By Shannon Primicerio

Illustration by cortney williams

They've been called the most technologically advanced generation of all time. Market ?researchers are claiming they are one of the ?most influential groups of consumers ever to shop. Educators and politicians say they are ?our future. They are teenagers-your teenagers. And most of us can't help but wonder what ?the world will look like when they are in charge ?if some things don't change.

Teens today are exposed to immoral, immodest and impure behavior all the time. The gospel of wealth, prosperity and material success is preached at them in every place from school to the local shopping mall. A constant message is being branded into them-life is all about you.

As an author to teens, I've found there's primarily one way to help shed this incorrect mentality-make the gospel real to them. Help them experience what the gospel is in its truest sense-life with Christ.

Encounters with Jesus Christ are what leave all of us changed. Short-term mission trips are an excellent way to help your teen grow in Christian faith. Whether it's for a weekend, one week or an entire summer, the benefits of allowing your teen to participate in such ?an adventure are truly endless.

A role to play
In Matthew 28:19 Jesus issues some of his final words to His disciples: "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

For most teens those words are quickly breezed over in daily Bible reading, or only lightly expounded upon by their youth pastor. All nations? Right. I haven't even been to all 50 states, much less another country. And they quickly skip to another topic that seems much more tangible. And thus, they've missed it. Jesus' final command is left for others to fulfill. And today's teens are worse off for it.

By encouraging your teen to venture out on a short-term mission trip you're equipping your teen with the necessary tools to make Jesus' command come alive in his or her life. With one simple act, the gospel now lives and breathes in the eyes of your teen. You mean I can go to other nations and tell people about Jesus?

Your teen now has an active role to play in God's unfolding story. Having lived in Southern California my entire life, I began going on day-long mission trips to Mexico as an elementary school student. My dad and I would join a handful of others from our church once a month as we caravanned down to an orphanage where the women gave the children haircuts, the men worked on various construction projects, and we kids played with the orphans and taught them American games.

Because of this, I grew up knowing I had a role to play in God's story. So it was no surprise when at the age of 15 I came home and announced I wanted to join my youth group on the upcoming mission trip to Hungary. After only a slight hesitation-and an information meeting that calmed most of their fears-my parents agreed to let me go.

Over the next several months as I prepared to leave and worked with my team to raise support, I began to understand that I wasn't filling just any role in God's story. I was filling my role in God's story. As support checks rolled in, slowly adding up to the target amount I needed to raise, I realized that going to Hungary wasn't just something I wanted to do. It was something God wanted me to do. Those 16 days in Europe changed not only the lives of several Hungarian people, but also the lives of all 20-plus teens who took the gospel to them.

My team and I began to see that God could and would use us if we were willing. As we performed street dramas and told flannel board stories through translators, our faith and our confidence grew. We came to understand that what God was doing through us in Europe, He could easily do through us at home. The majority of my teammates, myself included, attended public high schools. We had a mission field at our fingertips five days a week. Many of us came home and used the boldness we'd discovered in Hungary to invite our fellow classmates to church and to share our faith in everyday conversations. Through a short-term mission trip the gospel became alive for us, and we saw it as our responsibility to live it out.

Adjusting to community
Mission trips also teach teens how to be flexible and gracious with other people. Team dynamics can be sticky in any situation but add living with your teammates 24 hours a day, and you have an opportunity for genuine growth waiting to unfold.

Most short-term trips take people out of their comfort zones. With things like hot showers and identifiable food sometimes being hard to come by, most teens are forced to appreciate the comforts of home and they learn to adjust accordingly. Sleeping arrangements can also be cause for growth-try putting 10 teen girls in one room and see what happens.

On one trip we were instructed to pack inflatable air mattresses with our sleeping bags. One girl, Kim, chose to bring a pool raft instead. And she decided to blow it up when the rest of us were sleeping. In the middle of the night we awoke to the sounds of her huffing and puffing. The girl sharing an air mattress with me, Krystal, sat up in a flurry and said with a clenched jaw, "Kim, we're all trying to sleep here. Knock it off!"

The next morning Krystal felt horrible as it dawned on her that Kim was not able to afford an air mattress, and that she was only blowing up her raft in the middle of the night because it had deflated making her uncomfortable. She apologized to Kim, and made a genuine effort to put any differences they had aside as they ministered together throughout the week. It was an experience that made Krystal much more sensitive to those around her. On many ?missions trips unlikely friendships are formed as ?the Lord teaches us to love those who are different from us.

A broader perspective
My husband, Michael-who began trekking across the world as a mission-trip-bound high school student-recently told me he never understood there were people who don't live like we do in the United States until he began to travel. His understanding is very common among youth.

By allowing your teen to travel across North America or internationally you will give him or her exposure to other ways of life. Sometimes the poverty level of starving children with bloated bellies is enough to wake a teen out of the "It's all about me" mentality. Most teens who participate on short-term mission trips become more generous and start donating portions of their humble incomes to sponsor children from other nations, or they donate bags full of clothes to people who often have to go without.

This type of response is more than an emotional reaction to what they experience on short-term trips. For many teens it's an all-out life change. Something deep within them wakes up to the needs they're exposed to, and they are stirred to make a difference. Many full-time missionaries admit they first felt the call to the mission field when they were on a short-term trip as a teen.

Short-term mission trips allow teens to have very real encounters with Jesus Christ, and give them opportunities to be "Jesus with skin on" to those in need. Will you allow your teen to change the world for Christ?

For information about short-term mission opportunities visit Power-plant.net, World-changers.net, Studentmissiontrips.net and theTASK.org.

Shannon Primicerio lives in Southern California. This summer the Primicerios joined 500 teens on a mission trip to Peru. You can visit Shannon at www.beingagirlbooks.com