Missionary work is important. As Christians, we want everyone to get a chance to know Jesus and receive the gift of salvation. That’s where missionary work comes in.
What is missionary work in the USA? Missionary work in the United States is following Jesus and making disciples who know and love him. This is done through relationship building, sharing the gospel, and different types of ministry outreach in short to long term programs.
Jesus calls us to make disciples of every nation, including our own nation. And we are also called to love our neighbors, and we have neighbors living right next to us who are broken and hurting and in need of a savior.
Mission Trips In The USA:
Here are the best mission trips opportunities I found.
Praying Pelicans Mission Trips
Praying Pelican Missions is dedicated to seeing Jesus known both internationally and domestically.
In their domestic trips within the USA, participants get to work alongside pastors, churches, and ministry leaders in order to share the gospel as well as grow in their own relationship with Jesus.
These trips range from 5-7 days and individuals who go on them usually fundraise anywhere from $250 to $700 depending on the location.
Locations include Alaska, the Appalachian region, the Carolinas, Native American Reservations, New England, Washington D.C., Pittsburg, Chicago, Houston, Miami, and more.
There are multiple dates for these trips and ways to sign up as a group or family, so no matter where you serve, you’re sure to grow the relationships within your group, grow in your own relationship with Jesus, and most importantly, grow God’s Kingdom.
If you’d like to find out more about Praying Pelicans Missions Trips click here.
Mission Trips With World Race America
World Race America is an 11-month mission trip all across the United States which focuses on bringing revival and Jesus’ love to every state the participants visit.
Participants must be 18-35 years old and fundraise $11,000 for the trip for their travels.
During World Race America, racers get to travel to over 30 different states where they partner with churches and ministries to not just reach those in the Bible-belt but to also reach the homeless, the addicts, and the least of these.
This route across the United States changes each year, but each squad will get to travel in a World Race van.
Participants also get to connect with and work with other World Race alumni who traveled the world for 11 months learning how to serve and work with different ministries.
Of course, Racers will attend a 10-day training camp before they are launched on their trip and learn skills of how to evangelize, collect ideas for how to teach others about the Bible, and prepare for different types of ministry they will encounter on the road.
If you’d like to find out more about World Race America click here.
Global Frontier Missions Trips
Global Frontier Missions (GFM) is a missionary training program that offers three short term trips for individuals who wish to learn more about how to share the gospel, make disciples, and grow in their own faith.
The first opportunity that Global Frontier Missions offers is a one day tour in Atlanta.
During the tour, participants will be able to experience going to a Mosque or Temple and learn about how to reach different people groups within their own community.
The second trip consists of a more strategic approach to sharing the gospel cross-culturally. In this trip, individuals will spend three days with leaders and be trained on how to share the gospel with people of different cultures as well as be exposed to different religions.
They will interact with internationals, experience ethnic restaurants and religious establishments, and prayer walk and evangelize in multi-ethnic communities.
The last short term opportunity with GFM is a summer internship that focuses on training 18-25-year-old students on how to partner with churches, build relationships with international students, and engage their college campuses with the gospel.
If you’d like to learn more about Global Frontier Missions and their trips in the USA click here.
Organizations:
Here are the best mission organizations that work in the US.
Youth With A Mission (YWAM)
YWAM is an international missions organization that trains and sends missionaries through their Discipleship Training Schools and their University of the Nations.
They also provide different opportunities for outreach within their short or long-term trips.
Though YWAM offers many trips all over the world, they also do a great job of offering loads of opportunities for people looking to see revival spread across America.
In the USA, YWAM participants can sign up for Discipleship Training School (DTS) and spend five-six months being trained in missions and then practicing what they’ve trained at different sites all over America.
Apart from their DTSs, YWAM also has outreaches from the east coast to the west. These include skaters outreach, sports outreach, arts outreach, beach outreach, homeless outreach, and more.
Since YWAM has an overwhelming amount of opportunities, finding the best fit begins with asking God to lead you and pursuing what ministry he’s given you a passion for.
To find out more about YWAM and how you can get involved, click here.
Baptists on Mission
Baptists on Mission in a missions organization that provides training, mission trips, camps, and different types of ministry outreach in specific states within the USA.
These opportunities can be found in Hawaii, North Carolina, the Appalachian Coalfields, New England, Alaska, Pennsylvania, and the Rocky Mountains.
Baptists on Mission also have an incredible college mission trip where participants spend three days in any of Baptists on Mission’s locations where they can witness to college students and young adults.
If you’re passionate about college students or even a college student yourself, you’re sure to find opportunities with Baptists on Mission to also train college-age individuals on how to share the gospel and reach their schools for Christ.
These trips can be customizable and flexible and the leaders of these trips try to work with you to see the best results for each different campus.
Other types of mission trips and outreaches that Baptists on Mission offer are youth outreaches, disaster relief, construction projects, elderly outreach, sports and children outreach, servant evangelism ministry, and more.
If you’d like to learn more about Baptists on Mission and how to get involved click here.
Ethnos 360
Ethnos 360’s goal is to see a thriving church in every nation, including the nation of the USA.
Ethnos 360 has multiple opportunities within their organization. These include chances to apply for a local mission trip within the United States, opportunities for volunteering at one of their sites, and opportunities to work alongside churches in order to train and equip congregations to share the gospel.
The best part about Ethnos 360 is that on their website they have lists of long term opportunities in the USA for full time missionaries.
Missionaries can browse through different ministry options and apply for their career in missions at Ethnos 360 as they seek God’s will and ask for direction.
Some examples of these careers in missions include aviation, business administration, and childcare lead teacher.
Missionaries who partner with Ethnos 360 also get to work with local churches to find the best ways to engage with their communities.
To learn more about Ethnos 360 and how to get involved, click here.
World Gospel Missions (WGM)
World Gospel Missions is an incredible organization that partners with missionaries to equip them and get them ready for the field, whether that’s halfway across the world or right here in the USofA.
WGM has multiple opportunities for missionaries who want to serve in the United States, including a missions career database where missionaries can search career opportunities that fit their skill level and give them a chance to work with churches and companies that want to advance God’s Kingdom.
Other opportunities include short and long term mission trips, internships, and ministry outreaches in Arizona, Texas, and California.
Through their trips, internships, and ministries, WGM especially focuses on cross-cultural outreach and offers participants the chance to work with immigrants from Yemen, Syria, Bangladesh, and Hispanic countries.
Though people from these countries are vastly different from us and far from their original homes, WGM seeks to remind them that once they accept Jesus, they become a part of God’s family and their true home becomes heaven.
Other opportunities for participants and volunteers with WGM include partnering with churches, putting on Bible camps, caring for people in hospice care, and organizing after-school activities, all the while building relationships and serving those within the community.
WGM also allows their participants to work with and learn from already stationed missionaries and retired missionaries in the area.
Whether you’re wanting to plant a church, work with refugees and immigrants, or lead a youth ministry, WGM will be committed to helping you to get there through hands-on experience in missions right here in the USA.
If you’d like to learn more about World Gospel Missions and how to get involved, click here.
Mission Opportunities Within America:
Here are the best mission opportunities I found.
International House of Prayer
International House of Prayer (IHOP) is based in Kansas City and exists to praise and worship God.
IHOP has been leading 21 years of 24/7 prayer and worship in their facility, leading people to pray unceasingly for our country, the world, and for missions.
You can access their 24/7 live prayer room on their website, but also engage with their different ministry opportunities.
Ministry includes:
- Training kids at their Children’s Equipping Center
- Praying for others in their Healing Rooms
- Encouraging African Americans in their faith in their African American Forerunner Alliance
- Inspiring students on college campuses to start prayer rooms themselves in the Luke 18 Project
- Seeking justice for orphans and the marginalized in the inner city.
IHOP has many other opportunities for outreach as well, some of them allowing for work with youth and gatherings that focus on training others how to evangelize and reach the city and America with the gospel.
If you’d like to learn more about the International House of Prayer and how to get involved, click here.
ABWE International
Although ABWE International works all over the world, they also have a passion for equipping churches and Christians in the United States to reach people with the gospel outside of the church doors.
Now more than ever, large communities of other ethic people groups and other nations are coming here to America and adding to the population of unbelievers in the USA.
ABWE offers churches an opportunity to get involved in cross-cultural ministry even in their own cities.
ABWE trains these churches on how to share the gospel, make disciples, and collaborate with other churches so that together, they can reach the communities of different people groups that are the church’s next-door neighbors.
These training opportunities include biblical teaching, leadership and team development, sports ministries, student ministries, and even teaching on how to share the gospel to Muslims and other people groups in America.
Other opportunities with ABWE International include volunteering at one of their sites or leading their children’s or young adult’s ministry in different locations.
If you want to learn more as a church or as an individual about how to reach your neighbors through ABWE International, click here.
Envision Internships
Envision is a missions organization that hosts 1-11 month internships in over 20 sites in the United States.
Envision lets anyone that is 18 years old or older to participate and starts the internship process with a three day training weekend.
After that, participants are able to embark on their internship with a focused area of ministry in teaching, building relationships, and even coffee ministry.
Each site looks to grow the individual in discipleship, hospitality, and their own skills and faith.
Partnering with local churches and other Christian organizations is also part of Envision’s program, so participants are sure to learn communication and organization skills.
Other than internships, Envision also hosts multiple short term missions trips that are simply on a smaller scale compared to their internships. The trips last 7-10 days and also allow you to sign up as a church group or collegiate ministry group.
If you’d like to learn more about Envision and their Internships and other opportunities, click here.
TEAM Cross-Cultural Student Ministry Summer Internship
TEAM – A Global Alliance of Churches and Missionaries, has a unique opportunity for anyone looking to work in vocational cross-cultural ministry in America or even internationally.
TEAM’s internship focuses on community development, church ministry, and international student ministry.
Each year, over 1,000 international student workers make their way to Virginia Beach to work for the many tourist companies that make their home their.
Participants of this internship are able to spend up to 9 months in Virginia Beach with TEAM, but most choose to stay for the summer.
Participants focus on building relationships with these international students that will allow them to open up the conversation to discussions about Jesus Christ.
As much as it is an internship for evangelism, TEAM’s framework also trains and builds up the participant, giving them room to grow in their own faith and walk with God.
Leadership, discipleship, and organizational skills are learned through this internship as well as many others, and the trips are even customizable to the participant’s strengths and abilities.
To learn more about TEAM’s Cross-Cultural Student Ministry Summer Internship, click here.
Missionary Work In The USA Matters
No matter where God leads you within the United States and no matter what ministry you’ll be doing, know that missionary work in the USA matters.
It matters because it allows us to share the gospel with people and love them so that they can know, love, and worship Jesus for themselves.
Jesus told us to go and make disciples of all nations, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We are called to do this in our own nation.
There are many people hurting and broken, living without the knowledge that Jesus is Lord. Let’s go and be the hands and feet of Jesus in America.