This month we served with Adullam Ministries. This ministry seeks to help young men and women escape a life of drug abuse, prostitution and other harmful behaviors. The name of the ministry is fitting in that it references where David took his men during hard times, or times where they needed rest. In 1 Sam 22:1-2 we read,
“David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.”
These young men and women certainly understand what a life of distress, debt, and bitterness entails. Some of the kids have had harder lives that most of us can imagine.
Madison and I spend most of our month with the boys. These means we would spend 4-6 hours a day playing basketball, chess, eating together, and rapping. The boys loved to rap and were really good. We had the best time, and this has been one of my favorite months on the race. On our last day the boys gave us notes (most of mine simple said “your wife is so beautiful!”), rapped a song about us that they made, and they each stood up and personally thanked us. It was sentimental to say the least, and some of the boys were weeping as they said goodbye. It was miserable, there was a moment where I was standing to the side looking at these boys sing worship songs, as they were crying and grieving a goodbye. As I stood there I thought “how terrible is this!” Most of these kids have terrible home lives, if they have one at all, and here we are coming into their lives for just a moment, only to leave.
Later on, I was reminded of the critiques short-term missions has had in recent decades. There are many articles and books that point out the many flaws in short-term missions.
- Short-term missionaries build superficial relationships
- They spend millions of dollars to go when they should just send money
- The take jobs from locals
- They can be egocentric in their methods
- The try to replace culture with the “western way”
There are many other critiques that have come from short-term missions, and as I stand there and watch these boys weep I am reminded that maybe we are doing more harm than good. The staff had a structure in place, and we all working hard to help the boys through their rehabilitation process. We came in and partnered with them. We helped them do chores, we would stop them when they started to fight, we would ask them not to curse, and we would include them all in whatever we were doing. Then we left. It was a very difficult goodbye, and none of us could have expected them to break down the way they did. We left. When we got back to the home we were staying in, we just stood in the door way for a few minutes. We prayed, we prayed the God would break the cycle of addiction in their lives, we prayed that they would turn to God, we prayed that they would become leaders in their families and communities, and we prayed that they would hold on to the hope found in Jesus Christ. These are all things we have talked with them about and prayed over them. I remember standing in the door way thinking what this month was about, did we just mess up their process towards sobriety, and how do we reconcile watching eight young men weep as we walk out the door.
I recently read the book Radical, and the author David Platt deals with some of the same concerns. He contemplated whether it would be better to just send money to empower the locals who would do a better job that an American could.
David Platt takes a short term mission trip to Sudan. A local missionary there says to him, “Even in light of all these things that people have given us, do you want to know how you an tell who a true brother is?”, “A true brother comes to be with you in your time of need”
He continues by saying, “Tears welled up in my eyes as the reality of the gospel hit home with me in an entirely new way. I was immediately reminded that when God chose to bring salvation to you and me, he did not send gold or silver, cash or check. He sent himself- the Son… If we are going to accomplish the global purpose of God, it will not be primarily through giving ourselves. This is what the gospel represents, and its what the gospel requires.”
He concludes that Jesus came to earth. In the whole old testament, we see God working though the prophets and speaking through rather unique situations. When history was at its worse, Jesus came to earth. He came to live with the people, to spend time with them in their distress. He came to set the captives free from their debt, and he replaced bitterness with joy. He came and shared his love, he taught people how to walk in his light, and then he left. But he gave his Holy Spirit to comfort them and help them. I can imagine that the disciples were sad, and really struggled after Jesus left, but as the book of Acts shows their time with Jesus empowered them to build the first church. During our time with the boys we shared testimonies of how some of us overcame difficulties in our own lives. They were amazed, and we able to grasp on to the possibilities of them overcoming their addictions. It would be one thing to send them money, or empower the locals. But it is another thing to travel across the world to meet them in their needs to encourage them through shared life experience. The boys continually said we will never for get you, and one of the boys couldn’t stop saying thank you. When we first got their the boys would hardly pay attention when we prayed, and by the time we left each one would continue praying after we said amen. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. I will never forget these boys, and the ministry we worked with. Our goodbye was hard, but I truly believe these young men have seen a life lived with Christ and will be able to overcome their addictions. Thank you Adullam ministries for the work you are doing in countless boys and girls lives.
“We owe Christ to the world—to the least person and to the greatest person, to the richest person and to the poorest person, to the best person and to the worst person. We are in debt to the nations.”
David Platt, Radical
