Minneapolis Cross-Cultural Experience June '25

NOTE: Recommended travel days included above, Saturday-Saturday. First official session is 8:00am Monday June 9th. Last session ends 10:00am Saturday June 14th. Saturday evening group activity/Sunday worship and fellowship with the Minneapolis church is built into the schedule for those arriving and departing Sat-Sat.

One of HarvestCall's focus areas is “Our Journey of Learning”.
Many of us have taken short-term service trips to other countries intending to serve there, and we come back saying, “I gained more than I gave.” We may say it tongue-in-cheek, but honestly, that’s usually a true statement. We should be approaching our short-term international service trips with a humble posture of learning (receiving from the foreign culture) and only secondarily with the intention to give.

And really, if we’re being honest, many of us sign up for these short-term international trips looking for not only an opportunity to serve (actually, crossing the street could give us that), but also fellowship with other brethren, a bit of adventure, and some global perspective.

Short-term service trips provide these things for our benefit, but our benefit often comes at the local community’s cost. “Missionary tourism” is a huge global industry and causes a lot of damage as participants “serve” local communities through their own cultural lenses—not speaking the local language or having enough experience in the culture to carry out their “service” in culturally sensitive ways.

So, we have partnered with our Minneapolis church to develop a different kind of short-term “international” trip—one that provides you with the fellowship, adventure, and global perspective you’re desiring—and so much more! We’re now offering the opportunity for our brethren to learn about other cultures generally by immersing in primarily one specific refugee community in Minneapolis. (Details will be given to those who express interest.)

The cultural immersion week includes:

• Basic language lessons using an immersive teaching method
• Focused learning sessions about culture (both general and specific), how we as ACs can learn and serve well, and how to authentically integrate our faith and our service with other cultures
• Field trips to ethnic communities, stores, bazaars and restaurants
• A homestay with a family of the specific refugee community (*if interested, *if available)
• A cross-cultural workshop with members of the specific refugee community
• A visit to the refugee community’s place of worship
• An informal party or picnic with the refugee community and the local church
• Fellowship opportunities throughout the week with the team and the local church
• Reflection time to apply your learning within your local community

HarvestCall is leveraging the experiences of someone that has lived abroad within the refugee culture and several others that are developing relationships within the refugee community. They will be your “tour guides” and teacher, preparing and debriefing you as you experience this beautiful culture, stay in their homes, learn their language, explore their religion, and eat their amazing foods. Your only “service requirement” is to show respect and honor to this community who has suffered much by showing genuine interest in them, by treating them as peers, and by giving them a welcome here in their new country.

HarvestCall purpose, vision, mission and guiding principles

HarvestCall guidelines for mission teams