“We’re on a Mission from God” - Elwood Blues
The Washington Post has an interesting article about the culture of short-term missions trips (here). The Post reports that, while these kinds of trips are on the rise, few have any long-term effects and many of them are non-sensical, e.g., one Mexican church was painted six times by six different missionary groups in one summer.
In another example, some short termers spent approximately $30,000 on travel to get to Honduras to build a home. Homes in Honduras cost only about $2,000.00.
The Post points out that vacation destinations are popular. During the summers, the Bahamas receives one short-term missionary for every 15 residents.
The article concludes with a rather good quote from Roger Peterson, chairman of the Alliance for Excellence in Short-Term Mission:
If [the trips] are only about ourselves, then we’re doing nothing more than using another culture … to get some benefit at their expense.
Reminds me a little of our praise and worship songs.
It bothered me when our former pastor announced he
was flying to various countries where he had been invited to teach in a
missionary school. What I found strange was that he would go for a very short time, say a week or shorter, yet the church was expected to come up with the funds.
I felt this was a very poor use of money. If you are going to fly somewhere to
minister, it would make sense to stay long enough to make it financially worth the investment involved.
I’m not saying it is wrong
to go for a day or a week
if necessary; however I do
question the financial
soundness of how it was hanlded.