In my previous blog, I introduced the philosophy behind “helping without hurting” and the heart The Hope Project (the ministry I’m working with) has for short-term missions. In this blog, I’m going to talk about the practical ways my squad and I are learning to live that out.
One of the first things that Micah and Melissa, our ministry hosts, challenged us in is our perspective of poverty. THP believes that poverty comes from brokenness within the four main relationships: relationship with God, relationship with self, relationship with others, and relationship with creation. This is actually one of the main foundations of this ministry! Because of this, THP believes that “hand-outs” do more harm than good because they just reinforce cycles of brokenness within the four main relationships.
Micah and Melissa figured a lot of this out through trial and error, so they have a lot of real-life experience to back up their beliefs. Hand-outs are usually the first thing we think of when we think of serving others in a physical way (as opposed to a spiritual way). These can be things like food, money, school supplies, and more. There is a time and place for hand-outs, like in the event of natural disasters where immediate relief is needed. But when it comes to long-term, sustainable poverty alleviation, hand-outs can cause a lot of damage.
Here are a few examples they gave us. When they were starting out in Costa Rica, they used to go into the slums of San José and hand out packages of school supplies to kids. After a while they started to notice that while they did this, the parents would hide, not wanting to watch or talk to the missionaries. Seeing someone else provide things for their kids when they couldn’t do that themselves damaged their self-worth. This reinforced brokenness within their relationships with self and with others. They also noticed early on that if they gave things to the homeless people outside of their community center, the front of the center would usually end up trashed or destroyed. The people didn’t value the things that they were given, because they were free. They didn’t earn them so they didn’t value them and this reinforced brokenness within their relationship with creation.
So what’s a better alternative? In the first example, Micah and Melissa decided to start giving the supplies directly to the schools instead of the families. The kids got the chance to earn the packages by getting good grades. Then, their parents could watch them receive the packages with pride. In the second example, Micah and Melissa decided they would only give away things if the people they were serving were willing to go through the programs THP offered to learn to steward their resources well.
Another thing Micah and Melissa challenged us in is our perspective of the people we’re helping, and our perspective of ourselves as helpers. It can be easy to go on short terms mission trips and focus on all of the brokenness we see before us. We hear it all the time: people come home from a mission trip, and talk about how they’ve never seen so much brokenness or hopelessness before. I’m pretty sure I’ve even said it. But the reality is, just because their lives are different from ours, they’re not as hopeless or helpless as we think they are. And the harder reality is, WE are just as broken as anyone we may encounter.
The Lord did not waste any time revealing brokenness in me when I started the race. As time has gone on, I’ve been learning how important it is to see and acknowledge that brokeness. I don’t think anyone goes into a mission trip consciously thinking that they’re better than the people they’re serving. But if we’re quick to see their brokenness and not to acknowledge our own, we are unconsciously creating that mindset. Once we acknowledge our brokenness and focus on our own walks towards growth and healing, we can learn to better love our neighbors. That’s why THP is big on discipling their “flock” (that’s us!). Before we served anyone, we evaluated where we were in our own four main relationships and made a plan to help us grow.
Additionally, if we see the people that we’re serving as helpless, we completely miss and invalidate the gifts and abilities the Lord has given them! Each person we serve is created in the image of Christ, which means God has a plan and a purpose for each of them. THP’s goal is to reveal that in the people they serve. THP doesn’t believe in enabling but instead believes in empowering others to help themselves by walking alongside them. THAT’S why THP is so relationship-based! (I talked about this more in-depth in my “meet my ministry” blog.)
This is where short-term missions have a problem. It’s hard to do relationship-based ministry when you’re only working with an organization for a week because that’s barely enough time to get to know someone. Even three months isn’t enough. Because of this, THP challenged our perspective of what the point or purpose of a short-term mission trip actually is.
THP believes our goals as short-term missionaries should be:
To Learn – use the experience to further our OWN knowledge and understanding,
To Fellowship – make the community feel heard and known,
To Encourage – encourage and love the long-term missionaries and their efforts as they live and serve in another country.
I wish that I had this mindset going into all my short-term mission trips in the past. Now that my squadmates and I have this mindset as we serve in Costa Rica, we don’t have a ton of big, profound “God moments” that we can share with our friends and families back home. And that’s okay because we don’t need those to know God is working. Instead, we encourage and assist our ministry hosts where needed, we engage with and get to know the community, and we learn SO MUCH. About the culture, about being a missionary, about our walks with the Lord, and so much more. This way, we know we’re helping to create sustainable change.
In my next (and final) blog on this topic, I’m going to talk about how short-term mission trips play a role in sharing the gospel. Thanks for joining in on this conversation!
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”
Isaiah 53:6-7
