Remember the article about short-term trips in the Autumn 2025 edition of Together magazine? Jo Borlase recently returned from the Philippines with a team from Hope Community Church (Nelson). Read about their trip here.

The team consisted of Jo, another woman in her 60’s, and four young people, ranging in age from 16 to 19 years. Before they left for the Philippines, they embarked on several preparation sessions.

“Our sessions covered all our rules and guidelines, and we had a weekend together that included some team building and cultural activities,” recalls Jo, “I made a big deal of the rules, and we had no problems with this while we were away together.”

Each of the team members also had to give Jo the names of three or four people who would commit to praying for them daily. Additionally, they also had some research to do.

“Each team member was given one cultural aspect of the Philippines to study (like food, history, geography or religion), and they had to come back and present it to the rest of the group.”

Communication has been key within the team itself, as well as with the wider church network. A WhatsApp group was set up, which included the team, as well as parents of younger members. This has continued to be utilised after the trip – for meetings back home and messages from the Filipino workers they had met. Another WhatsApp group was set up for the wider church, including mentors and pray-ers. Daily photos and updates were posted here.

In the Philippines

The team was actively involved in a daily children’s programme.

“We visited five communities that all run a mix of feeding programmes, sponsorship, and livelihood courses; anything to connect with the people there. Our team assisted in the running of daily children’s programmes in conjunction with the schooling system. We prepared games, songs, a Bible story and activity each day – this was kept as simple as possible.”

They also had the opportunity to see other community initiatives.

“We visited the ladies who make wallets from coffee sachets. After they hand in their finished wallets to my colleagues, these ladies are able to take part in a bible study, something they would not be able to do at home,” says Jo.

Sundays were a highlight as well.

“The team also took part in church services over two Sundays and had the opportunity to share testimonies and favourite Bible verses.”

Back in New Zealand

On her own reflection, Jo has taken away something she has learnt for herself.

“I had quite a lot to do while we were away. I was helping my friend to plan the menu and we also did all of the shopping, I drove our vehicle and made sure the team was prepared each day.  I’ve realised this was too much for me. It would have been good to have someone overseeing the spiritual needs of the team members, someone whose intentional role was to disciple the group while we were away.”

Now that the team has returned, they are continuing to meet with their mentors regularly – something they were doing before the trip.

“I have given the mentors some debriefing materials they can use, which will be helpful. It works really well with the mentors because they already know the team member well. They are already comfortable and open with their mentor, which is of huge benefit,” says Jo.

Jo has seen an increasing and active engagement from their church around this short-term trip.

“Our whole church has been so engaged, including the fundraising. Thanks to the church, we were able to leave a significant financial gift for each of the workers. It was so important to be able to give this – to let them know that we see their work and are so blessed and encouraged by it.”

There has been a great benefit from taking the team to the Philippines – a real sense of connection between them and the Filipino workers they met.

“One of the biggest highlights for the team was seeing the passion and commitment of the workers there. It was wonderful for the team to meet them, get to know them and then pray for each other,” reflects Jo.

There is already evidence of how impactful the trip was. Some of them are already thinking about the next steps in supporting those they interacted with overseas.

“One of my team members has suggested we start up a regular prayer meeting to pray for the Filipino workers.”

Jo has no hesitation in taking them back again.

“The team were amazing, and I would be happy to take them back anytime.”

Have you considered participating in a short-term trip? Talk to one of the SIM NZ team today to help you get there.