Back in 2004/2005 over the Christmas break I went on a short term mission with my local charismatic church (back in the day).

I think both good and bad came out of it (or at least potential for bad, rather than bad). One bad thing is that young students do not take things seriously. There were dozens of times we were in an inch of getting someone in serious trouble because we didn't have the common sense that is lacking in the west. The other thing is we lacked cultural understanding and there was always a feeling we should be happy and positive. Without being boastful I was one of the more keyed in people on the trip and I saw this from the beginning. This is where the good things start to happen.

The good things (and I speak for myself here) were that 1) I learnt the importance of understanding the local culture. I purposefully withdrew throughout the short term mission and focused on learning from the locals rather than going out like the others and thinking I knew it all. 2) I was driven into the belief I should learn a second language. When home from the mission I changed my degree and now speak the language well. 3) My eyes were opened to other cultures and how they see the world. I was no longer than naive-charismatic-everything-is-happy I had been beforehand.

You see here that all the good things were for myself and all the bad things for against the community. For me it was a success story as going on a short term mission persuaded me to get involved in the culture and go back afterwards when I had learnt the language (I subsequently studied there for a year).

That short term mission trip without a doubt was one of the biggest success factors in my life so far. Did it honour God? I don't know. Maybe it has equipped me for more work in the future. Does it work every time? No. Out of eight people I can honestly say that I was the only one who went back home and realized we had to change the way we did things. The others had not looked at their situation and seemed to live on in ignorance.

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Fraser,
Trinity Reformed Baptist Church
Hamilton, New Zealand.

What I don't understand in all this is why the church is spending the money to send folks on short-term trips. If they are so moved to go, tell them to pay their own way. End of problem (for the most part).

I can't believe some of the abuses that have been listed here (and no wonder some of you guys get so ticked off.)

My father has been doing what some might consider "short term" mission trips for years. It is classically short term in that they are only there for a week or two at a time, but they have set up long-term programs (micro-credit unions, the construction of a school, the construction of wells and piping water to locations with poor sanitation conditions, etc.) that they check on and further develop a couple of times a year in their one and two week visits. The village benefitting from each project MUST participate in a significant amount of the labour and must give reports on the use of the previously done work during subsequent visits. These visits are to existing congregations, and do encourage the believers there greatly. I understand the concern shown by some of the Saints here (especially in light of the abuses), but when I see how my father has set up this program, I don't see much to find fault with.

However, for those of you who don't like the idea of dedicating large amounts of resources to low-volume returns, do remember that we who adopt get this same (in principle) criticism: Why spend so much on one child when that $25K will go so much further being given to a group of the poor, there are so many more pressing needs that could be so much better spent...

The usual rejoinder to that is: So when is the last time you gave $25K to world needs/the poor/anyone? Most often, they just stare. (Not saying that anyone here would feel the same way, but it's not a great leap from one to another.)

$.02

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Kevin
Far East
Deacon, Int'l Church

In each of my posts I think it was evident that I was speaking of a particular type of trip. Early on I agreed that there were some that were beneficial when those going had something to offer that could not be obtained locally for far less expense. I stated I would not go because I had nothing of value to offer that couldn't be had cheaper locally. I'm not sure why you have missed those comments, or the entire context of them, but more bewildering is why that would move you to accuse me of racism, class envy, bigotry, and lying
Sir, I can find nothing I posted that is not anything if not straightforward. It appears that everyone else who read them had no problem understanding the meaning, and you are the only one who has engaged in "unnecessary posts and off-topic discussion" while falsely accusing me of sin. I have no idea as to your motives in this, but I have to say that these accusations have been offensive. Taking comments out of context, using fallacious arguments, using them to justify a misplaced scold, and letting fly with false accusations with no evidence of conscience is simply strange behavior for a brother in the Lord.

As for me, I will abstain from any further interaction with you so as to avoid the temptation to sin on both our parts. I have made no accusations against you, and I would ask the same in return.

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Brad
PCA Member
Virginia

Pro 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.

Isa 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

well if a peron is hurt you really can't blame him.

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Joseph P. Grigoletti II
Lay-person
Église Réformée du Québec
Québec, Québec Canada

''Nothing is so sacred that Satan will not invade it. In fact, the more sacred something is, the more he desires to profane it.''
John MacArthur

I went as a mother's helper for six months when I was 16; and I paid my own way. During that time we had a mission team come --it was a tremendous amount of work as regards cooking, cleaning, etc. for them --something the missionary's wife plans for months in advance. The lady told me that one of the happiest sights in life is seeing the back of the van carting them all off to the airport. She wasn't saying this bitterly (she had a great sense of humor), but she did mean it. I think the burden on the missionary's wife ought to be considered in all these trips. Sending a girl for 3 or 6 months is a way to help her in her workload and her isolation. Sending a bunch of kids who need to be cooked and cleaned for, and who go around sight-seeing with her husband while she does the work, is not. Of course she and her husband don't write home and say "The mission team drained us and we are glad they are gone." But it ought to be considered that the wife is very likely to feel this way unless something is done to help her.

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Heidi
Indianapolis, Indiana

After two days, he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.
Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.

Yes, I did the same for a Bible translator when I was 24, and I paid my own way as my principles in the matter have been constant for all these years. Nowadays one can teach literacy without knowing the local language due to phonics based primers, and I was able to assist, and let others evaluate whether or not I would be a good candidate for the mission field. It turned out a negative, but I didn't drain church resources.

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Tim Vaughan, 48 years old, member Redeemer OPC, Santa Maria CA.

I think both Tim and Heidi's posts raise a good question: who is the trip for? Is it, at its core, to help the local populace, be they fellow believers or not, or is it to provide disaffected youth with an "experience"? Visitors must pull their weight or they shouldn't be there. My wife, when she was a teenager, went as a translator for surgeons into the interior in Honduras. To me, that sounds useful and not a mis-use of funds or resources (she was already living in Tegucigalpa, so no plane ticket was needed). Instead, it allowed skilled doctors to work among the rural poor in Central America. There are definitely ways for teens to be useful, but it does seem like many examples given in previous posts are horridly wasteful.

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Kevin
Far East
Deacon, Int'l Church

P.s. Speaking of 2 cents: I just read statistics that on average just 2 cents out of every church dollar goes to missions, all the more reason to have private personspay for short term missions and save this scant 2 cents for a long term missionary among the unreached.

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Pergamum


"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-- David Livingstone

Wow. I'll personally match that two cents, and double it, if the average church would commit to give four :-).

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Heidi
Indianapolis, Indiana

After two days, he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.
Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.

Just a quick note: Brad called out my use of the word "exaggeration" as accusing him of lying by stretching the truth. I did not intend to do this at all. Exaggeration was a poor word choice, and I apologized to Brad for calling him a liar, though it was by no means my intent. I still believe his original posts were too broad in their stereotypes and generalizations, but should not have used the word exaggeration, which implies lying. I apologized to Brad privately, and apologize to anyone else was offended by this.

I realize we had a somewhat heated exchange on this topic, and while I stand by my posts, I did not mean to inflame the situation or make things personal. I believe Brad is a good guy with serving Christ as his goal in life, and did not mean to imply otherwise. I do strongly disagree with his original posts, but do not wish to impugn his character at all. The great thing about being brothers and sisters in Christ is that we can disagree (sometimes vehemently) on various issues, but still be unified in Him...

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Mason
Member, Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA)
New York, NY

"Come now, and let us reason together," says the Lord, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool." - Isaiah 1:18

p.s. I am offering a short term trip to those who are really serious and open to coming out and seeing my country - the last week of January to the 2nd week of February. The objectives would not be to help me, I am actually going to "vacation" that week and help out the local church planting team. But this is an opportunity to go to the villages, see the work and committ to a time of intense praying and use this opportunity sort of like a spiritual retreat. Ideal for college agers who want to serve long term but need a confirmation. Pre-reading and post-reading and elder mentorship would be advised.

Do you see anything wrong with this?

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Pergamum


"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-- David Livingstone

Thank you Mason. We are brothers. We do disagree. I believe I speak from a more real experience, you can do with that what you will.

I do take issue with one thing in particular that you said in the post above; I am not by any stretch of the imagination a good guy. Any good that anyone sees in me is only a reflection of Christ in me, and that is present only by the grace of our Father overwhelming the seemingly constant effort on my part to the contrary. I do appreciate the sentiment, however.

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Brad
PCA Member
Virginia

Pro 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.

Isa 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

People take vacations for any number of reasons, usually to pursue something that interests them in one way or another. To take a vacation to learn more about a particular ministry or mission is in my unimportant opinion a fine thing to do. To call it a "mission trip", to ask for donations to finance it, or especially to deduct the cost thereof for tax purposes, is in that same worthless opinion, improper.

Spiritual retreat, study vacation, or whatever you might call it, sounds good to me But if I were to do that, I would finance it entirely myself to avoid a misrepresentation of its purpose, to refrain from diminishing the import of true missions (like what you and Mary and others here do), and to not waste Church funds that otherwise could be used for real ministry. Just my opinion.

Have fun with it, Pergs.

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Brad
PCA Member
Virginia

Pro 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.

Isa 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

I came across this thread after returning from a one week mission trip to Quito Ecuador.

The early comments that carried through much of the thread read like the pragmatic proclamations of an MBA ”bean counter” looking for the best “return on investment” for the next quarterly financial statement.

Riveroaks Reformed Presbyterian Church probably spent between $35,000 and $40,000 to send 21 youth and adults to Quito for a week to work on a roof for Sowers of Christ Church and lead a VBS program.

When we arrived at the Sowers of Christ Church, the outside walls for the back half of the second floor were done and ready for a roof. There was the rebar for two beams across the building in place but not completed. When we left all the needed rebar work was done and the base of the form for the concrete slab was in place. Also 9 tons of gravel and 9 tons of sand had been moved from the street to the second floor. All this was done while working closely with the members of that church. A couple of days after we left the concrete was poured.

Perhaps the money spent could have paid for a local crew to do the work. For that amount the local crew probably could have completed the entire second floor and perhaps a significant portion of the third floor. But like many government programs that just throw money at a problem, the “beneficiaries” would become more dependent on outsiders and less self sufficient.

But it did not stop there.

1. A culture that does not value young children saw them being valued and loved. Bonds were formed that made it hard to leave.

2. A pastor learned by example how to reach out to young children, which in turn brought their parents into church to hear the Gospel.
3. A culture that looks down on the handicapped, saw a girl with one hand do just as much as the others in the bucket brigade.

4. Two of the translators, a daughter of one of the PCA mission team’s national partners and a non-Christian cousin, spent a night with the girls at the guest house. From this the non-Christian girl learned about “good clean fun.” More importantly she was brought from having no interest in God to being open to the Gospel.

5. The RRPC team grew as a family as bonds were formed between members who previously were just faces passing in the hall.

6. Several of the youth are already planning on returning for a summer internship and at least one is considering going into full time missions after college.

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Soli Deo Gloria

John Schultz
Member, Riveroaks Reformed Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Germantown, TN

"The reason why we worship God in a slight way is because we do not see God in His glory"
Jeremiah Burroughs

Glad you had a good trip. IN your opinion, what long term benefits will be had for both those who went and those on the ground who were helped?

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Pergamum


"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-- David Livingstone

Brother, I hate to throw a wet blanket on your excitement, but you opened it up for examination. Let's look at these things from a perspective of reality, not "bean counting". The group spent almost $2000 per American teenager to put a roof on a building in Ecuador. According to the CIA World Fact Book, the average per capita income in Ecuador is $7200 annually, so this trip cost on average the annual earnings of 5 Ecuadoreans. That's FIVE YEARS of earnings to partially complete a roof and what else?

1. Regardless of the Ecuadorean culture's view of children, there is no reason to insinuate that Ecuadorean Christians share that view. Most likely they don't; us American Christians by no means share American culture's view of children, and we certainly don't need Ecuadorean Christians spending exorbitant amounts of money to come teach us not to. Why would they need Americans to do so? That seems an arrogant presumption.

2. Why would a Christian Pastor need a bunch of inexperienced and spiritually immature American teenagers at exorbitant expense to teach him to reach out to young children? The Word is not sufficient? The Holy Spirit needs that kind of expensive and inexperienced help?

3. Again, it seems presumptious to assume that just because Ecuadorean culture doesn't value the handicapped, that Ecuadorean Christians don't, and therefore need a $2000 (more than a 3 months average salary) example to show them better.

4. The expenditure of 3 months salary to teach an unbelieving American teen that they can have "good clean fun" and be exposed to the gospel.

5. An American Church needs to spend $40,000 and embarrass their less financially blessed Ecuadorean brethren by sending inexperienced kids to work on their Church building so they can learn to love each other as they ought? That says some sad things about that Church.

6. Several and one. Why must they fly down on a glorified vacation to be motivated to the mission field? They don't believe the written reports from missionaries already in the field?

Now, if those involved want to be honest and call this an 'experience' vacation, use only their personal funds rather than Church money, not deduct any costs from their taxes, that would seem just fine. But if they really wanted to help their Ecuadorean brethren build their Church both physically and spiritually, they could have sent $30-35,000 and probably built two buildings, and used the balance for a real missionary to come put on a video presentation of real mission work and a game night and accomplished all the benefits that accrued to the congregants and their unbelieving friend.

Try to think about it. Have you ever been a part of a financially strapped American Church seeking to build or improve an existing facility? This would be the equivalent of say a Swedish congregation sending 20 kids to partially roof their building at a cost of $229,000 (5 times the average American income of $45,800), who would likely do a terrible job, and would want to teach you and your fellow members how to appreciate kids and the handicapped. You might feel a tad demeaned by that, on top of having to host a bunch of kids and their parents who would be looking down on your culture and wanting to teach you better, all the while chauffered around in the equivalent of limousines and eating the equivalent of caviar.

American arrogance is legendary in the third world. These types of "mission trips" do nothing to help that image among third world Christians, who contrary to popular opinion, likely tend to walk closer with the Lord than we do, due to the adversities they face.

I think perhaps most Americans don't have any idea they are behaving in arrogance. They buy into the American delusion of their own superiority without even knowing it. But Christians it sems to me should rise above that mentality. After all, both American and Ecuadorean Christians are citizens of a city whose builder and maker is God.

I don't mean to offend, brother, but I do want to be honest and realistic.

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Brad
PCA Member
Virginia

Pro 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.

Isa 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

So Brad, since this trip already happened - what things can be done to minimize the "damage" and use this experience for good?

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Pergamum


"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-- David Livingstone

I don't know that anything could or should be done. I simply strongly disagree with this form of "missions". I view it as imminently wasteful of Church resources, using our foreign brothers as an embarassing gazingstock to make up for inadequate parenting and Church teaching, and burdensome to real missionaries while diverting needed resources of time and money away from their important work.

Another issue that is akin to the "shaming of them that have not" towards the indigenous Christians is what about those in the American congregation who can't afford to send their little darlings along? Those teens and their parents are not going to feel too very included in this sort of thing. I've seen exactly that, and I believe it engenders division within the Church. The ones who can't go feel like outsiders, and the ones who do go tend to separate out of a sense of exclusive shared experience and perhaps an uneasiness at being around those who aren't able. It tends to economically stratify the Church on many levels - among the kids, among the parents, and between Americans and our foreign brethren.

I don't know when or where these things got started, but I don't think they are in any way healthy for the body of Christ at home or abroad. But that's just my personal opinion.

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Brad
PCA Member
Virginia

Pro 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.

Isa 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.