Responses: What about Missions Trips?
nate richardson said...
just a few
comments. thanks umfundisi for
posting this paper. it adresses
what i and many others have thought for quite some
time. while i was at iwu i took place in a mission
trip. at the time i felt it
was God leading me to wanting to do this, so i like
many other christians went a long. did
i want to help, yes. did i in the long run help the nationals and the missionary
achieve their goal. i am not
sure but this i did learn walking away from the
experience.
1. knowledge- knowing how others live. where others
worship. how the children play. i went thinking i could
help but i became more aware of what was going on in
this particular country.
2. compassion- instead of seeing people on tv, i could experience for
myself why God has a heart for everybody.
3. teamwork- working together to achieve a common goal. we
built a couple of churches. granted churches in
i could go on about some of
the other things i learned but i
want to address a couple of ideas in your paper.
comment 1 "Nationals in two third-world countries
are also saying that it is time to quit treating volunteer short-term
missionaries as spoiled children, and get them out of fancy hotels and into
tents and dirt-floored chapels in the countryside and urban barrios. Some
short-term mission team leaders will argue that the reason they house short-termers in hotels is because they know they can’t push
their team members that far out of their comfort zones."
--i say this with being careful because i respect the missionaries so much. but
if missionaries say this about short termers. i have to refute. one of the missionaries i have
stayed with lived in a beach house. while his maid
lived in a shack in the front yard. the people that he
was witnessing to however lived in shanties. now i am sure that all missionaries are not like this but in
the 3 mission trips i have been on. there house was in a suburb or looked like in could be in
the suburb. maybe it is the missionaries that need to
get a little out of their comfort zone.
comment 2“Your American students must be very rich. I
estimate it must have cost each one of them $10,000
As I sat there a heavy burden weighed upon my heart. Though Moyo
had not asked the question, I knew what he was thinking, “Wouldn’t it have been
better to send money to help national Christians instead of using the funds to
finance our own short-term mission trip?” For eleven team members to go to
-- since i have been back
from the short term mission trips i have started to
give more to missions in general. the experience let
me understand on a small scale a little more about missionaries and the work
that they do. so therefore i am more willing to give
because i have a relationship with the missionary and
if i give money for a church to be built i now understand what that church will look like.
i appreciate the paper very
much and everything you say i do agree with. thank you.
The AJ Thomas said...
I'm sort of suprised
that such idiots are going on short term trips. I have always assumed that the
purpose is to serve the national church and not the other way round. The only
part of this paper that seems like a bit of an overstaement
is that it's somehow wrong to see short term missions as a part of your own
discipleship. I'm not sure you can honestly say that putting yourself in
situations that will grow you as a disciple is a horrible selfish thing to do.
waitman ten eyck said...
A few comments to start...
1. thanks for posting this paper! You've
taken on a topic that I, at least, have taken for granted. "Who wouldn't
think short-term missions is great?" Now I see why I need to think this
through a bit more.
2. I'm in a position where I receive a number of requests for short-term
missions support. To this point, as long as it was a blatant vacation, I'd send
financial support. Obviously, I'm going to take a much harder look at it now.
3. Perhaps I misunderstood, but it seems Jim Lo is suggesting that if you're
going on a short-term missions trip, ideally it will
be one that can't be confused with a vacation (i.e., no sightseeing, no
shopping, no "luxury" accomodations). Have
I understood that correctly?
Overall, quite a though-provoking papaer.
I need to give it another reading or two, and then maybe i
can comment more.
waitman ten eyck said...
obviously that line
should read "...as long as it wasn't a blatant vacation..."
My fingers don't keep up with my mind.
Sorry!
Pastor James said...
Dr. Lo,
Thank you for your thoughts on short term missions. I never thought about it
this way before. I am in the middle of planning a short term missions
trip to
james
pk said...
Some simple thoughts:
A mission/service trip should originate from a point of need. Ideally a career missionary
or national leader would specifically request for a team to do X or Y.
The team should approach everything with an attitude of service and humility. I
believe with effective training and preparation even (maybe especially?) a
teenage team could learn enough about cultural sensitivity, service, parternship vs. paternalism, proper motives and
discipleship (some plant and some water) to be an effective and dynamic team.
What I'm getting out of Dr. Lo's writing is that maybe there should be less teams
sent that are more effective (via training, preparation, etc.) as opposed to
ending short-term mission altogether.
Thinking in
Ohio said...
If any of these examples are true (as I'm certain
they are) or representative (as Jim Lo intends them to be) of short-term
missions... I think God must be angry at our pride, our arrogance and our
selfishness. A lot of this boils down to stewardship, responsibility and
motive. How does God expect us to use our money? Why are we going on mission
trips to begin with?
I find it ironic that it's a "post-modern/emergent" generation (which
puts such weight and emphasis on "authenticity" and
"motive") that has failed to see these realities until now. I know
there are sincere and honest "lovers of missions" who will post here
defending the short-term missions "experience"... but can anyone
honestly question the truth of what Jim Lo has written?
I've been on trips myself and I can vouch some of what the author has written.
How any of us can visit the poverty of a third-world country and then affirm
our extravagant expense in going is beyond me. The money would be better-used
"on the field" with the natives and the career missionaries than on
my flight.
There's no doubt these missions trips can be (and often are) life-changing...
but MAN!... what a price to pay for our
"own" discipleship. In our denomination the career missionaries are
also returning from the fields in debt... while our short-termers
continue to be "sent out" on their trips... maybe they’ll be better
givers to missions over their lifetime… we can only hope. But what about the
damage we do to the cause of Christ when we “minister” with the attitudes and
carnal pride Jim Lo has made reference to?
Maybe a "screening process" and "preparation" are the
answer... there certainly is "good" in short-term missions trips...
but this article cannot be ignored in the planning of them and we ought to be
careful about who we send and why they’re going.
matthew said...
Good article
I am about to make my 3rd trip to China and I was encouraged that our team has
kept these issues in mind and challenged a couple points as well, especially
things to stress to our 1st timers.
In Christ,
matthew
brookssayer said...
Love the paper. Love it.
Robin said...
Thank you for clearly communicating concerns that
have been ruminating in my head for years. I've always felt a twinge of pain
when asking college students about their mission trips, and their stories only
include visits to picturesque sites and purchases made. Your paper was thought
provoking and challenging.
JustKara said...
Thanks you so much for speaking out and saying
what many of us think but have been afraid to say. The entire thing is becoming
a boondoggle and everything from missionary tourism to sports travel camps are
sending out prayer letters expecting others to finance their international
vacations. It si tie to put a stop to it but none of
us on staff at local churches can say anything about it—we are the travel
agents and tour leaders for spoiled self-centered teens and their parents
expect us to lead them on trips like these to “give them an enriching
experience.” At least we can use this paper to raise consciousness in our
church. Thank you Doctor Lo.
Masi said...
t would be
interesting to track some who have gone on 'missions' trips and others as
"short-term volunteers".
How many "Youth in Missions" participants have ended up being
missionaries, preachers, teachers - who would not have otherwise been in service.
Short list: Louis Bussel, Sara Pullen Mullen (MVNU),
Joel Mullen (SNU) {Joel and Sara met on their Youth in Missions assignment in
How many "Short-term assignment" participants have ended up being
missionaries and or/preacher or teachers?
Short list:
1. Mike and Judy Allen (NNU) to
2. Jim and Judy Stocks (TNU) to
3. Dave (ENU) and Rhoda Coldwell (
4. Gordon Thomas, Master's graduate from
5. Gary Morsch went as a short-term scholarship
doctor to
6. Carolyn West, neice of Paul and Martha Riley of
How many NIVS have made lasting differences in our world of missions?
1. Roberta Bustin went to
2. Dorothy Terrant went to
Both of these ladies have to raise their own support. I think the missions
trips those ladies took are making a giant difference in
Then there are those who are in service of the Lord because of trips made under
the auspices of some of our Universities.
1. Kevin Brunk, long time missionary, got the desire
to serve on a college trip to
2. Sara Pullen Mullens went to
3. Brian Richardson, a chemistry major from MVNU, went
on the
4. Kevin Timpe, MVNU, went to
This is a very short list. There are many more people to mention and stories to
tell. I have written this while suffering from a chest infection,
don't feel good but this string tugged at me. Sorry for the length. Have
thought about writing a book or maybe a blog would be
the way to do it.
Well, my two short-term mission trips were no
picnics and for me, they were the life changing experiences I desperately
needed. I can truly say, I was in both places not by
chance!
On one trip, I travelled with a group of college
students and a young leader who was not prepared for the work he was doing.
And, he and our team, were a great imposition to the
host missionary family and I was ashamed to have been part of such a group!
What excited zealots never get is that having a heart for something is just not
enough in most situations and especially not when it comes to missions,
cross-cultural work, or cross-anything. And besides, few "christian" kids have much of any experience that would
prepare them for what they will face on a "real" mission field
anyway. (Note: I can't even get my grass to grow that green!)
And, not all missionaries are "real winners" either, and regardless of
what they do/do not have to offer a group, they do not deserve to be
mistreated, imposed on, overlooked or neglected for a group of wanna be short-term missionaries leaving home for the first
time or for leaders trying to make a name for themselve
within "organizational structures".
Personally, I believe in short-term ministries within boundaries. While it can
be dangerous, tiring, and lots of other things, it can also be just what God
wants as well. So, maybe throwing the baby out with the bath water, as christians so often do with
something doesn't work properly, is not the answer. Maybe just fixing what is
really wrong is, like, accept only those who prove they are going for the right
reasons, training your groups properly before hand (physically, mentally and
spiritually) and not working with those only going for a fishing expedition.
Finally, I have to laugh when they note....and I forget the specific wording,
but try this...we are de-professionalizing (new word) the mission field. Trust
me, Jesus had no professionals nor did Paul. So, forget any illusion of a
professional missionary staff!
True missionary staffs consist of who God wants and when He wants them.
Anything else is a joke and trust me, I saw a few of
those jokes on the paid mission staffs as well!
ViaMediaHaze said...
Great essay! Made me re-think the two missions
trips to
G.R. ''Scott'' Cundiff said...
I recommended this paper as an interesting read
on our NazNet forum and it generated some interesting
discussion. The most compelling came from a retired career missionary who, off
the top of his head, listed for us several now-career missionaries who got
their first mission's experience on one of the trips. Frankly, before I read
his list I was leaning in favor of the perspective of this paper but his
comments convinced me that the mission trips serve a very important purpose in
furthering the cause of world missions.
lukemiddleton said...
Thank you. I've been hearing similar concerns
popping up from other places, too. This is good.
I have been on a couple short-term mission trips.
They were somthing that the long-term missionaries
needed more people to do and the native people could not do either. I also did
some speaking to some groups outside of the program that I was working with. It
is not wrong to go with the idea that going will help in your own relationship
with God, but the primary reason must be that you are going to give of yourself
as God gives you grace, not to get a "good feeling" but to
contribute. If people go because it makes a unique vacation and are expecting to
be waited on and pampered, or if they go with an attitude of arrogance, they
should stay home.
derek bethay said...
In the case of a church that is sending a missions team to the field you would think that the senior
pastor would make sure that his church was represented well and that he/she
would be prayerful and mindful of who he/she selected or allowed as the leader
of the team.
It seems to me that a lot of the examples that Dr. Lo mentioned could have been
avoided, or at least minimized, with capable leadership and some pre-trip
training for the team members.
Thank you for posting this paper. The biggest
problem I have with the paper is that it repeatedly cites extreme examples
including everything from "cruise ship missions trips" to
"hiking across
I'm afraid that using such extreme examples as he selects only makes most
readers (see above) say, "Well, I'm sure glad WE aren't like that when we
take OUR trips.
HOWEVER I am certain that most missionaries, almost all national churches, and
(for sure) the cause of world evangelization would be FAR better off if there
were NO SHORT TERM MISSIONS TRIPS AT ALL.
The situation, however is not just out of hand--it is
now hopeless. Self-centered Americans have made missions vacations a sacrament
and (see above) all they have to do to justify them is to cite how the
AMERICANS were changed, or one little life-change or encouraged missionary to
justify their self-absorbed spending on themselves.
But it isn't just the Americans who love adventure and travel who are
self-serving. Missions boards have become
co-dependants in this scheme. They know they MUST provide their supporters with
"perks" including getting them on the fields where they can have
their pictures taken with "real natives." So, like prostitutes who
must feed their baby, they sell their soul to any missionary vacation john that
comes along. If they don't their customers will go down the street to the many
new organizations springing up in America who do not even have career
missionaries at all but ONLY have short term missions. These organizations
"skim" 20% off the top and are able to support their friends and
family with comfortable jobs managing missionary vacations--and the Americans
can go on vacation with tax deductible giving--many even giving to their own
trip.
The whole mess seems hopeless from a missionary's perspective. There is no way
out. The Americans insist on their "stress vacations" to climb
mountains in
Americans get real with yourself--short term missions is not about world
evangelism or "helping the natives" at all--it is about you, you you. and the sooner you cancel ALL
trips the better off we all will be.
(Of course when I go back to the field I will have to e a nanny for one group
after another who comes to visit my field to "cheer me up" and to
"help the native people." And I will continue being their travel
agent, their guide, their "arranger." It's a part of my job now. And
many of these people are wonderful people and I enojoy
the visit--it "takes me home to
Sadly, I really believe it is hopeless. This is the life of many
"missionaries" now. We work more and more as tour guides and nannies
for Americans on vacation than with the p[eople we thought we were called to. And they tell us that
future missionaries might get called out of these teams which
helps some--until I realize that they too will then become hosts for
still other Americans bent on missionary tourism and finally nobody will be
left to actually do missions.
Sorry all this is all so jumbled--I'm writing my feelings here and it might not
make any sense.
Well gee, if we use the logic that because of all
of the problems, short-term missions should be denied in the future, let's also
use the same logic on the overall church.....since there are so many problems,
let's just cancel church as well.
Let me name them:
1) pastors in pulpits for a joy ride and not leading their charges to a deeper
relationship with Christ or even misusing their positions in other ways
2) $ given that is not 100$ used for ministry but salaries of big shots who run
seminars to make the pastors more "prepared"
3) folks showing up on Sunday for the wrong reasons-a social event
4) wasted money on travel expenses to get to church or even tithe
5) pastors, youth pastors and youth leaders being expected to baby sit teens
for the parents and teach the kids right/wrong because the parents don't want
to do it
6) ....
I could go on an on but you get my point!
Keith.Drury said...
I guess I'd remind myself (I ran YES Ministries
for years) and other short/long termers that missions
types are the ones who let this cat out of the bag (or horse out of the corral
in Dr. Lo's terminology).
What started as a few future missionaries visiting fields in preparation to
becoming career missionaries (c. 1972 for Wesleyans) has become a gigantic $500
Million a year program focused mostly on the personal enrichment of those
who go, with most churches making it a goal now “to get every Christian on
a Mission Team.” Do mission trips enrich? Most definitely.
They are #2 in effecting spiritual life-change ranking only after family
(Survey 264 adult and 269 college students in October 2004) This is why they
are central to a local church's ministry--they change life more than any other
"program" in the church. I think they are here to stay—even if
they hurt the mission field "served--they are so powerful to those
going that mission fields may increasingly become a "staging area"
for American life change mroe than traditional
missions.
But I think Lo is right—the horse is out... I think the horse isn’t coming
back. Once mission agencies quit focusing primarily on doing "serious
missionary work" with their teams and focused more and more on the
personal enrichment--the horse was loose.
I think this HAD to happen. We all know in our hearts that 7th graders in
Here’s my view: once personal enrichment became a legitimate cause for
which to “send out support letters” any other trip that produces personal
enrichment became a legit cause for which to send out prayer letters. Why
shouldn’t a person hiking across
See my point? Once the purpose of missions trips
switched from “meeting a need on the field” to “meeting a need in the person
going” the horse had escaped—ANYbody going anywhere
for personal enrichment, spiritual growth or service now can now legitimately
send out support letters asking for tax deductible gifts from friends and
family to support their adventure travel.
It is still not clear how far the church (or IWU) can get away with what
appears to be "laundering" adventure tourism money through the books
to get a tax-deductible trip--the limits seem to be yet unexplored.
So, my point is the horse is already gone over the hill and into the next state
(country!). And it isn’t coming back. Soon we’ll all be getting letters from
people playing soccer in
Face it, the “support letter” system is such a good
racket for raising money that it is no longer possiblefor
the missionary-tyoes to hoard the scheme for career
missionaries or short term trips.
The horse is gone and everybody can raise money for just about anything using
the suport letter scheme.
(I agree with half of everything I just said above now to figure out which
half.)
Just returned from my 5th short mission trip to
Observations:
1. The central church where we worked the first 3 trips has grown from a handful
of people in a small building to a large congregation of hundreds worshiping in
a huge, beautiful facility. This would not have been possible without the
efforts of many teams of volunteers going there to build and subsequently
raising money back home to send.
2. That church is ministering to a growing number of impoverished children,
made possible through the same teams who build and send money for the vision of
reaching those who are seemingly fated to almost certain cyclical poverty and
spiritual darkness.
3. That same church is sending out students to seminary, pastors in training,
supplies of food and clothing and other needs, all of which are dependent in
large part on the support of the short term mission teams.
4. Scores of houses are being built for the Guatemalans in areas devastated by
hurricanes and mudslides; these modest houses are paid for and built by short
term teams. Moreover, these projects are literally bringing people to Christ as
they see the love of Christ in action. At least two of the four families for
whom we built houses for last week prayed to accept Christ. In addition others
did the same as they witnessed the love of the teams. How do you put a price on
these souls? I personally believe that no other method of evangelism would have
had the same impact on these individuals.
5. The money raised for short term mission trips is NOT available to simply
send to the mission field; much of the money is 'extra' money that would not be
donated otherwise, neither to missions or the local church. When one
millionaire suggested that his church just send money to be more 'efficient',
our missionary quickly said no, and reminded him that God didn't send Gabriel
to earth to see how mankind was doing, but rather sent His only Son in person.
It is an egregious mistake to focus on money as the solution to the challenge
in any case.
6. Church after church has been built and equipped in
7. We have experienced a tremendous amount of love and appreciation from the
Guatemalan Christians as we labor side-by-side with them. Many tears have been
shed, but there has been a lot of laughter and joy also! It has certainly
raised our awareness of the great needs there and continues to have positive
ripple effects back home.
8. Finally, it IS true that the members of our teams have been challenged and
changed and humbled as we have served Christ in this way...and this is the
bonus reward of the effort. In fact, as Pastor and leader of our group I was
thrilled to see what happened in the hearts of our people. In general it seems
that Americans fit into the mold of the rich man Jesus spoke to (and who
declined to follow Jesus because of his great wealth), and it is refreshing to
see those who are materially poor become spiritually rich.
All in all, I find it rather amazing that ALL short-term mission trips are
painted as useless (or worse) with the broad brush of Dr. Lo, and while I can
identify with some of his observations I nonetheless feel that short term
mission trips can be an extremely powerful way to spread the Gospel. James
certainly agreed that we need to be actively living out our faith, and I see no
conflict to live it in
If you've never gone on a short term mission trip - or at least on one that
produced fruit on both fronts - give it a try.
What many Americans forget is (including mission
boards) to ask the central question of WHY they would even imagine going to
another country to "build wonderful buildings for them."
These kind of trips may be fun and give the North
Americans satisfaction--but they are poor mission strategy. It is paternalism
straight away.
It may make the North Americans feel good and they will assemble to cite how
much they "improved" the national church's resources but, in truth,
it has only caused a weakened national church just like a parent who still pays
their child's cell phone bill when they are married and age 29.
Constructing a building is a tremendouns way to make
North Americans feel worthwhile (so they can go home and feel good about living
on ten or twenty or even fifty times the average salary of nationals the rest
of the year) but it cripples the national church and creates a state of
dependency.
North Americans do-gooders don't care about this becasue
they like and need this dependency of "their" mission fields. They
are totally convinced they have "helped" the national church by doing
what the national church tiself could and should do
(though not up to the "standards" of the know-it-all folk who come to
"improve" the facilities).
Thus Doctor Lo has not raised only the issue of missions
teams in his paper but really calls into question the entire enterprise of
missions as we know it.
James Petticrew said...
IWU Chorale send out support letters so they can
tour
Heidi said...
hmmm... thank
you. I spent six months in
some thoughts:
Part of it depends on who is hosting the team. I saw some missions
organizations come with short-termers who made a mess
of things. I also saw teams come who were properly prepared- and had a
"cultural interpreter" (some one from your home culture who has
insight to the host culture). This is absolutely crucial. Without it mistakes
are made.
And its all about partnering with the local
people. Another thing that bothered me is that there are many organizations in
the same country- doing the exact same thing- and there is not communication
between them. Some places see duplicated ministry while other places are
neglected.
While I know that God works in all things, I think that he's given us the
ability to strategically do missions.
I thank you for raising the issue of how money is spent. I think now I will
require a greater amount so that money can be left to sustain what was started.
(not like handing out $50 to everyone, but in leaving
it with the missionaries there to distribute it as needed-which is already
being done).
Much to chew on... and it's got me thinking: what
can be said about short term trips that are kept within our country? I just
returned from a Katrina clean-up project in
But what was our motivation for going? I admit it wasn't a clear calling from
Christ to serve someone else. Sure, as the pastor, that's what I told people we
would do. But me thinks my/our real motivation was for our own growth as
Christians. May we go where Christ calls us!
Great article, Dr. Lo!
We have a new church plant here in
A group of five Japanese businessmen had heard about out attempt to reach
people in
They got hotel rooms though we offered to let them sleep on the floor of the
youth center (but there is a lot of crime in the area). They left Thursday for
a tour of
They were a great group to host and it was fun to see how Japanese millionaires
live. Their hotel rooms cost $325 each per day, but they went out to dinner at
a fancy restaurant only once—the night before the
They made no purchases until the day of their
They have already written back to me how much the loved the trip and asked if
they could bring two teams next year of other businessmen who want help us out.
They also suggested they bring their pastor who could do some training for us
here to help us better understand how to grow a church. I was happy to help
this team find a place of service here in
This isn't a true story about brooklyn
(I don't even live in
Dave said...
Here is a story that is true. The other day I was
sitting at a coffee shop, and joined a chess game with an African man. We got
to talking about life, and how I studied ministry. Suddenly he looked at my
funnily and said, "I think I met you for a reason." Now I was
nervous, not knowing what he meant. He then went on to explain that he was a
missionary from
What was my immediate reaction? Embarrassment. I was embarassed that this guy was over here, trying to break
cultural barriers, and living on full time support. Did he not know about all
the other ministries offered by the 'nationals' here? How could he reach people
at the same level as someone who was born and raised here, taught at the same
schools, and having the same cultural perspective? And yet I know many people
who will read this story will mutter a quiet halleluiah because the American
church is finally getting what it had coming, a big slap in the face from the
African church. But is this really necessary?
Likewise, do other countries see our short-term efforts and shallow gospel
presentations as a slap in the face of their already existent spiritual reality?
I agree that trips around the world are good, but they should be identified as
such: personal enrichment trips.
1.What is the
biblical view of short term mission trips?
First, I will say when one goes on a mission, that person is simply an
instrument of God. Nobody receives faith from somebody else,
that is a gift from God. The apostles were given the authority by Jesus
Christ to make disciples of all nations. That power is not given in of itself
man-made, but the power of the Holy Spirit given to the apostles, and they
handed down these Traditions of missions.
2.How should short term missionaries be selected?
As long as it takes, to predetermine I believe would be a mistake, those who
take "short" missions should be prepared to organize the mission for
the long run.
Missions in essense should spread the truth of the
gospel, but also establish a community that will prosper with hope and love.
In the end
emmelhainz said...
Are a great many lives changed in short term
missions? YEs. I have seen evidence. Are those
usually the team members? Yes.
Of a certainty short term missions is a mixed bag. Often done
poorly, or wrongly. Questionable stewardship issue for sure.
I wonder if part of the problem is that people who are poor Christians in our
country think they will be good at it overseas for a week. We sign up just
about anybody, and think the trip will fix them sometimes. Increased numbers in
mission is the call, and at what cost?
There is a reason that sending boards ask you what you are doing now in your
home country, as they consider letting you go somewhere else. Why don't we?
Kurt A Beard said...
We could spend $2000 to fly overseas and change
our lives or we could spend $5 on a Bible and spend some time reading it and
praying.
But I guess one is more glamorous and fun.
I HAVE AN IDEA NOBODY SEEMS TO HAVE MENTIONED
YET.
Since these trips obviously change lives,
And since they do not do very good "missionary work"--they might even
be a barrier to good evangelism and a drain on the missionary's time
I SUGGEST THE FOLLOWING: That a new organization be founded that helps teams go
overseas totally disconnected with missionaries--but they still get a chance to
serve and work in another culture where their lives are changed.
And furthur, that we quit raising tax-free funds as
if we are doing "real" missionary work anyway--that these trips be
completely self-supported by money from ourselves and our friends that is not
run through the church's books.
Brian La Croix
said...
Boy, did I love this article.
A few comments:
First, there is no doubt that SOME short-term missions are good for all
involved - the "short-termer" and the
people with whom they work and minister. But the reason for that success lies
in the hearts of servanthood that defines the
character of the people who go.
They go with a desire to actually make a difference and submit themselves to
the demands of the culture and the resident missionaries.
And yes, God can and does use these types of opportunities to call people to
full-time ministry, including missions.
But again, it is because the heart of the person was already broken for the
plight of those they wish to minister to.
Dr. Lo mentioned the Great Commission to "Go" and then discusses the
shallowness of the church in many places.
This is because the Great Commission is not to "GO," but to
"MAKE DISCIPLES." Check the Greek if you don't believe me. We cannot
simply stop at evangelism. Evangelism begins the process of discipleship.
I loved what he said about reaching our
As for the Ameri-centric charges
Dr. Lo levels, I would agree. I've only been on one missions trip (2
months on the Navajo reservation in
One of the greatest books I've ever read is "Don't Go Overseas Until You've Read This Book," by Neil Gallagher. I read
it while preparing for another trip, which I ended up not going on. I don't
know if it's still in print, but it really helped me concentrate on not being
an "ugly American" if I got the chance to go back overseas.
Thanks for having the guts to put out this paper, Dr. Lo. Obviously not
everyone agrees with all of your conclusion, but if
nothing else, you touched a nerve and will cause many to re-think their ideas
about short-term missions.
I hope to be able to go on one someday, and I pray that God will make me a
servant, rather than an ego-filled American only looking to enhance my
"spiritual resume'."
Brian La Croix
We need to keep in mind that not all $ raised for
these trips is a fraud. There are some truly dedicated folks going on these
trips and regardless of whether or not they are travelling
with a "right-minded" group, they can, if God wills, make a true
difference in someone's life. Whether it is a spiritual difference of a
difference of another type, it is still important!
And, I must say, I read something interesting on chabad.org regarding the fire
on the altar (inner and outer) and how that fire is lit and stays lit through
our giving to others. It states that God's intents for us in our giving to
others to receive back what He has for us as well. Some of our own deepest
spiritual needs are met when we give to others.
We must not, we can not forget that!
Wow, the NazNet folks
are bold to actually say, this topic was brought up because of the related
cost-benefits issues. Thank God He never performed a cost-benefit analysis on
me when it came to my salvation or for that matter, my every day life!
NOTE: You can also see responses
to this paper by Nazarenes at http://www.naznet.com/community/printthread.php?t=3855
Keith Drury closes off with…
Stimulating discussion here—thanks for the contributions to what was a stimulating colloquium here at IWU where Jim Lo presented this paper (other papers and responses were also presented as well and can be seen here (until next Fall’s colloquium, at least). My hunch is that missions trips are “out of the barn” and they are not going to diminish—but increase. Perhaps, however, these concerns registered by a life-long missionary might make a difference in how they are done and with what attitude? We’ll see. –Keith Drury 4/9/06