Getting Ready to Come Back

Advocacy Guide for Mission Teams

How can a short-term mission team continue their ministry once returning home? The new guide Getting Ready to Come Back helps Christians returning from mission trips become effective advocates to end hunger and poverty.

Mission trips can be life-changing experiences. Research shows, however, that they often are not. One reason is that groups spend many hours preparing for their trip—but little time preparing for what happens when they return.

However, everyone has the potential to become an advocate in partnership with hungry and poor people. Getting Ready to Come Back helps mission teams traveling internationally to understand the root causes of hunger and poverty in the communities and countries they visit.  The guide encourages mission team participants to help change the policies, programs, and conditions that allow hunger and poverty to persist by speaking out to our nation’s decision makers.

Tools throughout the resource help teams prepare for their trip, reflect on their experiences, and take action once back home—all with the goal of making a long-term impact by helping address the causes of hunger and poverty. The guide also includes Bible studies, suggested discussion topics, and prayers for each part of the journey.

Order yours today—or download it for free. The printed version is spiral bound and conveniently-sized to be carried in a back pack. ($10 each, or $25 for five copies.)

Getting Ready to Come Back was produced by Bread for the World—a collective Christian voice urging our nation’s decision makers to end hunger—and supported by the following sponsoring partners: American Baptist Churches USA International Ministries; Christian Reformed Church of North America Office of Social Justice; Church of the Brethren, Global Mission Partnerships; Church World Service; Cooperative Baptist Fellowship; Week of Compassion (Disciples of Christ); Evangelical Covenant Church; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America World Hunger Program; Franciscan Action Network; Presbyterian Hunger Program; Reformed Church in America; United Church of Christ; and United Methodist Committee on Relief.

Web Resources

• Purchase Getting Ready to Come Back from Bread's online store.
• Download Getting Ready to Come Back (Right-click and choose "Save Link As").
• Purchase the Micah Challenge MDG Prayer Resource.
• Connect to live links for websites listed in Getting Ready to Come Back.
• Share your suggestions for future editions of the Advocacy Guide.
• View the cover photo in high-resolution format (2MB). Photo credit: Jennifer Wilmore.