Empowering Churches Through Mission Trips: A Conversation with Nathan Walters
In this episode of the Pastors & Money Podcast, host Joy Suzanne Hunt interviews Nathan Walters, president of Mission Discovery, about the organization’s mission and the transformative experiences it offers through national and international mission trips. Nathan shares his personal journey with Mission Discovery and discusses the spiritual growth, generosity, and life-changing impacts that these trips have on participants and the communities they serve. They also address practical aspects like the costs involved, the importance of partnering with established local ministries, and effective debriefing post-trip. The conversation highlights how short-term mission trips can ignite a passion for service and generosity within church communities, making a significant long-term impact.
00:00 Introduction to Pastors & Money Podcast
00:36 Meet Nathan Walters of Mission Discovery
01:07 Nathan's Journey with Mission Discovery
05:12 Impact of Mission Trips on Participants
09:11 Transformative Stories from Mission Trips
11:13 Missions and Church Generosity
15:15 Addressing the Cost of Mission Trips
17:56 Missionary Calling and Short-Term Missions
18:49 Ministry Partners and Long-Term Impact
19:30 Strategic Partnerships and Sustainable Missions
23:47 Encouragement for Small Churches
26:00 Debriefing and Post-Trip Follow-Up
30:23 Advice for Pastors Considering Mission Trips
32:31 Overcoming Challenges and Distractions
34:45 Connecting with Mission Discovery
How Short Term Mission Trips Transform Churches and Lives: A Conversation with Nathan Walters (Transcript):
[00:00:00] Joy Suzanne Hunt: Welcome to the Pastors & Money Podcast. I'm Joy Suzanne Hunt, pastor and financial coach, bringing you conversations about personal finance, church finance and how we disciple our churches in the areas of finance and stewardship. You can find the episode show notes, and more at pastorsandmoney.com. And here's the show.
Nathan Walters is the president of Mission Discovery, an organization with over three decades of experience leading mission trips around the world. He helps connect churches, schools, and volunteers with opportunities to serve through building projects, medical care, and humanitarian aid.
Nathan is passionate about encouraging people to live out their faith through hands on service and works to create life changing experiences for everyone [00:01:00] involved in Mission Discovery's efforts. Well, Nathan, welcome to the podcast.
Nathan Walters: Thanks so much. It's good to be here.
The Origins and Growth of Mission Discovery
Yeah. Mission Discovery. So Mission Discovery started in 1991 when I was seven years old. So I didn't start it. I found it way later in life. It was basically started by a guy named Maury Buchanan who saw a need and wanted to meet it. Our mission is to mobilize the church, and support the physical and spiritual needs of the world's poor. He saw that there were a lot of people in need around the world and he wanted to meet that need, and then he felt the call to start a missions organization.
The Founding Vision
Nathan Walters: And he was kind of questioning that. So he met with his pastor and the pastor asked him, 'Maury, would God call you to do a God sized thing or a Maury sized thing?' And he didn't answer right because he was like, he knew the answer, but he didn't want, he really didn't know where to go. And so later on that year, he started Mission Discovery at his kitchen table.
And quite a few years later, in 2009, I found Discovery, went on my first mission trip, and I just fell in love with it. It was, we were building homes in Mexico, we built eight homes that week and I loved it so much that I paid to stay the following week, and do an extra week. It's just, something about the service and and the youth and the, I was leading worship and just,
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Joy Hunt (00:11):
Welcome to the Pastors & Money Podcast.
I'm Joy Suzanne Hunt, pastor and financialcoach, bringing you conversations
about personal finance, church financeand how we disciple our churches in
the areas of finance and stewardship.
You can find the episode show notes,and more at pastorsandmoney.com.
And here's the show.
(00:36):
Nathan Walters is the president ofMission Discovery, an organization
with over three decades of experienceleading mission trips around the world.
He helps connect churches, schools,and volunteers with opportunities
to serve through building projects,medical care, and humanitarian aid.
Nathan is passionate about encouragingpeople to live out their faith through
hands on service and works to createlife changing experiences for everyone
(00:59):
involved in Mission Discovery's efforts.
Well, Nathan, welcome to the podcast.
Nathan Walters (01:04):
Thanks so much.
It's good to be here.
started,
Joy Hunt (01:07):
can you tell us a little bit about Mission Discovery and how
you got started in this ministry?
Nathan Walters (01:12):
Yeah.
Mission Discovery.
So Mission Discovery started in1991 when I was seven years old.
So I didn't start it.
found
it way later in life.
it was basically started bya guy named Maury Buchanan.
who saw a need and wanted
meet
it.
our mission is to mobilize the church,and support the physical and spiritual
needs of, the world's poor, he saw,that there were a lot of people in
(01:32):
need around the world and he wanted tomeet that need, and then he felt the
call to start a missions organization.
and he was kind of questioning that.
So he met with his pastorand the pastor asked him.
Mori,
would God call you to do a Godsized thing or a Maury sized thing?
and he didn't answer right
because
he was like, he knew theanswer, but he didn't want, he
really didn't know where to go.
(01:53):
And so later on that year, he startedMission Discovery at his, kitchen table.
And, quite a few yearslater, in 2009, I found
Discovery,
went on my first mission trip,
and
I just fell in love with it.
Uh, It was, we were building homes inMexico, we built eight homes that week
and, I loved it so much that I paid
stay the
(02:13):
following week, and do an extra week.
It's just, something about the serviceand and the youth and the, I was
leading worship and just, construction,all these things that I had had
passion for
in my life, were kind of coming together
one.
And so, it was really a
when
I saw, firsthand.
(02:33):
The body of Christ becomingthe hands and feet of
you know, and serving eachother, serving those in need.
And, it really spoke to me because I
had never
been a part
something
that
eye
opening, before.
It changed my perspective.
changed everything about me.
I just got completely wrecked
that
week.
So that's how I found mission discovery.
(02:55):
quite a few years after it was started.
Joy Hunt (02:57):
then how did you end up in the role that you're in now?
Nathan Walters (03:02):
You have to,
you have to ask God that question.
I have no idea.
no idea.
so that was in 2009.
It took me five years
get hired.
I knew in 2009 on
first trip that
I was supposed to do mission discovery,it was like, okay, God had never spoken
more clearly to me in my entire life.
just like, you're
supposed to do this.
(03:23):
And then it was a longperiod, five years of waiting.
a portion of that time wasraising funds to start uh, all
of our project coordinators here,raise our funds to be on staff.
and so it was just like, you know, thatwas a giant mountain right there for me.
You know, you say, okay, you gottago raise your salary and you don't
have any experience doing that.
And you don't have a lot of peoplethat you can go to, to do that.
(03:44):
it's like, a crazy eyeopening experience,but it was just a giant mountain.
to get over and the truth is Ididn't climb it, God moved it,
And so, it was just, to gofrom there, I started as
project coordinator.
which
just
leading trips, leading
groups
on
trips, grew through that.
I
started a seven month missionprogram, that had a successful launch.
(04:07):
Uh, I then became the communications guy.
So doing all like
social media and
website stuff, which, I
don't I was great at, you know,was filling a seat but think to
answer the question probably is
I'm
passionate about what we do.
And,
through all of the differentroles that I've had here, the
passion has remained the same.
(04:28):
I sat down at a coffee shop with
president
at the time, and we had about an hour long
before he sprung
on me that he was wanting toretire and, and wanted to, the
board wanted to pass the buck
me, you
know, and I was like, I okay,
I
mean, it's kind of like one of those
that
God's leading you somewhere.
So you say yes.
but yeah, if you were toask me, you know, when
(04:50):
first
started or even,
way
before that,
I didn't grow up with anything, you know,
never
thought travel was a possibility
me.
it wasn't even on the radar growing up,you know, and so, probably the least
likely person to be sitting in thischair running the organization right
now is me and somehow God has me here.
So how yeah.
walk
through the door that he opens,
(05:10):
know, that's
kind of it.
Joy Hunt (05:11):
That's right.
So you've seen your own, you toldus a little bit about your own
experience, but now you've gottento observe a lot of people coming
on these missions trips over the
Nathan Walters (05:22):
years, right?
Joy Hunt (05:23):
So in your experience, how do those missions trips impact the
spiritual growth and the generosityof the people that participate?
Nathan Walters (05:31):
You know,
it's
hard to remember a mission trip where,
there was no
we do these trips because, mostof the time the trips start on
they
end on Saturday.
one of the main reasonsthat we do them is because.
The person
comes
on Sunday is not the person
leaves
on Saturday.
something has happened during theweek and their eyes have been open.
(05:55):
Their perspective
shifted.
God has spoken to them in anincredible way that they probably
never experienced before.
remember leading
trip.
It
was, in Virginia, we don't just go.
internationally.
We have trips in
States too, and even trips right
in our backyard.
So, I was in Virginia one timeand this guy stood up and said,
(06:15):
finally
found my purpose in life.
His name was Al and he was 85 years old.
So.
was just like God, just kind oflike turn the light bulb on for him.
And, so, it's, it's so interestinghow God works, in the least
expected ways on these trips.
So lives are always transformedon these how, you know, you're
(06:38):
talking about generosity.
it's when you go.
And you, experience even in ourbackyard, even in Tennessee.
I remember,
this was before I workedfor mission discovery.
I was doing some side jobs and Iwas, I saw on Craigslist this saw
sale
and I was like, I need that saw.
And it was in a place calledWestmoreland, Tennessee.
(06:58):
Now I'd been to Westmorelandbefore because mission
discovery had a camp there.
So I knew about Westmoreland.
What I didn't know was like, Thatwhen you went out there and you took
right on
this road and kept going for about15 minutes, still Westmoreland
and this is about not even anhour from Nashville, you've taken
a ride on this road and you godown and there's people digging
(07:19):
ditches on the side of the road as
going
to pick a saw
up and
I'm like, What's going on?
I finally go get to the saw play.
I'm like, I'm in the middle
nowhere
And I, I said, What are all these
doing?
She said, Yeah, we'regetting running water.
I said, What do you mean running water?
So yeah, we had we well, Imean, we get running water.
Yeah, we usually go down to the creekand, you know, get all our water
(07:39):
there.
But now we're gettingrunning water over here.
Not an
hour from Nashville, youknow, and this is this.
So that stuff like that, thisis right in our backyard.
So you
go and you experience people that livea completely different life than you do,
whether it be in Guatemala or whetherit be in Tennessee, you're going to have
(08:00):
a different, like I said, perspective.
you're gonna have a different outlook.
And a lot of times whatwe hear on trips is like,
We
do something called God sightings.
And so in the middle of worship atnight, we do worship every night.
We ask
question,
where did you see God
And
everybody has a chance toanswer, if they want to.
and by the end of the week,kids or adults are saying, you
(08:24):
know, I I came on this trip.
I had no idea what I wasexpecting, but I really see
how
much we have, even if they don't have
lot,
it's like, I really see how much wedo have their perspective shifts in
way.
And so
they're opened up to the idea of,I have a lot, which means I have a
lot to give and I'm going to hold.
(08:46):
My life and and the things thatI have with open hands, because
I've seen what a difference littlecan do and, that's the gospel.
God can do amazing things with thelittle that we offer the loaves and the
fishes, you know, and so people do, Imean, the generosity, the idea of serving
others, all that stuff comes alive.
But When you go on a
(09:07):
trip, you
just wake up a little bit more, you know,
Joy Hunt (09:11):
Can you share a particular story?
A particularly powerfulstory of transformation?
A transformation you'vewitnessed from a mission strip?
Nathan Walters (09:19):
Yeah, I can tell one from a couple of years
ago it sticks out in my mind.
Uh, we had a girl come with herdad and her sister to Mexico.
So his two sisters and theirdad and their mom didn't come.
I didn't really understand what
going
on, but the dad and mom were separatedand the mom was actually Wiccan.
and so the
dad had had his life radicallytransformed by a wonderful
(09:42):
church in Clarksville, Tennessee.
And, the works of
church, how they
were serving God.
so God changed
life
radically, one girl was kind of onboard, the other girl, not so much.
In fact, the reason she cameon the trip was to disrupt.
The work of Christ she, was not about it.
She didn't
(10:02):
why
she was going, she
want to
be there and she didn't want others to
pressure
her into this Jesus thing, shewanted to disrupt their small groups
everything.
the trip starts on a Sunday, it ends on
Saturday.
By
Tuesday she decided to follow Christ.
And
on Friday, her dad.
baptized both of those girlsin the pool there in Mexico.
Joy Hunt (10:25):
praise
Nathan Walters (10:26):
stories, you
know, it's like there are somany stories like that but that's
just a radical transformation.
Like I say that happens on thesetrips obviously there was a lot
of work done ahead of time in thatgirl's heart, you know god And this
is what we say about trips, you'renot bringing the gospel to mexico.
You're not bringing the gospel toGuatemala or Westmoreland, Tennessee.
(10:48):
God is already working there.
He's already He's already turning
He's
already, speaking to these peoplein ways that we can't even see.
And so the gospel that you arebringing is just going to feed
into what God's already doing.
And so obviously in that girl'slife, God had already been
work even
though she didn't realize it.
And she just came and her heart
prepped and
(11:08):
ready to turn over to Jesus.
Joy Hunt (11:10):
That's, oh, that's so fun.
I love it.
That's awesome.
so, you know, this is thepastors and money podcast, right?
And so part of what our missionis, is to help the church.
Disciple our people in the areas ofgenerosity and stewardship and just
how we've managed finances And so howdo you see missions trips affecting
(11:31):
the culture of generosity in a church?
Nathan Walters (11:35):
That's a
great question.
We've had several churches actuallythat have come with mission
discovery and their entire, uh,
uh,
culture shifts inside that
church.
there's a one church that built a completemissions program because they came.
on a mission
They
figured out this is very important.
For some reason, you know, they, the
(11:56):
that went got
so much out of it that they became,more, givers and, servers at
church.
a lot of times a mission trip is astep into a service role at the church.
Once somebody's doingsomething at a church,
this is kind of likethe thought I have here.
but just
Once
somebody goes on a missionthey're doing something.
(12:17):
the second step then is to becomedonors, to get involved with the
giving of the church because theyrealize that the mission of the
church aligns with their passions.
And so when something like thathappens, it's like, okay, we're
going, we're doing, now we're giving,you know, It's just a natural flow.
So I feel like, mission trips are a goodseed, a good starting point for people to
(12:40):
jump on and and become passionate aboutthe mission of the church that they go to.
Even stories is incredible as we had onechurch go, and it was a giant mega church,
and they built this missions program after
on
a
discovery
trip, and their goal after doingthat became to give 90 percent
of what they brought in as achurch to the mission field.
Joy Hunt (13:02):
Wow.
Nathan Walters (13:03):
Yeah, I mean there's something about a mission trip or
missions in general, that ties directly to
the
generous heart.
Joy Hunt (13:12):
It really puts, I mean, it puts skin on some of those things that
we know are happening intellectually,but if you haven't seen it and then
there's just something about being presentin person with people that God just
uses that to tug on your heartstrings.
Nathan Walters (13:31):
Right.
Joy Hunt (13:31):
know, that's where relationships are built, right?
Not that you can't have, you know, we'rehaving this conversation over Zoom, right?
But, I remember going to, like I got to goup to Northern California and baptize one
of my coaching clients a few months ago.
Nathan Walters (13:44):
Oh,
Joy Hunt (13:44):
It was the first time we've met in person.
held me so tight.
it was like, we were close before thatwe've been working together for a year,
but there's just something different
Nathan Walters (13:55):
Right.
Joy Hunt (13:56):
to
same room, to be standingin the same lake.
and and I think that God uses that inour, you know, in our relationships
with God uses that in stirringour heart for what breaks his.
Nathan Walters (14:08):
that's a
dangerous prayer to pray,you know, break my heart
what
breaks yours.
That
is a dangerous prayer.
I found that out, you know, but
yeah, it's, you're right.
It's powerful.
The, the tangible,
seeing somebody
face to face what happened, you know, Ican look at the screen all day and you
can even see this on social media, right?
(14:28):
People get some happy on
media
because there's a screen separating, you
them
from the reality of the people thatthey're Talking to, and so, what
they say with their thumbs is a lotdifferent than what they might say with
their mouth, you know, and so, yeah,being with people face to face kind
takes
away that barrier and, you know, youcan see and empathize with people
(14:50):
when you're standing next to him.
And so I think that's a lot of, theperspective shifts that happen on a trip
like,
you're going to Guatemala and yousee this mom with two kids and
you're thinking I'm a mom with two kids.
you realize
these
people are no different thanme and that we all have lives.
I have to provide for my family
like
this guy has to provide for his.
(15:11):
There's something that happens whenyou get face to face with other people.
I
Joy Hunt (15:15):
Now, sometimes, I've heard, one of the questions about short term
missions can be, there's a lot of costsand is there really an impact and all this
and you know, you're not there to be ableto invest in that community long term.
But I think that these short termtrips are just as much about the
education of the person going,
Nathan Walters (15:33):
and
Joy Hunt (15:34):
as they are about the community that they're impacting.
it's not one or the other.
I think it's both.
Nathan Walters (15:41):
Yeah.
You know, I, you're right.
That is
question
and it's a valid question.
You know, uh, there's no doubt.
That when
look
at the price of a mission trip,you're looking at travel, you're
looking at food and lodging,you're looking at transportation.
These things
add up quickly, you know.
So mission discovery, that's whatwe take care of all the logistics.
(16:02):
We kind of give like a flat price,you know, so that people don't have to
worry about planning all this stuff.
Um, but it's still, it adds up.
And so, the question becomes for a church
leader,
is the cost, the dollaramount, is is it worth it?
Is it going to anything that's valuable?
And that's really something thatI would encourage prayer over,
(16:23):
you know, because I would say yes.
I mean, I would say that I've seenenough life transformation and church
attendees, and the people that, youknow, that are actually on the field
we're
going to serve.
I've seen, I've seen it all.
and I would say absolutely, youcould have put a cost on that.
we're just talking about theface to face interaction.
There's a relationshipthat happens between,
(16:45):
people
on the ground and the
that
are coming to serve,that you just don't get.
you know, I would say youcould do it in your backyard,
I think, one of the thingsthat, for smaller churches,
they're just trying
to get their foot into the door, findinga nonprofit in the local area, just to
build this idea of serving others with
congregation that puts,
(17:06):
foot
in the
and
then build up to The tripwhere you, actually take
drive
down the road, a coupleor a few hours to or
go overseas, I think thecost for sure is worth it.
But you know, everybody has
decide
for themselves, you know It'slike, that's a prayer that you
pray, you know, and you ask God,
I, you
know,
(17:27):
I
Enjoy talking with peoplethat, you know, may not have
an issue spending gobs and gobs
gobs
of money on a cruise
But
have an argument against servingon a mission trip, you know,
and nothing against cruise.
I've never been on one
sure
they're great.
But Nothing against cruises, butI just you know, I think uh, just
(17:48):
thinking through a little bit Those,those things This is a good idea.
Praying about them for sure.
Joy Hunt (17:55):
we'll spend it on a car.
Right.
Nathan Walters (17:57):
Yeah.
Spend it on a car, get it, get a car note.
Right?
No.
Joy Hunt (18:01):
And so, yeah, I haven't had one of those for a few years.
I was talking to one of our, youknow, my mom was a missionary kid.
So a lot of
Nathan Walters (18:11):
Oh,
Joy Hunt (18:11):
kind of aunties and uncles are these veteran
missionaries that she grew up with.
Right.
And.
They, I was talking to, to one ofthem several years ago and asking
about this, you know, like, how doesthat work with short term missions?
And cause you know, are you able tobuild relationships and what is that?
Is it just like a tourist thingor what's happening there?
And they told me that many of the fulltime long term missionaries were called
(18:38):
while they're on a short term trip.
Nathan Walters (18:40):
A
A hundred percent.
I was just in the Bahamas
couple of weeks ago
visiting with.
a bunch of our ministry partners there.
That's the other piece.
I, I'll get to the ministrypartner piece in just
second, but I was
visiting with the couple and
their first trip, they went
to the Bahamas
with Mission Discoveryway back in the day.
(19:01):
and when they were leaving the Bahamas,they got on the plane to go back.
And while they're back inthe States, they're not there
for a day, I don't think.
And the wife was like,
I
gotta go back.
I'm called.
they called Mission Discovery.
They got with the leaders andthey figured out a way to make
happen.
Now they're full time missionariesthere in the Bahamas and they have
been for years and years and years.
(19:22):
and that's not the only caseof course, but that just comes
mind cause
I was with them a couple of weeks ago.
those
are our ministry partners.
And another
that
I want to say too about The shortterm versus long term missionary or
mission trips, so to speak, is likethere, we have ministry partners.
So when a team comes from, Oklahomaand another team comes from
(19:43):
California, comes with us to serve
Guatemala,
we're working with the same
that
we've been working withfor, More than 12 years now.
and all of our
partners
are really like when
we commit to someone, we're
with them for the
long haul.
so what teams are actuallydoing are are playing a part in
story that
God is writing with that ministry therein that town and Mission Discovery
(20:05):
and our teams just come to kind ofamplify what they're doing, and provide
extra
muscle, some extrafunds for them to do it.
And so
yeah, I would say there's another aspectthere of, you know, do short term mission
trips really make a difference or how,well, it depends on how you look at it.
know, if you're
just dropping into somewhere that youdon't intend to talk to for the next year,
(20:26):
two years, you might want to rethink it.
But
mission
discovery, all of our partnersare, Family to us, you know, and
we're always in contact with them.
Joy Hunt (20:37):
yeah, I was hearing the, Director of something
global for a convoy of hope was a
Nathan Walters (20:42):
speaker Oh, yeah
Joy Hunt (20:42):
an event I was at a month ago, and he was telling us how the
convoy of hope with their povertyalleviation initiatives when they
go into places they don't go inunless there's already an established
missions or church presence there.
Nathan Walters (21:00):
A hundred percent.
Joy Hunt (21:00):
able to take the reins and be able to disciple
people as they go in and serve.
Like that's one of the key components.
'cause otherwise it would be justlike what you talked about, you
know, go drop in something for aweek or two, or even a few months.
And then there's nothingto carry it on after.
But if you already have thoserelationships on the ground, to make
sure that these people are gonnaget discipled and get the support
(21:21):
that they need on an ongoing basis.
Nathan Walters (21:23):
Yeah, so we say that we only go where we're invited So where you
know where there's a ministry that isalready happening We can look at that
ministry and we have like a, a set of
so we can kind of say hey, this is
is great This You know, maybe we need towork on this area a little bit, but, we
of
dream together and if theyinvite us and our teams to serve,
(21:43):
then, Then, as long as it's
sustainable
ministry that is well put togetherand respected by the community around
them really making a difference, then,
look at
coming and bringing teams
So, yeah, and it's allstrategic, you know?
want
to empower the right partners.
and so, um, that's kind of the way that
go.
It's hard
because sometimes people are reachingout and it is, like Johnny that's
(22:07):
starting his own ministry there.
And
just
have no, I'm sure it's great.
You know, you might, he has a great heart.
But, as far as like, what are safetymeasures when we're bringing a team 25,
you know, how far is the hospital fromthe hotel, if we need to get there,
and sort of things that we have towalk people through and thinking about.
so
that's why it's another benefit of havinga well established ministry that's used
(22:28):
to working, with people, all those thingsare generally thought through and you
can have some conversations, about them.
So, yeah.
Joy Hunt (22:37):
That's good to know because, you know I have some missionaries
that listen to this show as well.
So those are people, you know, if theywant to be able to invite a team out
that they could reach out to you guys.
Nathan Walters (22:47):
Absolutely.
Yeah, we have a, we, peoplereach out to us all the time.
So, uh, so we're always in prayerover the people that do reach
out to us because there's noway that we can get to them all.
you know, and once, like I say,once we're in a place, we're in it,
we've been in Guatemala for my goodness.
I don't even know how long, well over.
So with the ministry partnernow, probably 15 years.
(23:08):
Yes, 15 years.
It was 2009.
And then, you know, Mexico 28 years, youknow, for 33 years now, we've got some
pretty longstanding ministry partnerswe've worked with for a long, long time.
Joy Hunt (23:23):
There's some good roots there.
Nathan Walters (23:25):
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
Good roots.
Good.
You know, it's relationship.
It's family.
you know,
our ministry partner out in Mexico
lost her husband.
so we went out for that.
And then, she also got put in thehospital recently or under a year ago.
So we went out for thatit's the things you do.
things that you would do for your ownmother or aunt, you know, you're doing
for your ministry partner out there.
Joy Hunt (23:46):
sure.
So, you know, I know some of oursmaller churches might feel that
mission trips are out of reach.
You know, they don't have enough.
financial resources, or sometimes it'seven the human resources of literally
somebody to manage this process.
And I know you, you even had some ideasof some more local ways that you can
start, but what, what would you sayto encourage those smaller churches to
(24:09):
be able to go ahead and get started?
Nathan Walters (24:11):
I would say, you know, mission discovery, really, we
take a, we take few large churches.
I would say the benefit of anorganization like us is that we can take.
small churches as well.
And we can partner themup with each other.
So they've got enough peoplethere to actually make a good
impact while we're there.
in fact, we have families thatjoin us, all the time, and we
(24:33):
can partner families up with
churches
that are going places.
so I would say you
have to
be a certain
of people for
your church to go on a trip.
We can partner you up and goingthrough an organization like us means.
You know, if you're a smallchurch, you don't have staff
put
everything together.
we do all
the logistics so that
all you have to do is kind ofsign up look at plane tickets
and meet us on the ground, so
(24:54):
give us
a call.
you know, if you don't trust myvoice, look at other organizations
online, that are doing the same thing.
I would
say that, I'm very proud ofmission discovery, the way we work.
So.
Call us first.
but also, like I said earlier,getting involved with local
nonprofits is a great idea for small
you know, it's
not a lot of commitment, and it'snot a lot of money to just go and
(25:17):
serve at your local food pantry
Places
have thrift stores for people thatneed, oh those places always need help.
so yeah, there are generally somenonprofits or ways to help in
your area and you can do that.
so those are a couple of examples.
I w I would just say.
First,
course,
like I've said a coupleof times is just pray,
we are all called to serve insome capacity and, serving on a
(25:41):
trip,
like I said,
a
very eyeopening
rewarding
experience.
and he really do makea long lasting impact.
when you go with an organizationlike Mission Discovery,
and but I do understand that that'sa, that's a lot to, that's a lot
to think about and pray about.
And so, um, another reason whywe're here is to pray with you.
So
Joy Hunt (26:00):
let's talk about what happens after, after the trip, right?
So, we did talk a little bit aboutthe impact of like long term giving
and volunteering, but what about,how do we effectively debrief and
follow up after a mission trip tobe able to maintain that momentum?
Nathan Walters (26:18):
yeah, that's a great question.
debriefing is very important.
In our training packets,we give a debrief schedule.
So it kind of lays out,here are the meetings
should
have before a trip.
And here's a meeting that you might thinkabout after a trip mission discovery.
Every day we come together and we debrief
the
trip.
every night we have a worship session.
(26:39):
Somebody, teaches and then we breakoff into small groups where you
talk
together about
God's
doing on the trip.
built into
schedule,
there is a debrief time.
but what we generally like
do
is say like, Two weeks to a month afterthe trip, maybe have a dinner together
you
invite all the team members together andshare what life's been like post trip.
(27:01):
A lot of people, and this isthe thing that I would say,
a lot of people are wrecked.
After a mission trip, they see thingsthey never thought they would see.
And
coming
back into
States
is more of
culture
shock than going out of the
almost sometimes
because their life is
so different.
So I would say, debriefing thattime with each other is important.
(27:22):
a lot of churches also do like a
Sunday
where they'll present.
Photos and video from thetrip and show the rest of
congregation.
This is what we were involved
That's
another great way to get
trip giving and
get their gears turning towardsnext year's mission trip.
Joy Hunt (27:40):
talked about, you know, people coming back and, and you know, That
word you used, wrecked.
It's just like the perfectword for that, right?
But then it's a almost like you need togive somebody a path of what, what some of
their next steps are going to look like.
not just, I've seen that sense ofemotional overwhelm and like, okay,
there's this huge need out there.
Now what?
(28:01):
and so how can we helppeople with the now what?
Nathan Walters (28:04):
But now what?
Yeah.
Well,
like I said,
the
missions, the mission tripitself is going to open
eyes.
If it's a first mission trip for achurch, you may not already have a
system of, outreaches that you're doing.
maybe missions is not that big of adeal for your church, you know, but if
it is, then that's a great opportunityfor, to get those people that have
(28:27):
gone on the trip to get deeper intoserving with the church, serving
with the different outreaches that
church
does, it's a night wherethey bring in people,
from the rescue missionand give them a place
stay
for the night and that kind of thing.
but a lot of churches do different
to
serve their own communities.
Every church has a mission and
vision.
And so
every church is fullof missionaries, right?
(28:48):
so
the idea is how is the church serving thecommunity around you and inviting those
to come
back to
church
and serve, at
church.
that is a giant piece that, these mission
can feed into if you get thesevolunteers to say, okay, I want to commit
something
else here at the church.
so that's what I wouldsay that now what, what?
(29:08):
If you're talking about,
let's
say you're going to Jamaica withMission Discovery, I mentioned
earlier, we've got doers, we've got
volunteers that
go and do, and then they want to take that
step.
They say, now what?
And then they become donors.
And so they might support the school forthe deaf that we worked at in Jamaica.
You know, that kind of thing.
Going and doing is a great way to servethe community, but, funding that community
(29:32):
another great
way to serve.
and just like that, funding the churchand their mission also a great way
serve.
they all kind of feed in,you know, mission trip kind
of feeds into all of that.
What's next?
Well, you can support the
the
mission, by funding.
Joy Hunt (29:48):
Yeah, and I'm thinking, you know, being intentional about building
those connections between whateveryour missions or kingdom builders
or whatever you call your missionsprogram and the organizations that
you're working with as you're going.
on a trip as well, you know, giving,okay, so we just were there, but
(30:09):
also this is one of our partnersthat we support throughout the year,
Nathan Walters (30:13):
Absolutely.
then
Joy Hunt (30:15):
that's a tangible, Oh, wait, I know those people, or at least I know
somebody who knows those people, right?
Nathan Walters (30:21):
Yeah.
yeah, Absolutely.
Joy Hunt (30:23):
Yeah, so as a, you know, there's pastors listening that maybe
their church has never done a tripor they as a pastor have never, led
a trip before and they're consideringwhether they're going to do that.
what's some advice thatyou could give them?
Nathan Walters (30:36):
Well, so want to make, if a pastor is listening and
they're feeling the call to go on a
trip,
you of want to make connection,you know, talk to somebody who's
it.
my first instinct is to say,Hey, call mission discovery
Cause we're here every day.
And we're
Hey, we'll talk about mission tripsall day with you if you want, but also
calling a local pastor or a friendthat's done something like that before
(30:56):
getting their take on how it affectedtheir church, asking questions like
the questions that you just asked me onthis podcast and ask that local church.
or your pastor friend, how they'veexperienced growth in their church,
because they went on amission trip, you know?
I think that's a great idea.
Just open those communication
That's
step one is just get the informationthat you can about going on a a lot
(31:20):
of times pastors have experienced amission trip, but they haven't led one.
an organization like MissionDiscovery that does this, that has
full time
employees, that has, partners thatwe've worked with for years, so
you know that we're vetted andwe're making, strategic decisions.
Choices that make a long termimpact rather than a short term one.
(31:42):
It's also like you're, you
you're
going for a short time, but youreally want to make the most impact
that you can, organizations like us.
We make sure that that happens.
And then we take care ofall the details and stuff.
So really, if definitely, if it'syour first time, you'd probably
want to go with an organizationthat Knows the ropes and that can
take care of all of the logistics.
(32:03):
So uh, one that's really trusted
so
uh, We can give you the names of youknow, a million youth pastors and you
can call and see how their trip was,
know
And so yeah, I would say those two thingscall somebody that you know, uh, talk
them
about it.
Call us
talk to you
about it all day Um, And then uh, pray,you know I'll tell you the things that
(32:23):
will happen, which I think is wherethis question might lead is, okay,
you want to go on a mission trip andgoing back to your last question.
Now what, you know, I think theenemy is a master at distraction.
so when you get this idea thatyou want to go on a mission trip,
I think there's a trigger in theenemies, strategy against us.
(32:46):
It says, Hey, there's agreat chance that this
trip is going
to do.
a crazy lot of good.
it's going to impact a lot of people
Christ.
And
so I want to stop that.
I'm going to disrupt that.
I'm
to
distract this person fromfollowing through on that thought.
And so what will happen isyou'll think about the money,
you know, that's so much money.
(33:06):
How am I going to get allthat money to go on this trip?
you'll think about.
the time, how much time andenergy is it going to take
to pull off a trip like this?
, and these are stories thatI know from experience.
, you're going to think aboutyour church congregation.
You're going to think who's goingto want to go on a trip like this.
How am I going to ever get
commitment
level that I need
(33:27):
get
from these people?
Who's going to communicate
these
people, all the What I'mgoing to tell you is, look.
at scripture and look at themountains that God moves in
and what you're talkingabout is just a little,
little hill and
God is easily going to move that.
And so, we just have to think andpray and put our faith that God is
(33:50):
going to follow through with what
calling
us to do.
I've
seen it multiple times.
I know that every pastor that's listeningto this has a story of their own.
It's like God did movethis mountain before
it
was a major attack from
enemy and he can surelytake care of, the logistics
of a mission
Mission
Discovery is here to help.
You know, we do all that we give
(34:10):
you back your time, so you don'thave to plan all the logistics.
we help follow through withyour volunteers and their
paperwork, because I know that's
to
seem like a lot.
we have resources to give you that wouldhelp you raise a crazy amount of money
that you never thought was possible.
We're here to help that's and soI just I know that story all too.
Well, the distraction Is a is
limiting
(34:30):
factor that that will come in Uh, and andthe enemy uses it all the time on people
He used it on me for years and uh, and andonce you move away from that let God move
that mountain You won't be disappointed.
Joy Hunt (34:45):
so as we get ready to wrap up here, how can listeners and these
pastors and missionaries listening,connect with you and learn more about
what Mission Discovery is doing?
Nathan Walters (34:55):
Yeah.
Mission discovery.
org.
It's that I mean, we have socialmedia and all that stuff, and
at,
we've got a girl here at the office
does a
great job with it much betterthan I did when I was in charge.
So, so you can look @MisDisTrips iswhat our social media handles are
@MisDisTrips but easier than that is
missiondiscovery.Org that's how you'll
(35:17):
find us and put us, push a little buttonon there and we'll get in touch with you.
Joy Hunt (35:22):
Awesome, well, thank you, Nathan.
And of course, to your team for all theincredible work that y'all are doing and
for spending some time with us today.
Nathan Walters (35:30):
Oh, my goodness.
It's my pleasure.
Thank you so much for having me.
Joy Suzanne Hunt (35:35):
Thank you for listening to today's show.
I'd love to know what you think about it.
You can leave a comment on the shownotes at pastorsandmoney.com/podcast,
or email me at joy@pastorsandmoney.com.
If you enjoyed the show, pleasesubscribe, share, and leave a review.
This helps us to get the wordout and invite more people
into these conversations.
(35:57):
If you'd like to connect, you canfind me on Instagram or Facebook.
@ PastorsandMoney.
I can't wait to talk again soon.
Welcome to the Pastors & Money Podcast.
I'm Joy Suzanne Hunt, pastor and financialcoach, bringing you conversations
about personal finance, church financeand how we disciple our churches in
the areas of finance and stewardship.
You can find the episode show notes,and more at pastorsandmoney.com.
And here's the show.
(00:36):
Nathan Walters is the president ofMission Discovery, an organization
with over three decades of experienceleading mission trips around the world.
He helps connect churches, schools,and volunteers with opportunities
to serve through building projects,medical care, and humanitarian aid.
Nathan is passionate about encouragingpeople to live out their faith through
hands on service and works to createlife changing experiences for everyone
(00:59):
involved in Mission Discovery's efforts.
Well, Nathan, welcome to the podcast.
Nathan Walters (01:04):
Thanks so much.
It's good to be here.
started,
Joy Hunt (01:07):
can you tell us a little bit about Mission Discovery and how
you got started in this ministry?
Nathan Walters (01:12):
Yeah.
Mission Discovery.
So Mission Discovery started in1991 when I was seven years old.
So I didn't start it.
found
it way later in life.
it was basically started bya guy named Maury Buchanan.
who saw a need and wanted
meet
it.
our mission is to mobilize the church,and support the physical and spiritual
needs of, the world's poor, he saw,that there were a lot of people in
(01:32):
need around the world and he wanted tomeet that need, and then he felt the
call to start a missions organization.
and he was kind of questioning that.
So he met with his pastorand the pastor asked him.
Mori,
would God call you to do a Godsized thing or a Maury sized thing?
and he didn't answer right
because
he was like, he knew theanswer, but he didn't want, he
really didn't know where to go.
(01:53):
And so later on that year, he startedMission Discovery at his, kitchen table.
And, quite a few yearslater, in 2009, I found
Discovery,
went on my first mission trip,
and
I just fell in love with it.
Uh, It was, we were building homes inMexico, we built eight homes that week
and, I loved it so much that I paid
stay the
(02:13):
following week, and do an extra week.
It's just, something about the serviceand and the youth and the, I was
leading worship and just, construction,all these things that I had had
passion for
in my life, were kind of coming together
one.
And so, it was really a
when
I saw, firsthand.
(02:33):
The body of Christ becomingthe hands and feet of
you know, and serving eachother, serving those in need.
And, it really spoke to me because I
had never
been a part
something
that
eye
opening, before.
It changed my perspective.
changed everything about me.
I just got completely wrecked
that
week.
So that's how I found mission discovery.
(02:55):
quite a few years after it was started.
Joy Hunt (02:57):
then how did you end up in the role that you're in now?
Nathan Walters (03:02):
You have to,
you have to ask God that question.
I have no idea.
no idea.
so that was in 2009.
It took me five years
get hired.
I knew in 2009 on
first trip that
I was supposed to do mission discovery,it was like, okay, God had never spoken
more clearly to me in my entire life.
just like, you're
supposed to do this.
(03:23):
And then it was a longperiod, five years of waiting.
a portion of that time wasraising funds to start uh, all
of our project coordinators here,raise our funds to be on staff.
and so it was just like, you know, thatwas a giant mountain right there for me.
You know, you say, okay, you gottago raise your salary and you don't
have any experience doing that.
And you don't have a lot of peoplethat you can go to, to do that.
(03:44):
it's like, a crazy eyeopening experience,but it was just a giant mountain.
to get over and the truth is Ididn't climb it, God moved it,
And so, it was just, to gofrom there, I started as
project coordinator.
which
just
leading trips, leading
groups
on
trips, grew through that.
I
started a seven month missionprogram, that had a successful launch.
(04:07):
Uh, I then became the communications guy.
So doing all like
social media and
website stuff, which, I
don't I was great at, you know,was filling a seat but think to
answer the question probably is
I'm
passionate about what we do.
And,
through all of the differentroles that I've had here, the
passion has remained the same.
(04:28):
I sat down at a coffee shop with
president
at the time, and we had about an hour long
before he sprung
on me that he was wanting toretire and, and wanted to, the
board wanted to pass the buck
me, you
know, and I was like, I okay,
I
mean, it's kind of like one of those
that
God's leading you somewhere.
So you say yes.
but yeah, if you were toask me, you know, when
(04:50):
first
started or even,
way
before that,
I didn't grow up with anything, you know,
never
thought travel was a possibility
me.
it wasn't even on the radar growing up,you know, and so, probably the least
likely person to be sitting in thischair running the organization right
now is me and somehow God has me here.
So how yeah.
walk
through the door that he opens,
(05:10):
know, that's
kind of it.
Joy Hunt (05:11):
That's right.
So you've seen your own, you toldus a little bit about your own
experience, but now you've gottento observe a lot of people coming
on these missions trips over the
Nathan Walters (05:22):
years, right?
Joy Hunt (05:23):
So in your experience, how do those missions trips impact the
spiritual growth and the generosityof the people that participate?
Nathan Walters (05:31):
You know,
it's
hard to remember a mission trip where,
there was no
we do these trips because, mostof the time the trips start on
they
end on Saturday.
one of the main reasonsthat we do them is because.
The person
comes
on Sunday is not the person
leaves
on Saturday.
something has happened during theweek and their eyes have been open.
(05:55):
Their perspective
shifted.
God has spoken to them in anincredible way that they probably
never experienced before.
remember leading
trip.
It
was, in Virginia, we don't just go.
internationally.
We have trips in
States too, and even trips right
in our backyard.
So, I was in Virginia one timeand this guy stood up and said,
(06:15):
finally
found my purpose in life.
His name was Al and he was 85 years old.
So.
was just like God, just kind oflike turn the light bulb on for him.
And, so, it's, it's so interestinghow God works, in the least
expected ways on these trips.
So lives are always transformedon these how, you know, you're
(06:38):
talking about generosity.
it's when you go.
And you, experience even in ourbackyard, even in Tennessee.
I remember,
this was before I workedfor mission discovery.
I was doing some side jobs and Iwas, I saw on Craigslist this saw
sale
and I was like, I need that saw.
And it was in a place calledWestmoreland, Tennessee.
(06:58):
Now I'd been to Westmorelandbefore because mission
discovery had a camp there.
So I knew about Westmoreland.
What I didn't know was like, Thatwhen you went out there and you took
right on
this road and kept going for about15 minutes, still Westmoreland
and this is about not even anhour from Nashville, you've taken
a ride on this road and you godown and there's people digging
(07:19):
ditches on the side of the road as
going
to pick a saw
up and
I'm like, What's going on?
I finally go get to the saw play.
I'm like, I'm in the middle
nowhere
And I, I said, What are all these
doing?
She said, Yeah, we'regetting running water.
I said, What do you mean running water?
So yeah, we had we well, Imean, we get running water.
Yeah, we usually go down to the creekand, you know, get all our water
(07:39):
there.
But now we're gettingrunning water over here.
Not an
hour from Nashville, youknow, and this is this.
So that stuff like that, thisis right in our backyard.
So you
go and you experience people that livea completely different life than you do,
whether it be in Guatemala or whetherit be in Tennessee, you're going to have
(08:00):
a different, like I said, perspective.
you're gonna have a different outlook.
And a lot of times whatwe hear on trips is like,
We
do something called God sightings.
And so in the middle of worship atnight, we do worship every night.
We ask
question,
where did you see God
And
everybody has a chance toanswer, if they want to.
and by the end of the week,kids or adults are saying, you
(08:24):
know, I I came on this trip.
I had no idea what I wasexpecting, but I really see
how
much we have, even if they don't have
lot,
it's like, I really see how much wedo have their perspective shifts in
way.
And so
they're opened up to the idea of,I have a lot, which means I have a
lot to give and I'm going to hold.
(08:46):
My life and and the things thatI have with open hands, because
I've seen what a difference littlecan do and, that's the gospel.
God can do amazing things with thelittle that we offer the loaves and the
fishes, you know, and so people do, Imean, the generosity, the idea of serving
others, all that stuff comes alive.
But When you go on a
(09:07):
trip, you
just wake up a little bit more, you know,
Joy Hunt (09:11):
Can you share a particular story?
A particularly powerfulstory of transformation?
A transformation you'vewitnessed from a mission strip?
Nathan Walters (09:19):
Yeah, I can tell one from a couple of years
ago it sticks out in my mind.
Uh, we had a girl come with herdad and her sister to Mexico.
So his two sisters and theirdad and their mom didn't come.
I didn't really understand what
going
on, but the dad and mom were separatedand the mom was actually Wiccan.
and so the
dad had had his life radicallytransformed by a wonderful
(09:42):
church in Clarksville, Tennessee.
And, the works of
church, how they
were serving God.
so God changed
life
radically, one girl was kind of onboard, the other girl, not so much.
In fact, the reason she cameon the trip was to disrupt.
The work of Christ she, was not about it.
She didn't
(10:02):
why
she was going, she
want to
be there and she didn't want others to
pressure
her into this Jesus thing, shewanted to disrupt their small groups
everything.
the trip starts on a Sunday, it ends on
Saturday.
By
Tuesday she decided to follow Christ.
And
on Friday, her dad.
baptized both of those girlsin the pool there in Mexico.
Joy Hunt (10:25):
praise
Nathan Walters (10:26):
stories, you
know, it's like there are somany stories like that but that's
just a radical transformation.
Like I say that happens on thesetrips obviously there was a lot
of work done ahead of time in thatgirl's heart, you know god And this
is what we say about trips, you'renot bringing the gospel to mexico.
You're not bringing the gospel toGuatemala or Westmoreland, Tennessee.
(10:48):
God is already working there.
He's already He's already turning
He's
already, speaking to these peoplein ways that we can't even see.
And so the gospel that you arebringing is just going to feed
into what God's already doing.
And so obviously in that girl'slife, God had already been
work even
though she didn't realize it.
And she just came and her heart
prepped and
(11:08):
ready to turn over to Jesus.
Joy Hunt (11:10):
That's, oh, that's so fun.
I love it.
That's awesome.
so, you know, this is thepastors and money podcast, right?
And so part of what our missionis, is to help the church.
Disciple our people in the areas ofgenerosity and stewardship and just
how we've managed finances And so howdo you see missions trips affecting
(11:31):
the culture of generosity in a church?
Nathan Walters (11:35):
That's a
great question.
We've had several churches actuallythat have come with mission
discovery and their entire, uh,
uh,
culture shifts inside that
church.
there's a one church that built a completemissions program because they came.
on a mission
They
figured out this is very important.
For some reason, you know, they, the
(11:56):
that went got
so much out of it that they became,more, givers and, servers at
church.
a lot of times a mission trip is astep into a service role at the church.
Once somebody's doingsomething at a church,
this is kind of likethe thought I have here.
but just
Once
somebody goes on a missionthey're doing something.
(12:17):
the second step then is to becomedonors, to get involved with the
giving of the church because theyrealize that the mission of the
church aligns with their passions.
And so when something like thathappens, it's like, okay, we're
going, we're doing, now we're giving,you know, It's just a natural flow.
So I feel like, mission trips are a goodseed, a good starting point for people to
(12:40):
jump on and and become passionate aboutthe mission of the church that they go to.
Even stories is incredible as we had onechurch go, and it was a giant mega church,
and they built this missions program after
on
a
discovery
trip, and their goal after doingthat became to give 90 percent
of what they brought in as achurch to the mission field.
Joy Hunt (13:02):
Wow.
Nathan Walters (13:03):
Yeah, I mean there's something about a mission trip or
missions in general, that ties directly to
the
generous heart.
Joy Hunt (13:12):
It really puts, I mean, it puts skin on some of those things that
we know are happening intellectually,but if you haven't seen it and then
there's just something about being presentin person with people that God just
uses that to tug on your heartstrings.
Nathan Walters (13:31):
Right.
Joy Hunt (13:31):
know, that's where relationships are built, right?
Not that you can't have, you know, we'rehaving this conversation over Zoom, right?
But, I remember going to, like I got to goup to Northern California and baptize one
of my coaching clients a few months ago.
Nathan Walters (13:44):
Oh,
Joy Hunt (13:44):
It was the first time we've met in person.
held me so tight.
it was like, we were close before thatwe've been working together for a year,
but there's just something different
Nathan Walters (13:55):
Right.
Joy Hunt (13:56):
to
same room, to be standingin the same lake.
and and I think that God uses that inour, you know, in our relationships
with God uses that in stirringour heart for what breaks his.
Nathan Walters (14:08):
that's a
dangerous prayer to pray,you know, break my heart
what
breaks yours.
That
is a dangerous prayer.
I found that out, you know, but
yeah, it's, you're right.
It's powerful.
The, the tangible,
seeing somebody
face to face what happened, you know, Ican look at the screen all day and you
can even see this on social media, right?
(14:28):
People get some happy on
media
because there's a screen separating, you
them
from the reality of the people thatthey're Talking to, and so, what
they say with their thumbs is a lotdifferent than what they might say with
their mouth, you know, and so, yeah,being with people face to face kind
takes
away that barrier and, you know, youcan see and empathize with people
(14:50):
when you're standing next to him.
And so I think that's a lot of, theperspective shifts that happen on a trip
like,
you're going to Guatemala and yousee this mom with two kids and
you're thinking I'm a mom with two kids.
you realize
these
people are no different thanme and that we all have lives.
I have to provide for my family
like
this guy has to provide for his.
(15:11):
There's something that happens whenyou get face to face with other people.
I
Joy Hunt (15:15):
Now, sometimes, I've heard, one of the questions about short term
missions can be, there's a lot of costsand is there really an impact and all this
and you know, you're not there to be ableto invest in that community long term.
But I think that these short termtrips are just as much about the
education of the person going,
Nathan Walters (15:33):
and
Joy Hunt (15:34):
as they are about the community that they're impacting.
it's not one or the other.
I think it's both.
Nathan Walters (15:41):
Yeah.
You know, I, you're right.
That is
question
and it's a valid question.
You know, uh, there's no doubt.
That when
look
at the price of a mission trip,you're looking at travel, you're
looking at food and lodging,you're looking at transportation.
These things
add up quickly, you know.
So mission discovery, that's whatwe take care of all the logistics.
(16:02):
We kind of give like a flat price,you know, so that people don't have to
worry about planning all this stuff.
Um, but it's still, it adds up.
And so, the question becomes for a church
leader,
is the cost, the dollaramount, is is it worth it?
Is it going to anything that's valuable?
And that's really something thatI would encourage prayer over,
(16:23):
you know, because I would say yes.
I mean, I would say that I've seenenough life transformation and church
attendees, and the people that, youknow, that are actually on the field
we're
going to serve.
I've seen, I've seen it all.
and I would say absolutely, youcould have put a cost on that.
we're just talking about theface to face interaction.
There's a relationshipthat happens between,
(16:45):
people
on the ground and the
that
are coming to serve,that you just don't get.
you know, I would say youcould do it in your backyard,
I think, one of the thingsthat, for smaller churches,
they're just trying
to get their foot into the door, findinga nonprofit in the local area, just to
build this idea of serving others with
congregation that puts,
(17:06):
foot
in the
and
then build up to The tripwhere you, actually take
drive
down the road, a coupleor a few hours to or
go overseas, I think thecost for sure is worth it.
But you know, everybody has
decide
for themselves, you know It'slike, that's a prayer that you
pray, you know, and you ask God,
I, you
know,
(17:27):
I
Enjoy talking with peoplethat, you know, may not have
an issue spending gobs and gobs
gobs
of money on a cruise
But
have an argument against servingon a mission trip, you know,
and nothing against cruise.
I've never been on one
sure
they're great.
But Nothing against cruises, butI just you know, I think uh, just
(17:48):
thinking through a little bit Those,those things This is a good idea.
Praying about them for sure.
Joy Hunt (17:55):
we'll spend it on a car.
Right.
Nathan Walters (17:57):
Yeah.
Spend it on a car, get it, get a car note.
Right?
No.
Joy Hunt (18:01):
And so, yeah, I haven't had one of those for a few years.
I was talking to one of our, youknow, my mom was a missionary kid.
So a lot of
Nathan Walters (18:11):
Oh,
Joy Hunt (18:11):
kind of aunties and uncles are these veteran
missionaries that she grew up with.
Right.
And.
They, I was talking to, to one ofthem several years ago and asking
about this, you know, like, how doesthat work with short term missions?
And cause you know, are you able tobuild relationships and what is that?
Is it just like a tourist thingor what's happening there?
And they told me that many of the fulltime long term missionaries were called
(18:38):
while they're on a short term trip.
Nathan Walters (18:40):
A
A hundred percent.
I was just in the Bahamas
couple of weeks ago
visiting with.
a bunch of our ministry partners there.
That's the other piece.
I, I'll get to the ministrypartner piece in just
second, but I was
visiting with the couple and
their first trip, they went
to the Bahamas
with Mission Discoveryway back in the day.
(19:01):
and when they were leaving the Bahamas,they got on the plane to go back.
And while they're back inthe States, they're not there
for a day, I don't think.
And the wife was like,
I
gotta go back.
I'm called.
they called Mission Discovery.
They got with the leaders andthey figured out a way to make
happen.
Now they're full time missionariesthere in the Bahamas and they have
been for years and years and years.
(19:22):
and that's not the only caseof course, but that just comes
mind cause
I was with them a couple of weeks ago.
those
are our ministry partners.
And another
that
I want to say too about The shortterm versus long term missionary or
mission trips, so to speak, is likethere, we have ministry partners.
So when a team comes from, Oklahomaand another team comes from
(19:43):
California, comes with us to serve
Guatemala,
we're working with the same
that
we've been working withfor, More than 12 years now.
and all of our
partners
are really like when
we commit to someone, we're
with them for the
long haul.
so what teams are actuallydoing are are playing a part in
story that
God is writing with that ministry therein that town and Mission Discovery
(20:05):
and our teams just come to kind ofamplify what they're doing, and provide
extra
muscle, some extrafunds for them to do it.
And so
yeah, I would say there's another aspectthere of, you know, do short term mission
trips really make a difference or how,well, it depends on how you look at it.
know, if you're
just dropping into somewhere that youdon't intend to talk to for the next year,
(20:26):
two years, you might want to rethink it.
But
mission
discovery, all of our partnersare, Family to us, you know, and
we're always in contact with them.
Joy Hunt (20:37):
yeah, I was hearing the, Director of something
global for a convoy of hope was a
Nathan Walters (20:42):
speaker Oh, yeah
Joy Hunt (20:42):
an event I was at a month ago, and he was telling us how the
convoy of hope with their povertyalleviation initiatives when they
go into places they don't go inunless there's already an established
missions or church presence there.
Nathan Walters (21:00):
A hundred percent.
Joy Hunt (21:00):
able to take the reins and be able to disciple
people as they go in and serve.
Like that's one of the key components.
'cause otherwise it would be justlike what you talked about, you
know, go drop in something for aweek or two, or even a few months.
And then there's nothingto carry it on after.
But if you already have thoserelationships on the ground, to make
sure that these people are gonnaget discipled and get the support
(21:21):
that they need on an ongoing basis.
Nathan Walters (21:23):
Yeah, so we say that we only go where we're invited So where you
know where there's a ministry that isalready happening We can look at that
ministry and we have like a, a set of
so we can kind of say hey, this is
is great This You know, maybe we need towork on this area a little bit, but, we
of
dream together and if theyinvite us and our teams to serve,
(21:43):
then, Then, as long as it's
sustainable
ministry that is well put togetherand respected by the community around
them really making a difference, then,
look at
coming and bringing teams
So, yeah, and it's allstrategic, you know?
want
to empower the right partners.
and so, um, that's kind of the way that
go.
It's hard
because sometimes people are reachingout and it is, like Johnny that's
(22:07):
starting his own ministry there.
And
just
have no, I'm sure it's great.
You know, you might, he has a great heart.
But, as far as like, what are safetymeasures when we're bringing a team 25,
you know, how far is the hospital fromthe hotel, if we need to get there,
and sort of things that we have towalk people through and thinking about.
so
that's why it's another benefit of havinga well established ministry that's used
(22:28):
to working, with people, all those thingsare generally thought through and you
can have some conversations, about them.
So, yeah.
Joy Hunt (22:37):
That's good to know because, you know I have some missionaries
that listen to this show as well.
So those are people, you know, if theywant to be able to invite a team out
that they could reach out to you guys.
Nathan Walters (22:47):
Absolutely.
Yeah, we have a, we, peoplereach out to us all the time.
So, uh, so we're always in prayerover the people that do reach
out to us because there's noway that we can get to them all.
you know, and once, like I say,once we're in a place, we're in it,
we've been in Guatemala for my goodness.
I don't even know how long, well over.
So with the ministry partnernow, probably 15 years.
(23:08):
Yes, 15 years.
It was 2009.
And then, you know, Mexico 28 years, youknow, for 33 years now, we've got some
pretty longstanding ministry partnerswe've worked with for a long, long time.
Joy Hunt (23:23):
There's some good roots there.
Nathan Walters (23:25):
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
Good roots.
Good.
You know, it's relationship.
It's family.
you know,
our ministry partner out in Mexico
lost her husband.
so we went out for that.
And then, she also got put in thehospital recently or under a year ago.
So we went out for thatit's the things you do.
things that you would do for your ownmother or aunt, you know, you're doing
for your ministry partner out there.
Joy Hunt (23:46):
sure.
So, you know, I know some of oursmaller churches might feel that
mission trips are out of reach.
You know, they don't have enough.
financial resources, or sometimes it'seven the human resources of literally
somebody to manage this process.
And I know you, you even had some ideasof some more local ways that you can
start, but what, what would you sayto encourage those smaller churches to
(24:09):
be able to go ahead and get started?
Nathan Walters (24:11):
I would say, you know, mission discovery, really, we
take a, we take few large churches.
I would say the benefit of anorganization like us is that we can take.
small churches as well.
And we can partner themup with each other.
So they've got enough peoplethere to actually make a good
impact while we're there.
in fact, we have families thatjoin us, all the time, and we
(24:33):
can partner families up with
churches
that are going places.
so I would say you
have to
be a certain
of people for
your church to go on a trip.
We can partner you up and goingthrough an organization like us means.
You know, if you're a smallchurch, you don't have staff
put
everything together.
we do all
the logistics so that
all you have to do is kind ofsign up look at plane tickets
and meet us on the ground, so
(24:54):
give us
a call.
you know, if you don't trust myvoice, look at other organizations
online, that are doing the same thing.
I would
say that, I'm very proud ofmission discovery, the way we work.
So.
Call us first.
but also, like I said earlier,getting involved with local
nonprofits is a great idea for small
you know, it's
not a lot of commitment, and it'snot a lot of money to just go and
(25:17):
serve at your local food pantry
Places
have thrift stores for people thatneed, oh those places always need help.
so yeah, there are generally somenonprofits or ways to help in
your area and you can do that.
so those are a couple of examples.
I w I would just say.
First,
course,
like I've said a coupleof times is just pray,
we are all called to serve insome capacity and, serving on a
(25:41):
trip,
like I said,
a
very eyeopening
rewarding
experience.
and he really do makea long lasting impact.
when you go with an organizationlike Mission Discovery,
and but I do understand that that'sa, that's a lot to, that's a lot
to think about and pray about.
And so, um, another reason whywe're here is to pray with you.
So
Joy Hunt (26:00):
let's talk about what happens after, after the trip, right?
So, we did talk a little bit aboutthe impact of like long term giving
and volunteering, but what about,how do we effectively debrief and
follow up after a mission trip tobe able to maintain that momentum?
Nathan Walters (26:18):
yeah, that's a great question.
debriefing is very important.
In our training packets,we give a debrief schedule.
So it kind of lays out,here are the meetings
should
have before a trip.
And here's a meeting that you might thinkabout after a trip mission discovery.
Every day we come together and we debrief
the
trip.
every night we have a worship session.
(26:39):
Somebody, teaches and then we breakoff into small groups where you
talk
together about
God's
doing on the trip.
built into
schedule,
there is a debrief time.
but what we generally like
do
is say like, Two weeks to a month afterthe trip, maybe have a dinner together
you
invite all the team members together andshare what life's been like post trip.
(27:01):
A lot of people, and this isthe thing that I would say,
a lot of people are wrecked.
After a mission trip, they see thingsthey never thought they would see.
And
coming
back into
States
is more of
culture
shock than going out of the
almost sometimes
because their life is
so different.
So I would say, debriefing thattime with each other is important.
(27:22):
a lot of churches also do like a
Sunday
where they'll present.
Photos and video from thetrip and show the rest of
congregation.
This is what we were involved
That's
another great way to get
trip giving and
get their gears turning towardsnext year's mission trip.
Joy Hunt (27:40):
talked about, you know, people coming back and, and you know, That
word you used, wrecked.
It's just like the perfectword for that, right?
But then it's a almost like you need togive somebody a path of what, what some of
their next steps are going to look like.
not just, I've seen that sense ofemotional overwhelm and like, okay,
there's this huge need out there.
Now what?
(28:01):
and so how can we helppeople with the now what?
Nathan Walters (28:04):
But now what?
Yeah.
Well,
like I said,
the
missions, the mission tripitself is going to open
eyes.
If it's a first mission trip for achurch, you may not already have a
system of, outreaches that you're doing.
maybe missions is not that big of adeal for your church, you know, but if
it is, then that's a great opportunityfor, to get those people that have
(28:27):
gone on the trip to get deeper intoserving with the church, serving
with the different outreaches that
church
does, it's a night wherethey bring in people,
from the rescue missionand give them a place
stay
for the night and that kind of thing.
but a lot of churches do different
to
serve their own communities.
Every church has a mission and
vision.
And so
every church is fullof missionaries, right?
(28:48):
so
the idea is how is the church serving thecommunity around you and inviting those
to come
back to
church
and serve, at
church.
that is a giant piece that, these mission
can feed into if you get thesevolunteers to say, okay, I want to commit
something
else here at the church.
so that's what I wouldsay that now what, what?
(29:08):
If you're talking about,
let's
say you're going to Jamaica withMission Discovery, I mentioned
earlier, we've got doers, we've got
volunteers that
go and do, and then they want to take that
step.
They say, now what?
And then they become donors.
And so they might support the school forthe deaf that we worked at in Jamaica.
You know, that kind of thing.
Going and doing is a great way to servethe community, but, funding that community
(29:32):
another great
way to serve.
and just like that, funding the churchand their mission also a great way
serve.
they all kind of feed in,you know, mission trip kind
of feeds into all of that.
What's next?
Well, you can support the
the
mission, by funding.
Joy Hunt (29:48):
Yeah, and I'm thinking, you know, being intentional about building
those connections between whateveryour missions or kingdom builders
or whatever you call your missionsprogram and the organizations that
you're working with as you're going.
on a trip as well, you know, giving,okay, so we just were there, but
(30:09):
also this is one of our partnersthat we support throughout the year,
Nathan Walters (30:13):
Absolutely.
then
Joy Hunt (30:15):
that's a tangible, Oh, wait, I know those people, or at least I know
somebody who knows those people, right?
Nathan Walters (30:21):
Yeah.
yeah, Absolutely.
Joy Hunt (30:23):
Yeah, so as a, you know, there's pastors listening that maybe
their church has never done a tripor they as a pastor have never, led
a trip before and they're consideringwhether they're going to do that.
what's some advice thatyou could give them?
Nathan Walters (30:36):
Well, so want to make, if a pastor is listening and
they're feeling the call to go on a
trip,
you of want to make connection,you know, talk to somebody who's
it.
my first instinct is to say,Hey, call mission discovery
Cause we're here every day.
And we're
Hey, we'll talk about mission tripsall day with you if you want, but also
calling a local pastor or a friendthat's done something like that before
(30:56):
getting their take on how it affectedtheir church, asking questions like
the questions that you just asked me onthis podcast and ask that local church.
or your pastor friend, how they'veexperienced growth in their church,
because they went on amission trip, you know?
I think that's a great idea.
Just open those communication
That's
step one is just get the informationthat you can about going on a a lot
(31:20):
of times pastors have experienced amission trip, but they haven't led one.
an organization like MissionDiscovery that does this, that has
full time
employees, that has, partners thatwe've worked with for years, so
you know that we're vetted andwe're making, strategic decisions.
Choices that make a long termimpact rather than a short term one.
(31:42):
It's also like you're, you
you're
going for a short time, but youreally want to make the most impact
that you can, organizations like us.
We make sure that that happens.
And then we take care ofall the details and stuff.
So really, if definitely, if it'syour first time, you'd probably
want to go with an organizationthat Knows the ropes and that can
take care of all of the logistics.
(32:03):
So uh, one that's really trusted
so
uh, We can give you the names of youknow, a million youth pastors and you
can call and see how their trip was,
know
And so yeah, I would say those two thingscall somebody that you know, uh, talk
them
about it.
Call us
talk to you
about it all day Um, And then uh, pray,you know I'll tell you the things that
(32:23):
will happen, which I think is wherethis question might lead is, okay,
you want to go on a mission trip andgoing back to your last question.
Now what, you know, I think theenemy is a master at distraction.
so when you get this idea thatyou want to go on a mission trip,
I think there's a trigger in theenemies, strategy against us.
(32:46):
It says, Hey, there's agreat chance that this
trip is going
to do.
a crazy lot of good.
it's going to impact a lot of people
Christ.
And
so I want to stop that.
I'm going to disrupt that.
I'm
to
distract this person fromfollowing through on that thought.
And so what will happen isyou'll think about the money,
you know, that's so much money.
(33:06):
How am I going to get allthat money to go on this trip?
you'll think about.
the time, how much time andenergy is it going to take
to pull off a trip like this?
, and these are stories thatI know from experience.
, you're going to think aboutyour church congregation.
You're going to think who's goingto want to go on a trip like this.
How am I going to ever get
commitment
level that I need
(33:27):
get
from these people?
Who's going to communicate
these
people, all the What I'mgoing to tell you is, look.
at scripture and look at themountains that God moves in
and what you're talkingabout is just a little,
little hill and
God is easily going to move that.
And so, we just have to think andpray and put our faith that God is
(33:50):
going to follow through with what
calling
us to do.
I've
seen it multiple times.
I know that every pastor that's listeningto this has a story of their own.
It's like God did movethis mountain before
it
was a major attack from
enemy and he can surelytake care of, the logistics
of a mission
Mission
Discovery is here to help.
You know, we do all that we give
(34:10):
you back your time, so you don'thave to plan all the logistics.
we help follow through withyour volunteers and their
paperwork, because I know that's
to
seem like a lot.
we have resources to give you that wouldhelp you raise a crazy amount of money
that you never thought was possible.
We're here to help that's and soI just I know that story all too.
Well, the distraction Is a is
limiting
(34:30):
factor that that will come in Uh, and andthe enemy uses it all the time on people
He used it on me for years and uh, and andonce you move away from that let God move
that mountain You won't be disappointed.
Joy Hunt (34:45):
so as we get ready to wrap up here, how can listeners and these
pastors and missionaries listening,connect with you and learn more about
what Mission Discovery is doing?
Nathan Walters (34:55):
Yeah.
Mission discovery.
org.
It's that I mean, we have socialmedia and all that stuff, and
at,
we've got a girl here at the office
does a
great job with it much betterthan I did when I was in charge.
So, so you can look @MisDisTrips iswhat our social media handles are
@MisDisTrips but easier than that is
missiondiscovery.Org that's how you'll
(35:17):
find us and put us, push a little buttonon there and we'll get in touch with you.
Joy Hunt (35:22):
Awesome, well, thank you, Nathan.
And of course, to your team for all theincredible work that y'all are doing and
for spending some time with us today.
Nathan Walters (35:30):
Oh, my goodness.
It's my pleasure.
Thank you so much for having me.
Joy Suzanne Hunt (35:35):
Thank you for listening to today's show.
I'd love to know what you think about it.
You can leave a comment on the shownotes at pastorsandmoney.com/podcast,
or email me at joy@pastorsandmoney.com.
If you enjoyed the show, pleasesubscribe, share, and leave a review.
This helps us to get the wordout and invite more people
into these conversations.
(35:57):
If you'd like to connect, you canfind me on Instagram or Facebook.
@ PastorsandMoney.
I can't wait to talk again soon.
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