My daughter Bailey recently showed me how to make the charge on my iPhone last longer.  It’s an older model and has a hard time lasting until noon.  So she turned the brightness down a little, turned an energy saver on, and changed some settings and just as she promised it started lasting much longer between charges.  But even with all the modifications my phone still needs to be plugged into an outlet on a regular basis.  I mention this because the Christian life can be just like my iPhone.  We as believers become depleted over time.  We can cut back and tone down all we want, but at some time we must be recharged.

The most powerful tool I have seen for men in particular to be recharged is going on a short-term mission trip.  I’m not even sure how or why it works so well but one thing for sure, when men step out by faith and go to a foreign country to minister to others something powerful takes place—we could even say their spiritual life gets a supercharge.

My first supercharge took place 3 years ago.  My buddy Dan Lovell said there was to be no discussion about it—I had to go on a men’s trip with him and 19 other men to an orphanage in Honduras.  I was not excited about going at all but the experience was absolutely amazing.  I didn’t realize it at the time but my charge had been dropping for quite a while and I needed a supercharge.  I know of nothing to get men more fired up about their faith than to literally share Jesus with those in dire need.  Our trips have been like a men’s retreat and mission trip all balled up into one and the Lord has used it greatly.

There are a few things though that do not happen on these trips—we don’t do construction projects for instance as they don’t really stretch men.  If there is a need for a small project the men all pitch in and hire local workers to complete the project.  That way the local economy is helped and the team members are freed up to do more hands on ministry like evangelism.  Another thing that doesn’t happen is leaving all the work to the “professionals” while the other team members sit back and observe.  Instead each man gets a chance to get way out of his comfort zone by doing everything from sharing a testimony in the city dumps to preaching in front of whole villages.

So I’ll leave you with this—if your charge is currently running on fumes, the best option for you might just be a men’s short term mission trip with an outside group or your local church.  You will be stretched and challenged.  You will make an eternal impact.  You will bring glory to Jesus and bless others in the process.  And make no mistake about it, you will receive a supercharge like never before that is sure to last a long, long time!