From the mission field: Short-term mission

A short-term mission team from LCMS International Mission led activities at Castillo Fuerte, a children’s program, during a 2023 trip to La Victoria, Peru. (Doug Hoyt)

LCMS short-term mission volunteers and teams serve alongside LCMS missionaries and Lutheran partners to proclaim Christ for anywhere from one week to six months. Volunteers serve in a variety of ways — teaching, counseling, providing health care, assisting with construction projects and more — to spread the Gospel, plant Lutheran churches and show mercy.

If you have ever considered serving as a short-term mission volunteer but have wondered what it would be like, you can read firsthand accounts by past volunteers at resources.lcms.org/commentaries. These volunteers have participated in opportunities in Taiwan, the Czech Republic and Latin America as well as in the United States, doing everything from leading vacation Bible school to teaching basic health and first aid.

Samantha Hoyt, a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church, East Dundee, Ill., has served on several short-term mission teams, including in Peru in 2020 and 2023. After her 2023 trip, Hoyt wrote:

“I flew home from Peru at the end of February 2020. Three weeks later, the world locked down.

“Looking back, I still marvel at God’s goodness. … Our group was able to hand out soap in some of the most economically depressed neighborhoods in Lima. We were able to teach children about hygiene and how to keep themselves and their loved ones healthy. We were able to introduce people who had never set foot in a church to local church workers who would be able to care for and minister to them through the coming year of uncertainty and fear. …

“I returned to Peru in October 2023. … So much had changed. Some people we had looked forward to seeing had moved away. Several had been called to their eternal home.

“While some of the news was bittersweet, so much more filled us with joy. Babies had grown into vibrant and energetic preschoolers. People who had spoken no English on our first visit were elated to practice their new language with us. A shy Venezuelan refugee I met in 2020 had become a deaconess student and one of the kindest, most loving people I have ever had the privilege to know. God worked in Peru through us, and it was so, so good to see how He kept working there long after we had left.”

Read the rest of Hoyt’s account, and those of other volunteers, at resources.lcms.org/commentaries. Visit lcms.org/missionary-service to learn more about LCMS Short-Term Mission and see a list of volunteer opportunities.

Posted Feb. 19, 2025