Homeward gatherings

Homeward brings missionaries, donors and their families together in person. The Gatherings page on the main site lists the three gathering series: Missions Week, Youth Camp and Vision Trips. Each series is different — in who it is for, in what Homeward covers, and in how you get in — so this page is a map rather than a deep dive. Each gathering has its own article, linked below.

The three gatherings

Missions Week is a week set aside to honor, refresh and connect missionaries and evangelists serving among the poor and unreached. It is held aboard a cruise ship, and participation is by invitation only and complimentary for invited ministers and their families — Homeward covers core expenses, including gratuities. Invited families handle their own travel to the port. Read Missions Week.

Youth Camp is a three-week summer experience in New York for teenagers aged 13–18 from missionary families. It runs on a university campus near New York City, and it is free for qualified families — Homeward covers housing, meals, activities and round-trip airfare. Read Youth Camp.

Vision Trips are short visits that let missionaries and donors see the work in person. They are still under development and expected in 2028 or beyond, so there is nothing to apply for yet.

How you get in

There is no self-service sign-up. Each gathering decides who attends in its own way:

Missions Week works by invitation. Invitations are extended through a Request for Invitation reviewed by the Guest Relations team. Guests are chosen for humility, endurance and devotion — not for platform metrics, budget or head count.
Youth Camp works by application. The Guest Relations team reviews applications, and processing takes a few weeks, so apply early.
Vision Trips are not yet accepting participants.

The invitation form and the application form are currently the same form — Homeward is one organization running both programs, so Guest Relations routes each submission to the right gathering. See Applying and requesting an invitation.

Published event pages

When a specific gathering is confirmed, Homeward publishes a page for it under the Calendar — for example the Missions Week 2026 event page. A published event page carries:

the event cover, title, tagline, dates and venue;
Overview — “About this event”, a “What’s included” checklist, “From the field” reflections and past years;
Program — a per-day schedule of sessions, once published;
Speakers — name, role and photo for each announced speaker;
Gallery — photos from the event;
Reflections — quotes gathered from guests.

If you are registered for that event, a Your private guide button appears in the page’s tab bar. The guide is a separate, private page — see Your attendee guide.

What stays private

Public event pages are for visitors. They never contain attendee rosters, application lists, evaluations or ratings, and they never contain logistical arrangements such as room assignments. Everything personal about your attendance lives in your private guide, which only a registered or attending profile can open.