Training sessions before the short-term mission trip will not only prepare participants for the type of ministry they’ll be engaged in during Seed Weeks, but also create team-building opportunities for discussing expectations, praying together, and bonding.
Each outreach day begins with training and prayer in the morning, followed by lunch, with evangelism/sifting in the afternoon and evening.
While scheduled activities may shift as different ministry opportunities arise, below is a sample daily schedule:
SAMPLE DAILY SCHEDULE
9:00 am-12:00 pm: Training
12:00 pm-1:00 pm: Lunch
1:00pm-5:45 pm: Seed Sowing/Ministry
Programs begin Monday morning and end the following Friday evening. All team members should arrive before the start of the program and stay for the duration. Teams will have one day off for sight-seeing. See below for a sample schedule:
SAMPLE SCHEDULE
Day 1: Intro & Prayer Walking
Day 2: Training & Ministry in Neighborhoods
Day 3: Free Day/Sightseeing
Day 4: Training & Ministry in Neighborhoods
Day 5: Debrief & Ministry in Neighborhoods
The primary activity of Seed Week teams will be street evangelism to unbelievers from diaspora communities (individuals that long-term missionaries have yet to interact with). Each member of our short-term mission team will be expected to initiate spiritual conversations with people in public spaces. These interactions will help long-term workers find individuals who are open to learning about Jesus and may also be interested in gathering friends/family to hear the gospel. Short-term teams immeasurably help missionaries “sift” through large Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh populations in the city, looking for spiritually-open people.
While each team will have a long-term missionary acting as a ministry liaison for their group, teams need their own designated leader who will coordinate their trip details. The team leader will be responsible for coordinating transportation to NYC (booking flights, buying bus tickets, etc.), arranging housing, facilitating pre-trip training modules, and collecting the Seed Week fee.
Team leaders will be responsible for communicating with their missionary liaison in NYC. The liaison will provide training materials, answer logistical questions, and organize a team’s schedule and ministry locations.
