Sending Our High School Graduates on a Fully-Funded International Summer Mission

Short-term mission trips have been part of our church’s history for decades. While some Christians downplay the value of such trips, we have seen God use such in the lives of church members as well as in those to whom we are serving on the field.

Over the past few decades, we have taken many short-term trips. In most cases, those who served on our teams were needed and valuable to the mission. In fact, a good number of those who traveled overseas with us as teenagers now serve in full-time ministry in local churches and ministries. There are also many who faithfully serve in their respective churches as members. Many have stated their mission trip experience as influential and vital to their calling and in their understanding God’s work globally.

As Southern Baptists, we have proudly been mission-minded since our founding. Missionaries such as Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong are memorialized in annual offerings for mission work internationally and throughout North America, respectively. The Cooperative Program remains one of the great assets in Southern Baptist life, especially as it relates to continual support of career missionaries serving throughout the world.

Each year we celebrate the commissioning of new missionaries who are being sent by local churches to the uttermost parts of the world for the sake of the gospel. It is part of our legacy. Yet, we acknowledge that just being a mission-minded church is not enough. To “amen” missions is great and dropping money in an offering is excellent, but to do the work of the missionary is our commission.

While we understand that mission work is not reserved for another time zone or a place requiring a passport or visa, we also realize that exposing our young people to God’s work globally continues to do incredibly positive things in their lives and in those those served.

BE & GO

That is why First Baptist Church of Orange Park is preparing the “Be & Go” mission strategy for high school graduates. The phrase simply reminds us that as Christians we are the church and therefore, must “be the church” wherever we are. As Christians on mission, we seek to fulfill the Great Commission. Therefore, while we are going, living our lives daily, we are to make disciples. Thus we are to “Be” the church and “Go” where God leads.

Fully-Funded International Mission Trip

Our desire is to provide for high school graduates who are faithful church members in good standing, and who have completed some detailed reading, writing, and preparation work over the years of active service in the church as a teenager, a fully-funded international mission trip the summer after high school graduation. Thus, before a student begins their college studies, their career in the military, their trade school, their trade, and basically the “adult life” that rushes upon them during June and July after graduation, we want to provide them two to five weeks of service on the field with an international missionary. Our graduates will be partnered with missionaries from the International Mission Board or Linguæ Christi (our minority language mission agency in Europe.)

We believe that students and young adults serving on the mission field will help in the calling out of the called while providing a global perspective on gospel engagement in pre- and post-Christian environments.

We are still putting this together, but for our teenagers, this is so exciting. It will be funded by the generous donations of church members and others. Giving to our “Global Missions Fund” will help provide for this. (FYI - Our Global Missions Fund goes toward the Lottie Moon Offering, the Annie Armstrong Offering, the Maguire State Missions Offering of Florida, and our own mission projects, such as “Be & Go.”)

As teenagers are involved in our student ministry, we will provide opportunities for them to do missions during their junior high and high school years. This will include local projects as junior high schools, mission work throughout the United States as senior high students, service in Canada as high school juniors and seniors, and as a “Be & Go” missionary after graduation.

Be and Go – truly for all of us, not just for teenagers and young adults.