February 11, 2008

1.6 million believers now making overseas mission trip each year

ORLANDO, FLORIDA -- Gerry and Sylvia Powell, a 60s-something couple from Beattyville, Kentucky, have spent almost all their vacation time volunteering on trips to help missionaries. To date, they have been on more than 30 volunteer trips with Wycliffe Associates, and they aren't slowing down.

Instead of heading to a resort or a favorite vacation spot, the Powells have found the experience of working in places that don't have resorts, hotels and vacation destinations to be more purposeful and satisfying. Their objective is to help missionaries with some sort of a construction project, a calling that has been extremely joyous and rewarding.

They are not alone. A growing number of Americans are using their time off to help others. "Vacations with a Purpose," is a growing trend where families and individuals use their vacation time to go on missions trips around the world.

One estimate is that 1.6 million American Christians are contributing $6 million in labor annually as they travel to remote areas of the world on short-term mission trips. The catch phrase to describe this increasingly popular phenomenon -- "vacations with a purpose."

Wycliffe Associates (www.wycliffeassociates.org) is one of those organizations whose investment into short-term missions is growing. Devoting $10 million a year in recruiting, training and sending volunteers overseas to assist missionaries, the "vacation" of choice for 1,500 Wycliffe Associates volunteers is missions.

Wycliffe Associates was founded in 1967 to support and encourage Bible translators in tangible, practical ways. The ministry provides opportunities for volunteers to use their gifts and abilities in hands-on projects, meeting the real needs of Bible translators on the mission field.