Missional? Yes! Missionary? Maybe Not... despite the rhetoric, not everyone is called to be a missionary...

Being a missionary is hard work.

Maybe that’s why not everyone is not called to be a missionary.

Please hear me out on this before you dismiss me as not knowing what I am talking about or as someone who is going to undermine your preaching that we are all called to go, evangelize and make disciples of all the nations.

I believe that everyone in the Kingdom is called to be missional in this great world of ours.  It is my sincere belief that God has set apart the church, in whatever way you understand it, to be living examples of His hands, His feet, and His skin.  All of us are called to be about Christian relationship, community and love in this broken world
where we live.

However, that does not mean everyone is called to be the ends of the earth kind of person that leaves his or her home, gets on a plane and travels to some f
ar off land to proclaim this truths to other cultures.

I have served in Mexico for over 20 years.  For those of you who are not aware, Mexico has historically served as some sort of gateway mission drug for the US church.  Since Carolyn Koons of Azusa Pacific University essentially jump started the short-term mission industry almost 50 years ago, millions of people from the United States have gone to our neighbor south of the border on mission to help “evangelize” people.

I was one of those millions and a little over 20 years ago, I Co-founded an organization called Adventures in Life to facilitate short-term work in Mexico.  Like many back in the day, I got my first taste of what I thought was being a missionary in Baja California.  Our ministry also started just north of Ensenada, in a little area called La Misión.

Over those 20 years I have become pretty good at navigating the local culture, proudly feeling comfortable moving from one part of the country to another.  It did not matter if I was enjoying a fish taco with friends in Ensenada or building a greenhouse with my Christian brothers in Oaxaca, I was at peace and content.  Frequently I have been told, by Christians and non-Christians alike that alongside my love for Christ, I had the heart and soul of a Mexicano.

One night recently I found myself on a road to a new area of Oaxaca.  I did not choose this area, rather God sent me there, using some respected ministry partners to issue that call.

After a long ride, we arrived late in the city of Tlaxiaco, tired and hungry.  When we called our hosts for the week, we were told where to meet and soon found ourselves seated in a blue painted taco stand.  As plate after plate of food was being brought to the table, Roberto, our host, told us to eat, that the food was not simply there to be admired.

The extrañeros with me, one a Christian from another area of Oaxaca and Brother Joe Ramirez from San Diego were digging it.  Great food, new friends and lots of stories to share and to hear.  As relationships were reignited my mind started to race.

How would the average short-term missionary enter into this area.  Some of the best people who have ever served with me would have struggled that night.  None of our hosts were Christians.  We had mountains of deep fried food, and when I say deep fried, I mean in lard.  Not that 100% vegetable stuff we use in the states. Fat... and when we finished the fried food, the grilled tacos arrived.  That great Oaxacan cheese mixed with mushrooms and jalapenos, topped with a smoking hot habañero chile salsa and then the classic flor de calabaza.  All of that was wonderful, and a sort of a prelude to what was next.

Tacos de sesos.  Cow brains.  Served just for you by people who are watching your every move.  And that’s when I was reminded that being a missionary is hard and that not everyone is called, equipped, or ready to be a missionary to another culture, in spite of all the books and literature out there saying otherwise.

Things like your ability, or even desire to relate to non-Christians on their turf suddenly come into play in this type of setting.  Is the missionary versed enough in the culture to even carry on a conversation about secular stuff like economics, education and politics with locals?  Is he or she aware enough to pick up on social cues as they are being offered on how to eat and act around the table?  Is it possible to look at a plate of food you’ve never eaten, not frown or look disgusted and take it all in without a clue that you are scared stiff at the prospect of eating the brains of a cow or a bowl of pork skin soup and chile?

Have you thought about how to not run from your faith when you are confronted with some of the ugly realities of previous missionary outreaches to the very people with whom you are sharing a meal?  Do you have the skills to navigate a conservation that can be very critical of your home country and do it in a way that allows a budding relationship to continue?  Can you decline a shot of tequila, or scotch or vodka, depending on where you are serving in a way that does not offend your host?  Or perhaps even more difficult, can you drink a shot of mezcal or a glass of wine that is served for you by your hosts and newfound friends?

These are the questions that have been coursing through my veins the last couple of weeks as I have struggled to reflect on the rhythm, culture and ethos of this new place where I am serving.

Yet there is another question that is also dogging me and that question is this.  Given the reality of the above types of situations, is there a role for short-term mission work in the life of the long-term missionary?

I believe that there is, but only if we are willing to acknowledge and accept certain realities and make some changes in our approach.

The first place we need to start is with the sober realization that not everyone is called to be a missionary.  I know this goes against the current rage that we are all missionaries, but hear me out.  We are all called to be missional in our approach, but not everyone is called, or gifted to be a “ends of the earth” missionary person.

Here’s what I mean.  As you live your life day in and day out in your normal sphere of influence, you need to be living Christ out in an incarnational way that draws people to the Kingdom.  It needs to be part of who you are and how you live your life, where you are planted.  So what I am talking about here is being living witnesses for Jesus in your school, work, house and neighborhood.

For me, when I speak of being missional, I am talking generally of how we relate to and serve others in the name of Christ where we spend 90% of our lives or to put it bluntly, our home country.

When I speak of being a missionary, I am talking about getting on a plane and crossing borders of culture, geography, language and understanding.  I am talking about someone who essentially lives within the culture to where he or she has been sent. Naturally, there are exceptions to these broad strokes, but that is how I see things.

It is this reality, that not everyone is called to the “ends of earth,” that has led me to conclude that while short-term mission [STM] should certainly be in the tool box for any long-term missionary, most people on these mission experiences are simply not equipped to be incarnational on the foreign mission field.

Missions is hard.  Being a missionary is hard, requiring a skill set few young people with no cross cultural training will ever have.  Short-term mission participants are by their very definition, only in a country for a few days or months.  This is hardly enough time to get their feet wet, let alone begin the laborious process of assimilating into another culture.

Should we abandon short-term mission in favor of an approach solely tilted to long-term work?  Only at our peril because I believe that short-termers do indeed bring many needed assets to the work of the log-term missionary.  But we must live in reality and make sure we are not expecting more from short-term work than it is realistically able to give, or do.

What are your thoughts?

Want to Support Long-Term Mission? Think short-term mission...

The Short-Term Team From First Baptist Salinas
with Adventures in Life Ministry in Ensenada, Mexico

I need short-term missionaries!

Yep, you read that right.

I am an on field missionary serving in Mexico and there is no way I could imagine doing ministry without a regular contingent of short-term missionaries coming to serve alongside me and my partners.

I say this because for years short-term mission work in general and Mexico in particular has been vilified by long-term in country missionaries, seminary and bible college professors, pastors, leaders, and even, in an effort to seem hip and knowledgeable about missions, youth pastors and seminary students.

It is a view rooted in ignorance and one that stubbornly clings to the idea that short-term work is still interested in being imperialistic conquering heroes as opposed to the learner servant models many short-term mission organizations are now advocating.

Gone are the days of “Here’s what we are going to do for you.”  That viewpoint has been largely replaced with “How can we support and encourage you in the work of God where you are serving?”

In short, short-term mission is growing into maturity and improving with age.  Like a fine wine.

In its infancy, the STM movement, arguably started under the direction of Carolyn Koons of Azusa Pacific University, was primarily about those people who got on the bus and headed south to Mexico across the border.  It was about giving US based Christians an opportunity to serve the less fortunate and hopefully, through that process, return as changed people ready to influence the Kingdom in their local area.

As the movement grew, Mexico, with its proximity to the US, became almost a right of passage for youth groups and college students trying to mark off a mythical check list of the prerequisites of Christianity.

Each year thousands of students served across the border not just in the program Koons founded, but through many other ministries like Amor, Spectrum, Yugo, Adventures in Missions, YWAM, and yes, my organization, Adventures in Life Ministry.

With that almost explosive growth came a host of problems along the US/Mexico border, that well meaning STM people then exported to other countries around the globe as the movement grew.

We can spend hours debating that statement, but suffice to say, any missiologist worth his or her salt can expound for hours on the failures of STM through the years.  Sadly, as the movement has grown into maturity, many critics are choosing to see the bad and ugly of the past without considering the good that is happening around the globe today. 

I am under no illusion, nor are my ministry partners in southern Mexico, that many gringos from El Norte are going to have a net positive effect on our efforts to share the Gospel of Jesus where we work in Oaxaca.  It is an area dominated by tribal and indigenous cultures, many of which still have no bible, or church in their heart language.

Given this reality we should not expect Americans to be any more productive directly evangelizing the Mexican people than we would the people of say, Vietnam.

But our work, and by extension, the Gospel of Jesus, would be severely hampered, if not halted completely were it not for the work and efforts of dedicated bands of missionaries that come to serve alongside us for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.

Here’s what effective short-term mission can bring to the table.

Encouragement for the local body of Christ... Nothing soothes the soul of loneliness like a Kingdom visit from God’s angels.  Work on the field is hard, tiresome, and most of the time, lonely.  Short-termers break up the monotony, come prepared to help, and are generally willing to do whatever you ask.  What could be more encouraging?

Recently I was at a church with whom I had worked many years ago.  At the end of the day one of the hermanas pulled me aside to let me know we could come back anytime.  I said thanks and started to walk away but then she grabbed me.  She wanted me to hear something.  Hermana Maria wanted me to know that even if we came and did no physical work project on their church, we should still come back.  Because our presence was a tangible reminder to them that they were not alone in the body of Christ.

It is amazing that even Jesus understood the ministry of presence when he went to heal Lazarus, but many in the church today have no use for the powerful ministry of just being there. 

Financial resources... Let’s be honest here, after salaries, a lot of long-term mission work is chronically underfunded.  You want to build a school, house or church for your village?  I’ll bet I can find a short-term team to help make that happen. 

The ability of short-term mission to respond to legitimate financial needs “over there” cannot be overstated and our failure to connect these dots is, in my opinion, poor stewardship of the resources that God has entrusted to us. 

Now, many will ask if it is not a better use of our funds to keep the team at home and just send the money.  There are two problems with this line of reasoning.  First and I am going to speak bluntly here, is that no church, faced with a potential $20,000 cost to do a short-term mission trip, will raise that kind of money and just send it.  Believe me, most of us on the field would welcome even 50% of that amount in a lump sum, but I have yet to encounter a church leader who when asked to pony up without sending a team sends the check. 

Second, we want people to see and experience our ministries.  First hand knowledge is what informs prayer and break hearts for ministry.  I can tell you all about my ministry, and so can any other missionary for that matter, but you will have a greater connection to, pray more effectively, and financially support the field if your eyes have personally seen what God is doing “over there.”

People resources... As an American serving “over there” I hear the admonition to use local labor.  But what those that advocate this approach fail to recognize is that frequently, Christian pastors and leaders do not know qualified, or trust the local labor many expect them to hire.  There is no Angie’s List or Better Business Bureau that you can use in Mexico, China, or most other countries to help you find quality honest labor for the work you need done around your ministry centers.

Let me give a very practical example.  I have a gentleman who has served with me on many of my mission sites.  He is an auto mechanic and I would trust him with my life.  On more than one occasion Rod has been able to find and fix problems with pastors’ cars that the local trusted mechanics simply were unable to identify or repair.

My pastors were 100% willing to pay local mechanics, and frequently, they already had.  Sadly, that money was wasted as the problem persisted until Rod, as part of a short-term team from the US arrived, correctly identified and fixed the problem.

Simply put, there are times when short-term teams are able to bring people resources and a level of expertise that the local area or church body simply does have.

Finally, short-term mission allows participants to explore whether God might be calling them into full-time mission service... In today’s world of short attention spans and instant gratification, the value of a short-term mission in the life of a believer cannot be overstated.

As missionaries and church leaders, we can argue existentially that Christians should not “use” STM as a way to explore and develop their faith.  We can argue, as I have, that we should be sending only the best we can on short-term mission.  And we can try and maintain that stance as thousands of young people leave our shores every year to serve around the globe.

But let’s get real.  We need to accept reality, work with it, and start developing a new generation of missionaries, using short-term mission as a spring board towards full-time Christian service either here in the US, or abroad as part of the mission of God to reconcile the people of the world to Him.

Short-term mission is here to stay and is an irreplaceable part of the mission of God around the world.  Whether those missionaries are going from our churches in the United States, Mexico, South Korea, or Brazil, the fact is that STM is continuing to play a vital part in sharing the Good News of Jesus.

I need short-term missionaries to help me and my partners in Mexico continue the work that we believe God has called us to do.  And frankly, we would be lost without the help of those dedicated servants of God who give of their time, treasure, and talents on short-term mission.

I suspect there are many others like me around the world too.

Does short-term mission have all the answers?  Not at all.  Has short-term mission been guilty of some pretty terrible missiology over the years?  Yes it has. 

But there is much good to say about short-term mission too.

Let’s not forget that.