A few years ago I was in a church service where a team of energetic college students and young adults was reporting back on their short-term international mission trip. Like most such groups, they had plenty of daunting cross-cultural experiences to report. "The food was so spicy," one wide-eyed young woman said, drawing laughter from the congregation. "It was terribly hot and humid—we had such a hard time getting to sleep," another team member said. Amid much hilarity, the team leader described their consternation when they arrived at a remote village only to discover that the Christians from the surrounding area were expecting them to lead a worship service, preach, and teach—on the spot.

They had been stretched, they said, way beyond their "comfort zones." They had also returned full of praise for God and love for one another and the new brothers and sisters they had met. "We received so much more than we gave," one team member said.

All wonderful, true sentiments that I had heard dozens of times before from returning short-term missionaries. The only difference was that I was in Nairobi, Kenya, and every member of the team had been born and raised in Africa.

That morning I had to unlearn several of my ideas about global mission. Though I was visiting Nairobi on a short trip of my own, the testimonies of the short-term travelers reminded me that North Americans are not the only ones making pilgrimages of mission around the world. In many ways crossing borders was as unfamiliar and difficult for them as it was, and is, for me.

Traveling round trip

If you define mission as crossing cultural boundaries for the sake of the gospel, the global church is engaged in mission at a scale that would have been unimaginable to any previous Christian generation.

Travel and telecommunications have become less expensive and more efficient. Globalized economies reward and demand travel. Millions buy a one-way ticket to a new land in hope of a better life, but an increasingly affluent slice of the world's population—not just in North America, but in Asia, Africa, and the rest of the Americas as well—can afford to travel round trip.

Likewise, the center of gravity of Christian mission is shifting from the few who set off for a far country with no plans to return, to the many whose return tickets are tucked safely in their knapsacks. Between 1.5 million and 2 million American Christians leave the country on a short mission trip every year. And that's just Americans!

Is this round-trip mobility a good thing for the advance of the gospel? It may well be. The African team came back with stories of new converts and strengthened believers in India, as well as the increased confidence that comes to those who take real risks for their faith. Many American short-term teams can tell similar stories.

On the other hand, you don't have to look very hard or listen too long before you hear embarrassing tales of cultural insensitivity and mismatched expectations. Americans, in particular, tend to be activists, wanting to see concrete outcomes—which can lead to make-work projects, sometimes with comic results. As Nairobi pastor Oscar Muriu told me in an interview, "After you leave, we repaint many of the walls that you painted!"

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The Round Trip DVD and Curriculum: This documentary and five-sessions curriculum will help your team prepare for your trip, navigate the challenges of cross-cultural relationships and team dynamics, and return with lasting relationships and personal transformation.

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