Thinking Outside the Box... A Different Portrait of Short-Term Ministry

[Julia and Santiago in the first portrait they have had since their wedding]

You have probably seen this before if you’ve ever been part of a short-term mission trip.

Some poor guy is hopelessly out of his element simply trying his darnedest to serve God and the people he is visiting. Yet the task he has been given is one that literally is designed to make him a failure.

And then in that failure, his leaders will offer up some verse from the bible, usually 2 Corinthians 12:9 where Paul says “My strength is made perfect in weakness.” The thought being that God has a chance to really work on us when we are in, and acknowledge our weaknesses.

But my question is this. As short-term mission leaders, are we really being good stewards of the resources that God has entrusted to us if we follow this line of logic?

Here’s what I mean.

You are a local church pastor trying to recruit a team for a short-term mission trip. Bill comes to you and says he would like to come. A local contractor, Bill has no language skills for where you are going to serve, and is not really a people person. However, since you know you need a certain number of people, you take him anyways, trusting that God will do something in his heart during the trip.

So Bill takes a week off work, gets on the plane with everyone else, and spends his week learning about God showing him strength in weakness.

While all of that may be good for Bill, perhaps the effectiveness of our short-term mission efforts would be enhanced if we, as leaders, thought a little more outside of the box.

I recently had a conversation with a doctor in Mexico who holds monthly medical clinics in some of the poorest areas of Oaxaca and Chiapas. Listening to him, I was challenged to move beyond the traditional ways of considering short-term mission.

Typically, as outsiders, we tend to focus on evangelism and construction as areas where we can make a difference. But as I listened to Dr. Alberto, I started to hear some affirmation of my own mission philosophy.

While not neglecting the incredible work God can do when people are stretched and forced to live in their weakness, he believes, and I agree, that even more can be done when people use their strengths on the mission field.

While I was in Oaxaca last month, some of the folks serving with me were photographers. Now I could have used those guys to dig ditches, move rock, pour concrete, or even participate in a small local outreach. But would that have been using the gifts and skills that God had given them?

Probably not, so I used them to take pictures. Of Oaxaca, of our work, of the people in the villages where we are working. I saw people cry when they were given some of the family photos Joe and his team photographers took during the week.

Did those guys shovel any cement? Nope. Did they share Jesus through the gifts that God had given them? Yes they did, and in that, their mission was successful.

Returning to Bill, let me pose a couple of questions.

1. Might Bill receive more out of his mission if there was a way that he could use the gifts and talents that God has given him for Kingdom good?

2. Would the field be better off if people were regularly put in situations where they could excel, rather than struggle?

3. What are some of the impediments that keep us as leaders from focusing on the specific gifts and talents of our short-term mission participants?

These will get you started thinking.

Next up I will be sharing more from my conversation with Dr. Alberto and his thoughts and ideas about effective ministry and American missionaries working in Mexico.

To see some of the photos that Joe and his group of photographers took with us in Oaxaca, look up their Facebook page, Mission Focused.

The Punkification of Missions... Blessing or Curse?

Punkification. Adj. A word to describe what happens when a younger generation takes an established concept and adapts it to their needs and styles. For example, We are currently seeing the punkification of the church and her mission.

Great word isn’t it? Steve Moore of The Mission Exchange shared it with a group of us at The Forum, a gathering of the Fellowship of Short-Term Mission Leaders of North America.

Let me explain that term a little more. Punkification happens when the next generation wants to move on something, and the power structure puts up road blocks to that movement.

Here’s an example.

Jordan comes to you and says he wants to serve on the mission field. He tells you that he is sure God is calling him and he “just wants to go and serve!”

But you, being a fairly responsible deacon, elder, pastor, or leader, instead of being an encouragement, start to think of all the stuff he needs to do to successfully go and serve.

Finish college, get some training, sign on with an organization, raise money, etc. Before you know it, Jordan has a list of requirements that will take him years to accomplish. And that’s before we deal with stuff like tattoos, piercings, whacked out hair styles and clothes that don’t fit well. So he walks away dejected.

Or maybe, he decides to punkify the mission and the next thing you know he is somewhere in India where he went to serve the Lord and follow his calling.

As leaders, we are always in a sense gatekeepers. As Bob Priest pointed out at the very same conference, zeal without knowledge, from Proverbs 19, is also not good. So what do we do?

With modern travel means, the short, or even long-term mission trip is no longer just the domain of the established church in North America. Almost anyone can now get on a plane, and in just a few hours time, land anywhere in the world for missions work. The internet has also enabled perspective missionaries to make their own connections to local ministries around the world in a way that just 20 years was unthinkable.

The reality is that if someone feels called to go, they are going to figure out a way to make it happen. How can the church maintain a level of quality control for those missionaries, and at the same time, be an encouragement to those who want to go and serve?

Or, should we just not worry, commission and empower those who want to go, and trust that God will do the rest?

After all, that’s what I did...

Short-Term Mission, Zeal, and a Little Knowledge

Every year at this time of year, I attend a conference sponsored by the Fellowship of Short-Term Mission Leaders. We have just wrapped up our gathering this year, held in Green Lake, Wisconsin.

We had two keynote speakers this year, Steve Moore from The Mission Exchange, and Dr. Bob Priest, of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Both of these men challenged us but perhaps the highlight of the conference for me was when Bob was speaking Saturday morning.

Let me give you a little background. Bob is an anthropologist. He studies people. And he has come to the point where he believes you cannot effectively serve others until you can really understand them, their culture, and their background.

Repeatedly he quoted Proverbs 19:2. let me share it with you.

It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way.

Stop and think about that for a few moments. Zeal is not bad. But when it is not accompanied by knowledge, God does not consider it good.

Let me put that into a short-term mission context.

It is not good to go on a short-term mission trip without first taking the time to get some training. Your strong desire to do good is not enough.

Yet this is precisely what many short-term teams will do. Filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and with the best of intentions, they head off to China, Italy, Mexico, and every other corner of the globe armed with nothing other than their bibles.

They know little or nothing of the country they are visiting, lack a basic understanding of how the church functions, do not speak the local language, and perhaps worse of all, don't see a need to become informed at all.

God wants us to be a mix of both zeal, and knowledge. Knowledge of the local customs, mores, culture, and people. Because it will make us better ambassadors for Him on the field.

As you reflect back on your time serving short-term earlier this year, or as you prepare to go later this year, ask yourself these four simple questions.

1. How did the first Gospel witness get to the people I served, or am going to serve?

2. What are some of the cultural traditions in the area I will be serving, or served?

3. What is the average salary for an average adult male in my host country?

4. How much education does the average person have in my host country?

These four questions are not very extensive. But knowing the answers to them will begin the process of educating you about the people with whom you serve.

Consider it a start of what should be a lifelong goal to pair knowledge with zeal for the people you desire to serve. Then your zeal will indeed be good!