Carry-on luggage is great… until you have to run through the airport. Having to sprint to your next flight while dragging a stubborn bag will make you want to leave it and buy all new clothes. What are you currently dragging behind you into this global mission?

Missions is not all about training for what is before you, it also requires us to become untangled from the things behind you. Some people become so focused on the ministry God has in front of them, they assume that their past doesn’t matter. As if exporting your life to a new culture somehow disconnects it from past choices, habits, and pain. If anything, the opposite is true! The stress of a new culture and mission work, paired with the attack of spiritual enemies, will only magnify and exploit small cracks in our life that may have been manageable in our home culture.

We see in Scripture that not everything that hinders you is the result of your sin. The author of Hebrews warns us, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith..." (Hebrews 12:1–2) Sometimes trauma, hurtful relationships, singleness, family cycles, or our own natural physical limitations can all be factors to consider. The question we must be honest enough to ask is: What will enable me to be most effective and durable on the mission field?

Have you spent time in self-examination, or with the help of others, asking some tough questions about things from your past that might hinder you? Solomon exhorts us, “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.” (Song of Solomon 2:15) Foxes are often hidden from plain sight, hard to chase down, and ruin our lives little by little unless we drive them out.

Have you evaluated your financial freedom? Your freedom from sin and addictions? Freedom from bitterness or other heart issues? Paul challenges us, "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." (Galatians 5:1) Are your relationships healthy as far as it depends on you? Paul reminds the church in Corinth, “Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” (2 Corinthians 13:11)

The following tools are trusted resources The Traveling Team has curated. Over the years, many faithful believers in Goer and Sender roles have found God’s help and grace to become unhindered for service to God by these unique ministries.