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Rethinking Missions Trips: “It Became Too Costly To Justify the Expense of Flying Kids Overseas”
Orginally published on Monday, July 07, 2008 at 8:38 AM
by Todd Rhoades
Here is an interesting article from the Washington Post about churches that are re-thinking missions trips. This is the first I have heard of things like this: a church in Mexico being painted six times in one summer by six different church groups, or a church in Ecuador that was built and never used because the community said it wasn't needed... Does this really happen? And, if so, why?
Then there was this quote in the article by one senior pastor: "It became too hard to justify the expense of flying the kids overseas. "If you're going to paint a church, you can do that in Florida as easily as you can in Mexico." True dat. And I have nothing against domestic missions trips. But I thought that the purpose of an international trip was the whole experience of a different culture; helping people who are less fortunate, and sharing your faith. Sure, you can do that in Florida, but it seems like you'll miss an important things you'd experience on an international trip.
All that said... when my two oldest boys travel to Honduras later this month, I'm hoping they won't be 'repainting' a church!
PS—What do you think?
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There are 34 Comments:
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Tuesday, July 08, 2008 at 5:35 PM
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Tuesday, July 08, 2008 at 10:12 PM
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Posted by Rick Whitter
Wednesday, July 09, 2008 at 8:16 AM
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Posted by Rick Whitter
Wednesday, July 09, 2008 at 10:41 AM
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Wednesday, July 09, 2008 at 1:27 PM
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Posted by Rick Whitter
Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 7:48 PM
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Friday, July 11, 2008 at 12:27 AM
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Sunday, July 13, 2008 at 12:36 PM
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Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at 12:54 AM
Post Your Comments:I am one of those who went on my first missions trip when I was 17 and just out of high school. I am now 55 and continue to go on short term missions trips.
When I was 17 I learned that being a missionary was a high calling. To leave family and friends and go half way around the world was amazing to a kid who was homesick after one week. Over the years when a missionary would come to my home church I would listen closely because I had been there, if only for a short period of time. As an adult missions giving was more important to me because I had seen missions first hand.
No one knows what the impact can be when a teen goes to a foreign field. It may be the catalyst for future serving or future giving.
If God calls you to go, then go! If God calls you to stay home and pray or give then do that.
The trips I go on now are to the same city, working with the same churches and pastors, and building relationships with people to uplift and encourage them.
Right now going to Mexico one of the big things is speaking English to them to help them learn to speak American English because knowing the language qualifies them for better jobs. Maybe that doesn’t sound spiritual but it is a need that we can help meet, even if in a small way.
good point by Ted, I can agree completely with your comments. As long as we remain open to criticism. There are trips that are poorly put together, that do more damage than good. There are some trips that are just put together because everybody else is doing it without any though to what is really happening. Kids leave with very wrong american attitudes about the countries they visit and they return with the same prejudices and yes, racism. Even seasoned “missionaries” have gone with pateralistic attitudes towards nationals, and have imposed cultural domination on other countries just because they think differently than americans. Or we have just transported our own sick form of christinaity on other cultures! Sometimes we just convert other countries to our way of doing church, insisting on our form of worship, dress, and cultural behavior. Also, people today are great at compartmentalizing life, so we “go” on mission trips, but we don’t live it back home. real missions is year round it doesn’t happen for one week. Is there no poor in our neighborhoods to feed and clothes? If we go on trips, can we not look into the eyes of the exploited workers and not come back and question are own politics? Can we begin to question capitalism after we see the real affects it has had in parts of the world? Developing real relationship take times, and I just think too many mission trips are more about christian tourism and “experience” than a real engagement with the way the poor live around the world, and how our politics have affected them.
Todd,
We just returned from a team trip (10 people) to Nicaragua and Guatemala. We served at two orphanages. We painted, worked on a well, cleaned the buildings and loved on the kids. A great trip!
I have dealt with attitudes similar to the ones expressed in the featured article. My response is generally, “Why don’t you ask the missionaires what they want?” Every time I have done this, they invariably say, “please come! And bring teams!”. This is because of the invaluable interaction and support that results from these trips.
I say, keep going on the trips and. keep serving locally.
Thanks for the post!
Rick Whitter
rickwhitter.com
One of the best ways to avoid the misbehavior and cultural insensitivity of missions teams while visiting other countires and cultures is to train and prepare them ahead of time. We have utilized, with good success, materials provided by STEM, out of Minneapolis.
http://www.stemintl.org/about.
There are 7 Standards that have been adopted by churches all around the country and have served us well. We have never had a major issue on a trip and have continually been invited back by our hosts.
We were looking at a mission trip to Russia but the airfares were somewhere north of $1000. We sent the money instead.
Here in Arkansas, you can find poverty just about everywhere. To kids who have it all in the suburbs, even downtown is a different culture, one where people are going hungry and without medical care.
We just finished hosting a summer camp where the teens do nothing all week but help those who can’t take care of their homes for physical or financial reasons.
Does it have to be either/or? Can we reach out only to the people in our neighborhood or only to those around the globe? Why can’t we attempt to both both? Surely there is enough love of Christ as expressed through His church to minister to more than one people group.
Rick, I don’t think that the question is whether we should reach out around the globe, but how best to do so.
Only one of my three children went on a “mission trip.” It was to NYC in the spring of 2002. My daughter is now 24 years old. This article and thread sparked some interesting dinner table conversations and we, i.e. my daughter and I, both are of the opinion that the trip was worthwhile from her standpoint as an adventure/experience. But relative to advancing the kingdom ... not so much.
WOW! I am shocked and amazed! I just came home from a month in Zambia Africa with 71 students from across the US, Canada and Purto Rico. We worked with a ministry called Every Orphans Hope in Lusaka Zambia. It is articles like this and church leaders that can only focus on themselves that makes me very angry at our culture. I have been leading short term trips for 12 years. Both internationally and domestic. These trips have birthed the young leaders that will lead us as we get older.
If we as leaders and adults don’t train them on cultures and providing for those less off than us. Then we have robbed them the opportunity to grow. I am leaving again in 5 day to take another group to Jamaica. I know that the work we do will help and train teens. These teens will learn how to have quite times with God, pray and lead others to Christ. These are the same things that thier Pastors and Youth Pastors should be doing at home. We have them for a week, month or two months and convey the same message and send them home to serve their Pastors and thier church.
Come on guys what part of the Great Commision do you not understand? I want the return of Christ. However everyone has to hear the Gospel first for this to happen.
I don’t think the question is if we believe in the Great Comission and if missions are valid. I think the question is if short term missions really do fulfill the Great Commission.
And I don’t think anyone here (maybe I’m wrong, but at least I’m not saying it) that short term missions train volunteers and get them excited about missions.
For me the question is, do they really help the mission endeavor? Or do they sometimes even cause harm (seen that personally!)
Are we spending money that could be better spent on the actual reaching of the lost?
Are we spending money on vacations and calling it missions? (Seen that one too sadly!)
And as an Anglo who has been in Asian ministry, I saw plenty of church members with paternalistic attitudes and was shocked at how many Christians in the American church view missions and other cultures… people patting us on the shoulders, with a bit of “spiritual” superiority telling us how wonderfully sacrificial we were. It did sicken me. And I’ve seen teams come with this attitude, while they ate out and played as much as possible and then left feeling like they’d accomplished something really great.
Sad but true!
I think we need to realize that there is room for improvement in short term missions planning for very good reasons.
I don’ t think we should throw away all short term missions projects. Some truly have blessed us. But I do think we need to plan well and think it through and ask the missionaries what is best for them. And then abide by their wishes.
And if at all possible, the very best way to approach another culture with the gospel, is to find believers that are already there in that culture. The very best missions trips I’ve seen, were inconjunction with people of that specific culture who had a passion for reaching their own people, but had limited resources.
I saw one such trip lead 800 people to Christ in a two week period. And they left behind Bible Studies that are still thriving today after 5 years. One study that began from this trip has 250 people attending and for awhile there they were sharing 1 Bible they kept under glass when they weren’t using it.
Now THAT’s what I call a missions trip!
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