Short-Term Trip, Long-Term Journey

Article based on Stephen's sharing at Wycliffe Singapore's Stories from the Field online session on 1 Sep 2025. Stephen, a seasoned short-termer with multiple short-term experiences, began his sharing by greeting everyone with both ‘good morning’ and ‘good evening’ as so many people from other parts of the world attended this Zoom session! 

His Journey with God into missions

God piqued his interest in missions when he was 14 years old in 2003, when he went on a mission trip to North Thailand. It sparked his fascination with language learning and linguistics, which he single-mindedly pursued at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, despite many naysayers. 

In 2011, he went on a Wycliffe Discovery Trip to Thailand where he learned about language work among the ethnic groups. He counts this as the defining trip in his journey, where he realised the importance of delivering the Bible in the heart language to those who do not have a good grasp of the national language. 

During his university vacations, he went back to the same place in Thailand which is a hub for translation of several ethnic languages. With each visit, he became more involved. He even collected language data for a grammar sketch of one of the languages for his undergraduate thesis!

He went again to the same area in 2016–2018 as a short-term, full-time volunteer. This time, he was able to do more as he was already familiar with the work, people, culture and language. With every visit, the precious relationships he built with the local people grew and deepened.

Through these short trips, Stephen’s eyes were opened to the needs of the people, and the kind of creativity needed for missions given the different situations on the ground, political or otherwise. Certainly, explicitly sharing the gospel is not always possible, but he thanked God for wisdom and opening of doors. 

Mission trips vs Short-term service vs Long-term missions

Stephen made a 3-way distinction between different types of service overseas. 

• Mission trips: short and a good starting point. However, he noted that they had to be intentional about how they could serve, or they could end up being a burden to the local people instead.

• Short-term service: 6 months to 3 years. These are especially useful in places where it is difficult to get a long-term visa. However, he stressed that they should be focused on the same location so as to develop the relationships. 

• Long-term missions: the ‘gold standard’ as they provide the best opportunities to learn culture and language and build relationships. However, the reality is that it is increasingly hard to get to some places where the needs are.

  
  

Personal Reflections

Stephen said that his many trips to the same location enabled him to learn by just observing, and also build friendships with the people. Living with the people, he saw up close the spiritual bondage in the tribal groups and learned not to take it lightly. 

He shared that it was not just one-way helping and giving from missionaries to the local people; he learned a lot from the local people too. He was also very grateful for their help during the times when he suffered illnesses on the field.

He particularly thanked the American missionaries who had welcomed him in his early trips and for their support and guidance. He was also grateful to the current Wycliffe Singapore Executive Director and his wife who were then serving in Thailand; they took him under their wing and are invaluable mentors to this day. Their bonding time included honey toast with ice cream and lots of missional insight! 

Final advice

For those thinking about whether to go on a short-term trip, Stephen’s advice is “Just go!”. No videos or photos can replace being there in person. He challenged listeners to pay attention to God’s guidance during the trip, and whether the Lord of the Harvest was calling them to go to the mission field.

About the speaker:

Stephen is a graduate of NTU's Linguistics and Multilingual Studies programme and Polis Institute Jerusalem. He was previously a Project Manager and Coordinator in the Council for World Mission. He is a volunteer leader in Wesley Methodist Church, and is passionate about languages, travelling, theology and sports.