Short-Term Missions
Turn your short‑term trip
into long‑term transformation.
The Team Leader’s Manual and Team Member’s Manual guide your team through a proven discipleship process, before, during, and after the trip.
Do more than arrange logistics.
Make disciples who make disciples. This curriculum prepares your team to serve cross-culturally with Christ-like humility, honor their hosts, and keep growing long after they come home.
Since 2010, hundreds of churches and organizations have trusted this process. Fieldsites that receive CULTURELink-trained teams say team members arrive better prepared and more ready to serve.
3800
+
Leaders Trained
143
Nations Impacted
1000
s
Teams Discipled
Two manuals. One process.
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Team Leader’s Manual (NEW EDITION)
$33.00
Your roadmap. Step-by-step plans for all ten sessions, the Seven-Step Process, and practical tools to plan your trip with your host.
One for each team leader.
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What's Inside
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Team Member’s Manual (NEW EDITION)
$29.00
Each team member’s guide, with devotions, articles, worksheets, and debriefing questions for all ten sessions.
One for each team member, including leaders.
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What's Inside
Bulk discounts: 5% off 20–39 copies of the same manual and 10% off 40 or more, applied automatically at checkout.
Flat-rate shipping to the U.S. and Canada. Ordering from outside North America? Email resources@culturelinkinc.org.
How the discipleship process works.
The leader uses the Team Leader’s Manual to guide the team through ten sessions. Each team member follows along in the Team Member’s Manual.
Before the Trip
Sessions 1–7: Getting Started (long-term vision & support raising); Cultural Research; Becoming Cross-Cultural; Ministry Preparation; Team Building; Travel, Packing, and Health; Final Countdown.
On the Field
Sessions 8–9: Living the Experience; Daily Debriefing; Trip Debriefing & Re-Entry Preparation.
After the Trip
Session 10: Home and Looking Forward. Life redirection and next steps keep your team growing, because the trip doesn’t end at the airport.”
What’s inside the curriculum.
Team Leader’s Manual
1. Leader’s Orientation: Our whole approach to trip leadership in one word: discipleship.
2. Short-Term Missions Impact: A win-win-win approach that adds value for senders, goers, and hosts.
3. The Seven-Step Process*: A guide through the full trip cycle, so you know when to publicize, when to select your team, when to begin training, and what real follow-up looks like. The seven steps are:
- Trip Determination
- Trip Publicity
- Team Selection
- Pre-Field Training
- Sender Involvement
- The Trip
- Re-Entry and Follow-Up
4. Training Sessions: Devotions, objectives, room set-up, materials, team-building ideas, and assignments for all ten sessions.
5. Appendices: Example ministry roles, team policies, debriefing help, emergency issues, and insurance and travel guidance.
*Want help applying the Seven-Step Process in your church or ministry? Explore missions consulting and coaching.
Team Member’s Manual
1. Getting Started: Long-Term Engagement and Vision, Pre-Field Paperwork, Prayer and Financial Support Discovery
2. Cultural Research: Exploring the Territory, Conducting Cultural Research, Facing Cultural Giants
3. Becoming Cross-Cultural: Cross-Cultural Sensitivity, The Attitude of Christ Jesus, Understanding Worldview, Culture Shock, and Cultural Disposition
4. Ministry Preparation: A Humble Spirit, Your Spiritual Story, Sharing Through an Interpreter, Language Learning, Team-Specific Ministry
5. Team Building: One in Spirit and Purpose, Handling Team Conflict, Team-Building Simulations, Team Policy Development
6. Travel, Packing, and Health: Travel Lightly, Living Sacrificially, Heart of Traveling, Jet Lag, Packing List and Travel Tips, Health Guidelines
7. Final Countdown: Reflections on Servanthood, Overcoming Fear, Last-Minute Reminders
8. Living the Experience: Going Into All the World, Names of God, Culture Shock Revisited, Preparing to Say Goodbye, Living the Experience Journal
9. Debriefing and Re-Entry: An End and a Beginning, The Five-Step Debriefing Process, Top Ten Re-Entry Fantasies, Understanding Re-Entry, Sharing Your Story
10. Home and Looking Forward: An Eternal Perspective, Developing a World Vision, Biblical Heroes, Next Steps
New in this Edition
New
- Guidance for virtual team meetings
- Refreshed Seven-Step Process and Short-Term Missions Impact sections
- Language that fits domestic (U.S.) and non-Western teams
- A new version of the cross-cultural questionnaire
- Stronger “What’s next?” ideas for returning team members
- Clearer application steps, tighter stories, and more tools for leaders and senders
Unchanged
- A systematic, interactive process before, during, and after the trip
- Great experiences for goers, deep impact for senders, and a servant’s posture toward hosts
- Devotions with spiritual depth in every session
- Thorough instructions for meetings and team building
- The focus on making disciples of those who make disciples of all nations
Learn to lead this process.
Attend a Seminar
In two days, you’ll experience the training as part of a team, then take both manuals home to lead your own.
Get Help in Your Context
We help churches and ministries build a healthy short-term missions process around their people and partners.
What others are saying.
“CULTURELink‘s discipleship-based training has been transformational for our church.”
Matt R.
Missions Pastor, Georgia
“Teams come prepared to serve rather than to be served. They understand the importance of being flexible and teachable. CULTURELink also helps them process what they’ve learned when they return to ‘normal’ life.”
Andy G.
Ministry Director, Costa Rica
“CULTURELink‘s resources are rooted in sound biblical teaching. Their training process fosters both spiritual growth and practical skills.”
Bruce M.
Missions Pastor and Seminary Professor
“I first went through this discipleship process while preparing for a short-term trip. This training eventually led me into full-time cross-cultural ministry.”
Shelby M.
Missionary, Dominican Republic and Haiti
Questions
How many manuals do I need?
One Team Leader’s Manual for each leader, and one Team Member’s Manual for every person on the team, including leaders.
Do you offer bulk discounts?
Yes. Ordering 20–39 copies of the same manual gets 5% off, and 40 or more gets 10% off. The discount applies automatically at checkout.
Where do you ship?
We offer flat-rate shipping to the U.S. and Canada. For orders outside North America, email resources@culturelinkinc.org.
Does it work for domestic teams?
Yes. Numerous churches have reported a greater depth in their domestic teams because of this discipleship process. The updated edition includes language and examples for domestic (U.S.) and non-Western teams, along with international trips.