SERVING IN SHORT-TERM MISSIONS
New York City and Detroit are ripe harvest fields. Team evangelism in these cities has brought hundreds of souls to Christ in the past years. We are reaching into New York City and Detroit to touch the lives of children, youth, families, single mothers, college students, adults, and unreached people groups with the transforming power of the gospel. You can read all about how you can become involved below – or if you’re ready to go – fill out the Short Term Missions Team Application and we’ll help you start planning your trip right now.
IT’S EXCITING FOR YOU
SUBMERSED INTO A DIFFERENT CULTURE
LIFE CHANGING FOR ALL
YOU’LL NEVER BE THE SAME
THE GOSPEL IN ACTION
SHOW THEM THE LOVE OF GOD
Here are some ways that you can serve with your team:
Be Equipped: Receive challenging training and experience into effective inner-city ministry through Urban Harvest Ministries.
Be Exposed: Be exposed to established ministry methods effectively reaching the needs of our cities.
Children’s Outreach: Build relationships with children in parks and playgrounds. Lead Kids Bible Clubs and VBS event. Touch kids’ lives through exciting and innovative methods of outreach.
Creative Arts Outreach: Perform on the streets, in parks and in churches with your drama team, dance group, worship band, or other creative means of communicating hope!
Sports Outreach: Conduct camps for youth, in sports such as basketball, soccer and street hockey.
Youth Outreach: Build relationships with inner-city youth; Network with youth ministries and outreaches.
Homeless Outreach: Serve lunch in soup kitchens, do one-on-one work with the homeless.
Community Clean Up and Repairs: Do community clean up projects. Clean and repair churches and outreach centers. Restore a city park.
Empower People: Conduct music classes, teach English as a second language, conduct health & nutrition seminars, and more.
Street Outreach: Coordinate Block Parties, Community Family Days and Street Festivals. Bring bringing a message of hope to people in need.
Prayer Outreach: Serve in Prayer Stations, Intercessory Prayer Walks, and encourage people with personal prayer.
Park & Playground Outreach: Reach out to children, youth and adults one-on-one where they congregate — in the city’s parks and playgrounds.
Tract and Bible Distribution: Share the printed Good News in subways, parks, commercial centers, tourist areas and other locations in the city.
Network with Churches and Ministries: Tutoring, children’s ministry, youth ministry, men’s and ladies outreach, worship, prayer and more with the progressive church plant of The Harvest Center in the South Bronx and with Hope for the City network churches in Detroit.
Note: All Short-term Missions ministry with UHM is connected with local ministries who will follow up on contacts your team makes with people in the city!
Step 1 – Review the short-term missions information on the UHM website.
Step 2 – Fill out and submit the Short Term Missions Team Application. This form helps us get to know you and your team. With this information, we can make sure your team ministers effectively and we can provide the most rewarding short-term missions experience for your team.
Step 3 – An Urban Harvest Ministries rep will contact you to discuss trip dates, lodging, costs and itinerary.
Step 4 – Send in a deposit of $200 for your team. This non-refundable deposit will secure your trip dates and will be applied to your total team fees.
Step 5 – Review the UHM Guidelines and prepare your team for ministry in the inner city. You will receive pre-trip training materials through the mail for your team leaders and team. Go over this information in detail.
Step 6 – Have team members fill out the Liability Release and Consent to Travel (PDF) form. Mail these and your registration balance to our office at least one month prior to your trip.
Step 7 – The final step: Load up your suitcases and prepare for the experience of a lifetime!
For any questions or more information, write us at urbanharvest@uhm.cc
We look forward to partnering with you in ministry!
What are people saying about their experience with UHM?
“This Mission trip was an awesome opportunity for ministry for our students. Our hearts broke for the people of the Bronx. We have been changed forever!”
– Ken McBeath, Youth Pastor, Harvest Ministries Church, Florida
“I am not the same person going home. What I experienced is more wonderful than I could have ever imagined. Not only have I gained a love and respect for all the people of the South Bronx, but I now can go home with a greater zeal to be all that I can be to show real genuine love and Jesus Christ to people in Naples, Florida.”
– Kay Rautenkranz, Mission Team Member, Naples, Florida
“Those who take the opportunity to work with UHM seem to find themselves so much better equipped to minister when they get home. It seems to fire up their spirit for missions not only outside their local area, but right outside the doors of their home as well. The impact for God’s Kingdom is probably incalculable. I encourage people to partner with UHM and turn that ‘short-term mission’ into a life-long passion for God.”
– Bill Miller, First Baptist Church, Easley, South Carolina
“This was nothing short of inspirational for me. I have learned a lot about myself – how I need to know the Father’s heart and how much I still need to change. Thanks to the humble, real-life, exemplary Christian living I’ve experienced among the folks at Urban Harvest, I am compelled to re-examine my own relationship with my Lord God.”
– Lu’an Lazarus, Mission Team Member, Cooper City, Florida
“Our teen leadership went to another level. Watching the UHM team in action truly ministered to our team as to what a servant should be. Our youth have a whole new outlook on life since being up there. We are now going to start our own outreach in Inverness. Our students are ready.”
– Jason Justus, Youth Pastor, Inverness Church of God, Florida
“Our experience at Urban Harvest Ministries was life changing. Our kids were transformed into agents of servant hood and compassion. We count it a blessing to have been a part of this awesome ministry.”
– Matt Routien, Youth Pastor, Bourbonnais, Illinois
“Our team has been so excited to see how God can use them. Even though they are completely different from the people they are ministering to, they still serve a God that can relate to anybody. They have had a great opportunity this week!”
– Andy Parks, Pastor, Argentine Assembly of God, Kansas City, Kansas
“I just want to reiterate to anybody who’s thinking about taking a mission trip here: Don’t think about it, just get there, and your life will be changed.”
– Craig Avery,Youth Leader, Crystal River Church of God, Crystal River, Florida
Q. What makes short-term missions with UHM unique, life-changing, and exciting?
A. Your team will be part of an ongoing effort to reach the lost and hurting, working side by side with local churches to impact inner city communities and bring change one person and one family at a time. Your team will be led by urban Christians whose lives have been changed through Jesus Christ. You will hear their stories as you walk the streets of their communities, do strategic outreach and evangelism, and see first hand how Christ can change an inner city community.
Q. What experience does Urban Harvest Ministries have with short-term missions in the inner city?
A. Prior to founding UHM, Dr. Tom Grassano directed a short-term missions agency, commissioning over 2,000 short-termers around the world. Urban Harvest Ministries has received hundreds of short-termers from around the US and Canada, engaging them in life-changing ministry on the streets of our city. Based in the South Bronx, UHM has incorporated short-term missions as a strategic form of outreach for many years. UHM has proven experience with short-term missions!
Q. What does it cost?
A. Anywhere from $30 to $70 per person per day, depending on your choice of lodging. Note: This does not include your transportation to and from your destination, and evening meals.
Q. Is it safe?
A. You can have confidence that UHM has more than 25 years experience leading teams in inner city America and many nations. We lodge in safe communities, are very careful leading teams, and walk under a prayer cover of strategic intercession. Follow the rules and guidelines, and you’ll be safe.
Q. What would my team do on a missions trip to New York City?
A. Participating in outreaches and block parties with drama, puppet ministry, mime and music. Talking, playing and praying with children, youth and adults on the streets and in parks, playgrounds and projects. Prayer Stations, prayer walking, and prayer evangelism. Participating in outreach to the homeless. All of these and much more depending on the experience and abilities of your team. (See the Your Ministries In Action tab)
Q. Will I have time for sightseeing?
You will have time for sightseeing.
If coming to NYC, you can enjoy Times Square, Broadway, Chinatown, Little Italy, The 9/11 Memorial, a Yankees baseball game and much more!
There are many opportunities for sightseeing in Detroit and Dearborn, including the Henry Ford Museum, the Ford F150 assembly plant, Greenfield Village, and eating genuine Middle Eastern meals in Dearborn.
Q. How do I work out the logistics?
A. We custom-build your itinerary around your desires and the skill level of your team. We help you arrange your housing and all details in advance so that once you arrive, you can just concentrate on ministry! Your team will be challenged and motivated AND leave long-lasting fruit in your hearts and in the target communities. All you need to do is get here!