Sometimes value is about much more than money.
Whenever you plan travel, you likely keep one eye on the bottom line. And when you’re planning for a group — especially a church group — price can grow in importance, because making your trips as accessible as possible is part of your core mission.
But price shouldn’t be the only thing you consider when choosing destinations, activities or travel vendors. There are many ways to think about value, and each one can impact the success of a trip.
Here are five key measures of value you should consider when planning travel for your church group.
Community Building
One core component of many church travel programs is to strengthen fellowship among church members — and to attract newcomers from the community around you. So when you consider the time or money members will invest in a trip, evaluate how well that trip will advance your community-building mission. A trip that costs more than normal may be worth the money if it has potential to supercharge friendships among your travelers.
Ministry Impact
At the end of the day, everything your church does should be about ministry — helping people grow closer to God. A trip is never just a trip but an opportunity to create space for people to have spiritual experiences. Often, those experiences don’t come at any financial costs but do require an investment of time, attention and empathy. Regardless of how else you judge the value and success of a trip, remember to keep ministry impact front and center in your mission.
Use of Time
I don’t believe time is money, but I do believe time has unique value. After all, you can always earn more money, but you can never get more time. So as you evaluate destinations, itineraries and other travel options, ask yourself whether the opportunity in front of you will be a fruitful use of time for your travelers. For example, an attractively priced trip that uses lots of transit time to keep costs down may not be as good a value as it seems at first blush. Itineraries that make great use of time may be worth a higher price.
Service Opportunities
T he idea of voluntourism has become very fashionable over the past decade or so, but church groups were volunteering on vacation before it was cool. If you have ever been on a mission trip, you know how fulfilling a service-oriented trip can be. And while not every church trip can be a mission trip, every travel excursion could present an opportunity for your group to make a positive impact. Whether it’s volunteering for a morning or simply investing some of your travel dollars in a local organization with a community-minded mission, serving the people and places you’re visiting creates value for host and guest alike.
Dream Fulfillment
I believe the things we dream about are more than just flights of fancy — they can be windows into our hearts that reflect our hopes, values and aspirations. Helping people fulfill their dreams is a sacred privilege. There are likely people in your community that have dreamed of a certain trip — perhaps a Holy Land pilgrimage or a Caribbean cruise — and your church travel program might provide the opportunity for those dreams to come true. Dream trips cost more, but the rewards of helping fulfil someone’s dreams are innumerable.
