Join Faith and Money Network on a Trip of Perspective — an eye-opening, soul-changing experience where relationships are born and nurtured.
The gospel calls us to love our neighbor, and we know that means all of God’s children, but it’s difficult to think about people, much less love them, when we know nothing of their lives, their hearts, or their history.
On a Trip of Perspective, participants spend their days with people who may not have material wealth but who are spiritually rich. Knowing someone, caring about someone, seeing someone as they are changes the way we see anything that affects them, from the weather to international policy. On a Trip of Perspective, you will see through new eyes as we make cross-cultural connections between faith and money.
How are our trips different?
A Faith and Money Network Trip of Perspective is different from most faith-based group trips. It’s not a guided group tour, though we do experience the beauty and richness of the local area. It’s not a mission trip; we’re not there to “help” someone. (There is nothing wrong with helping, of course, but that’s not the purpose of our trips.)
Our trips are a chance to step away from daily routines, to spend time forming personal relationships with people in a community in the U.S. or another country — people who don’t have societal power and privilege, but have spiritual riches and richness of solidarity. We get a new perspective on the reality that we are all connected and part of the same human family. We form relationships that bridge extreme gaps and discover what piece each of us is called to carry to help heal those gaps.
What have participants said about their experiences?
Trip of Perspective: Our Appalachia, Electric Power, and My Personal Power
Jim Marsh | October 2015
“We broke bread with our Appalachian brothers and sisters, who fed us like cherished relatives from out of town. We bore witness to their struggle and pain, and they, in turn, shared their palpable sense of relief because of it.”
Seeing Through New Eyes: Trips of Perspective
July 2020
In Episode 10 of the Faith and Money podcast, you’ll hear from Kim Montroll and Djaloki Dessables, who share fascinating and touching stories from leading Trips of Perspective to Haiti.
Photo Album: 2022 Trip of Perspective to Central Appalachia
In October 2022, Faith and Money Network relaunched our Trips of Perspective with a visit to Wise County, VA, to learn about the devastating effects of mountaintop removal and how local leaders are organizing for racial, environmental and economic justice.
A community organizing hub advocates for health, healing and humanity in southern Appalachia
Susan Taylor | November 2022
“I had factored in human greed and destruction, but I had not factored in the human goodness and systemic creativity that we met throughout the trip. I had not anticipated hope.”
Local culture comes alive on a Trip of Perspective to the Mountain Empire
Christy Smith | November 2022
“The members of SAMS we met were welcoming and dynamic — and also very patient in disabusing us of some ideas we may have had about the challenges of living and working in coal country.”
Upcoming Trips of Perspective
Deep South Investors Tour: June 5-10, 2023
This trip to Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi will be focused on building relationships and making the connection between our country’s legacy of racial inequity and the ways that anti-Blackness persists today in major systems from home ownership to education to banking. Participants will play a role supporting the mission of Hope Credit Union.
Central Appalachia: Fall 2023
More information coming soon.
To learn more about our upcoming trips, please contact Mike Little at 240-606-2282 or [email protected].