What's in your Wallet?

Recently the question "What's in your wallet?" has become known as the advertising slogan Capital One and their multitude of charge cards.  This got me to thinking...

Over the years missions work and by extension missionaries have changed.

Years ago when a missionary for Jesus left the shores of his or her home country, the friends, family and church of that person held a wake or funeral.  Because of the difficulty of travel, likelihood of disease or danger striking, and short life spans in general, everyone knew it was not see you later, but goodbye.

When that person landed in his new land he set out to make new friends, build or find a house and put down roots.  His first task was to become part of the community he was sent to serve.  Locals saw a commitment to be part of them and this was a major step in the advancement of the Gospel around the globe.

For whatever other shortcomings we can now trace to bad missions work, the emphasis that we had on becoming part of the community we were serving was and is not one of them.

Sadly, we are quickly leaving this attitude behind, and it is not just in the short-term world.

Recently I was in Mexico City and was greeted by a US Missionary.  Like me, he has been serving in Mexico for 20 years.  He married a beautiful Mexican woman, his kids were born in Mexico and he helps pastor a church in a small colonia of about 4000 people hidden among 22 million other inhabitants.

He also lives where Mexicans live.  His house is typical for his area, his neighbors are all Mexican, and he is not dreaming of the day he will be coming back to the states. Clearly he has given his heart to Mexico and her people.

Too bad my experiences with Rod, whose blog you can read here,  are not typical.

I asked a good friend years ago why he was serving in Kenya.  Was there a specific call or experience that led him there?  "No" he answered, "there was just an opening."  When I asked him where he lived, he said he lived where the other missionaries lived... in a small gated community.

I have regularly sat and listened as US based missionaries on home leave make jokes and mock the country where they are serving.  It breaks my heart because if the people who our churches send to be "like Jesus" cannot be counted on to be an advocate for the country they are serving, who can?

I wonder if our desire to commit our lives, and indeed our hearts, to another country is just another relic of a bygone age.  I wonder if if our inability, or unwillingness to give our lives wholeheartedly to another country and people is hurting our missionary focus.

Short-term mission is here to stay.  As surely as the monarch butterfly migrates each year and the swallows return to Capistrano, thousands of people will annually leave the shores of the US to serve in other countries.  They will go through the rituals of getting prepared, making sure their to do list is all covered.

And then they will make one final switch sometime before they arrive on site.  They will take their US money out of their wallet and replace it with the currency of the country they are going to serve.

That's the reality.

I just wish we could switch our hearts as easily to that country.

A few years back I asked my wife out to dinner.  I was pretty embarrassed when the check came.  But it wasn't because I had no money.  It was because I had the wrong money.  I was loaded with Mexican pesos.  My wife wasn't surprised, having learned long ago that Mexico had become my adopted country.

When Alec Baldwin asks in that Capital One commercial what's in your wallet, he isn't even aware of how profound that question is.

When I think about a new generation of missionaries traveling around the globe to replace the fossils of the current missionary age like me, I hope and pray that their answer to Alec's question is not Capital One or dollars.

I want to hear dinar, pesos, yen, cuna, quetzal and rupees.

Because the first step in joining the community you are going to serve in knowing where your heart is.  That's why when Tim Dearborn, author of Beyond Duty, asked a Haitian Pastor what someone must do to be a good missionary to Haiti, the simple answer he received was "Love Haitians!"

Missions is about heart.

What's in your wallet?

The Real Work of Short-Term Mission... reflecting on the journey for long-term impact...

Your church group has just returned from a fantastic mission trip to some far-flung corner of the world, or from someplace much closer to home.

But once people get home, CNN, Twitter, soccer, school, work, and church activities have a way of crowding out the spiritual focus that, just a few days earlier, seemed certain to shape their lives.

That’s why it’s important to have an effective debriefing plan in place even before leaving home.

Roger Peterson, author of Maximum Impact Short-Term Mission and one of the founders of the Fellowship of Short-Term Mission Leaders [FSTML] says that the debriefing process, a time of reflection after your short-term mission, is more important than the actual mission. While not discounting the work that’s been accomplished, real life change comes as people return home and reflect on their experience.

Over the years I have served alongside thousands of people on mission trips in Mexico and attended countless conferences sponsored by denominations and mission organizations. Here’s what I have learned: the most effective people in God’s kingdom are the ones who take seriously the need to stop, reflect, and consider what God is saying to them through their mission.

Tim Dearborn, director of faith and development at World Vision International, says that in order for people to really gain insight from this debriefing time, they need to know what to look for. This means letting your team know ahead of time what you expect of them on their return.

Here then, are ten potential debriefing questions adapted from Tim Dearborn and Dr. David Livermore, author of Serving with Eyes Wide Open. Share them with your team before you leave, and then make sure you carve out time upon your return to reflect on them.

1. What did I learn about myself on my short-term mission?

2. What did I learn about God?

3. What did I learn about the people, the church, and the Christian community in the area where I served?

4. What did I learn about how culture impacts the ways people live and understand the gospel?

5. What did I learn about justice, economics, poverty, and politics during my short-term mission?

6. As a follower of Christ, what did I learn that can help me be a more fully devoted disciple?

7.How might my faith be different if I had grown up where I was serving, as opposed to in my home community?

8. What did I learn or experience that will change the way I live and represent Jesus in my home community and church?

9. What have I learned about my own Christian calling?

10. How can I continue to support the ongoing work in the area where I served?

There you have it. Ten questions to consider as your team returns to your home church. But let me go one step further and give you a bonus question: What difference would it make if you lived each day with the same intensity and focus on Jesus and others as you did on your mission? And then ask your team this follow-up question: What keeps you from living life at that level now?

For most of us, the lessons learned from serving on short-term mission trips may take years to fully grasp.

But that’s okay. It’s a journey.