How much does a medical mission trip cost per person?

For this mission, $1,200 per missionary — $800 for airfare and $400 for lodging. That covers getting one person to the field and keeping them there for the week. It does not include the supplies they carry, which are funded separately.

How much does it cost to give someone a Bible on a mission trip?

$2.50 for a Bible in Belize. In Malawi in 2014 the same Bible cost $10. Price depends entirely on the country and the language it has to be printed in.

What do reading glasses cost for a mission clinic?

About $0.60 a pair, bought in bulk. It is the cheapest thing on the entire budget and often the one that changes a person's day the most — it lets someone read, sew, or keep working.

What does it cost to fly supplies to the mission field?

$25 for a ministry trunk and $200 to fly each one as checked baggage, plus roughly $25 per person for customs and contingency. Getting the supplies there costs considerably more than most of the supplies themselves.

Do patients pay anything for a mission medical clinic?

Not on this mission. Every consultation, medication, pair of glasses, hygiene kit and Bible is given free of charge. In Don's words: “All of this will be GIVEN FREE OF CHARGE.”

What is the total budget for one trip?

$3,940 for the supply drive — roughly $2,215 in supplies and $1,725 in logistics — on top of the per-missionary cost of getting the team there.

The real numbers

What a medical mission trip actually costs

Most organisations answer this with a range. We’ll answer it with a receipt. Below is every line of the budget for a Nichols medical mission to Belize — what each item costs, how many are needed, and what the whole thing adds up to.

These are the prices Don pays, published because donors asked. They are not averages and not estimates.

The short answer

$1,200

to send one missionary

$800 airfare + $400 lodging

$3,940

for the whole supply drive

≈$2,215 supplies + $1,725 logistics

$0.60

for a pair of reading glasses

the cheapest line on the sheet

Everything below that is given away completely free of charge to the person receiving it. No patient on a Nichols clinic day pays for a consultation, a medication, a pair of glasses or a Bible.

What the supplies cost

Every item the team hands to somebody, at the price actually paid.

Itemised supply costs for one Belize medical mission
Item	Each	Needed	Line total
A Bible	$2.50	250	$625
A Hygiene Kit	$3	300	$900
Reading Glasses	$0.60	300	$180
Sunglasses	$1	150	$150
Gospel Tracts (bundle)	$60	1	$60
Pastor & Wife Gift Set	$100	3	$300

And what it costs to get it there

This is the part almost nobody publishes. Moving the supplies costs more than a good deal of the supplies.

Logistics costs
A Ministry Trunk	$25	× 8	$200
Fly a Trunk to Belize	$200	× 6	$1,200
Customs & Contingency Share	$25	× 13	$325

Total supply drive: $3,940

Plus $1,200 for each team member who goes. Team members raise their own support; the supply drive is separate and funds what gets handed out.

Why the numbers are this small

There is no organisation taking a cut. Don and Patti are not paid a salary from any of this, and no percentage is held back for overhead. When somebody sponsors a Bible for $2.50, $2.50 of Bible arrives in Belize.

The prices are low because things are bought in bulk, in-country where possible, and because the team carries them in personally rather than shipping. That is also why the baggage line is so large — flying eight trunks is a real cost that a lot of published budgets quietly leave out.

The same Bible that costs $2.50 in Belize cost $10 in Malawi in 2014. Country and language change the price more than anything else.

See where the money has actually gone

Questions people ask

How much does a medical mission trip cost per person?: For this mission, $1,200 per missionary — $800 for airfare and $400 for lodging. That covers getting one person to the field and keeping them there for the week. It does not include the supplies they carry, which are funded separately.
How much does it cost to give someone a Bible on a mission trip?: $2.50 for a Bible in Belize. In Malawi in 2014 the same Bible cost $10. Price depends entirely on the country and the language it has to be printed in.
What do reading glasses cost for a mission clinic?: About $0.60 a pair, bought in bulk. It is the cheapest thing on the entire budget and often the one that changes a person's day the most — it lets someone read, sew, or keep working.
What does it cost to fly supplies to the mission field?: $25 for a ministry trunk and $200 to fly each one as checked baggage, plus roughly $25 per person for customs and contingency. Getting the supplies there costs considerably more than most of the supplies themselves.
Do patients pay anything for a mission medical clinic?: Not on this mission. Every consultation, medication, pair of glasses, hygiene kit and Bible is given free of charge. In Don's words: “All of this will be GIVEN FREE OF CHARGE.”
What is the total budget for one trip?: $3,940 for the supply drive — roughly $2,215 in supplies and $1,725 in logistics — on top of the per-missionary cost of getting the team there.

Now that you know the price

Every line above is a thing somebody can buy. Pick one and it gets carried to Belize and handed to a person, free.

Sponsor a line on the budget Read what happens out there

Planning a trip of your own?

Leave your email and Don will send you the real numbers as they change, plus what he has learned in thirteen years of packing trunks. He answers questions from other teams.