Student Missions

Mission Academy is First Methodist’s training ground for student mission. It is many students first overnight mission experience and the place where they learn what it means to GO out into the world for Jesus.

During Mission Academy, we want each student to ask:

• Do I make a difference when I serve?
• What are the gifts and talents that God has given me to further the Kingdom of God?
• Where do I fit into God’s plan for this city and this world?

The method is simple. We find a place where God is at work and we join him there… in worship, in service, and in community. That is the very heartbeat of what it means to follow Jesus and is our purpose on Mission Tour.

The third largest city in the United States, Chicago is an international hub for finance, industry, telecommunications, and infrastructure. The city is truly multicultural, with 77 distinct community areas subdivided into over 200 neighborhoods surrounded by an ever growing area that is emerging as the Great Lakes Megalopolis, one of ten such "mega-regions" of the U.S. where half of the projected growth over the next four decades is expected to occur.

Chicago is a true melting pot of cultures with opportunities for partnership in a variety of different neighborhoods. This year we will again be working with Praying Pelican Mission in Chicago. PPM's roots in the city go deep, with many host churches having partnered with us for years. They are eager to work with our mission team for a variety of ministries and welcome our creativity and passions to bolster ongoing work in their neighborhoods!

Field Focus is our highest-level missional discipleship program for upperclassmen. Each student is required to apply to be considered for the trip, as well as to attend weekly training meetings on Wednesday nights starting in March. As part of the missional discipleship program, students are also required to attend Mission Tour unless a special exception is granted.

Junior High Mission is designed to take our mission experiences to the next level outside of Tulsa. It is designed to show Junior High students that they can be the hands and feet of Jesus and be used mightily by God wherever they go. This is an amazing opportunity your Junior High students will not want to miss!

Nicknamed the "Bayou City", "Space City", "H-Town", and "the 713", Houston has become a global city, with strengths in culture, medicine, and research. The city has a population of over 2 million from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and a large and growing international community. Houston is the most diverse metropolitan area. in Texas and has been described as the most racially and ethnically diverse major city in the U.S. 

Our goal is to work with organizations that are helping those who feel they are forgotten or in such a foreign environment that they don't know how to survive. There are places on the outskirts of Houston where people don't even have a local grocery store to go buy what they need to eat without traveling miles into the metropolitan area. Immigrant populations, who often don't know how to cook using local food that is foreign to them, are especially impacted by this. There are many other challenges and circumstances that have hindered people from thriving that we as the body of Christ have an opportunity to help with. We are excited to join God in what He is doing already in Houston, TX in these areas of need and to see what God has for us to further our walk with Him.