Compelled by the love of Jesus and the desire to reach our world with the Gospel message, Grace Fellowship strives to make a global impact by strategically partnering with exceptional people and organizations that long to help people meet, follow, and share Jesus. We do this by going and serving international churches and ministries with both short- and long-term trips, giving generously, and praying without ceasing. We believe God makes it our individual and corporate responsibility as messengers of the Gospel to help meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of people. Begin to partner with us through prayer, learning about our Global Partners, and financially supporting our missions and missionaries.
Grace believes that God makes it our individual and corporate responsibility as messengers of the Gospel to help meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of people, both locally and globally.
We do this by mobilizing Grace on short term teams to help people meet, follow, and share Jesus.
Come to Louisville, KY, to join thousands of young adults from around the country to kick off the new year! The CROSS Conference calls this generation to make their lives count by making Jesus’ name known by emphasizing the gospel, the local church and God’s heart for the nations. Throughout the conference there will be panel discussions, testimonies, and breakout sessions, along with main session teachings and worship. CROSS Conference registration, transportation, meals and lodging accommodations are covered in your registration fee.
Who should participate?
Young adults ages 18-25
Cost
$250.00 (due at the time of registration)
Application deadline November 8, 2025
The team will travel to Nairobi, Kenya to work alongside the Center of Hope and Transformation.
We will join Pastor Ezekiel and his church in serving the community of Mathare through hosting neighborhood activities for children & adults, leadership training, street evangelism and more. This will be a relational trip where the team will get to know the church staff and the community throughout their activities.
A formal ministry/trip plan will be determined based on the skillset of the team members selected for the team and the current needs of the church.
Who should participate?
Adults aged 18+
Cost
$3,000 – $3,500 (approx cost)
Application Fee
$250.00 (due at the time of application)
Trip Application Now Closed
On this trip you will travel to San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico, just across the US border to serve alongside Pastor Edgar Cruz and his church family at Iglesia del Redentor (Church of the Redeemer). The team will get to learn about Mexican culture, living in a border community and how Edgar’s church brings light and hope to a dark area. We will get to serve the church and the community through building projects, community service projects, and hosting neighborhood activities to invite both children and adults to learn more about the Gospel. The team will also get to spend time with Caring Hearts Ministries as well. This ministry has a connection to Grace Fellowship and teams get to serve their team by helping at one of their many ministry locations in San Luis. Each team in Mexico looks different because we determine our ministry opportunities for the week based on team skills and strengths and the current needs of both Iglesia del Redentor and Caring Hearts Ministries.
Who should participate?
Anyone 18 years old + from any campus
Cost
$2,000 – $2,500 (approx cost)
Application Fee
$250.00 (due at the time of application)
Trip Application Now Closed
On this trip, the team will travel to a small town a few hours outside of Havana to serve with a local pastor through our partnership with Praying Pelican Missions. In order to keep the team inside Cuba safe, we do not share exact location, pastor information or the church name at their request. The team will learn about Cuba’s rich history and current struggles, the pastor’s journey to leading his church and the role the church plays in the local community. This will be a highly relational trip, spending time getting to know the community and church members to point them to the local church. Opportunities for the team to serve include food ministry, sports camp, VBS, Marriage ministry/bible study, young adult ministry, Women’s bible study, Men’s bible study and construction projects. The exact ministry plan for the team will be determined by the strengths and skills of the team members along with the current needs for the church and community.
Who should participate?
Anyone 18 years old + from any campus
Cost
$2,000 – $2,400
Application Fee
$250.00 (due at the time of registration)
Trip Application Now Closed
In Partnership with Praying Pelican Missions, the team will travel to Opole, Poland and serve with Pastor Mariusz and Ostoja Church (means Refuge in Polish). The team will spend time learning about Polish culture before and after WWII, the church’s history, and the Pastor’s calling to ministry. The team will also get to participate in Sunday church service and weekly activities held at the church with the congregation Pastor Mariusz has worked diligently in Opole to create and encourage interdenominational relationships and the team will get the opportunity to serve in some of those ministries. Opportunities for the team could include homeless ministry, VBS, hosting youth night, Women’s Bible Study, Men’s Bible Study, or prayer walks. Each team traveling to Poland will look different because we determine the specific ministry activities based on the team’s skills and strengths along with the current needs of Pastor Maruisz, Ostoja Church and the community.
Who should participate?
Anyone 18 years old + from any campus
Cost
$3,000 – $3,500 (approx cost)
Application Fee
$250.00 (due at the time of registration)
Trip Application Now Closed
Through our partnership with Praying Pelican Missions, the team will travel to the El Llano community of Chimaltenango to work alongside Pastor Sergio Gomes, his family and the community at the Iglesia Casa de Oracion. The team will dive into the rich Mayan culture of this region of Guatemala, hear testimonies from Pastor Sergio, learn the church’s history, and witness how this church loves and serves their local community. The team will join the church for Sunday services along with daily prayer services throughout the week. Ministry activities for the week may include food distribution, prayer walks, street evangelism, VBS, construction projects, or youth ministry. Each team traveling to Guatemala will be different because we determine the ministry activities based on the team’s skills and strengths along with the current needs of the church community.
Who should participate?
Anyone 18 years old + from any campus
Cost
$2,000 – $2,400 (approx cost)
Application Fee
$250.00 (due at the time of registration)
Trip Application Now Closed
Through our partnership with Praying Pelican Missions, the team will travel to Santa Rita, Rio Cuarto in Costa Rica to work alongside Pastor Jorge Benevides, his wife Evelin and their church, Centro Ministerial Monte de Dios in Rio Cuarto. You will have time to learn about Costa Rican culture, traditions, their family’s testimony, the church’s history and how Pastor Jorge’s church serves the local community. Activities for the week could include VBS, hosting a Youth Night, Women’s Bible Study, Men’s Bible Study, Marriage Ministry, building projects, Elderly Ministry, food distribution, or visiting an addiction center. The team will also join the church in church services throughout the week. Each team in Costa Rica will look differently. We determine the ministry activities for the week based on the team’s skills and strengths along with the current needs of the church and community.
Who should participate?
Young Adults 18 – 29 years old
Cost
$2,000 – $2,400 (approx cost)
Application Fee
$250.00 (due at the time of registration)
Application deadline November 7, 2025
On this trip, the team will be partnering with Roots of Grace, a ministry of BrightStart Learning Cambodia, run by Grace Fellowship missionaries who have been serving in Cambodia since 2018. Roots of Grace’s mission is to introduce Jesus to the poorest of the poor in Cambodia with the hope of transforming generations. Our team will have opportunities to support the staff in their efforts in the community in a variety of educational settings. Across their various ministries, Roots of Grace teaches students from pre-K 4 through university. This team will primarily be working with students during the trip. We may have the chance to participate in or lead village Bible studies or VBS, help with their community children’s outreach, invest and encourage their local staff, assist at one of their ministry centers, visit their dorm program students, or assist in projects at their new school set to open in the fall of 2026. The team will also learn about Cambodian culture by visiting some important cultural sites in the country.
Grace Fellowship also has missionaries serving with a University Dorm ministry in Phnom Penh and the team will get the opportunity to visit that ministry, learn about the dorm program and support our missionaries serving there.
This trip is all about encountering God at work—through relationships, cross-cultural experiences, and first hand exposure to missions in Cambodia.
Who should participate?
Anyone 18 years old + from any campus who has a passion for working with students of all ages, and those who currently work with students in their profession or volunteer roles.
Cost
$3,000 – $3,500 (approx cost)
Application Fee
$250.00 (due at the time of registration)
Application deadline November 30, 2025
On this trip, we will partner with Praying Pelican Missions and a local church in rural West Virginia. The week will include a mix of service and outdoor activities in the mountains and rivers of local area. The team will get to work alongside the church’s many community ministry partners (non-profits) in the area to serve in a variety of ways throughout the week. Some potential serving opportunities for the week could include VBS, park programs, food pantries, meal delivery, clothing ministry, painting, weeding, mulching and more along with exploring the beauty of the area. Once the team is in place, we will use their strengths and skills along with the current needs of the church and the community to determine the final ministry plan for the week.
Who should participate?
Students entering the 9th or 10th grade for the 2026-2027 school year
Cost
$800 – $1,000 per student
Application Fee
$250.00 (due at the time of registration)
Application deadline December 23, 2025
On this trip, we get to partner with Freedom International in the Dominican Republic. They have started a bilingual, Christian school in a town with over 100 sugarcane villages in the surrounding area. Their goal is to reach the children and their families with the Gospel and to provide life-changing opportunities through education. Freedom International is working to train people to glorify God in 3 areas: by walking in relationship with the Lord, developing wholesome relationships with others, and using their God-given uniqueness to live for Him.
The team will get to partner with Freedom International through helping with VBS, their camp program, school work and building projects around the compound: all of which will help them move their mission forward in equipping students both inside and outside the classroom.
Who should participate?
Student entering the 11th or 12th grade for the 2026-2027 school year
Cost
$2,000 – $2,400 (approx cost)
Application Fee
$250.00 (due at the time of registration)
Application deadline November 30, 2025
Through our partnership with Praying Pelican Missions, the team will travel to the El Llano community of Chimaltenango to work alongside Pastor Sergio Gomes, his family and the community at the Iglesia Casa de Oracion. The team will dive into the rich Mayan culture of this region of Guatemala, hear testimonies from Pastor Sergio, learn the church’s history, and witness how this church loves and serves their local community. The team will join the church for Sunday services along with daily prayer services throughout the week. Ministry activities for the week may include food distribution, prayer walks, street evangelism, VBS, construction projects, or youth ministry. Each team traveling to Guatemala will be different because we determine the ministry activities based on the team’s skills and strengths along with the current needs of the church community.
Who should participate?
anyone 18+ from any campus
Cost
$2,000 – $2,400 (approx cost)
Application Fee
$250.00 (due at the time of registration)
Application deadline January 31, 2026
On this trip, the team will be partnering with Roots of Grace, a ministry of BrightStart Learning Cambodia, run by Grace Fellowship missionaries who have been serving in Cambodia since 2018. Roots of Grace’s mission is to introduce Jesus to the poorest of the poor in Cambodia with the hope of transforming generations. Our team will have the opportunity to provide medical care and share the gospel through clinics in and around Battambang, Cambodia, through Roots of Grace. The team will also learn about Cambodian culture by visiting some important cultural sites in the country.
Grace Fellowship also has missionaries serving with a University Dorm ministry in Phnom Penh and the team will get the opportunity to visit that ministry, learn about the dorm program and support our missionaries serving there.
This trip is all about encountering God at work—through medical care, relationships, cross-cultural experiences, and first hand exposure to missions in Cambodia.
Who should participate?
Adults from all campuses, preferably with a medical background and skillset.
Cost
$3,000 – $3,500 (approx cost)
Application Fee
$250.00 (due at the time of registration)
Application deadline January 31, 2026
Are you a first time trip attender?
The Global Missions Board wants to say thank you and encourage you as you step out to “go” for the first time. Grace Fellowship has had some generous donors who believe in our goal to send 20% of our weekend attenders on a short-term trip over three years (2025 - 2028) and want to help people go.
If you apply and get accepted on a team AND it is your first time going on a short-term trip, the Global Missions Board will give you a 25% scholarship toward your trip costs.
This program will be in place until funds have been exhausted. Funds will be used on a first-come, first-serve basis. If you have any questions regarding the requirements or qualifications for using this scholarship opportunity, please contact our Global Missions Administrator.
Short-term trip applications are typically available 6-8 months prior to the travel dates. Application deadlines are stated on the web site and are usually 6 months prior to travel.
An approximate cost for the trip will be posted at the time the trip is opened for application. We base this approximate cost on past trip costs to the same location. We don’t know the final cost of the trip until after the team is selected and airfare & ministry costs are determined.
Your $250.00 application fee goes towards the final costs of your trip. We highly encourage team members to fundraise the remainder of the costs. At the first team meeting, the team leaders will go over the rules for fundraising and some tips on how best to do that.
Final ministry projects and serving opportunities are determined by the partner church we will be serving while gone. Our partnering church does take into consideration our teams’ strengths and skills along with our ministry budget to make the final decision on how best to serve their church and community. Examples of ministry projects from past teams include VBS, kid’s camp, food distribution, local outreach, basic painting/construction, women’s & men’s bible study, and church member home visits.
Lodging accommodations vary for each destination based on what lodging accommodations are available in that community. Most teams sleep in a dorm-style bunk house or a hotel. Lodging accommodations are separated by gender. Occasionally, a married couple will be able to room together if the team numbers make sense for that to occur. Otherwise, lodging is separated by gender.
Our teams eat very well while traveling. Most church partners will have members of the church prepare homemade meals for our teams. We also get the opportunity to dine at local restaurants as well.
Dietary restrictions are accommodated as much as possible depending on the location of travel.
Our Global Missions staff is constantly updated on world travel alerts issued by the US State Department. If there were a change to the safety level of travel to a specific country, Grace Fellowship’s Global Missions Board and the Elders would make a decision on the team’s ability to travel to that location.
Our short-term missions teams typically meet monthly for the 5-6 months prior to travel. You are expected to attend each meeting. Team meetings are an opportunity for you to get to know your team leaders, team members, plan ministry, and prepare spiritually for your trip.
BrightStart Learning, Inc.’s mission is to provide disadvantaged students in developing countries with educational opportunities and assistance to help them reach their full potential as productive adults and leaders. BrightStart’s board of directors are devout Christians with firsthand mission experience in Cambodia. Their core values are to honor God in the lives of the people they serve, their staff and relationships with sponsors and partners; equipping and changing lives; and partnering with like-minded organizations. BrightStart provides educational opportunities and assistance to over 500 children and young adults in the province of Battambang, Cambodia and the capital city of Phnom Penh. Their vision is “Brighter futures start today,” recognizing it is never too late to point lives in the right direction. Through education, BrightStart strives to break the cycle of poverty in Cambodia by equipping people with hope, morality, and wisdom for a brighter future.
Design Outreach (DO), headquartered right here in Columbus, OH, engineers life-sustaining appropriate technology solutions to help alleviate global poverty. DO has been working to help solve the world’s water crisis in developing countries by inventing the LifePump, a new hand pump technology that is able to reach year-round aquifers, last years between maintenance, and be monitored with a satellite based remote sensor. The first permanent LifePump, installed in Malawi, has been providing safe water since 2013, and the community has been transformed. DO serves around the world in Haiti, Malawi, Zambia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mali, South Sudan, CAR, Zimbabwe and Guatemala. DO desires to serve the millions of people in our world today whose basic needs are not being met. Tools such as the LifePump aid our missionary partners in building trust with community members to share the Gospel. We love because Christ first loved us, and it is this love that motivates our work.
There are a variety of areas within Northern Central Africa where being a Christian is rough, and being a missionary is nearly impossible. Despite this dangerous reality, groups of Christians have been able to enter these communities, along with their families, and begin adapting and making disciples. They’ve worked hard to learn the language and culture, establish relief projects, and become co-laborers within the communities. Given these realities, please pray for these teams and groups, for their faith and endurance, and for the communities in which they’re serving and reaching.
International Friendships, Inc. (IFI) is a non-profit community organization that partners with Grace Fellowship and other churches to promote friendship and hospitality for international students, scholars, and their family members at The Ohio State University and other campuses. There are opportunities for you and your church group to pray for and get directly involved.
For more info visit columbus.ifipartners.org or email recruit@ifipartners.org.
Momentum Urban Centers have been training followers of Jesus in effective hands-on evangelism for over 20 years with locations in Philadelphia and Los Angeles! Momentum Ministry Partners offers unique life-on-life training sessions on how to start conversations, how to tell your story, and how to share your faith in simple and life giving ways. They also provide practical, easy-to-use evangelism tools that make engaging with others simple. Their field experiences make our time together practical and profitable by immediately putting the lessons learned through the training sessions into practice!
Hands-on Ministry Field Experiences
Here’s the wide variety of “in-the-field” ministry you will experience at Urban Centers:
Roots of Grace Cambodia is a registered Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Cambodia began in 2015 that “Introduces Jesus into broken situations with the hope of changing generations.” The vision of Roots of Grace is to have the children living on the streets of Cambodia and their families (if present) become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. The strategy is to help break the generational cycles of living on the streets through expanded opportunities for spiritual investment, education, hygiene, physical and emotional care, and vocational training.
What started out as a shared burden by two Americans and one Cambodian for those living on the streets continues to grow and flourish. In 2018, with a staff of two missionaries and five Cambodians, the ministry started sending 6 children from the streets to school. Currently, Roots of Grace has six missionaries and 42 Cambodian staff that regularly minister to more than 1200 the poorest of the poor in Battambang, Cambodia. In 2020, Roots of Grace begin the process of merging with BrightStart Learning, a 501(c)(3) charity in the U.S. that focused on education in Cambodia. Now, all of Roots of Grace Cambodia activities fall under that charity and are overseen by an accomplished Board of Directors. Those activities are primarily accomplished through 8 different programs.
Those programs include Bible Studies on the streets and providing education for young children. The Bible studies are weekly and take place in 9 different locations across the city having more than 200 people attending every week. There are now hundreds of people that had previously never heard the name of Jesus Christ that are now devoted followers of Him.
Monday through Saturday, the staff of Roots of Grace picks up the children from the streets (66 for school year 2023-2024), takes them to the ministry center, gives them an opportunity to shower, helps them change into a clean uniform for school, gives them breakfast and takes them to school. School in Cambodia is half a day/six days a week. When the school day is over, the staff picks the kids up from school, feeds them lunch, helps them with their homework, teaches them the Bible and worship songs, teaches them English and gives them time to play and be kids before returning them to the place they stay.
SEEDNet is a church planting movement planting churches in spiritually, emotionally, economically, and developmentally oppressed areas. Through the Gospel of Jesus, we give hope to Spiritually, Emotionally, Economically, and Developmentally oppressed people. This type of ministry can be scary and feels risky to some people who want to help, so SEEDNet builds the bridge between you and those who desperately need hope and your help. By helping us give them a church of their own, you are helping give discipleship opportunities, a place for vital needs to be met, and a hub for personal growth and development over a lifetime. By partnering with us to plant churches, you are having an impact on future generations for Christ.
Are you interested in joining a crisis response team, short-term mission trip, or local trip? Complete the form, and we’ll be in touch!
*Crisis response trips often have a quick turnaround due to the sudden need. A member of our team will be in touch as soon as opportunities come our way.
Are you interested in Global Missions? We recommend these two books:
