7 Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission

Want to make sure the short-term mission program you're considering is effective and high quality? Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission (SOE) was developed by several hundred people in the short-term mission community who saw the need for standards in mission trips. Today, entities show they are committed to excellent, effective short-term mission by adopting the Standards.

The SOE consists of Seven Standards: God-centeredness, empowering partnerships, mutual design, comprehensive administration, qualified leadership, appropriate training and thorough follow-up.

1. God-Centeredness An excellent short-term mission seeks first God’s glory and His kingdom, and is expressed through our:
   • Purpose—Centering on God’s glory and His ends throughout our entire short-term mission (STM) process
   • Lives—Sound biblical doctrine, persistent prayer and godliness in all our thoughts, words and deeds
   • Methods—Wise, biblical and culturally appropriate methods which bear spiritual fruit
2. Empowering Partnerships An excellent short-term mission establishes healthy, interdependent, on-going relationships between sending and receiving partners, and is expressed by:
   • Primary focus on intended receptors
   • Plans which benefit all participants
   • Mutual trust and accountability
3. Mutual Design An excellent short-term mission collaboratively plans each specific outreach for the benefit of all participants, and is expressed by:
   • On-field methods and activities aligned to long-term strategies of the partnership
   • Goer-guests' ability to implement their part of the plan
   • Host receivers' ability to implement their part of the plan
4. Comprehensive Administration An excellent short-term mission exhibits integrity through reliable set-up and thorough administration for all participants, and is expressed by:
   • Truthfulness in promotion, finances and reporting results
   • Appropriate risk management
   • Quality program delivery and support logistics
5. Qualified Leadership An excellent short-term mission screens, trains and develops capable leadership for all participants, and is expressed by:
   • Character—Spiritually mature servant leadership
   • Skills—Prepared, competent, organized and accountable leadership
   • Values—Empowering and equipping leadership
6. Appropriate Training An excellent short-term mission prepares and equips all participants for the mutually designed outreach, and is expressed by:
   • Biblical, appropriate and timely training
   • On-going training and equipping (pre-field, on-field, post-field)
   • Qualified trainers
7. Thorough Follow-up An excellent short-term mission assures debriefing and appropriate follow-up for all participants, and is expressed by:
   • Comprehensive debriefing (pre-field, on-field, post-field)
   • On-field reentry preparation
   • Post-field follow-up and evaluation

Find trips from organizations that have adopted the SOE using Advanced Search.

For more information about the Seven Standards, see here.