Short-term missions

Short-term trips run anywhere from a single day to a few weeks. They are built to let you see cross-cultural ministry firsthand without asking you to uproot your life. Options include:

  • Wayumi Quest — a one-day introduction for youth groups.
  • Wayumi Weekend Retreat — a weekend for church groups, held several times a year.
  • Wayumi Expedition — a six-day trip in June or July built for senior high students.
  • Wayumi Course — a seven-day, college-and-career-level immersion over spring break or fall.
  • Encounter — a two-week trip to an indigenous people group overseas, built for people exploring whether long-term missions is for them.
  • Interface — a college-level missions course spent with missionaries in the field, in Papua New Guinea or Brazil.
  • Field Support Internships — after Interface, staying on to work alongside career missionaries for a closer look at church planting or a support ministry.

Short-term trips are a chance to test the waters — to see what cross-cultural church planting really looks like before making a bigger commitment.

Long-term (career) missions

Long-term missionary service is a multi-year, often decades-long, commitment to living among a people group, learning their language, translating Scripture, and helping establish a thriving, self-led church. It typically starts with:

  • Ethnos360 Training — a two-year training program preparing missionaries for the field.
  • Ethnos360 Bible Institute — Bible education integrated with missions training, available on campus or online.

Career missionaries commit to the full arc of the work: learning an unwritten language, translating the Bible, discipling new believers, and training local leaders — a process that has historically taken twenty to fifty years per people group.

Which one should you start with?

You do not have to decide between the two right away. Most people who serve long-term started with a short-term trip. If you are not sure where you fit, a Wayumi weekend or an Encounter trip is a low-commitment way to find out.

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