College Student Mission Trips

We host awesome Christian short term mission trips during the spring and summer for college teams in which we focus on taking the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the unreached of Oaxaca, Mexico. In the past, we have hosted trips for various campus groups as well as friends who get together wanting to serve in missions.

Click here to view and download a complete packet of information on our Global Adventures mission trips.

The following is a basic overview of a 9- or 10-day mission trip to Oaxaca:

Training Phase (2 days):  The first night, your team arrives in Oaxaca City and takes a 3-hour van ride to our base in Tlaxiaco.  The first two days of the trip (beginning the morning after your arrival) are spent mostly at our base, getting everyone ready for outreach.  This training phase includes times of personal devotions, Biblical instruction (missions, death to self, repentance, etc.), team time, worship, Spanish classes, and cultural preparation.  We also train you in things specific to your outreach (kids programs, well drilling, water filtration, Spanish and cultural issues specific to medical/dental outreach, etc.).

Outreach Phase (4 days): The outreach phase begins after we complete the two day training phase.  Participants travel to a designated village where they spend the next three nights. Much of the outreach effort is focused on construction (as requested by the local community), and the other types of projects discussed above.  The goal is to open ministry doors.  We have found that people in many areas are very hard-hearted, and it is often necessary to earn the right to minister.  There are times for personal devotions, intercession, team meetings, and worship.  Relationship evangelism is very important as we may be working in fields, playing sports with the youth, and sharing meals with people.  The outreach has a “frontier” emphasis, which means that we often work with unreached people groups that are very sensitive and may not be accustomed to outsiders.  Many will have never heard the Good News.  The living conditions are primitive, as we may be living with host families, sleeping on dirt or concrete floors, using outhouses, and possibly taking bucket showers.  We bring food and a water purifying system from the city on each village trip.  At the conclusion of the outreach, we return to the missions base in Tlaxiaco. Many of the villages that we will be visiting during outreach do not have any Christians.  In many cases, we may help form the first strong impression that the people of a particular village have about Christians, for better or for worse.  This makes it very important to conduct ourselves according to the cultural guidelines given in this packet and to act in a way that will build trust with people rather than undermine it.  We must minister in the way that will be best for the people of Oaxaca and for the long-term work of the Gospel here, not the way in which we want to minister or that gives us the best slideshows and stories when we return home.The nature of the long-term work here is very relational.  We have found that many people are very suspicious and that it is necessary to earn the right to minister.  Even as short-termers, our goal more than anything is to build relationships with the people and to gain their trust.  Put people before programs and projects!  I say it again, we come to serve in the way the Mexican nationals perceive is best, not in the way we want to or that we think is best.

Tlaxiaco Day:  Following your return from the village, we will spend one day at our base in Tlaxiaco.  In addition to being a time of recuperation from the village, we will use this time to debrief your trip.  You may also be asked to use this as a time to serve our missionaries and to help out with any projects we may have going around the base.

Tourist Day/Prayer Tour:  The next day is tourist day in Oaxaca City.  We go to some ancient ruins, do some shopping in the down town market area, and wrap up with a nice meal.  We also encourage you to use this day as a prayer tour – an opportunity to intercede for Oaxaca.  That night, we have a powerful closing rally where we share testimonies from the trip and worship God for what he has done. 

Departure Day:  On your departure day, we will all wake up bright and early and share a light breakfast while we wait for vans to come pick you up and take you to the airport.

Work Days:  Much of the work that we do while on outreach is along the lines of construction or other projects.  These may be community service projects that we do for the local government, or we may be helping various churches and Christian organizations in the area.  Most of the projects will be hands-on manual labor designed for unskilled workers, such as picking up trash, painting, weeding crops, mixing cement, etc.  It would be helpful to have one construction-oriented person in your group to help coordinate the work days.

God has used these trips to get many college groups excited about serving Him and we have seen many individuals become very involved in world missions as a result of their short term missions experience. We would love to have you and your group join us to reach the souls of Oaxaca. It's an experience you'll never forget!

2009 Spring Mission Trip Dates:
Session 1: March 7-15
Session 2: March 14-22
Session 3: March 21-29

2009 Summer Mission Trip Dates:
Session 1: June 20-29
Session 2: July 1-10
Session 3: July 14-23 - FULL - NOT RECEIVING APPLICATIONS
Session 4: July 25 - Aug 3 - FULL - NOT RECEIVING APPLICATIONS

Cost: US$450 per participant includes food, housing, training, outreach supplies, and transportation once you arrive in Mexico. You are in charge of finding your own transportation to/from Oaxaca, Mexico (OAX) on the start and end dates of your session.

Age: Due to the intensity of our training/outreach and the sensitivity of the culture here, our Global Adventures are designed for those of high school age and older. We cannot accept participants younger than 17 wanting to come alone. Team leaders, please check with us before bringing any team member younger than 14.

Team Size: To register as a team, you must have at least five people. If you do not have at least five people, you and any companions may register as individuals.

For More Information: contact us

To Register: Download the Global Adventures Manual and follow the steps described in the 'Registration Process' section.

Summer Internships: For 18- to 25-year-olds (you must at least be a high school graduate), we also offer two-month summer internships for US$700. For more info, visit our Summer Mission Internships page.

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Global Frontier Missions; PO Box 394; Goochland, VA 23063; 303-954-4862; E-mail GFM