In the American church when you think of missions you usually think about a two week missions trip to somewhere really desolate, building a church or putting on a VBS. These trips are highly beneficial and even Biblical. Sometimes they can be really effective and some times they can be damaging.
Short term mission trips are highly beneficial for the individual. It gives them new perspective by experiencing a different culture. I went to Kenya when I was nine and it changed my view of the world a lot to see all the poverty and then to come back to privileged America. Usually short term missions shows people how much they have and then they come back more generous.
They are also beneficial because for some strange reason going all the way across the world brings you a lot closer to God. I think this is true because you take a period of time and devote it to serving and spending time with God. For me whenever I have gone on a mission trip I feel really close to God because for two weeks “real life” stops and then we can make the space we SHOULD have for God.
We know that short term mission trips are biblical because of Paul’s and Jesus’ ministries. Paul would go town to town making relationships with people and churches. We see that a lot through his letters. In Act 19 it mentions one of his trips, “And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples.” He always would have long term contact which is very important for short term missions to have. Short term missions aren’t effective at all if there is not something that will sustain the work you did longer then you are there.
When Jesus sent out the disciples to the nations He gave them instructions to go town to town and share the good news. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20). In Act it also references going into towns with nothing and taking shelter with strangers. Short term mission trips are referenced all through out the Bible.
I have had amazing experiences on short term mission trips and have been wrecked by the power of God. It was really powerful for me to experience a mission trip at 9 years old. That really changed a lot of my future decisions. The thing about short term missions that really makes me hesitate if they are more helpful then hurtful is the relationship that you make with the locals. I was just in Cambodia for two months and met some of them most incredible people. I poured into these 10 year olds every day for two months. The ministry will continue to go on and the ministry host is amazing but I still don’t think it is good for those kids hearts to have people come in and out of their lives all the time. I have done some work with refugee kids recently and one of the most important thing for them is constancy. I think that is true in doing most ministries, we need constancy. They need constancy because they have never had a constant in their lives. I believe that constancy is a big part of what God calls us to be, because his love is never ending. It was so painful to leave my five best 10 year old friends in Cambodia and I don’t know if the physical sadness of me leaving out weighed the things that I taught them. That is the only thing that really makes me hesitate with short term missions.
Short term missions is biblical and practiced by two of the most influential men in the Bible, Paul and Jesus. We are called to go into the nations and share the name of Jesus and I believe that happens during short term missions. They are most beneficial when you pour into the long term missionaries or you build some thing tangible for the community to continue growth. Short term missions are helpful if you do things that will sustain after you are gone. They can be dangerous if they are done wrong. We are clearly called to go into the world and do missions. I just think there is a high stigma on local missions but we need to stop separating the two. Missions is missions and we should stop separating missions from life. We should always live on mission and walk as Jesus called us to walk.
