I have a good friend in youth ministry who would say, "Why take students to another country to tell people about Christ when those same students don't even tell people about Christ in their own school." I know another person who would say, "Why take students on a mission trip if we can only be there 2 weeks. How will we see any lasting fruit?" Both of these guys (for different reasons) would say Short Term Missions is pointless. I wholeheartedly disagree.
Part of the reason is I'm biased. I admit it. In 1996, I went on a short term trip with Youth Reachout to Peru that changed my life. It's a huge part of why I'm in ministry today. But part of the reason is philosophical. I think there are two huge reasons why Short Term Missions is an absolute MUST in student ministry today.
Reason One:
It's more about the change in the students than the change in the country.
My friend whose biggest gripe is that two weeks is not enough time to change a country is missing the point. First, even if only one life was changed because of the trip, if only one person were saved.... wouldn't that make it worth it? You might say no because you could invest your time somewhere else and see more reward. But God's economy doesn't work that way. If you ask the person whose life was changed, I bet they'd say it was worth it.
Second, the biggest change that happens on a short term trip is not in the country anyway. It's in the students and leaders who go on the trip. Like I said, my trip was monumental in me answering the call to ministry. So now, multiply the lives changed on that trip in 1996 by all the students who went on the trip who are now ministering to hundreds of students themselves. It's mind blowing. Many of those are now in other countries and have their entire lifetime to minister in other countries. That may never have happened if we had not gone on that short term trip.
Reason Two:
It's about getting out of your comfort zone because that's when God stuff happens.
I think we'd all agree, the time when God most impacts our lives seems to be when we're way out on a limb somewhere. Rarely is it when we're nice and comfy in our pj's on the couch watching re-runs of LOST. We've probably all used the illustration that it takes a lot of pressure to change coal into a diamond. God uses pressure, stress, and other out-of-our-comfort-zone means to mold us into who he wants. Nothing gets a middle class American kid out of his comfort zone like walking though the sewage filled streets of a mountain town in Peru, seeing utter poverty and desperation on the faces of men, women, and children! That's when the God stuff happens!
So, if you've been thinking of a missions trip but are struggling with whether or not it’s worth it, let me encourage you: IT IS! We've even got some great resources at Word of Life to help you. Check out Reachout.
I have read your two supporting points for short-term missions and I wonder, "Do you think that they are sufficient, Christian reasons?"
Concerning Reason 1: Though I agree in principle that leaving the 99 in order to save the 1 is a Christian paradigm, I don't think this reason takes into account the complexity of STM. For instance, the phraseology of STM suggests that it is in a field of activity that is supposed to be focused on the host. In other words, missions is about the other. Now, several have suggested that we may need to change the language of STM to pilgrimage in order to develop it into a vital Christian practice. What do you think?
Concerning Reason 2: Your example gives a head nod toward what some have termed "voyeurism of the poor." If getting students "out of their comfort zone" entails parading them in front of the poor in order to shock an experience into them then we might want to rethink our theology.
Below are two great papers. The first is a qualitative assessment of STM which leads to a proposal to phrase the activity as Pilgrimage. The second is a constructive paper that outlines a Christian moral discourse on travel practices.
"Short-Term Missions as Pilgrimage" by David Wesley: http://didache.nts.edu/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=790&Itemid=
Adeney, Miriam. 2006. Shalom tourist: Loving your neighbor while using her. Missiology 34
(4): 463-476.
Let me know what you think.
Blessings to you.
Thanks for the comments Paul. I appreciate your perspective. I think a little debate is healthful so long as it's done in a spirit of love. I think you've done that here. However, I must say, I still disagree with you.
Concerning your rebuttal of reason 1: I think you might still be missing my point. The point is, though 2 weeks may not be enough time to see lasting change in a country, it is long enough to see lasting change in a student.... AND, that student may very well go back and spend his lifetime in that country (or another one). I think the point of short term missions is to open the eyes of students and challenge them to answer the call.
Concerning your rebuttal of Reason 2: I'm not suggesting we parade anyone anywhere. Perhaps I should have been more descriptive of what I consider short term missions. I was making an unwise assumption that everyone does it the way we do. I am not saying we pack kids on a tour bus, run them through a town and let them take pictures and ooh and aah. That would be voyeurism. The trips I've been on have involved walking through those streets, engaging people in conversation, sharing the Word with them, perhaps giving them the Word. I don't see how delivering the Word to anyone could be seen as wrong. After all,its the Word.... the only thing with the power to change lives. And, what I'm saying is: How would an American kid ever even know there was a third world? In America we are FAR too focused on ourselves. The act of forcing ourselves to look and see and have compassion IS a Biblical concept (reference John 4:35)
So Paul, thank you very much for your thoughtful replies. However, my perspective remains unchanged. I do agree though, I should have been more clear with my words. I should have said Short Term Missions DONE RIGHT, because there are many churches and groups doing it wrong. They may even be doing more harm than help. Perhaps that's material for a future post: Short Term Missions Done Right. I'll take a look at your papers.