Value of Short Term Missions

When I first led mission teams to eastern Europe, I told the folks we were there to support that my team would be a colossal waste of money unless the team learned more than they taught. I know a Dentist who leads mission teams–more than 20 of them to Central America as I write. He also doesn’t sell his trips first for how others will be helped, but rather as a way for the members of the team to be changed. I have heard him tell groups over and over (and I went on one of his mission trips) that they will be changed by going on the trip.

Now it may sound selfish to talk about the mission trip doing more for the team than for the folks we serve, but I think that is just one of the paradoxes of the kingdom. The more we give, the more we are transformed. If you haven’t gone somewhere to serve, try it. You will find yourself transformed. Your service doesn’t have to be overseas, but I do think it is valuable to get away from your support structures so that you will find yourself dependent on God and on those brothers and sisters you aim to serve. That will make it easier for you to bond with them and learn from them.

There’s a great article on the Duke Divinity School’s Call and Response Blog by Olu Menjay (HT: Hi Lites and Dr. Platypus). It’s well worth a read.

It also models one important point I always try to make. Build your mission team and trip plan around a need identified by people on the spot. Don’t plan you activities and then push them down somebody’s throat. It is truly the cooperative ministry that builds all concerned.