short-term missions: part 5

Copyright Josh Cooper 2008.
Here's a recap of previous posts on the legitimacy of short-term missions.

1. Introduction

2. Individual Level

3. Leadership Level

4. Denominational Level

This post is the fifth and final installment in this series. This post focuses on the legitimacy of short-term missions from the recipient's perspective, specifically from a Thai perspective, as well as some final thoughts.

The International Level
In this section, the analysis of this issue is based on information gathered from email “interviews.” The interviewees were Thai Christians from several backgrounds: pastors, lay persons, seminary students and lay church members, most of them do ministry or attend a church in Bangkok, the most influential area of Christianity in Thailand.

Christianity in Thailand was started from 1828 by groups of missionary that went there at that time such as The American Board of Missionaries, the groups of Presbyterian missionary, and the American Baptists. However, the Christian population in Thailand has not grown as fast as some other Asian countries like China, Singapore, Hong Kong, or Taiwan. In Thailand, the majority of the population is the Buddhist (94.5%). The rest of the population is Muslim (4.6%), and only 0.7% is Christian (Setabutr 2008).

In asking how Thai Christians understand the meaning of the word “mission,” their answers have some similarities: they think, for example, that mission is “groups of people who go and share the gospel in the place to which God sends them,” “planning a church and proclaiming the gospel to people,” “going and sharing the good news long-term with a clear vision from God,” and “the one who is sent to share the gospel.” As such, Thai Christians tend to understand the word “mission” in the sense of “an evangelistic program”; namely, they tend to not define church activities such as social services, political or ecological movements as mission, but rather their primary thought about mission is the programs or activities about witnessing or sharing the gospel. In addition, most of interviewees agree that the goal of “mission trips” should correspond to the goal of “mission.” Therefore, potentially when the church starts the program called “mission trip,” they are going to do evangelism. Lay church members automatically understand in the same way.

Hence, we can draw two thoughts from this interview: 1) it seems like in the Thai church the word “mission” tends to be understood strictly as an evangelistic activity, and 2) the understanding of the word “mission” influences the character of the program called “mission trips” of the church. However, the very good thing that we learn from this interview is the thought that just considering the fact that the Thai Christians understand and define the word “mission” in a narrow way (strictly evangelism) it does not prevent the Thai church from living its life as a church in missio Dei.

When we have seriously considered all of the answers to the a about the benefit of mission, we can tell that there are many beautiful things which they do in mission trips that correspond to the content of mission. Many of them said that mission trips benefit the church in several ways such as: “mission trips help communities see a church in different way,” “mission trip provides a good chance to share the vision to other members, and receive the support (prayer or money) from them,” “mission trips benefits member to learn to serve others,” “even if the mission trip is just a short-term, it helps people to learn to be a servant.” There was a Christian lady who said, “mission trips help members in the team know and serve each other more than usual, and when they came back, the experiences from mission trip also motivated them more to serve God in other areas of church ministry.”

According to the responses of Thai Christians, the most interesting conclusion is that even though those Christians in Thai church do not hold a full understanding of mission and mission trips, and even though some people go on mission trips without ever having thought about “the mission of God,” God is still in charge and able to use His people to fulfill His purpose in saving the world. As such, we humans can never boast that we, by our wisdom, strength, and money, can accomplish missio Dei without the might, love, mercy, and sovereignty of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Making “mission trips” more legitimate and beneficial
Mission is a privilege for the church. Probably the best starting thought that the church should have in mind to make “mission trips” legitimate and beneficial is to not think that all members in the team must know perfectly the meaning of missio Dei, but surely they must have the passion to do it. In addition, the fact that participants must never forget is that people cannot accomplish mission without God; God knows human weakness, foolishness, and fallibility, but through all human imperfection, God still accomplish His mission. However, although God does not need the sinful men to help Him save the world, He grants them the privilege, He chooses them to be His people and be an important part of His mission.

In the article Mission Dei by Tormod Engelsviken, there is a powerful statement mentioning about the mission and the church, “‘the mission, and with it the church, is God’s very own work.’ Both the church and mission of the church are ‘tools of God, instruments through which God carries out His mission” (Engelsviken 2003). According to this statement, the church, by nature is the tool that God made and want to use in His missional purpose. Therefore, this should not be overemphasized to repeat again that the church must always realize its identity, origin and purpose.

Mission trip is not a program, but the life living in the Spirit- Paul Jeffrey noted that “there is a downside (of mission trips). North Americans often come seeking the emotional rewards of hands-on involvement rather than a way to make an investment in long-term empowerment” (Jeffery 2008). Though mission trips are one of the good strategies for Christians to learn the mission of God, mission trips must not be consider a short-term Christian life’s reward or a way to gain God’s favor. The mission trip is one part in a whole process of life living in the Spirit. To think that mission trip is the ultimate goal is not a healthy thought, but the church must proclaim to all members clearly that a mission trip is one in many steps in life of the followers who commit their lives for serving Jesus in a whole life process.

Of course, merely realizing its identity and purpose would not be enough to be a good missional tool unless the church and its members as a whole submit to live faithfully to according what Jesus taught and exemplified in the gospel, take faith into action, and serve the needs of people.

Mission trips are not just evangelistic programs- There are many marvelous things happening in the time that the church of God walks faithfully in a full obedience to its call. For example, even though someone participates in mission trips just to share their wealth, when they go and touch other people in desperate situations, possibly they would see God’s hand on those people and receive unexpectedly passion through those situations. One of Thai Christians shared his experiences in mission trip that “the mission trip is useful in many ways such as opening people’s mind to see the reality of life, help people to learn to work as a team, building up relation, and opening a chance to discover a new potential in life.” Moreover, one golden chance that mission trips provide to the church is the chance to find “the missional leader.” The leader in the missional church plays the significant role in leading the church to the will of God in the world. This is the principle that Apostle Paul emphasized obviously in Ephesians 4; the church is the body comprising of many organs, the church would be healthy if those organs (its leaders) function properly. However, the meaning of the leader as mentioned in Ephesians is not the one who is served, but the one who serves others. He or she is therefore the servant of God who is willing to serve and be all kinds of people in order to save people (1 Cor.9:19-23).

Mission trips, the task of the whole church, not the individual- One bad thought in the postmodern era that the church should be aware of is the trend of individualism. There are some benefits to having freedom to participate in other missional projects outside their church projects. However, the follower of Christ who has a real passion for mission must know that he/she cannot separate himself/herself from the church. Even though the individual one can do an excellent job in the name of God, the individualistic person will never uphold the mission of the church unless he or she gives up his/her personal sake, and comes to work in unity with other folks in their church congregation. Individualism is not the way of missional church. As Lesslie Newbigin said, salvation from God is “universal to all”; simultaneously it contains a sense of “particularity.” Namely, salvation is an interpersonal thing that humanity receives in the sense of being-in-relatedness; salvation that relates directly to God, but also can never be separated from the church community (Newbigin1978).

Conclusions
Certainly, as we take note of the amount of time, money, and energy being spent on short-term mission teams we see that they are increasingly becoming a part of North American church culture, and a significant part of North American missions and missions in other parts of the world. As future church leaders, each of us will undoubtedly be some way involved in STMTs during our ministries. This involvement may be as a participant, planner, sender, or receiver. Regardless of our role, it will be necessary to assess the potential effectiveness of such trip(s), to discern how to maximize their benefits, and how to avoid their potential pitfalls. The present paper, and our research activities behind it, will be of great benefit in achieving each of these.

From our interviews, STMTs show a potential to help participants develop a greater attitude of humble servitude. Further, participants can exhibit this attitude not only while on these trips, but also when they return to their home context. STMTs also seem to advance other aspects of participant’s faith and spiritual development. Unfortunately, these positive gains are often not enduring. Many times, people who experience a “spiritual high” while on a STMT lose that passion when they are again immersed in their home setting.

Another common benefit of STMTs seen in our research is that, when cross-cultural, they can help participants gain a greater understanding and appreciation of a culture other than their own. This can help participants to have a greater appreciation of the global church. In addition, when the STMT takes place in a two thirds-world country, participants have an opportunity to see what conditions are like in the majority world’s population. However, our study has also shown that if a trip is not carefully planned, and the receiving culture is not properly understood, participants can come away with a distorted view of other cultures. In such a situation, relations between the sending and receiving churches/groups can be strained. Conversely, we have seen that well-planned STMTs can foster positive relationships between participants and receivers, amongst participants, and between short-term and long-term mission workers. In fact, the development of relationships was often cited as one of the most beneficial aspects of STMTs.

There are many positive and negative aspects of STMTs, many more than we discuss here. However, studying these positive and negative aspects has given us a number of things to consider while planning for legitimate and beneficial STMTs. These considerations include:

•STMTs should be one part of a life of mission, rather than an isolated experience

•An attitude of humility is necessary when embarking on a STMT

•Pre and post-trip activities such as orientation/preparation and follow-up/debriefing are necessary to maximize effectiveness

•Participants and planners must consider and respond appropriately to differences in sending and receiving cultures

•Participants and planners must be careful with how teaching and evangelizing are done in the receiving culture as Scripture, and how it relates to varied worldviews, is different in different cultures

•There is a need to be intentionally dependent on the Holy Spirit to formulate, empower and sustain these trips

When considering if STMTs are in fact missional, we concluded that like so many other aspects of church life, it all depends on how, and with what attitude they are executed. STMTs seem to be prone to being lopsided, more about the need and goals of those going than about those in the receiving culture. In addition, STMTs can be, at times, very ineffective because of inappropriate attitudes or poor preparation. In such cases, one would certainly conclude that STMTs are not effective at furthering the Kingdom of God. However, STMTs can be done in such a way as to facilitate growth amongst both participants and receivers. Hearts are changed and blessed in participants, receivers, and even long-term mission workers. In such cases STMTs are missional.

Endnotes
Paul Jeffrey. Short-Term Mission Trips. (Publish by The Christian Century foundation) www.christiancentury.org (accessed Nov 3, 2008).

Kurt Allen Ver Beek. 2006. “The Impact of Short-Term Missions: A Case Study of House Construction in Honduras after Hurricane Mitch,” Missiology 34 (October 2006): 478.

Robert J. Priest, Terry Dischinger, Steve Rasmussen, C.M. Brown, “Researching the Short-Term Mission Movement,” Missiology 34 (October 2006): 432.

A. Scott Moreau, Editor, Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books), 873-4.

Guder, Darrell. Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998.

Van Engen, Charles. You Are My Witnesses: Drawing from Your Spiritual Journey to Evangelize Your Neighbors. New York, NY: Reformed Church Press, 2007.

Brueggemann, Walter. Hope for the World: Mission in a Global Context. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001.

Friesen, Randy . "The Long-term Impact of Short-term Missions." Evangelical Missions Quarterly 41, no. 4 (2005): 448-57.

Dohn, Michael and Anita. “Short-term Medical Teams: What They Do Well...and Not So Well.” Evangelical Missions Quarterly 42, no. 2 (2006): 216-227.

Livermore, David. Serving with Eyes Wide Open: Doing Short-term Missions with Cultural Intelligence. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2006.

Edwin Zehner, “Short-Term Missions: Toward a More Field-Oriented Model,” Missiology 34 (October 2006): 510.

Helen Lee, “Missional Shift or Drift?” Leadership, Fall 2008: 28.

RCA representatives were: Roger De Young, Coordinator of mission development and Jay Harsevoort, Coordinator for Volunteers. CRC representatives were: Norma Coleman-James, Special Project Director of the CRC, and Mary Dykstra, Volunteer Coordinator with the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC). Unless otherwise noted, all quotes regarding denominational perspectives come from these sources.

Taken directly from an RCA document entitled “Discipling All Nations, The Global Mission of the Reformed Church in America into the Twenty-First Century” emailed by Roger De Young.

The Reformed Church in Mission 2006. Reformed Church Press.

Taken directly from an RCA document entitled “Discipling All Nations, The Global Mission of the Reformed Church in America into the Twenty-First Century” emailed by Roger De Young.

Harsevoort, Jay. 2008. Mission Trips: A New Beginning. RCA Today. On-line edition found at: http://www.rca.org/Page.aspx?pid=3888

Ver Beek, Alan. The Impact of Short-term Missions: A Case study of House construction in Honduras after Hurricane Mitch. Missiology: An International Review, Vol. XXXIV, no. 4, October. p 481.

Richter, Don C. 2008. Mission Trips that Matter: Embodied Faith for the Sake of the World. The Upper Room. Nashville, Tennessee. p. 12.

Newbigin, Lesslie. The Open Secret. Wm. B. Eerdmans. Grand Rapids, MI. p. 65.

Noranit Setabutr. Buddhism in Thailand. (Published by the World Buddhist University) http://www.buddhanet.net (accessed Oct 2, 2008).

Tormod Engelsviken. “Missio Dei: The Understanding and Misunderstanding of a Theological Concept in European Churches and Missiology.” International Review of Mission, Vol. XCII, No. 367 O 2003, p.482.

Paul Jeffrey. Short-Term Mission Trips. (Publish by The Christian Century foundation) www.christiancentury.org (accessed Nov 3, 2008).