Applications for our 2014 summer trips are already starting to arrive at the iGo Global World Wide Headquarters. Students at Super Summer in Texas and Kansas along with students at Falls Creek have stepped up and the process has begun.

What about you? It could be that you are still trying to decide if one of next summer’s trips is for you. Maybe you are still having conversations with your parents. Whatever the case, we want to help. So this week we will spend time on our blog giving you some Reasons to Go. Tune in daily and join the conversation.

Millions of people do short-term mission trips every year, so they obviously have popularity. Even so, the reviews can be mixed. One of the biggest issues we see with short-term missions is that they can feed the mindset that missions is all about taking trips. There seems to be a tendency to see missions as something we do or or an activity in which we can participate.

The Bible sees it differently. Jesus tells His disciples that the Holy Spirit is going to empower them and they will BE His witnesses (Acts 1:8). Paul reminds us that as a result of our right relationship with God, we are now therefore His ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20). Missions is not just an activity to engage in from time to time. Missions is a lifestyle. And short-term missions, when done well, promote that truth rather than contradict it.

The Apostle Paul was the original short-term missionary. He was constantly on the move, visiting new cities, planting new churches, and then returning to report to his sending church. There is no doubt, however, that he saw all of life as mission. He wasn’t just on mission when he was on a trip. He was on mission because Jesus had rescued him from sin and death and he wanted everyone to know.

Going on a short-term mission trip can help you see what living on mission looks like. For a week or more you are in the Word, praying, asking God to move, and seeing God move. Then it hits you. You could do this anywhere and everywhere. Not only could you, but you should.

This is what God calls us to as believers. We are fishers of men. We are ambassadors. We represent Him everywhere He places us. Sometimes that is on a short-term trip and sometimes that is in our algebra class. We are called to live our life with a clear understanding that all of life is mission.

This idea is at the core of our training at iGo Global. We don’t just want our teams to have great mission trips. We want the reality of the “on mission” life to invade their DNA and transform their worldview. Looking for a reason to go? Come and see what living on mission looks like in Europe, Asia, or the Middle East, and then integrate what you experienced into life back home. Come and let us train you and mobilize you. Not just for a great summer trip, but for a life of making Him famous.

So far this week we have given you three reasons to go. Got any others? Why do you think we should go?