I spent most of last week in Atlanta at the FSTML (Fellowship of Short Term Mission Leaders) Conference. The conference theme was, "The Road Ahead: A Critical Look at the Future of Short Term Missions", and included training sessions focused on the coming trends and issues facing Gods people who are engaged in and impacted by short term mission.We started the week by attending a pre-conference for organizations that have recently adopted the 7 standards of excellence in short term mission. This introductory workshop helped us catch the vision for how our continued commitment to the standards will impact our ministry efforts. One of the standards is "God centeredness", and as we talked about what that looks like, someone said, "Whatever becomes the center of your short-term trip is what people will worship when you leave." That was a powerful reminder that we must always be intentional to clearly point to Christ in everything we do on a trip.
While the teaching was great, the best part was spending time networking with people from the over 100 other organizations that were in attendance. Unlike other trade shows and seminars, there was a real sense of unity. Everyone was interested in sharing their best ideas and learning from others. We met several others from organizations doing exactly what we do at Simply Missions, but we didn't see each other as competitors. Instead, we spent lots of time talking and learning from one another because we recognize that we are not doing our own work, we are all doing Kingdom work.
Thanks to all who were praying for us while we were in Atlanta!
