Don & Patti NicholsMission Work & Ministry
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Packed ministry trunks headed for the mission field

By the numbers

Nobody else publishes a mission budget to the dime. Here it is, charted.

Where a donation goes, what twenty-five dollars buys, thirteen years of trips, the math of a monthly gift. Every chart reads from Don’s own budget and trip record. Every tool runs in your browser. Every one is free to share.

44%

of a supply drive is logistics

13

trips since 2013

$3,940

one trip's supply drive

Articles

Read it, play with it, share it

Charts derive from the same files the rest of the site reads. If Don changes what a Bible costs, every chart follows.

Packed ministry trunks headed for the mission fieldBy the numbers

Where Does a Mission Trip Donation Actually Go? Don's $3,940 Budget, Charted

Most ministries answer "where does my donation go" with a pie chart of percentages. This one answers with a receipt: every line of a $3,940 medical mission supply drive, charted, with nothing held back for overhead.

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Bibles from the Bible ministry in Malawi, bought in-country and given awayInteractive

What $25 Buys on a Medical Mission Trip (Build the Trunk Yourself)

Twenty-five dollars is 41 pairs of reading glasses, ten Bibles, or eight hygiene kits at Don Nichols' real prices. Pick a budget, tap what goes in the trunk, then make it real.

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A drilling rig at work on a donated water well in MalawiThe record

2013 to 2026: Thirteen Years of Mission Trips, in Charts

13 mission trips across 5 countries since 2013, the three years they could not go, and 509 photographs — Don Nichols' own timeline, charted.

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Don Nichols beside a man reading again with new glasses, Belize 2026Giving

The Math of Monthly Giving: What $25 a Month Does in a Year

Twelve months of $25 is 120 Bibles at Don Nichols' real price, or one missionary sponsored in 48 months. Drag the slider and see what your monthly gift becomes.

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The mission team gathered in front of the Belize Anchor Mission church, June 2026Fun

Quiz: How Much Do You Know About Medical Missions?

Ten questions, every answer a real number from Don Nichols' mission budget and trip record. Score yourself, share your result, and get the stories behind the answers.

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Hygiene kits packed and sealed on the table before a Dominican Republic mission tripPlanning

The 90-Day Mission Trip Checklist (Tick It Off, Print It)

From ninety days out to the week you get home: a mission trip planning checklist you can tick off in your browser and print, built around how the Nichols team actually packs, inventories and clears customs.

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Sunglasses priced and bagged for the mission fieldFundraising

Mission Trip Fundraising Ideas That Actually Work (With a Goal Calculator)

Seven ways churches and families raise money for a mission trip, a calculator that turns any of them into a number of jars, plates or shirts, and the real goal to aim at: $1,200 per missionary.

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Villagers waiting and registering at intake tables inside a village church used as the clinic, Belize 2026Why Belize

Belize by the Numbers: What Is Beyond the Beaches

A country of just over 400,000 people, hundreds of rural communities, limited healthcare, and a rich Christian heritage — the Belize Don Nichols describes, in numbers and photographs, and what a free clinic day looks like there.

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A taste

13 trips. 5 countries. Three years with none.

Don keeps the timeline himself, including the years the team could not go and why. The article puts the whole record in charts, with every photograph from those years.

See thirteen years in charts

Mission trips per year, 2013 to 2026

The three years with none are marked, exactly as Don records them

2013: 1 trip — July 2013: Malawi1132014: 1 trip — July 2014: Malawi1142015: 1 trip — July 2015: Malawi, Mozambique & Zambia1152016: 1 trip — July 2016: Malawi1162017: 2 trips — February 2017: Dominican Republic · May 2017: Malawi2172018: 1 trip — August 2018: Malawi1182019: 2 trips — June 2019: Malawi · October 2019: Malawi2192020: 0 trips — No mission trips due to COVID-19 international travel restrictions.202021: 1 trip — June 2021: Dominican Republic1212022: 1 trip — June 2022: Dominican Republic1222023: 1 trip — June 2023: Dominican Republic1232024: 0 trips — No mission trips due to Donald's open-heart surgery and recovery.242025: 0 trips — Continued recovery from surgery. No mission trips.252026: 1 trip — June 2026: Belize126○ no trips that year
Show as a table
ItemValueNote
20131July 2013: Malawi
20141July 2014: Malawi
20151July 2015: Malawi, Mozambique & Zambia
20161July 2016: Malawi
20172February 2017: Dominican Republic · May 2017: Malawi
20181August 2018: Malawi
20192June 2019: Malawi · October 2019: Malawi
2020—No mission trips due to COVID-19 international travel restrictions.
20211June 2021: Dominican Republic
20221June 2022: Dominican Republic
20231June 2023: Dominican Republic
2024—No mission trips due to Donald's open-heart surgery and recovery.
2025—Continued recovery from surgery. No mission trips.
20261June 2026: Belize
Source: Don Nichols' Mission Trip Timeline (content/history.ts)Share this number →

New numbers as they come

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Don publishes the real budget. Leave your name and number and you will get it as it changes, plus a text when the team lands and when they get home.

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Looking for the how-to guides, the calculators and the printables? They are on the Resources page.