Following Jesus wholeheartedly
to the ends of the earth
Engage in God’s mission by PRAYING, GIVING, and GOING for the sake of his name!
2024 Mission Trips
Spring Break
COLLEGE SPRING BREAK
Vero Beach, FL: March 2-8 // College Students // Cost: $150 (Outreach, Service, and Team Fellowship)
Boston: March 2-7 // College Students // Cost: $800 (Outreach and Evangelism/church planting)
Puerto Rico: March 2-9 // College Students // Cost: $1200 (Outreach and Evangelism)
OCONEE SPRING BREAK
Atlanta, Ga: April 4-6 // 10-12 grade // Cost: $150 (Missions D-ship, Cross cultural experience)
Immokalee: April 1-6 // All students // Cost: $300 (Evangelism training/sharing, Cross cultural experience)
Boston: March 30 - April 4 // All Students // Cost: $800 (Outreach, evangelism)
Puerto Rico: March 30 - April 5 // 9-12 grade // Cost: $1200 (Outreach, evangelism)
Summer Short-Term
SUMMER SHORT-TERM college only (LESS THAN 2 WEEKS)
Norway: May 28 - June 6 // College Students // Cost: $2500 (Equipping, Evangelism, Church Planting)
See multi-gen and mid-term opportunities below!
SUMMER SHORT-TERM multi-generational (LESS THAN 2 WEEKS)
Honduras: July 20-27 // 12 yr old minimum age (w parent), college up to Adults // Cost $1300 // HOI discipleship ministry, Outreach, Community Dev
Nicaragua Medical Mission: June 15 - 23 // College to Adults // Cost —->// Click here for more info about this medical mission
Guatemala: June 22-29 // 8th grade to Adults // Cost: $1700 // Outreach, Construction, ESL, Evangelism
Other possible summer opportunities: Boston, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Norway, Nepal (more details coming soon!)
Summer Mid-Term
SUMMER MID-TERM (6-12 WEEKS) // COLLEGE & YOUNG ADULT
Boston GenSEND: May 28 - July 22 // College Students // Cost: $1500 (Evangelism, Church Planting, Living on Mission)
Central Asia: June 1 - July 29 // College Students // Cost: $2500 (Evangelism, Church Planting, Living on Mission)
Nepal: June 13 - July 26th // College Students // Cost: $2100 (Equipping, Evangelism, Church Planting)
Cafe 1040 // Overseas missions Mentorship (Europe, North Africa, Central Asia). For more info visit cafe 1040 Opportunities
Norway: dates TBD 7-8 weeks // Cost: TBD // Summer internship in Norway with IMB team
*Trip Costs are subject to change up to 45 days before the trip due to inflation/airline costs
**Some locations have been generalized to protect our missionary partners
Watkinsville First loves sending people to the nations. If finances is the main reason that would keep you from applying to go,
please reach out to us first through our interest form below.
NEXT STEPS TO GO…
WHY SHOULD I GO?
Going short-term…
Is an active way to be a sending church, to care, and to serve our long-term partners on the field.
Is an intentional way to be open to the possibility that you may be called to go long-term.
Is the best way to gain perspective on the realities of the world and to grasp the glory of our global God.
Is a way to mobilize the church to live on mission wherever God calls.
will help you discover your role in the great commission.
HOW DO I GO?
STEP 1: INTEREST FORM: Fill out this form for more trip info (skip this step if you’re ready to apply).
STEP 2: APPLY: Narrow down where you would like to go and then fill out an application below (this is not a commitment to go).
STEP 3: MEET: Sit down with the missions pastor or a mission trip team leader.
STEP 4: APPROVAL: Get approved to go and sign the mission trip team covenant (Commitment to Go).
STEP 5: GO!: You will meet with your team to build community and to prepare to go!
Interested in long-term missions?
Email our Missions Pastor robbie@watkinsville.org
SENDING ORG PARTNERS
Watkinsville partners with missions organizations to send our people long term to the mission field. If you are exploring long term missions, take a moment and check out the organizations below.
MISSIONS STARTS WHERE WE LIVE.
We believe we are called as individuals and families to live "on mission" wherever we work, play, eat and live. We do this as a local church by being an intentional presence in the community and by partnering with other churches and established ministries.
HERE'S A LIST OF OUR PARTNERSHIPS
+LIFE AND HEALTH
Athens Pregnancy Center - Gospel-centered help and counseling for women in crisis pregnancy situations.
Bethel Haven - Christian center providing help, hope, and healing to distressed children, individuals, and families through professional therapeutic services.
Mercy Health Center - Providing physical, emotional, and spiritual care for our low-income, uninsured neighbors in the Athens area.
Hope 139 - Strengthening the community by empowering its most vulnerable members, at-risk mothers and their children, and providing them the tools that will help them succeed.
+EVANGELISM
The Great Exchange - Engaging people one-on-one with surveys about their spiritual background and their understanding of God, Jesus, and Christianity. Mainly on college campuses nationally and globally.
+FOOD AND SHELTER
A.C.T.S. Food Bank - Enabling churches to partner together, providing material and emotional support for people with needs in our community
Sparrow's Nest - Supporting the impoverished and homeless community of Athens in a number of ways.
Our Daily Bread - Making the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to all. The vision is to see people of all nations experience a personal relationship with Christ, growing to be more like Him, and serving in a local body of His family.
+FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION
Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) - Government system through which we can provide temporary homes, love, and care to children trapped in the foster system.
Baptist Children's Home - Ministry of services designed to promote the spiritual, physical and emotional well-being of children from hard places.
Chosen for Life Ministries - Educating and engaging the people of our local churches and communities on how to practically live obediently to God's command of visiting orphans in their affliction in our neighborhoods and around the world.
Lifeline Children Services - Equipping the Body of Christ to manifest the gospel to vulnerable children.
+INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
International Friends - Free English classes offered at Beech Haven Baptist Church, with opportunities to make friends and share truth with the international community that is living right here in Athens. Teachers, drivers, and nursery workers needed regularly. Email latheard@aol.com to learn more.
+EDUCATION AND MENTORING
Downtown Ministries - Building consistent relationships with youth and their families in inner-city Athens through programs that demonstrate Christ-centered hope and encouragement.
Downtown Academy - Providing children of inner-city Athens an excellent and rigorous, Christ-centered education that builds knowledge, character, and purpose.
+CHURCH PLANT PARTNERS
Calvary Bible Church - Planted in Fall 2012 in partnership with Watkinsville First Baptist; located strategically on South Milledge, right off the loop, in the middle of the international community of Athens.
Living Hope Church - Planted in Summer 2013 in partnership with Watkinsville First Baptist; located on Lexington Rd. in Athens, near the loop.
North Avenue Church- Planted in Spring 2016 in partnership with Watkinsville First Baptist; currently meeting at 720 Danielsville Rd. in Athens.
+MINISTRIES HELPING CHURCHES
Missionary Care Ministry - Partnering in reaching the lost for Jesus Christ throughout the world by providing a guesthouse for missionaries, aiding in their need for rest and refreshment so that they are physically, spiritually, and emotionally better able to minister to the needs of others.
Sarepta- Assisting churches in Clarke, Jackson, Madison, Oconee and Oglethorpe Counties in fulfilling the Great Commandment and the Great Commission, through strategic support for worship, fellowship, discipleship, evangelism, and ministry/missions.
Our church is heavily involved with foster care and adoption.
Here are ways you can be involved:
PRAY
for children to find families.
for healthy attachment in families.
for the future of the (un)adopted child (unadopted.org).
for the gospel to be spread through the means of orphan care.
ADVOCATE
for the orphan.
become a CASA (gacasa.org).
promote right legislation locally and globally.
encourage others to be involved in caring.
INVEST
your resources as a reflection of the gospel by helping Watkinsville families with the cost of adoption (watkinsville.org/lifesong).
ADOPT
a child - domestically or internationally.
FOSTER
by becoming a trained, licensed foster family, able to provide temporary care for children in our community (UH4C.org; dfcs.dhs.georgia.gov).
SUPPORT
foster and adoptive families in our church by helping provide for their spiritual, emotional and physical needs (chosenforlifeathens.com). If you are interested in joining a care team, check out this page.
GO
across the street and around the globe to reach and care for the least of these. We are involved with projects both locally and globally. Check back for updates on how you can get involved.
Here is a list of our partners:
+ ADOPTION
Children’s House International
All God’s Children International
Division of Family and Children Services
+ FOSTER CARE
Division of Family and Children Services
