SHORT-TERM TRIPS
Each year many students and adults give 1-2 weeks to participate in short-term mission trips both here in the U.S. and around the world. Few things change your life like missions trips. When you go on a mission trip, you can relate to Jesus on a different level. Scripture reminds us that his love for us motivated him to leave his heavenly home and come into our world to reach us! When we allow his compassion to so impact us to leave our comfort zone and bring the love and message of the Gospel to others who may be different from us, we become more like Jesus! So if you’ve never been on one, or go every year, please pray and consider joining us for one of our upcoming trips.
Many people are hesitant because they don’t know how they can afford a mission trip or they may be uncomfortable asking others for contributions. The Partnership Worksheet will provide you with great information and a strong biblical basis for the importance and blessing of partnership and walk you through every step in building a partnership base for prayer and financial support.
Download the Partnership Worksheet PDF
Tips for CCCers Seeking Consideration for Missions
If you’re still not sure, check out some of the testimonies of others who have gone on mission trips, or contact us with any questions or concerns you may have. We’ll do anything we can to help.
UPCOMING TRIPS
Kenya, East Africa | April 19-30, 2018
This will be a Convoy of Hope facilitated adult mission trip to Kenya, East Africa. Kenya is a beautifully diverse and powerful country where Convoy of Hope is privileged to serve alongside local Assembly of God churches to help school children with nutrition, single mothers through empowerment programs, and others through various initiatives. There are numerous opportunities for Mission Teams to come alongside these leaders to help increase capacity. Through projects such as building kitchens, latrines, chicken coops, greenhouses, rabbit or goat pens, water catchment systems or other helps, teams can make huge contributions to sustainability strategies in the communities with whom we work. The Kenyan people are extremely friendly and our team will interact with children and adults. We will be working very close to the Equator in the area of Mt. Suswa in the Great Rift Valley with comfortable 60-80°F temperatures during our trip. We will go on a African Wild Game Safari as part of the trip, and will engage with tribal groups. Our local host will be Assembly of God missionary and Convoy of Hope Kenya national director Bryan Burr.
Trip will be co-led by Robert Kelch and Mike Gold (CCC Mission Council members).
NOTE: For questions or information on either international trip, please call Rob or Beth Kelch 989-832-9967
ADDITIONAL SHORT-TERM OPPORTUNITIES
In addition to the trips CCC offers each year, the links below will take you to other opportunities to join with other churches or organizations and teams. Explore and see how the Lord leads you! If you choose to pursue one of the opportunities below, let us know, we’d still love to be a resource and part of your prayer support as you go!
MAPS is Minister Abroad Placement Service. Discover and participate in what God is doing around the world as a MAPS volunteer for 1 to 11 months. MAPS volunteers connect their areas of ministry interest with needs on the field. Construction, Teaching, Medical, Children’s Ministry, Evangelism, Women’s Ministries, etc are all needed. MAPS are typically 1-11 month trips. Hundreds of current positions are available across the USA and internationally.
HCM composes teams of a variety of volunteer healthcare professionals to serve on short-term outreaches all over the world. We are looking for healthcare providers who are followers of Christ to volunteer for our short-term (10-14 days) outreaches and utilize their skills to share God’s love. Medical, Dental, Optical, Social Work, Pharmacy, and support personnel are needed for medical evangelism trips.
There are many ways to serve God with your talents and abilities. Whether a skilled craftsman or a willing body, Builders International MAPS Construction Teams provide ways for you to serve. Numerous construction trips are conducted throughout the USA and internationally, typically lasting 1-2 weeks. All construction skills are needed – masonry and concrete, carpentry, plumbing, electrical, cabinetry, tiling, painting and general support.
FAME (Fellowship of Associates of Medical Evangelism) is a non-Assembly of God ministry based in Indianapolis that develops sustainable evangelism-based health, agriculture, small business and family nurture programs all around the world. Medical missions teams are made up of both medical professionals and nonmedical team members. Usually medical teams are about 15 members and one third of them are typically medical professionals. Medical training or not, you can play an important part in God’s work. Doctors, nurses, dentists and other medical professionals play an obvious role on medical teams but so do electricians, teachers, business people, pastors, stay-at-home moms and anybody else with a heart for Christ are needed just as much. They are critical to the overall team.
A wonderful close-to-home mission opportunity that serves missionaries all around the world is working at the World Missionary Press facility in northern Indiana (about 4 hour drive south from Midland). CCC has sent several adult mission teams on week-long ministry over the years, but individuals and small groups can also go. World Missionary Press is an interdenominational faith ministry producing 48-page topical Scripture booklets in more than 340 languages, along with Bible study booklets and New Testaments in a variety of languages. They produce approximately 7,000,000 Scripture booklets each month to send out free of charge to missionaries and agencies around the world. Volunteers (no experience or skills necessary) can assist on the printing press, packaging booklets, sorting mail, helping prepare boxes of Scripture to different countries. Free housing provided for volunteers, very low cost mission opportunity to serve. Youth over 16 yrs old can work at WMP.
Need Help Finding a International Mission Ministry Opportunity?
There are hundreds of wonderful Christian ministries throughout Michigan, the USA and around the world. We can’t list everything, but we do have LOTS of experience working with many different groups and organizations, and have many contacts and references. If you feel that the Lord is leading you to minister in some capacity around the world, but aren’t quite sure where, when, what or how, then please contact us and we can help with ideas and suggestions.
Local Ministry Opportunities
When Jesus gave his great commission, he directed his disciples to begin right there in Jerusalem. If we reach the world, yet lose our own communities and neighborhoods, we have come up short. Being willing to get involved in reaching out to our own should accompany our eager willingness to pray and give. Many people do not realize the needs and opportunities to get involved right in our own communities. We encourage everyone at CCC to be prayerful and active in serving and loving all within our circles of relationship and others God may bring across our path. Some desire to do even more. The following provides a few opportunities.
If you want to find a volunteer ministry opportunity locally, please contact:
Paul & Susan O’Connor, CCC Local Ministry Coordinators
As an expression of the Church, Midland’s Open Door (MOD) exists to proclaim and demonstrate the love of Christ to the homeless, hungry and hurting, through Christ-centered programs and services. MOD meets the needs of the homeless of Midland County by operating three shelters including a 19-bed men’s crisis shelter; the Restoration House, an eight-bed men’s long-term program; and the House of Mercy, a 13-bed crisis shelter for women and children. To meet the needs of the hungry in our community, MOD operates a soup kitchen, Monday through Saturday from 12:00 noon – 1:30 pm. In addition, MOD also distributes gently used clothing, donated by community partners, to our shelter and soup kitchen guests through God’s Closet, open during the soup kitchen meal every Tuesday and Thursday. And, every week MOD volunteers minister to the inmates of the Midland County Jail, providing weekly Bible studies and one-on-one prayer and encouragement. There are many unique ways to use your skills and talents to serve the homeless, hungry and hurting right here in Midland. Volunteers are needed to serve in our direct-service ministries as well as our supportive ministries. MOD is currently looking for help in the following areas: maintenance, men’s and women’s crisis shelter assistants, Bible study leaders, marketing, and soup kitchen meal preparation. Individual and group projects are available! We welcome you to join us in restoring hope to the homeless, hungry and hurting by opening doors to transformed lives in Christ. If you are interested in serving with Midland’s Open Door, please contact us via email at office@midlandopendoor.org or call us at 989-835-2291.
Since 1988 Pregnancy Resource Center of Mid Michigan has existed to empower individuals to make choices for LIFE, by reflecting Christ’s unconditional love and sharing Biblical truth. Trained volunteers provide crisis intervention, parenting education, fatherhood support, abstinence education and post-abortion recovery services. PRC also provides guest speakers to community groups and churches on parenting and sexual health related topics. Our programs and facilities have recently expanded and volunteers are needed in the following areas: Receptionists, Client Advocates, Fatherhood Mentors, Cleaning Crew, & Special Events Volunteers. Contact PRC at (989) 835-1500 to see how you can get involved! prcmidland.org
The Colonnades is an assisted living facility located in Bay City. It also is composed of professional people and /or their spouses. They meet every Thursday evening from 6-7pm. To be a part of either of these ministries, contact CCC member Wally Zastrow at (989) 684-4849. Someone with musical ability would really add to this ministry!
Independence Village is apartments for retired professionals. This ministry has been in operation for the past 8 years. They meet on site every Wednesday evening from 6:30-7:30pm. The format for this hour involves worship, interactive Bible study and fellowship. This outreach is led by retired pastor Wally Zastrow. Opportunities for ministry could include leading in worship (pianist or a guitarist needed), assisting Wally with leading and/or teaching, or simply interacting and ministering to the residents.
International Friends is a local cross-cultural friendship ministry with international college students who attend Northwood University. Christian families or couples are paired with an interested international student for an opportunity to get to know each other throughout the school year. Friendship partner families can invite a student over to dinner occasionally, take the student shopping or enjoy an activity together. Through this, families learn about the student’s country and culture while sharing American culture, family life, and faith. This is a great way to develop international friendships and share the love of Christ with students who are far from home and eager to connect with families. For information, contact MEVF church members Mike & Deb Entner at 989-600-9823 (Deb) or 989-600-8673 (Mike).
International Friends at SVSU
One of the greatest challenge this generation faces is getting the salvation message into countries that are closed to the gospel. Yet God in his infinite wisdom and love has brought the nations right here to Mid-Michigan area and we have an incredible opportunity to reach them with the love of Jesus Christ. Over 70% of the international students at SVSU are from Saudi Arabia Nepal and China! Would you consider becoming an international friend partner? Please contact campus pastor James Damude at: thedamudes@gmail.com for more information on how you can be a part of Gods plan to reach the world.
“RFK is an international organization that provides summer camping and school-year mentoring experiences for children in state-supervised care. CCC was instrumental in bringing this ministry to Mid-Michigan in 1995 and hosted its first camp in 1996, followed by the launch of a second camp the following year. A mentoring component (“Club”) was added in 2009, making MidMichigan RFK a yearlong ministry opportunity to area children ages 7-12! A prerequisite to mentoring, camp provides five days of positive memories for campers and five days of respite to families/foster families at no cost to them. Each camp also requires over 60 adult/older teen volunteers to work in varying capacities. Other year-round opportunities to support RFK include donating goods and services, writing grants and supporting our annual fundraiser. If you have a heart for hurting children and want to learn more about ministering to them through RFK, you will find training dates, camp dates and contact info on our website: www.mm.royalfamilykids.org. You may also call the church office at 631-1300.
Caregiving Network is a collection of the outreach efforts of several Midland Christian churches. We are People of Christ serving People in Need. We perform Works of Mercy through our food pantry, clothing pantry and household goods pantry. We assist low-income Midland County residents with diapers and transportation, eviction prevention and utility shut-off protection. We also oversee Midland Community Former Offenders Advocacy and Rehabilitation (MCFOAR), which provide many of the same services to former inmates. We love donations of food, clothing, small household items and dollars! Caregiving Network relies extensively on volunteer labor for its pantries, campus upkeep and daily operation. For more information please see our website at caregivingnetwork.org or contact us at 837-9757 or cgnmgr@aol.com.
Old Town serves meals five days per week in three different modes. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays a hot meal is served in the dining hall to over 200 people totaling over 600 meals weekly. Every Saturday 300+ families are served 7-10,000 lbs. of groceries and a bagged lunch. This soup kitchen is held year round, outdoors, regardless of the weather. After our third and final service on Sundays we serve lunch to 125 – 150 people, including several children. Third service is mainly street people and we see extreme poverty and hunger. The Clothes Closet offers new and like new clothing from the ANNEX. The clothing comes from the community and occasionally from retail stores, etc. In addition to the clothing, we distribute household items including furniture, linens, kitchen utensils, etc. Goods are received Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
The Baby Pantry provides needy mothers and unborn babies with layette items. It is stocked with new and like new infant clothing, blankets, bottles and many of the necessary items for a newborn. Organizations and church groups hold baby showers for the pantry. The thousands of meals, the tons of groceries, the clothing, the baby items and the servanthood of scores of volunteers are an expression of the compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Every time the doors to the Soup Kitchen open or a needy mom is greeted at the Baby Pantry the love of the Lord and the truth of the Gospel is tactfully and lovingly shared.
The prison ministry needs volunteers who can visit local jails to lead Bible Studies and talk with prisoners about their lives and the redeeming nature of Jesus Christ. Men and women are needed to minister to same sex prisoners. Yes, this is safe and your witness may lead a person to Christ and forever change a life. Contact CCC church members Ted Asch at (989) 636-7835 or John Miller at (989) 631-8257
The Diaper Alliance was created as a Midland-only organization in 2010, providing diapers to a collaboration of partner agencies that serve financially vulnerable families. The diapers are then provided at no cost to their registered clients. As the reality of diaper need was exposed as an unmet need, it became evident that it was time to expand into the region. In 2013 we were selected as a community partner through the National Diaper Bank Network and their founding sponsor, Huggies. The Huggies partnership provides over 300,000 Huggies diapers per year, at a low cost. We currently distribute diapers to our 36 partner agencies in four counties for their clients. We provide diapers to agencies, not people. It is our hope that if the family has other needs, they will be identified by our partner agency and families will receive other assistance, not just free diapers. By late summer, 2015, we will have distributed over one-million-diapers. We are funded through donations, grants, and with kind support of our fundraising dinner and HulaPalooza. We welcome diaper donations, and since we repackage every baby diaper, opened packages are just fine! We also accept sealed, labeled packages of adult incontinence supplies and redistribute to senior citizens needing them. To get involved, make a contribution, or for more information, please visit our website: www.thediaperalliance.org. You can also contact us at 989-859-2186 or info@thediaperalliance.org.
* All Assembly of God mission trips and many other non-AG trips are fully tax-deductible, and your trip payments are considered as donations with receipts provided. Many of your family, friends, coworkers, etc would love to support your mission endeavors. We may also have resources to assist you in financing your mission trip.
PAST TRIPS
