Short-term missions trips: Do they help?

What good are short-term missions trips? I found a fascinating article on that topic this week in Leadership Journal, an interview with church planter Oscar Muriu, a Kenyan pastor.

The summary of his missions trip wisdom is that we must go in as guests and learners rather than saviors and teachers. But you’ll get a lot more than that if you skim down the article to about the midpoint, where it says:

Your church has a huge vision. How can churches in the West help? We’re used to sending short-term mission teams over to paint walls …
Yes, and after you leave, we repaint many of the walls that you painted! (Laughter.)

Okay, seriously, do short-term mission trips help?

May 24, 2007 · Filed Under Culture, Missions, World Relief

Comments

One Response to “Short-term missions trips: Do they help?”

  1. jhill on May 24th, 2007 1:38 pm

    Wow… That was a great article!! I agree with most of the points made, and have a totally new look at short term missions! Using them for the younger generations as “learning” trips, to engross them in cultural shock for short periods of time, in preparation for helping long term in the future! I think short term missions benefit “us” more then the people we go to visit! What would happen if we went to say “Africa” or “Lakota” and just listened for the first few days, acted as real guests should and got to know the people and their needs? Could we come back and pronounce it as a success? Would the church send us out again to learn, and maybe to complete 1 project and that’s it? I don’t think that it would go over very well. It’s a great idea though, to hold our tounges and listen to the needs of our host’s! What do I know though!

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