Short-term mission resources

I have a lot of hesitancy when it comes to short-term missions. Seems like everyone is doing them these days. Some churches have basically replaced long-term missions with short-term ones, which is a mistake, in my opinion. Many short-term efforts end up being little more than group vacations for those that go. While education isn’t always the answer, it can’t hurt, either.

That’s why I was pleased to find a number of resources from David LIvermore. He’s written several books on Cultural Intelligence that are generally helpful. He also has a book called Serving With Eyes Wide Open which is specifically about short-term missions.

While buying the book would be an excellent idea for everyone involved in short-term missions, there are resources on Livermore’s site that can be read for free. At the bottom of the page about this book, there are a number of articles. I especially recommend:
Leave Your Baggage at Home
Ten Things I Hate About STM
Head Over Heels for Short-Term Missions

We’ll get back to our pacifism discussion next week. Happy reading!

2 thoughts on “Short-term mission resources

  1. Don Neyland

    Hey,
    Just stopped by haven’t been in the blogosphere for quite some time. Good article and really good resources. I know we aren’t exactly “foreign” but I was pleasantly surprised to read about similar experiences right here in Cajun country. I have had to sit a few adults down in the early days and explain that they were still talking to people and not prospects.

    It has been a strange time…getting stranger by the minute…..all I wanted to say was “mission” is “mission” even if it is one block over.

  2. Tim Archer Post author

    Hey Don. Thanks for stopping by. I also agree with you about distance not being a determining factor in mission. I think that cultural distance matters more than physical distance.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.