RCA Missions

Go Into All the World

Short Term Missions at RCA gives students an opportunity to Discover, Explore, and embark on a Journey of growing in their faith and apply in tangible ways what they have learned in the classroom and in the Chapel. Students travel to a foreign country, embrace cultures they do not know, visit impoverished areas, and share the love of Jesus in word and in practical ways with those they meet.

Each year we send our teams, DISCOVER, EXPLORE, and JOURNEY teams. Like any education, learning is progressive and the missions program is no different. Each team stretches the team members a little more than the first time. Each experience is a little bigger than the one before. However, no matter what team they are part of, they return forever changed.

DISCOVER – “to find out; for the first time to gain insight for knowledge of”

Team Discover is designed for the first-time missionary – providing an opportunity to step out into cross-border and cross-cultural missions. Practical hands-on sharing of God’s love is the focus. Building a house for a family in need, reaching out to children through VBS activities, sharing a meal with local people, and giving away clothing, blankets, and food are among the many opportunities students experience on this trip. Sharing God’s love in very tangible ways while growing personally and stretching your comfort zone is what you can expect.

EXPLORE – “to look into more closely; scrutinize; examine further”

Team Explore takes you into the “next step” in missions. You have been on a mission trip, and God has stirred your heart for people in a whole new way. Stepping out with this team means you more closely examine how God may be using missions to lead you towards life as a missionary, whether that takes you to the other side of the world or right in your own backyard. The responsibility falls more on you and your team to make this trip all you want it to be. Sharing your faith and testimony, and interacting more one-on-one with the people you meet and minister to are all part of what you will experience as you serve in a local church in a foreign country.

JOURNEY – “progress from one stage to another”

Team Journey. Your previous mission trips have sparked a passion in your heart for the lost, but now what? Can my life make a difference? How does this find a place in the rest of the journey of life? Take what you have learned on previous trips and learning how to live a missional life that goes beyond a short-term trip. You will travel to a foreign country, serve alongside a local church ministry, serve alongside an existing local ministries and missionaries. This team is typically smaller and requires you to lean in and grow even more. This is the final short term missions chapter of your high school years, now, embrace missions as part of the Journey of life.