may not be as enthusiastic as the team. Ask such coaching questions as:
  • What did you learn about God?
  • What did you learn about yourself?
  • What did you learn about your ministry?
  • How will your life at home change?
• Help prepare family members for the returning team. For example, some may feel jealousy over how the other person grew. Parents may need guidance in helping their kids process their emotions and thoughts about the trip.
• Develop a follow-up plan (how to share the experience with others)
• Recruit participant's pastors and other disciple-making "coaches" to spend one-on-one time with each team participant.
• Plan a special debrief time with all of the team leaders.
  • What long-term impact was the team trying to achieve?
  • Was the trip worth the investment?
  • What do we need to do differently next time?
  • What worked very well?
• Have team members and the hosts complete a trip evaluation
• Help the team reflect on future needs, what could be done on a future trip?
• Schedule a post-trip follow-up with the team
• Report to the congregation, though wait a week for emotions to settle a bit
• Request for Missions Giving Credit sent to FMI within two weeks of returning
• Return the World Impact Team Evaluation to FMI
• Prepare follow-up letters to all supporters
  • Build relationships with supporters. Missions is not just about going to another country and doing a ministry. Its about being the body of Christ and building each other not just on the foreign field but back at home
• Take steps to stay on track in meeting our goals (such as to do devotions daily or exercise four times a week) is accountability and encouragement. Monthly meetings with our groups after returning to the U.S., newsletters about the progress and needs of the people we visited, Bible studies on the country or theme of our trip, are just a few of the ideas that can translate a one-week experience into life-lasting changes in prayer, giving, and lifestyle.
• I think senders, goer-guests, hosts/receptors need to be part of a larger framework-especially after the experience-that can translate a one-week high into lasting changes for all involved.
• Take a look at the website TheNextMile.org which offers practical tools for Short-Term Mission with emphasis on Post-Ministry Follow-Through. For example, the Mile Post devotional contains 52 self-paced devotionals designed to encourage returning team members to stretch their experience into a life changing milestone.
• Re-entry starting point
  • What part of the mission trip did you most enjoy? least enjoy?
  • Share about the activities and ministry you were involved with.
  • Tell me about some of the people you met. How old were they? What were they like? How did you communicate?
  • How did you get to use your gifts, skills, talents?
• Additional reentry questions, going a little deeper:
  • How has God stretched you during this trip?
  • What have you learned personally?
  • What did you learn about missions and missionaries?
  • What surprises did you find? What were you expecting that didn't happen? What did you not expect that did happen?
  • What was the hardest thing you experienced?
  • What will you always remember from your time in the country?
  • What would you have changed to make your time better?
  • What would you have added to make your time even better?
  • What evidence did you see of God at work among the people we visited, including before the arrived and while the team served? What hope do you have for God's work to continue to grow?
• Reflection questions about yourself
  • How has my world view been altered by this short-term experience?
  • What new relationships should I pursue because of my mission exeprience? (eg. with international students, minority people in my neighborhood, etc?)
  • What needs in the other parts of the world should I consider advocating?
  • What would my prayers include now that I am back home?
  • What rearrangement is needed in my present commitments in order to make missions more prominent in my life?
  • What did God show me in my short-term experience that I do not want to forget for the rest of my life?
  • What did God do while on my short term trip that I will not fail to tell others?
  • Why do I feel others should go on a short-term missions experience?
  • How do I nourish this new desire to know God beyond my limited American setting?
  • What should I begin to include or change in my budget or spending habits?
• Thoughts to consider near the end of the trip, just before returning home
  • As I return to the United States, I feel.......
  • Going back will enable me to.....
  • I think the hardest part of going back for me will be...
  • I think the easiest part of going back will be....
  • I cannot wait to....
  • I expect the reception from my family/church/friends will be...
• A month or two after returning home
  • Now that I am back home, I feel.....
  • I now find it easy to ....
  • I now find it hard to...
  • I wish...
  • The people who I feel understand me are...
  • I like being with....
  • I enjoy (name an activity)....
  • My spouse/family says I.....
  • My friends think I am....
  • My pastor has asked me to....
  • I need help in....
  • I need someone who.....
• Encourage participants to continue to journal.
• The team may feel guilty about leaving the host country with so many unresolved needs and may need encouragement.
  • Jesus actually comforts us with His awareness of how great that need is: "The poor you will always have with you." (Matthew 26:11). Reassure the team that it's not possible to meet every need -- and that's OK.
  • Part of the guilt may come from leaving what seems like an incomplete task. However, if the everyone completed what God called the team to accomplish, then isn't it God's will to return back home?

  (Some of these questions and fill-in-the-blank items come from a discussion forum on ShortTermMissions.com, posted between 2001 and 2002.)