Mission trips provide an opportunity for people to help their fellow man and learn about their world. Such trips also create a sense fellowship among the travelers. Icebreaker games help to begin developing this fellowship before the mission trip begins.

First, create the parcels.Collect several objects.Then wrap each object in several layers of paper. You will also need a radio or CD player for this game. To play, divide the group into smaller groups seated in a circle. Give each group a wrapped item. When you are ready to play, turn on the music. Stop the music occasionally. The person holding the wrapped object when the music stops will unwrap one layer of paper. The last person who unwraps the final layer wins the game.

To begin playing proverbs, ask one person to step out of the room while the rest of the group chooses a proverb. After the proverb is chosen, invite the person waiting outside back into the room. This person will then have to guess the proverb the group chose. The guesser will ask each person in the room a question to get clues about which proverb was chosen. To help the process along, the first person who answers a question must include the first word of the proverb in their answer. The second person's answer will contain the second word of the proverb and so on until the proverb has been guessed.

First give each player five coins. Then ask the players to mingle and pair up with another person. The two people will begin a conversation. The object of the game is to get the person you are speaking with to answer questions with "yes" or "no." The player who elicits a "yes"or "no" response gives one of her coins to the other player. Every few minutes ask the players to switch partners. The person who wins the game is the person who has no coins at the end.

For this game arrange the players in a circle. If the group is large, split the players into smaller groups. Choose one person to be the leader of the group. The leader will engage the person beside her in an action. For example, the leader may shake the person's hand or pat him on the head. The leader may choose any gesture or touch that the other members of the circle can copy. The object of the game is to keep a straight face. Anyone who smiles or laughs is out of the game and should leave the circle.