Open-eyed Outreach

In American churches, short-term mission trips (STM) have become an expectation, without much thought given as to why or how they should be done. If it has the label “missions,” it is assumed to be ministry and it will gather financial support with no thought as to how any particular trip is fulfilling the biblical command to make disciples from among every ethno-linguistic group (Matthew 28:18-20). So strong is this expectation that some youth pastors risk losing their jobs if they aren’t taking high school or even junior high students on short-term trips every year.

In the U.S., more than $2 billion is spent on STM every year, exceeding the amount given to support long-term workers—those who stay long enough to learn the culture and language and build relationships with local people for effective ministry. One result is that American Christians have begun to think of missions as an event rather than a vocation. A surprising number of believers have been on more than a dozen trips, often considering themselves to be cross-cultural experts due to numerous, brief experiences.

In the history of the church, STM is a recent phenomenon. Prior to the middle of the 20th century, most international travel was by ship, often taking weeks to reach the intended destination; one- and two-week trips were simply not practical. As recently as the 1980s, “short term” meant one or two years rather than one or two weeks.

STM was originally seen as a good recruiting tool. Indeed, a high percentage of Christians who lived with and served alongside long-term workers for a year or two then returned for the long term (including my wife and me). But as the number of short-termers increased and the time spent decreased, that percentage shrank dramatically. Contrary to expectations, people saw their short-term trips as replacing the need for workers to stay for the long term, learning language and culture. The philosophy changed from fulfilling the Great Commission and helping long-term workers to extolling the benefits to the short-termers themselves.

American Christians have begun to think of missions as an event rather than a vocation.

Unfortunately, multiple studies have shown that even this supposed benefit doesn’t actually happen. People come back from a short-term trip claiming they will pray more, give more, evangelize more at home, etc., but the changes very rarely last more than a few months, if they materialize at all, before people slide back into their old patterns.

With this bleak picture, why does Faith Bible Church still send out short-term teams? The answer is that STM should be done well, can be done well, and that when done properly it becomes an important, sometimes essential, component in making disciples. And thankfully, excellent resources are available for making STM truly useful.

First, several organizations that care about quality and effectiveness in STM have produced “Seven Standards of Excellence” in STM, available at missionexcellence.global. Chief among these standards is a purpose centered on God’s glory and His ends, a principle that matters to Faith Bible Church for all forms of ministry.

With these standards in mind, the Global Outreach team at Faith strives to choose ministry partners and locations carefully, train STM teams effectively, and establish healthy, interdependent, ongoing relationships with partners. For example, Faith regularly sends teams to assist long-term partners in Spain and the Czech Republic with strategic outreach events. Faith is also increasing its emphasis on STM work among unreached language groups, sending teams to Southeast Asia and the Santisuk English School in Bangkok, Thailand.

Another excellent resource is the book Serving with Eyes Wide Open by David Livermore. I have made this book required reading for over a dozen short-term teams I have led or helped train.

Livermore is a former missions professor, president of the Cultural Intelligence Center, and author of several books on this topic. He has researched STM extensively. Due to his findings, he is often accused of being negative on STM work, but he makes clear that his goal is not to eliminate STM but rather to prepare short-term teams to minister effectively and with cultural understanding.

Although backed by factual data, the book is both practical and readable. Many of the chapters begin with excerpts from the journal entries of a young person on an STM trip – a person Livermore then reveals to be himself! Knowing that the author has made many of the mistakes that he wants to help the readers avoid makes the book personable and encouraging.

A big part of being able to understand other cultures is understanding your own. After a quick overview of some current trends in the world and in global Christianity, Livermore gives a glimpse into American culture and values. This is followed by some common misunderstandings that short-termers have about people in other cultures.

The concluding section provides us with principles for our own adaptation and effective ministry in cross-cultural settings. His challenges to us to be willing to adapt and see the world through God’s eyes are strengthened with many examples from the lives of Jesus and the Apostles.

Serving with Eyes Wide Open would be helpful for Christians in the U.S. dealing with cultural differences regionally, generationally, and with a non-Christian population increasingly disconnected from any biblical knowledge. Some parts of the book may make us uncomfortable as they expose attitudes and ideas we have absorbed from the culture that has reared us, things that are barriers to effective gospel communication. Livermore encourages to us to adapt willingly for the sake of the gospel, and he clearly shows how to do that.

Garry R. Morgan

Garry Morgan, a member at Faith Bible Church, is a former missionary and retired missions professor. He is also author of Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day.

View Resources by Garry R. Morgan