Summer Trip, Anyone? To India and Beyond

Since more than two million Americans take short-term trips every year, and several hundred thousand from other countries, I thought some of you might want to know about a few unique summer trips to South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa that I think are super, intentional, well-planned, well-rounded, and well worth the investment of time and money. Summer trips re-imagined.

Yes, even though I’m a let’s-go-live-overseas-long-term kind of gal, I DO believe short-term trips can yield a high long-term return on investment, when they’re planned with purpose.

Intentional short trips overseas serve as a bridge between our current reality and a vision for how God sees the world—and how we can invest long-term in that vision.

So, I’ve got four summer trips to tell you about—and also a way to plan your own trip.

First, consider applying to The Garden Team in South Asia, The Oasis Team and The Desert Team in the Middle East, and The Mountain Team in North Africa.

If you’ve read my book Across the Street and Around the World, you know from Chapter Seven: Planning and Participating in Effective Short-Term Trips, that I believe most trips fall into three categories: Vision Trips, Professional Trips, and Survey Trips. We’re wise to know what type of trip we’re going on and why, to reduce confusion, unfruitful costs, and set expectations. I’m a big believer in choosing our trips wisely (or planning them well ourselves).

These four seven-week trips in the summer of 2024 are a re-imagined version of short-term trips because they’re planned as a Vision Trip (all the ingredients for you to experience and unreached culture and God’s heart for the nations) with a good dose of Professional Trip practical-ness (you’ll spend mornings learning a language) and a dash of Survey Trip experiences too (you’ll get to visit unengaged peoples and places on guided experiences).

In seven weeks, you’ll see how God is at work in the world and learn the foundations of a local language, which will serve you in any overseas setting, helping you connect with those around you and thrive on the field.

And through daily interactions with locals, prayer, and Bible study, you’ll begin to have a clearer answer to one of the most important questions of your life: Has God called me to cross-cultural work long-term?

Anyone will benefit from the way these summer trips are planned:

✅ students looking to learn

✅ church or organization leaders on a sabbatical

✅ retirees wanting some purpose

✅ future cross-cultural workers exploring options.

So here you go, click the image to find out more and apply before March 1, 2024.

If I may, can I tell you that the South Asia trip is in India—and there’s plenty of room still. But not for long. So, apply now (and you’ll get to meet up with me live too because I’m planning on coming through India when you’re there).

India is a heady fusion of colors, languages, and flavors. Home to several megacities and filled with numerous unreached people groups, it’s one of the most spiritually strategic places on earth.

However, the Urdu speaking Muslims in this region have been historically overlooked. This people bloc from the second largest Muslim country in the world has been largely forgotten. So few cross-cultural workers move to live there and learn their language.

But you can be a light to those in spiritual darkness. By immersing yourself in the language and culture for seven weeks, you’ll gain an inside look at what God is doing in one of the most populous places on the planet and discover what He’s calling you to do.

What to Expect

100 hours of Urdu tutoring
Learning 900+ spoken words
Learning through listening and playing games
4 hours of tutoring Monday–Friday
Taking long journeys to distant villages to prayer walk
Sightseeing with a local tour company
3- to 5-day trip to neighboring country to renew your visa
Meeting new friends, praying with them, and sharing Jesus

The second option is to plan your own purposeful short-term trip.

I’m working on a tool for you called Plan Your Short-Term Trip in a Day.

❶ Set aside five hours, gather your team (or your spouse), and simply follow my plan hour by hour.
❷ By the end of the day you’ll know WHEN to buy plane tickets, WHERE you’re going, with WHOm and WHAT you’ll do there, with a strong, purposeful WHY.

I’ve got Why Guides, Trip Checklists, Decision Flowcharts, Idea Lists, and Budget Spreadsheets—with a couple Bonuses including links to pre-trip training, insurance companies, learning organizations, international sending agencies, faith-based non-profits, refugee resettlement agencies, international student organizations, and trip hosts. Plus, step-by-step ideas for a Vision Experience right here at home.

Of course I need to finish all of it! So, if this would be helpful to you, grab the free Short-Term Trip Type Checklist that describes the three types of short-term trips (Vision Trips, Professional Trips, Survey Trips), so you can discover WHAT type of trip would best meet your long-term goals. You’ll also be one of the first to know when the bigger tool is ready. If there’s enough interest, I’ll put this high on my priority list.

Lastly, all short-term trips need pre-training. You can add enrollment to The Neighbors & Nations Course into the trip cost and your people will get all the culture and spiritual training and tools they need to visit another country in a healthy and fruitful way.

Participants can go through the training on their own time, from their home, with lifetime access. I’ll even work with you to let you know their progress. OR the whole team can go through the Course at the same time watching lessons from home and then meeting weekly to debrief.

If you’re going to be serving Muslims, you can add the Inviting Muslims to Follow Jesus Course too.