We were never just planning trips.

That might’ve been how it looked from the outside—students boarding buses, passport packets, group t-shirts. But underneath all that movement was a much bigger goal: forming disciples who live on mission every day of their lives.

When I was asked to take on student missions, I knew we needed more than logistics. We needed a framework for formation. We weren’t going to run a travel program. We were going to build a discipleship path. That’s where our Missions Awareness Plan (MAP) began.

We structured MAP around four rhythms: Pray, Know, Give, and Go. Each was essential. Each reinforced the truth that missions starts long before the trip and continues long after it.

Pray

We taught students to pray for people and places they’d never seen, knowing God was already at work. Prayer wasn’t just a warm-up—it was a way of joining God before our feet ever left home.

Know

We helped students know the stories—God’s story, the story of the nations, the story of their own calling. We trained them in mission theology and helped them recognize spiritual poverty, not just physical need.

Give

We showed students how to give—not just finances, but time, energy, attention. Generosity isn’t something they grow into later. It’s part of living sent right now.

Go

We sent them, but we didn’t just give them tasks. We gave them training. Cultural understanding. Language for gospel conversations. Time to debrief. Space to reflect. We helped them practice what it means to live sent. 

Missions wasn’t a separate part of student ministry—it became part of the core. Because what we’re really after isn’t passport stamps. It’s purpose. It’s forming young believers who understand that following Jesus means living with open hands—here, there, and everywhere.

If you’re building a student missions culture, don’t start with logistics. Start with calling. Start with formation. Start by asking how you’ll help students partner with what God is already doing in the world—and how you’ll help them carry it home.

We never wanted missions to be something students did once and moved on from. We wanted it to shape how they see their neighborhoods, their classrooms, and their future. That kind of shift doesn’t come from hype. It comes from purpose. It comes from prayer. And it comes from showing them, day by day, what it looks like to live sent.