Why is Journey True North Ministries Leading Therapeutic Mission Trips?

        As the Executive Director of this Christ-centered therapeutic ministry, I am continually seeking ways to help those we serve experience what I came to know as The Beautiful Movement. My doctoral dissertation included researching the spiritual growth experiences of those serving others at a Christ-centered communal ministry while themselves struggling with life-controlling behaviors and attitudes. The ministry emphasized spiritual formation as a beautiful movement from self to other, a movement rooted in a conversion of the self to God. For three years, I was immersed in the impact God was having in their lives as they built meaningful and supportive relationships through worship, work, and learning how to keep Christ at the center of their lives while living in a world typically oriented around the self. It is my sincere belief that if we are immersed in an environment where submission to God and His love is prioritized, God provides true healing as we learn to move from being oriented around the self to being aware of and acting for the good of others. I believe our short-term mission trips provide this opportunity.

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What is a Therapeutic Mission Trip?

        The essence of a therapeutic short-term mission trip is the opportunity for complete surrender to God’s grace in one’s own life and to be saturated in His grace for others. A therapeutic mission trip facilitates the opportunity to experience spiritual formation as a continual grace-based movement rather than an internal search for spiritual health. Through this continual movement, we are shaped into the likeness of Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit.  Although this is a therapeutic mission trip, the therapeutic component is a byproduct of the goal of Kingdom service. Often, the world pitches the solution that if you are struggling, you just need to feel better about yourself. True healing is when we come into a place of security in Christ. Our mission is to prepare you for a lifelong transformational journey as you understand that brokenness no longer dictates your life as you experience wholeness in Christ.

This trip weaves together five unique research-based elements to form one beautiful movement.