“It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way.” (Proverbs 19:2)

The above passage highlights an important truth: passion alone misses the mark. Perhaps nowhere is this proverb’s wisdom more needed than in the short term mission movement. The U.S. Standards of Excellence (SOE) in Short-Term Mission, is a code of best practices for the STM community. The seven standards call short-term mission facilitators and participants to combine passionate activity with knowledge in order to achieve excellence and provide effective kingdom service in partnership with the global body of Christ.

A startling amount of resources pour into short-term missions. In the past decade we’ve witnessed exponential growth in the number of U.S. STM participants. Many have raised questions about the long-term effectiveness of all this zealous activity. Short-term volunteers are often ill-prepared, culturally insensitive, focused mainly on their own growth experience, or lack understanding of sustainable ministry practices. Too often short-term missions have been expensive religious tourism that uses up valuable financial resources with little to show for it.

In light of these realities, some reject short-term missions altogether. But the mission leaders who launched and oversee the SOE are convinced that the weaknesses can be corrected with careful partnership, preparation, and planning. They believe that by combining knowledge with zeal, short-term missions can contribute to the fulfillment of God’s global purposes. As a result of their vision and collaboration, they launched the SOE in October 2003 to help churches, agencies, schools, and other organizations pursue excellence in all their short-term mission efforts.

“The SOE is an extremely well-designed pathway to guide those sending short-term teams toward excellence,” says Greg Parsons, General Director of the U.S. Center for World Missions. “They provide member organizations a roadmap to move beyond ‘drive-by missions’ to a quality program with appropriate preparation, thorough follow-up, and integrity.”

Historical Development of the SOE

In 2001 a group of STM leaders from mission agencies, churches, and Christian colleges sensed that God was leading them to facilitate the formation of a set of standards similar to codes that had been developed in the UK and Canada. They went to work gathering input and feedback from five mission networks and more than 400 mission leaders. There was a series of versions and the process lasted over two years. The resulting seven standards are a product of thousands of hours of work, discussion, and prayer. Read more about the SOE’s historical development here.

The Seven Standards

The seven principles that emerged as fundamental values or priorities for any short-term mission outreach include:

1. God-Centeredness—an excellent short-term mission seeks first God’s glory and his kingdom. It is centered on God’s redemptive purposes and love for all nations and modeled after Christ’s mission to the world. Those involved are people of godliness in actions, words, and thoughts who function out of doctrinally-sound, prayer-dependent methods which are wise, biblical, and culturally-appropriate.

From our store

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

Jenny Collins is the Director of an international service-learning program and Assistant Professor of Missions at Taylor University, Upland, Indiana. She has been involved in short-term missions for 17 years and has served on the SOE national committee since its inception.