Web Resources

On this page you'll find links to further information and discussion of STMs, to organizations that coordinate STMs, and to organizations that coordinate volunteer vacations.

Information and Discussion

AESTM: Alliance for Excellence in Short-Term Mission (www.aestm.org)
Parent organization of SOE, FSTM, NSTMC.

Center for Student Missions (http://www.csm.org/)
An organization that sends short-term trips to inner-city locations in the U.S.  They have some interesting ideas about making sure volunteers really get to know the culture and way of life of the people and places they visit.

Christian Missions: A Church for every people and the Gospel for every person
(http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert.fs/index.htm)
Howard Culbertson, professor of missions and world evangelism at Southern Nazarene University maintains this large collection of miscellaneous information about short-term missions.  Plenty of articles, tips, exercises, etc., plus a sizeable number of links to other STM resources.

FSTM: Fellowship of Short-Term Mission Leaders (www.fstml.org)
Annual conference of STM leaders and representatives of sending organizations (churches, schools, agencies).

Generous Giving - Resource Library (http://www.generousgiving.org/page.asp?sec=28&page=229)
Generous Giving seeks to educate Christians on how to give both generously and wisely.  Their resource library includes links to several articles about how some forms of giving, including short-term mission activities, can actually hurt indigenous churches by promoting dependency. 

Global Volunteers - Philosophy of Service (www.globalvolunteers.org/philosop.htm)
This is Global Volunteers' philosophy of service.  It says that projects should always be lead by nationals, that even unskilled labor provided by North American volunteers can be a valuable contribution because it provides extra encouragement and motivation to locals, that North American volunteers are to take on the role of "servant learners," and that the ultimate goal for the community is self-reliance.

Knowledge Base (www.strategicnetwork.org/index.asp?loc=kb&)
Links to articles and resources on a wide variety of mission-related topics, including short-term missions.

Mis Links (www.mislinks.org)
Very extensive set of links to short-term missions organizations, papers and articles about short-term missions (and many other aspects of missions), publications about short-term missions, and general information about traveling in different countries.

National Short-Term Mission Conference (www.nstmc.org)
Annual conference to train STM leaders.

ShortTermMissions.com (www.shorttermmissions.com)
Links to short-term mission organizations, few articles, and discussion boards.

SOE: Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission (http://stmstandards.org/)
THE code of ethics for North American STM-sending entities (churches, schools, and agencies).  At this site you can learn more about the Standards of Excellence and the training, peer reviews, and fees necessary to receiving the Standards of Excellence Seal of Approval.

Urbana.org - Resources (http://www.urbana.org/ns.rs.main.cfm)
The Resources section has a large collection of articles and information about books related to short-term missions in a general way (i.e. regions of the world, justice, culture, etc.).  Also has a glossary of mission-related words. 

STM Sending Organizations

MissionTrips.com (www.missiontrips.com)
Coordinates short-term trips in a variety of countries.

Association of Gospel Rescue Missions - STM Directory (www.agrm.org/sumr-dir.html)
Directory of inner city missions opportunities for groups and individuals throughout North America.

ShortTermMissions.com - STM Search (www.ShortTermMissions.com/search/)
Complete details on over 600 one-week to two-year mission opportunities from 53 organizations. Search by country, region, length, month, and keyword.

MissionFinder.org  (www.missionfinder.org/)
An extensive directory of mission organizations and their opportunities classified by skill and ministry type, best for medical and orphanages.

AboutMissions.com (www.aboutmissions.com) 
All the opportunity information from Into All the World magazine now posted on the web! You can order copies of the magazine also.

Short-Term Missions Database (www.stmdb.org/)
Details on over 200 mission opportunities.  Search by country or keyword.

Urbana - MSearch  (www.urbana.org/ns.ms.main.cfm)
Urbana's search tool for finding opportunities offered by the organizations that exhibit at Urbana.

ChristianVocations.org  (www.christianvocations.org/)
Details on over 200, one-week to two-year mission opportunities from UK based organizations. Search by activity, age, duration, and keyword.

World Evangelical Alliance - Missions Commission page (www.GlobalMission.org)
Details on 140 short-term programs searchable by organization and destination country. Mostly Canadian opportunities with some European.

RightNow.org  (www.rightnow.org)
A new listing of opportunities by 60+ organizations searchable by age, agency, timeframe, region of the world, general skill set, timeframe, includes Southern Baptist opportunities.

Volunteer Vacation Organizations

Global Volunteers (www.globalvolunteers.org)
One of the best-known and widely-established volunteer vacation organizations.

JustGive.org - Volunteer Vacations (www.justgive.org/html/ways/vacations.html)
Links to a variety of volunteer vacation sending organizations and information.

ComeBackAlive.com - Volunteer Vacations (www.comebackalive.com/df/advcalls/voltrvac.htm)
Contact information for a variety of volunteer vacation sending organizations.

KineticTravel.com - Volunteer Vacations
(www.kinetictravel.net/stations/display/index.cfm?id_station=44)
Links to a variety of volunteer vacation sending organizations.