Short term missions vs. Christian tourism

The majority of those I have daily contact with are the short term visitors to Tenwek. They include volunteers who serve with Tenwek Community Health and Development, through World Medical Mission, a ministry of Samaritan's Purse, or even medical students and residents looking to take an international elective. At any point in time there could be between 5-20 visiting staffers serving at Tenwek which makes it a very dynamic and exciting place to be.

There have been some incredible people come through here that have encouraged and loved me and several others who were just looking to serve their time here and be on their way. But despite their relationship to me, each of them greatly impact those they interact with - whether they know it or not.

Physicians have it easy. They are trained, brilliant professionals who can come and practice medicine to their upmost abilities in a circumstance that requires their specialty. They arrive one day and then next they are rounding on patients and ordering labs, just in a different country with different patients and most likely different symptoms than before. Don't get me wrong, it's a difficult place to work, but they have the skills and training to do it.

But us lay people, we have a challenge on our hands. The non-medically trained short term missionaries have to find a place to fit in and create purpose for themselves. There are several ways to get involved but it's truly up to said person to figure it out. And that gets difficult when we're talking about a whole team of people who aren't medically trained professionals trying to volunteer their time and energy in a placed focused on medical care.

All of this to say, I'm working through the concept of short term missions right now and I can't say that I've come to an accurate and concise opinion. This evening I had the pleasure of meeting a short term group of pastors that are here volunteering with TCHD to help organizing and facilitate the next children's rally that will be in Nakruru this coming weekend. They are passionate about missions, one being a missions pastor, but are more interested in how the American church can be involved with the global church in a beneficial and effective way.

One thing that this missions pastor said really struck me. He stated, "We're not in the business of Christian tourism."

It's a truth I think every short term mission agency, church group, school group and or summer trip should abide by. Missions is not a way to see the world - well it is, but it's a way to see the people of the world and learn about them and learn to love them just as Christ does. They asked several really challenging questions like, "What does it mean to this community to have short term teams come?" and "If there is a more efficient way to use our resources, whether that be sending money or teams or nothing, what would that way be?" These are questions that need to be asked of ourselves.

One of the greatest books about short term missionary service that I've read to date is written by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert entitled "When Helping Hurts." It's a very real perspective on what it means to serve the poor as affluent Americans/Westerners. One of their main conclusions reminds us that we are not going to serve to change everything and to fix a community; rather we are to unite with the people of a different community in order to empower them to ignite self motivated change that will improve their circumstances and lead them towards Christ. But how do you do that?

I think everyone's still trying to figure that one out. But a really great place to start is by asking a community or a group of people what they need, as a opposed to what we can do to improve their situation. People are people no matter where you go and they have the capacity to develop, to grow and to lead with dignity even though it might look much different than we hoped it would.

Culture is a huge barrier sometimes - well, most of the time - so spending time with the people you're serving, even joining long term missionaries or service volunteers, is crucial to the development of your ministry. One of our long term missionaries said, "If short termers come in with a heart willing and motivated to change more than they're hoping to create change, then they're in the right place." I agree.

Those sitting around the dinner table tonight ended the conversation saying that one way to improve and sustain short term ministries is to build them up so that they are recurring annually, or bi-annually, or as often as possible, in the same place and in the same ministry. You hear it all the time but truthfully, ministry is all about relationship; building those deep and lasting friendships takes time and investment and love.

I know this is a huge topic amongst the American church, but I want to take it to a global perspective. Seeing as the last thing that Jesus said before he left this world was "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you," I think it's safe to say that going to the nations is crucial to the Gospel (Matthew 28:19-20).

So what do you think? Are short term missions the answer to this Great Commission? If so, how would you, or are you, responding? And if not, why?


Prayer requests:
- Please pray that the Children's Rally this weekend, expectant of 5,000 children, will work powerfully in the lives of those involved.
- Please pray that holiday plans to return home for a few weeks in December will be scheduled soon.
- Please continue to pray for the short term and long term missionaries that serve the Tenwek community diligently and passionately.


|| God, give me the grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. - Reinhold Niebuhr ||