Tag Archives: Short-term missions

Missions: The Mission Trip Myth

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“We went on a mission trip to Mexico.”
Translation: We did some Christian service projects in Mexico.
“I’ve done missions every summer in China.”
Translation: I’ve traveled to China every summer and done good things there.
Folks, 99% of what today is called a mission trip “ain’t even” a mission trip. They are good works, wonderful service projects, exciting moments of faith building… but they aren’t missions. Most should be called “service trips.”
So what? What does it matter what we call them? Well, the fact is, the money that U.S. Christians give to missions is shrinking at an incredible pace, and one of the major culprits is the “mission trip.” For one thing, funds that were once spent on foreign missions are now spent on youth trips. In addition, these “mission trips” convince our people that money sent to orphans homes, money sent to Habitat for Humanity or money sent to the Red Cross is “missions” money.
We need to get back in the business of providing the funds that church planters around the world need. If we want our children to have a faith building experience building houses, there are homes in our community that need building. If we want to do service projects, they are all around us. If we want our kids to experience other cultures, let’s say that and give them the opportunity to travel. But let’s not steal from missions to do those things.
The congregation I attend once gave 50% of its budget to missions, but that was a LONG time ago. The same sort of thing can be said for so many of our churches. What can be done to restore missions to a place of prominence in our congregations?

A both/and mission trip

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Something happened to missions in the church. I don’t know if it’s a symptom or a cause (probably both), but you see it in our mission trips. When we returned from Argentina, I was soon invited to go on a mission trip to Mexico. It wasn’t until it was almost time to go that I realized that the whole trip was going to be about building houses. That’s all the kids would do. Very limited interaction with the local members. Almost no interaction with outsiders. No sharing their faith verbally (I’m trying to choose my words carefully).

We have a generation, or seemingly several generations, that gives little importance to verbal proclamation of the gospel. Yes, we preach with our actions. I know the phrase “I’d rather see a sermon than hear one.” But honestly, people need both. Samuel Shoemaker, instrumental in the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous, wrote: “A good life can testify to the belief in some kind of Higher Power… I do not know any mere example that can quite tell people that we believe God spoke in Christ to all men forever, or that Christ is His incarnate Son, or that the cross saves you and me from sin, or that the Resurrection is the crowning article of faith for us Christians.” (Extraordinary Living for Ordinary Men, p. 71) We live out the gospel, but it takes our words to explain it.

I work for Herald of Truth, a non-profit that does mass media ministry around the world. A few years ago, the leaders of our group toyed with the idea of becoming a relief organization. Why? Because it’s easy to raise money for relief. Show people a picture of a hungry child, and they’ll give you money. Talk about wanting to take that child’s family the message that will transform them and their people forever, and people yawn. After the tsunami in 2005, money poured in to help that area. A missionary to that area sighed and said, “Why can’t we even raise a fraction of that for Bibles?”

When we tell our kids that they are going to do missions, then the only tool we train them to use is a hammer, we are affecting their idea of evangelism for the rest of their life. Why not create opportunities for our kids to share their faith through their actions and their words? Must it be either or?

In college, I went on a 5-day mission trip to Hartford, Connecticut. We worked in a soup kitchen. Volunteered with retarded kids. But we also canvassed a neighborhood, inviting people to a seminar at the newly planted church in that area. It can be done.

Let’s recapture missions in the church. Let’s teach our people about evangelism. Let’s turn our mission trips back into mission trips.