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Missions: Short-Term, Long-Term, etc.
Sep. 4th, 2005 03:21 pmAt the age of 22, I have finally experienced the wonders and mysteries of a short-term missions trip. I know that such endeavors are often the means of leading people to the work God desires them to do, and perhaps this trip did impact me in that way, but it was a little differently than some would imagine. For anyone who is not a regular reader of my journal, I spent two weeks in Ireland during the early part of this past August. One of those weeks was devoted to Bible clubs which had been coordinated by regular, long-term missionaries in the town that we were visiting. Our task was to assist them in running the clubs, especially through involvement in coordinating the various facets of the program as well as in interacting with the young people. The experience was, overall, quite positive. Although the response was not overwhelming, it was encouraging.
As I've mentioned previously, I do have some concerns about short-term missions trips as well as the mindset behind many longer-term missions efforts. If you have not read that post, please read it to help you understand what I am about to say. After the trip, I honestly think that many of my criticisms of short-term missions are quite valid. As I talked to the kids in Ireland, I realized that their problems are essentially the same as many of the ones lower-income kids (especially) here face. Oh, the accent is different and the social interaction isn't quite the same, but the needs are very similar. Kids are on drugs there, consuming alcohol, acquiring STDs, being abused by parents or others...nothing is so very different. The rotting teeth, the sores on their faces--I've seen it here, even if perhaps not (always) to the same degree. Why do places like St. Francis House (a medical charity) exist? Because lower-income people have difficulty getting medical care, of course--and that is just the same in Ireland, it appears--at least where we were.
And what, pray tell, is the difference, you ask? Well, the biggest difference I noticed is that we were there. How can I phrase this to communicate what I intend without being offensive? This might sound harsh and I sincerely hope that it is not true (it probably isn't true of this group, but it can be true elsewhere), but we are so comfortable in our American homes that we forget that other people--not so far from our neighborhoods--really are struggling. Now that Katrina has left so much devastation in her wake, we are a little more responsive, but we do often ignore the day-to-day struggles that people face apart from natural disasters. Somehow, it's "different" to associate with the lower classes of a foreign country than it is to find the needy here in our own country. Oh, we have our explanations, excuses like, "But they're abusing the system and they'll only take advantage of us. We'd just be enabling them to continue manipulating." Maybe that's true in a sense, but what we were doing in Ireland wasn't going to make that happen; why couldn't we promote something similar here?
There is actually one huge reason: Because American kids are not nearly as easily entertained as the kids in the small town that we visited. Bible stories are not foreign to them, crafts are a regular part of school, and all the other activities that are relatively low-cost just dont' grab the attention of American kids. However, I think that American kids are at least as starved for attention as many Irish children are. Is there not some way that we can reach out to those families HERE who are at the bottom of the social ladder?
After seeing the needs in Ireland, I am more committed than ever to reaching out to the needy in my own community...thus my strengthened commitment at Loving Choices Pregnancy Center.
Now, as regards long-term, I had said previously that I thought that much of the Gospel for Asia philosophy was excellent compared to many more elaborate missions networks. After hearing a missionary to China speak at our church a couple of weeks ago, I have reason to question my previous assumptions. While he did not refer to GFA by name and he didn't really give specific enough descriptions to pin it down to one ministry [EDIT: I think now that he must have been referring to a different ministry; he did explain that the speedy church planting approach was having a devastating impact because believers were not getting the discipleship they needed to reach the maturity that leaders in churches should have. He definitely has a valid point. Scripturally, we know that elders can't be novices...among many other requirements, maturity needs to be something that has been established OVER TIME. The zeal of GFA missionaries is unquestionable and the approach is, I'm sure, helpful...yet we can't continue a worldwide ministry without laborers who are willing to devote themselves to longer-term discipleship.
This post did not turn out to be quite as long as I thought it might be, but anyway...those are my thoughts at the moment, subject to change as I learn more. I'm quite open to discussion, correction, and anything else you might have to offer. What I said above about motives and desires and so forth comes primarily from my own experience with American culture; I may be mistaken about much of the church in America, but what I have seen leads me to believe otherwise. I really do think we tend to make a huge distinction between people abroad and people in our own country, and I think that distinction is often a very superficial one. At the moment, I think I'm "preaching to the choir" because, as far as I can tell, the majority of people who are on my friends list are committed to reaching "the least of these" wherever they are...so, for you, may this be an encouragement to continue in the work that God has given you.
ETA: I'm not down on all short-term missions, by any means...they have their time and place. Even the one to Ireland--people from our church really have built relationships as they return each year. In fact, sometimes people from there come to the U.S. because of those relationships. And as for the ministry itself in Ireland, there really aren't enough believers there to meet all of the spiritual needs!
As I've mentioned previously, I do have some concerns about short-term missions trips as well as the mindset behind many longer-term missions efforts. If you have not read that post, please read it to help you understand what I am about to say. After the trip, I honestly think that many of my criticisms of short-term missions are quite valid. As I talked to the kids in Ireland, I realized that their problems are essentially the same as many of the ones lower-income kids (especially) here face. Oh, the accent is different and the social interaction isn't quite the same, but the needs are very similar. Kids are on drugs there, consuming alcohol, acquiring STDs, being abused by parents or others...nothing is so very different. The rotting teeth, the sores on their faces--I've seen it here, even if perhaps not (always) to the same degree. Why do places like St. Francis House (a medical charity) exist? Because lower-income people have difficulty getting medical care, of course--and that is just the same in Ireland, it appears--at least where we were.
And what, pray tell, is the difference, you ask? Well, the biggest difference I noticed is that we were there. How can I phrase this to communicate what I intend without being offensive? This might sound harsh and I sincerely hope that it is not true (it probably isn't true of this group, but it can be true elsewhere), but we are so comfortable in our American homes that we forget that other people--not so far from our neighborhoods--really are struggling. Now that Katrina has left so much devastation in her wake, we are a little more responsive, but we do often ignore the day-to-day struggles that people face apart from natural disasters. Somehow, it's "different" to associate with the lower classes of a foreign country than it is to find the needy here in our own country. Oh, we have our explanations, excuses like, "But they're abusing the system and they'll only take advantage of us. We'd just be enabling them to continue manipulating." Maybe that's true in a sense, but what we were doing in Ireland wasn't going to make that happen; why couldn't we promote something similar here?
There is actually one huge reason: Because American kids are not nearly as easily entertained as the kids in the small town that we visited. Bible stories are not foreign to them, crafts are a regular part of school, and all the other activities that are relatively low-cost just dont' grab the attention of American kids. However, I think that American kids are at least as starved for attention as many Irish children are. Is there not some way that we can reach out to those families HERE who are at the bottom of the social ladder?
After seeing the needs in Ireland, I am more committed than ever to reaching out to the needy in my own community...thus my strengthened commitment at Loving Choices Pregnancy Center.
Now, as regards long-term, I had said previously that I thought that much of the Gospel for Asia philosophy was excellent compared to many more elaborate missions networks. After hearing a missionary to China speak at our church a couple of weeks ago, I have reason to question my previous assumptions. While he did not refer to GFA by name and he didn't really give specific enough descriptions to pin it down to one ministry [EDIT: I think now that he must have been referring to a different ministry; he did explain that the speedy church planting approach was having a devastating impact because believers were not getting the discipleship they needed to reach the maturity that leaders in churches should have. He definitely has a valid point. Scripturally, we know that elders can't be novices...among many other requirements, maturity needs to be something that has been established OVER TIME. The zeal of GFA missionaries is unquestionable and the approach is, I'm sure, helpful...yet we can't continue a worldwide ministry without laborers who are willing to devote themselves to longer-term discipleship.
This post did not turn out to be quite as long as I thought it might be, but anyway...those are my thoughts at the moment, subject to change as I learn more. I'm quite open to discussion, correction, and anything else you might have to offer. What I said above about motives and desires and so forth comes primarily from my own experience with American culture; I may be mistaken about much of the church in America, but what I have seen leads me to believe otherwise. I really do think we tend to make a huge distinction between people abroad and people in our own country, and I think that distinction is often a very superficial one. At the moment, I think I'm "preaching to the choir" because, as far as I can tell, the majority of people who are on my friends list are committed to reaching "the least of these" wherever they are...so, for you, may this be an encouragement to continue in the work that God has given you.
ETA: I'm not down on all short-term missions, by any means...they have their time and place. Even the one to Ireland--people from our church really have built relationships as they return each year. In fact, sometimes people from there come to the U.S. because of those relationships. And as for the ministry itself in Ireland, there really aren't enough believers there to meet all of the spiritual needs!
