Short Term Mission Trips
Proper planning with the right training and resources are the keys to a successful short-term trip.
Good Soil Evangelism & Discipleship training and resources can help leaders to equip their teams, helping long-term missionaries with valuable assistance, spreading the gospel in meaningful ways, and helping short-termers grow interest in supporting or participating in cross-cultural evangelism.
We all want to share our faith effectively…but how do we do it?
Good Soil Basic E&D Seminar
Two Days in May and October
Very few people who go on a short-term mission trip understand cross-cultural evangelism. Often—with commendable motives—they ignorantly do more eternal harm than good. And missionaries are left with lots of national contacts who have said "Yes" to brief and shallow gospel presentations the people did not understand, nor sincerely embraced from their hearts.
Good Soil evangelism and discipleship training can help prevent short-termers from making evangelistic blunders with potentially eternally-damning consequences.
Good Soil Basic Seminar - May & October
- Day One - Understanding Good Soil Theology of Evangelism and Discipleship
- Day Two - Preparing to Use The Story of Hope, The Way to Joy, and Other Good Soil Resources
Good Soil Trainer Certification Workshop
One Day in May or October
The Good Soil Trainer Certification Workshop equips and certifies you to train people for short-term mission trips.
As a certified Good Soil trainer, you will receive a passcode to access the online Instructor's Resource Center for Good Soil trainers, which contains the instructional resources you need for leading the basic seminar in training people participating in your short-term ministry trips.
In the workshop, you will also receive a copy of Training Wheels for Good Soil trainers, a leader's guide for teaching the seminar in your own ministry and/or incorporating Good Soil concepts in your regular teaching and preaching.
Moving Beyond Lecture Workshop
Two Days in October
As a teacher and a trainer, you will love and appreciate this Moving Beyond Lecture workshop! Great for helping you train short-term mission team members.
Moving Beyond Lecture will enhance your ability to teach and train, beyond what you can probably imagine. You will…
- Learn a seven-step process for developing lessons for teaching and training.
- Enlarge your teaching toolbox with lots of creative techniques and tips for teaching.
- Become more sensitive to classroom factors that can enhance your teaching-learning environment.
- Engage your students more actively and make learning FUN for them.
- Become much more confident in your teaching.
BibleStorying Workshop
Two Days in May
One of the keys to effective Bible teaching with any age is telling Bible stories so that historical Bible events “come alive” in the minds of those who hear them!
This BibleStorying (Bible story telling) workshop will enhance your skills as a Bible story teller and teacher. You will learn lots of tips and techniques for improving your ability to tell Bible stories that will gain and hold student interest. And, you will learn about—and practice using—several Good Soil Bible teaching resources.
- Day One: How to Learn Bible Stories
- Day Two: How to Tell Bible Stories
The Story of Hope
Evangelistic Bible Study Workbook
The Story of Hope is a study of the BIG Story of the Bible, based on 40 events from the Bible's redemptive story—20 in the Old Testament and 20 in the New Testament.
- It begins with the assumption that Bible study participants know nothing about the true God, the Bible, or Jesus Christ.
- It begins with Genesis 1:1 and unfolds the BIG Story of God's plan of redemption, from Genesis through Revelation. In doing so, it provides the overall context in which the gospel of Jesus Christ makes sense, even to people from other faith backgrounds.
- It engages participants in direct Bible study, allowing them to have "Aha!" moments about the truths of Scripture, especially regarding Jesus Christ—His claims and His provision for the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life.
- It is visually and colorfully illustrated and designed for easy understanding.
- It is time-flexible. You can use it in one-on-one studies, in groups studies, or individuals can use it for self-study.
- There is also a Global English Edition available.
- Generous quantity pricing.
- Available in many languages
- There is a FREE downloadable Leader's Guide available.
FREE Leader's Guide
103 Professionally Designed Pages
103 professionally-designed pages of answers to the Bible study questions contained in The Story of Hope and suggestions as to how to deal with some of the common questions you may face, as well as many other tips for making your study successful. Download it for FREE and see for yourself.
FREE Leader's GuideGary, Friendsville, TNI love the material. I have used it in a very poor town in the Dominican Republic with people with very little education. We saw numerous come to Christ over the 3-4 months of the study. I gave my books to a friend to use, and need more for a new evangelistic outreach we are doing. Thank you for all the hard work that went into the development of these materials. I especially appreciate the beautiful images and bright colors, along with the durability of the books. Can't tell you how much I love these.
The Story of Hope Class Facilitator Guide - FREE
A FREE curriculum guide for teaching The Story of Hope in a classroom setting. 120 beautifully professionally-illustrated pages. Your short-term mission trip team will enjoy the activities used throughout the class—they are FUN and interactive and engaging. And you can purchase the Class Facilitator PowerPoint that contains 400+ beautiful slides to illustrate the lessons!
400+ beautiful slides in this Class Facilitator Presentation!
*Download also available
No boring sessions in this study!
- Lesson plans for 31 class sessions (can be adapted for fewer sessions, or for more sessions).
- Creative learning activities for all sessions that make learning: engaging, interactive, and FUN.
- Strategically designed to equip students to be motivated and confident in using The Story of Hope in evangelistic or discipleship studies.
- "It's Your Time" is the final lesson, where students are launched to use what they have been taught.
- An optional Class Facilitator PowerPoint presentation available for teaching The Story of Hope class, with 400+ slides.
- FREE online access to the online Instructor's Resource Center, with files for class activities.
The Story of Hope - Kids
The Story of Hope - Kids workbook is a chronological Bible study for kids, approximately ages 8-12. It is designed to help kids understand the BIG story of redemption, from Genesis through Revelation—a perspective that very few other ministry resources provide for children. The workbook contains one page for each of 40 Bible-event lessons, including an image from the Good Soil Redemptive Art Series and questions that get kids digging into the Bible texts for themselves. Also, the Chronological Bridge to Life is presented in an eight-page sequence. There's a Personal Faith Response page too.
Questions and map activities engage kids to read and think, rather than just rotely memorize. This workbook is bright and colorful and beautifully illustrated.
64 pages, Plastic Coil Bound
One lady who went to Sunday school as a child, but never truly trusted Jesus as her Savior, was being led through an evangelistic Bible study based on the adult version of The Story of Hope. She commented:
Why didn't they teach the Bible like this to me when I was in Sunday school? If they had done so, I might have understood it and become a true believer.
Loreena in ILI love the concept of Good Soil. God has been teaching me about the importance of his whole word in sharing the gospel for years. One of my missionary friends mentioned she was using your material and I looked at what it is. Now I am just taking The Story of Hope and introducing a picture/story a week in my girls Sunday School class. Thank you for the framework! I love the way this ties together all of the Word of God. Thanks!
Adventures in The Story of Hope
FREE Bible Curriculum
Approximately 400 pages of lesson plans for teaching 48 Bible lessons—40 Bible-event lessons and eight Chronological Bridge to Life lessons. The lessons unfold the BIG Story of the Bible, chronologically from beginning to end, focusing on God's redemptive story. As students learn about major Bible events, they also learn how all of them are connected around the one BIG Story.
Lessons include many creative activities to engage kids in active learning: questions, games, songs, crafts, drama, “My Story of Hope” activities, memory verses, and other Bible learning activities. Also, a complete set of coloring sheets, one per each of the 40 Bible event lessons.
Great resource for short-term missions, if you are going to an English speaking country!
Sample Pages
The Bible's Big Story Teaching Visuals
The Bible's BIG Story Teaching Visuals - Set of 105
Set of 105 laminated, double-sided teaching visuals for teaching the Bible's redemptive story, from Genesis through Revelation.
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13.5" x 10.75" laminated printed teaching visuals. Key Bible event content on the back, event image on the front. 105 teaching visuals, 50 Old Testament, and 50 New Testament, plus five that work especially for ministry with Muslims. Great for teaching kids (and, adults too!) the BIG Story of the Bible that begins in Genesis and culminates in Revelation. Same images and key content as the Chronological Bible Cards—essentially big versions of those pocket-size cards. See below.
Key content on the back is translatable - just request the document for translating the text into the language you need for your ministry. It's possible that your target-ministry language document might already be available.
Chronological Bible Cards: Genesis — Revelation
ChronoBible Cards: Genesis-Revelation
A complete set of 135 pocket-size cards (4.5" x 3.375") for learning and reviewing the content and chronology of the Bible's Big Story.
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Pocket-size cards for learning and reviewing 100 key Bible events as they appear chronologically from Genesis through Revelation. Each Bible event card contains an image from the Good Soil Redemptive Story art collection on the front and key content information on the back. 25 major Bible era cards and 10 Chronological Bridge to Life cards included.
Thank you for praying for our team as we ventured into northern Guatemala. This area, which is near the border with Chiapas, Mexico is made up of a "forgotten" people who have been displaced by years of fighting and cultural "cleansing" on our continent. This trip allowed us to address some immediate needs as we helped construct 18 water filters. I was able to teach the Good Soil material to 14 pastors. We plan to renew this strategic partnership, as we are not aware of ANY other ministries who will encourage and build up the young churches in this region.
What I actually did with the Pastors…
1. I told them to put their pencils down, and to "listen to a story." I knew I had a very limited time, AND that I would need to be translated.
2. I walked them through The Story of Hope on the premise that when we were done, any of them would be able to take the book back to their villages and share the story with others.
3. I used the printed teaching visuals instead of the PowerPoint. Why?
3.1 It affirmed transferability. They couldn't say they needed a projector and PowerPoint to do the presentation with their people.
3.2 The 100 image PowerPoint that I DID purchase and download the night before I left was TOO much for my overview. In order to tell the story in the time I had, I needed to condense my teaching points significantly.
—Mike, a pastor in the USA
The Bible's BIG Story PowerPoint CD
The Bible's BIG Story PowerPoint CD contains three PowerPoint presentations of the Bible's story of redemption, from Genesis through Revelation:
20 Events - to use with short presentations and The Story of Hope Condensed.
40 Events - to use with medium-length presentations and The Story of Hope.
100 Events - to use with more extended presentations of the Bible's BIG Story.
Each Bible event is beautifully illustrated with an image from the Good Soil Redemptive Art Series. Also, included in each presentation are slides of Bible maps and the Chronological Bridge to Life.
Sample Old Testament Images
Eve and serpent in Eden
Abraham & Isaac
Sacrifice of lamb at altar in front of tabernacle
Sample New Testament Images
John the Baptist
Resurrection of Jesus
Believers in heaven - around Jesus - the rapture scene
Chronological Bridge to Life
Teach people the BIG Story of the Bible, based upon eight key concepts that emerge chronologically from Genesis through Revelation
- God
- Man
- Sin
- Death
- Christ
- Cross
- Faith
- Life
A walk through the Chronological Bridge to Life
Well-suited as a Bible teaching resource to use on short-term mission trips.
Michele, Grass Lake, MII am leaving the end of this week on a mission’s trip. I was just introduced to this material today!! PLEASE SHIP WHATEVER WAY SO THAT I CAN GET IT BY FRIDAY!! I love the way this starts with CREATION; this is just what I have been looking for!! Thank You!
Gaining Ground with Good Soil
is a Good Soil Evangelism and Discipleship Seminar in a book.
All the resources needed for a small group study or class:
Gaining Ground with Good Soil is a seminar in a narrative format—a story of missionaries who learned, from experience and from Bible study, how to share God's story of hope in a world of competing faiths and cultures. You and your group can learn a lot from them! Not only will your group enjoy the "ride," they will also be better equipped for Great Commission ministry when the journey is over.
The FREE Leader's Guide was created for use in informal small group studies, as well as more formal class settings.
Learn More About Gaining Ground with Good Soil
Gaining Ground with Good Soil
Want to understand more about Good Soil Evangelism and Discipleship? This is the place to start! NEW Visually Enhanced 2016 Edition - An evangelism and discipleship training narrative that is a scaled-down version of the Good Soil E&D seminar in a narrative format. Full color throughout.
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Audio Book
Gaining Ground with Good Soil - Audiobook
A 4 hours and 7 minutes audio narrative that will help you understand worldview-relevant evangelism and discipleship and their importance in a world of competing faiths and cultures. A professionally produced audio book version of Gaining Ground with Good Soil.
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The Roots of Faith Bible Courses
Chronological Bible curriculum, unfolding the BIG Story of the Bible in 100 events and packed with FUN learning activities.
Short-term missionaries can learn…
- Much of the key content in the Old and New Testaments.
- The chronology of 25 major Bible eras and 100 key Bible events.
- The geographic locations of many places where Bible events occurred.
- The BIG Story of the Bible and how it progresses from Genesis through Revelation.
BRING members of your short-term ministry team to The Roots of Faith courses in June - near Harrisburg PA.
Ask us about a group rate.
Or, teach them yourself in your ministry.
How can you be certified to teach The Roots of Faith Courses?
Option One: Participate in The Roots of Faith Courses
Full Certification
Image of a TROF OT Class at ABWE - FUN Learning
Image of a TROF NT Class at ABWE - Interactive & Engaging Learning
Or, Option Two: Purchase The Roots of Faith Instructor’s Kits
Provisional Certification
Hooks for Hanging the Bible’s Storyline
Teach people—in just a few hours—to be able to think their way through the Bible, from Genesis through Revelation. Every movie or novel has a central storyline, a plot. Even young students can learn the BIG storyline of the Bible, using 25 “Hooks”—major eras of the Bible.
The activities for teaching Hooks are FUN for students of all ages, even the teachers.
And there are FREE instructional helps.
A great set of resources for use on your short-term missionary trip.
The 12 "Hooks" for Hanging the Old Testament Storyline
The 1 + 12 "Hooks" for Hanging the New Testament Storyline
Ariel, Filipino visiting in New JerseyMy latest Hooks for Hanging the Bible’s Storyline workshop was last Saturday in a Bible study in the home of the owner of Sam Ash Music Stores in Bayonne, NJ. Several very diverse cultures were represented in the group (Filipino, Russian, German, American, African, Hispanic, Arab, and Jewish). They were amazed and enjoyed it - and everyone understood. Some said, “I finally got it!” “I’ll read my Bible again.”
More Good Soil Resources for Evangelism and Discipleship
For a complete overview of our Good Soil resources:
Good Soil E&D Training and Resources for Many Types of Ministries
The focus of this page has been on short-term mission trips ministries. But, Good Soil provides training and resources for many different kinds of ministry.
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