A walk through Miami International Airport last August made me wonder if I wanted to write this article. In the airport dozens of teenagers in bright green or yellow team T-shirts advertized to all that they were on a mission for Jesus to some international destination. Haiti and the Dominican Republic appeared to be the favorites. My wife and I (veterans of short-term mission leadership since 1978) watched with ambivalence as hoards of amateur builders, painters, and Vacation Bible School leaders migrated through the airport to their connecting flights. 

With now more than one million North Americans going on some form of short-term missions annually, I found myself wondering, “Do I still believe in short-term missions?” The answer, despite the movement’s shortcomings, is definitely still yes.

Yet a qualifier is in order. My affirmation of the movement comes with conditions. There must be long-term impact in the lives of both participants and hosts. Advance training, cross-cultural sensitivity preparation, relationship-building, and long-term follow-through must be part of the process. We also need to ask the all-important question: “Why are we doing this?” Then we need to think carefully about method: “How do we do this in a way that yields the greatest long-term impact in the lives of all involved?” But provided we address these crucial issues, I believe short term missions are worth defending.

The Emptying Effect

Effective short-term mission trips provide participants with an amazing opportunity to imitate Jesus by voluntarily emptying themselves (along the lines of Philippians 2:5-11). Like Jesus, teams serving in other cultures can learn that selfless service means being willing to relinquish our desire to be in control—of our food, our comfort, our ability to understand, and even our safety. It means laying aside our expectations, putting on the clothes of a servant and figuratively washing the feet of others.

Creating this environment of ‘emptying’ is not always easy. American teams can often carry a subtle pride as they serve those who are economically poorer. An intentional emptying of ourselves, however, means serving people in ways that they understand servanthood.

The best short-term mission trips challenge participants to empty themselves of their expectations. It’s natural that we who pay (or at least raise money to cover ourselves) think we should determine our trip’s work and even the outcome. But the short-term mission trips that yielded the greatest impact in participants’ lives purposefully identify with Jesus, coming into a new world with vulnerability and a commitment to serve. We have learned over the years that we might want to serve by doing a physical construction project or carrying out some sort of evangelistic ministry, but our local partners want us to serve by doing things behind-the-scenes, or simply building relationships, or learning to listen. 

Two-way Streets

I believe that effective short-term mission trips provide a two-way relationship, an interchange that can help both goers and receivers gain a new and expanded understanding of the global, multi-cultural, diverse Body of Christ.  If 70 percent of Christians live in Africa, Asia and Latin America, how can we hope to be relevant in the future without giving people direct contact with our global family?

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Short-term Missions are great opportunities for your church and its people to serve God in different ways and in different places. The problem is short-term missions often require a lot of organization and work before during and after the trip. These forms will help guide you through the process of planning and executing a memorable trip.

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author

Paul Borthwick holds a doctorate in Cross-Cultural Ministry from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and teaches missiology at Gordon College near his Boston home. He’s the author of How to Be a World-Class Christian and fourteen other books. Borthwick has coordinated over 100 missions trips all over the world. He also serves as a senior consultant with Development Associates International. Borthwick spoke with Round Trip Missions about the future of short-term missions and about how to best serve with our Christian brothers and sisters in the Global South.