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A both/and mission trip
Something happened to missions in the church. I don’t know if it’s a symptom or a cause (probably both), but you see it in our mission trips. When we returned from Argentina, I was soon invited to go...
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Missions: The Mission Trip Myth
“We went on a mission trip to Mexico.”Translation: We did some Christian service projects in Mexico.“I’ve done missions every summer in China.”Translation: I’ve traveled to China every summer and done...
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Missions: Getting short-changed
We have a nasty habit in the churches of Christ. As I like to say it, we tend to jump on the bandwagon about the time that everyone else is unhitching the horses. We run 10-20 years behind evangelical...
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A missionary rants on short-term missions
I have a love-hate relationship with short-term missions. My wife’s family was converted through a campaign which utilized college students on a short trip. I came to know Argentina and missions on a...
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I’m going on a short-term mission trip
I’m going on a short-term mission trip to Costa Rica. That fact still surprises me, given my ambivalent feelings toward such trips. There’s a lot to like about this trip. On a personal level, I’m...
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How missions trips are like Undercover Boss
I like the show Undercover Boss. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a “reality” show based on an executive in a company assuming a disguise and going to work at different jobs within the company. At the end...
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Short-term missions
I want to spend a little time talking about short-term missions. I recently did a class on “Modern Missions Movements,” and you can’t talk about the current state of missions without talking about...
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Some costs of short-term missions
Short-term missions have taken over the mission efforts of many U.S. churches. The amount of people, time, and resources given to these projects grows every year. Recent studies showed 1.5 million...
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The local impact of short-term missions
As we consider short-term missions, we need to think about the impact such missions can have on the local community. (One landmark work on this subject is the book When Helping Hurts) While our...
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Short-term missions and local Christian leadership
I started this series by recounting some of the positive experiences that I and my family have had with short-term missions. I still have some potential problem areas to look at, so I want to make...
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Misplaced focus of many mission trips
(Let me say again… I’m going to share some criticisms of short-term mission trips. I do that in spite of the positive experiences I’ve had with such. After the criticisms, I want to offer constructive...
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Choosing short-term objectives
We’ve been looking at common problems that arise in short-term missions projects. Now let’s take some time to offer some suggestions. In the first place, I think we need to carefully choose our...
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Training for short-term workers
One common mistake that churches make with short-term groups is to send them out without any training. This is especially true when the focus of the trip is physical labor. The thinking is: we know...
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The one-to-one rule in missions funding
One of the great controversies regarding short-term missions is the impact they have on the funding of long-term works. As the amount of money given to short-term missions grows, that given to...
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Share the wealth (resources) on short term trips.
The other day I mentioned the problems that arise when mission teams bring in materials and resources that aren’t available to the Christians in their host church. This is especially true with kids...
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Short-term missions, long-term relationships
An e-mail comment reminded me of something that needs to be discussed as regards short-term missions: relationships. What happens to the contacts we make while on these trips? First off, if your...
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Debriefing short-term trips
Whether we see our short-term mission trip as primarily an educational experience or mainly an evangelistic outreach, we should try to help participants process what they’ve seen and done. Research...
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