Best Short Term Mission Trips 2027: 15 Ways to Serve
Updated: September 2026
D.J. Morgan
Creative & Marketing Director, Experience Mission
D.J. Morgan serves as Experience Mission's Creative & Marketing Director, helping connect volunteers to opportunities to serve and grow together on mission trips.
What are Experience Mission's best mission trip opportunities right now?
Experience Mission Summer 2027 trips run weekly from late May through mid-August, and several international communities host teams into September. Several communities are also offering mission trips during Spring 2027. EM mission trips take place in international, urban, rural, and border communities in the U.S., Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa. Each trip connects your team with local partner churches, ministries and nonprofits, coming alongside a community, helping with needs they have already identified as priorities in this season. Trips are open to youth groups, college groups, families, and mixed-age adult teams.
Meaningful mission trips, ones with lasting impact on both the people who go and the communities hosting them, take real planning: building local relationships, sorting through travel logistics, and identifying the right ministry fit. That is why it is never too early to start planning your next trip!
Don't miss: How to Plan a Mission Trip
How do you choose the right mission trip for your group?
There are several factors that go into choosing a location for your trip. Consider the following as you narrow down the best fit for your group:
- Age group: All EM trips are open to high school students and older, and some are also a good fit for middle schoolers, so check the age range on each community page to help you decide
- Type of community: EM offers domestic U.S. mission trips to urban and rural communities as well as international trips, including disaster relief locations at home and abroad, and each offers a different servicel and learning experience
- Travel distance: EM serves coast to coast, so there is a good chance a trip falls within driving distance of your group (or a short flight away)
- Skills: Some teams are better suited to construction-heavy trips, while others may prefer trips centered on relational and children's ministry, so weigh your team's strengths as you choose
Once you have weighed these factors, here are all of EM's 2027 mission trip opportunities for youth and adult groups.
Rural & Small Town Mission Trips
Savannah, Georgia
Join EM in Savannah, Georgia in Summer 2027. Your team will partner with the Savannah Salvation Army and the City of Savannah's Minor Home Repair Program, led by longtime city partner Troy Gray, to paint and repair homes for residents navigating Savannah's housing affordability crisis.
Summer 2027 dates: Weekly trips, Sunday to Friday, May 30 - August 13, 2027.
Pike County, Kentucky
Join us in the Appalachian hills of Pikeville, Kentucky for a unique ministry experience. Your team will partner with Pikeville Presbyterian Church, led by Pastor Scot Robinson, and local chaplain Rob Musick, who works to unite area churches and ministries. From home repairs to nursing home visits and meal ministries, your team will bring renewed energy to programs that support locals year-round.
Summer 2027 dates: Weekly trips, Sunday to Friday, May 30 - August 13, 2027.
Navajo Nation in Arizona
When you serve with the Diné (Navajo) people in Arizona, you will partner with Pastor JR Wilson Jr. and his congregation at Tse ee gai (House of Joy) Church on Black Mesa, a partnership EM has maintained since 2009. From home and church repairs to a small Kids Club, and possibly a tent revival if timing allows, you will experience a way of life unlike anything else. Trips to the Navajo Nation offer a cross-cultural experience that doesn't require a passport.
Summer 2027 dates: Weekly trips, Sunday to Friday, May 30 - August 13, 2027. Spring Break weeks are also open for teams of 20 or more.
Muskegon, Michigan
Come see where God is at work in western Michigan. While foster care is needed everywhere, your team will partner with Kids Belong to provide much-needed support and respite for foster families navigating the daily work of caring for kids who deserve every bit of love the world can offer.
Summer 2027 dates: COMING SOON
Rincon, Puerto Rico
In Puerto Rico, your team will partner with The Family Church, led by Pastor Jose Garcia, continuing local outreach and the long-term recovery work that began after Hurricane Maria. Your team will repair homes for elderly residents, work in sustainable gardens aimed at reducing the island's reliance on imported food, and prepare and deliver meals to those in need.
Summer 2027 dates: Weekly trips, Saturday to Friday, May 15 - May 28 and July 3 - August 20, 2027. Spring and Fall weeks also available.
Border Mission Trips
South Texas
Put your preconceived notions about immigration or border walls aside and see the real faces of people impacted by these realities daily. Your team will partner with Border Perspective, a nonprofit ministry founded by former EM staff, to connect with immigrant families from Mexico and Central America in Las Milpas, just five miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. You will provide food, clothes, and hygiene kits while learning about Mexican culture, what drives people to seek asylum, and day-to-day life along our southern border.
Summer 2027 dates: COMING SOON
Urban Mission Trips
New York City
Feel like a local in the biggest city in the U.S. as you immerse in a bustling urban environment, just a short subway ride from Times Square. Your team will partner with The Salvation Army out of the Manhattan Citadel and New York Temple locations, walking the city blocks and riding public transportation to serve ministries throughout Harlem, Brooklyn, and the Bronx.
Summer 2027 dates: June 6-11, June 13-18, and June 20-25, 2027 (Sunday to Friday).
Portland, ME
Experience the vibrant city of Portland, Maine. Your team will serve alongside Preble Street, which provides warm meals 365 days a year along with shelter, food pantry access, and supported housing, and The Root Cellar, which supports Portland's growing refugee population with food, clothing, job support, and youth programming.
Summer 2027 dates: Weekly trips, Sunday to Friday, June 20 - August 6, 2027.
Chicago, IL
In Chicago, your team partners with Sunshine Gospel Ministries' Bridge Builders program on the South Side, blending hands-on service with real conversations about race, poverty, and reconciliation. Locally led from start to finish, this trip challenges students to listen first and serve alongside a community with deep history and resilience.
Summer 2027 dates: May 30 - June 4, June 13-18, June 20-25, and June 27 - July 2, 2027 (Sunday to Friday). Call for July availability.
International Mission Trips
Jamaica Hurricane Relief
EM's longtime ministry partners at Christian Fellowship Church in Catadupa, Jamaica experienced the devastation of Hurricane Melissa in October, with nearly every home and building in their community damaged and in need of repair. Bring your team to serve the people of Jamaica on a relief mission trip to help with the long, slow rebuilding and recovery process.
Summer 2027 dates: Weekly trips, Saturday to Friday, May 29 - August 20, 2027. Trips also run year-round.
Belize
Join us in Belize, where your team will work alongside Pastor Nelzon Guillen and the Family of God Church network. During your 7-day trip, your team will meet tangible needs through home repair and construction projects while also partnering with local churches to host Kids Club programs. This trip is a great fit for a first international mission trip, since English is widely spoken throughout the country.
Summer 2027 dates: Weekly 7-day trips, Saturday to Friday, May 22 - August 13, 2027. Spring and Fall weeks also available.
Cuba
Because of strict U.S. government regulations related to this island country, many people do not know that mission trips are allowed to take place in Cuba. For several years, EM has partnered with local faith leaders to bring mission teams to strengthen and encourage growing churches. Due to the sensitive nature of ministry in Cuba, EM does not publicly name its local church partners there, but teams consistently describe them as some of the most dedicated people they have served alongside.
Summer 2027 dates: Weekly trips, Saturday to Friday, May 29 - September 24, 2027. Trips also run year-round.
Costa Rica
Costa Rica mission trips connect your team with Victor and Sarah Mayorga, who coordinate trip logistics for dozens of visiting teams each year and regularly host IMMERSION participants in their own home. Your team will practice Spanish, connect with local children through Kids Club, and work alongside the Bribri people, who care deeply for their natural environment and provide for their families through agriculture despite living in one of the poorest communities in Costa Rica.
Summer 2027: Custom dates available.
South Africa / Namibia
EM mission trips in southern Africa partner your team with Kairos in Pretoria, South Africa, and Shofar Christian Church in Swakopmund, Namibia. These are not typical Africa mission trips: you will do more than offer short-term solutions, joining these local organizations in providing the sustained support needed to keep working toward a brighter future. While serving, you will learn about South African and Namibian culture and history directly from the people living it.
Summer 2027 dates: 12-day trips to Pretoria, South Africa, or Swakopmund, Namibia, with start dates on May 29, June 12, June 26, July 10, July 24, August 7, and August 21, 2027. Call for custom start dates.
Ready to plan your trip?
No matter where you feel called to serve next year, we hope you will do so with a humble heart and a readiness to be challenged and changed alongside a local community. Check out all of EM's 2027 mission trip communities to find the right fit for your group, or fill out an interest form to get started.
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