Missions Textbook 30
Short Term Missions

We Never Saw It Coming: An Introduction to Christian Missions (textbook)

“Hi, John. I heard you were going to the mission field for the summer. Where are you going?’

“To Peru. I’m really excited about it!”

“Why Peru?”

“Oh, I had a year of Spanish in high school and – well, I’ve always been interested in South America. I heard that there was a missionary down there who needed some help, so I wrote him and now I’m going!”

“That’s great. What’ll you be doing while you’re there?’

“Well, I don’t really know yet, but I’m sure it’ll be a valuable experience. I’m hoping that God will give me some direction for my life through this. I just don’t know yet what God wants me to do with my life. Also, I realize that I will grow a lot, being away from my family and church home.”

Without really realizing it, John has listed the major reasons why a young person would choose to spend a short term on the mission field. Personal spiritual growth is the most important, including a consistent quiet time and prayer life. Secondly, he may feel that if God wants him to be a missionary, He will show him His will . . . through this experience. Thirdly, he recognizes the value for a North American young person to experience life in areas where poverty, hunger, and spiritual darkness are the norm.

The most obvious reason is to assist the missionary. Many missionaries are crushed under the massiveness of the job to be done on their field, and they are thankful for someone – anyone – who might share that burden even for a short time. The last reason, which John did not mention, is the advantage to the local church. Short-term missions do not require a large a financial commitment from a church that is not sure if it can support a permanent missionary. Also, the vision that a young person may bring back from exposure to the mission field can really spark mission’s awareness in that church.

. . . [In the 1970’s], Floyd and I were each given the opportunity to spend a summer abroad assisting missionaries. As single students wanting to do God’s will, we found these same reasons worth the time, money, and effort. Floyd spent a summer in Germany, working at German Bible Institute. He helped renovate classrooms, picked thousands of cherries for the missionaries, sang in a student choir in local evangelical churches, and did some street evangelism in the villages. The summer program was well-structured, and he returned to the States knowing the Lord wanted him to return to the German-speaking world as a permanent missionary.

I spent ten hot weeks as a summer missionary in Iran. I lived with and helped a missionary family, where the wife was recovering from hepatitis. My major function was washing dishes and babysitting their two older children. At times, I also acted as a traveling companion to a single lady missionary, thereby freeing her regular traveling companion for more important ministries.

We both agree that our experiences were valuable. They certainly contributed to preparing and enriching our lives for the future. Vaguely aware of tensions that seemed to exist because of our presence, we were not mature enough to properly evaluate these problems.[1]

Short-term mission trips are a billion-dollar industry. Sometimes the industry suffers from a false sense of spirituality and needs to be tempered with answers to many questions. For the financial cost, are the missionary and the nationals really being helped? Is this trip the best use of the money? Could the funds have helped the missionaries far more if they had just been given the money?

Many short-term trips suffer from a vague definition of “service.” How can a short-term missionary actually help a national when the short-termer does not know the language? Do the nationals want the short-termers to come? Will the short-termer even have time to get over jet lag? Sometimes the trip can become a vacation instead of service, and the missionary and nationals actually work harder caring for the short-termer.

Is there enough training for the short-termer so he or she doesn’t inadvertently cause trouble? Some short-termers can leave false expectations behind when they leave. They might tell some children, “I love you” just before they leave. The short-term missionary means well. He/she wants the nationals to feel good about themselves, but the children will connect that love with leaving and never coming back. And if the short-termer says that he/she will return some day, he/she usually has no intention of going back. What does that communicate to the nationals about the “love” of the short-termer?

There is a growing trend for older people to give their vacation time to a missionary on the field. A dentist and optometrist from our home church used to make regular visits to Peru to meet needs that the missionaries could not. Retirees who speak a second language can also be a great help to missionaries, especially if they have skills that complement or supplement the work on the field. For them, it’s important that they have good health insurance and can still live independently.

We have said this before: The mission field is not a good place to grow up, nor is it a good place to take a vacation. Probably the first priority for a short-term missionary is the willingness to serve in whatever capacity the missionary on the field desires. The short-termer should be aware that he or she is under the authority of the resident missionary, who (hopefully) understands the language, culture, and situation better than the visitor.

Finally, every mission agency promotes its short-term trips as positive. Will the short-termer be misled to believe that nothing negative could be a part of the trip? Do your research, and communicate with the missionaries to find out the kind of help they really need. Every mission agency, missionary and prospective short-term missionary should read the following:

Effective Engagement in Short-term Missions: Doing it Right! By Robert J. Priest.

“Why You Should Consider Cancelling Your Short-Term Missions Trip.” https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/why-you-should-consider-cancelling-your-short-term-mission-trips

Five Reasons Your Short-Term Missions Trip Might Do More Harm Than Good.” http://www.sharefaith.com/blog/2014/02/reasons-short-term-mission-trip-harm-good/

And here’s a caution positive view of short-term trips.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dennis-j-horton-phd/shortterm-mission-trips-a_b_866197.html

[1] Schneider, Christine, “Re-Thinking Short-Term Missions,” Missions Magazine, Dec. 1984, 3

We Never Saw It Coming: An Introduction to Christian Missions (textbook)

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