EPISODE 20: Be Useful - What a Professional Short Term Trip Actually Looks Like
SUMMER SHORT-TERM TRIP SERIES: PROFESSIONAL TRIPS
Last week I took you to Mumbai to show you what a Vision Trip looks like — the Red Light district, the Dharavi slum, Titus and his chai, the maps-on-the ground prayer meeting. That's a Vision Trip entering as a learner, getting more out than you give.
Today is different. Today is about being useful.
In this episode I walk through what a Professional Trip actually looks like — using a specific skill, at a specific invitation, to accomplish a specific task in service of long-term work that's already happening on the ground. I use Nehemiah as the model: he knew what he was bringing, he knew what was needed, he knew who was already there.
Then I tell real stories across several types of professional trips:
✅ IT professionals serving field workers at overseas conferences
✅ My daughter's trip to the Philippines with me — and Dr. Melissa, a psychologist who showed up to care for exhausted long-term workers
✅ Entrepreneurs and business owners coaching Kingdom businesses overseas
✅ Teachers and trainers offering intensive skill-based training at the invitation of a field worker
✅ Retirees as grandparents and coaches — and why I think this is the most underused category of all
I also give the three cautions for Professional Trips:
❌ Don't go without an invitation.
❌ Don't fold into a vision trip.
❌ Don't go directly to the local population without a cultural intermediary.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
✔️ Across the Street and Around the World — Chapter 7, full Professional Trip ideas list + all three trip type checklists
✔️ What Kind of Trip Type are you Planning? Checklist
✔️ Neighbors and Nations Course
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**Remember: The world is bigger than your zip code. Let's go!**
Next episode: Survey Trips — the rarest trip nobody's planning, and the one that led to me moving my whole family to India.
Send me an email at [email protected]: Are you a professional or retiree getting ideas of planning a trip like this? Let me know your ideas. I'd love to pray for you.
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