7 Reasons for Short-Term Mission Trips

Short-term mission trips are on the rise. It is estimated that every year nearly two million Americans go on short-term mission trips, both with churches and other organizations.  Also on the rise are the concerns as to just how effective these short-term trips are.  It is no secret that short-term trips require a tremendous amount of resources to happen.  The costs are high and the global benefits often seem minimal at best.  These trips are often viewed as a burden to the local missionaries and residents alike.  Short-term missionaries are often seen as tourists with a self-serving agenda, are culturally insensitive, and have little or no expertise in what they are trying to accomplish.  Unfortunately, all too often these accusations are entirely true.

So what now?  Do we write off short-term mission trips completely because many have been poorly executed in the past?  Is it worth all of the time and money spent to send our friends and family so far away, when they could do the same kind of tasks close to home?  I would suggest that short-term missions are a valuable resource to the work of Christ, both at home and abroad, and I have compiled a list of my seven favorite reasons why I think short-term missions are important, both for the short-term missionary and for his or her destination.  Here goes, in no particular order…

Many hands make light work (For the church/missionary)

Short-term mission trips are not meant to replace long-term missionaries.  On the contrary, they are meant to aid their efforts.  I have interacted with a variety of missionaries who have repeatedly expressed how great it would be to have a bunch of people to help spread the word about what they are doing and to help draw attention to their ministry.  Enter short-term teams!

Missionaries make good missionaries

Have you ever met anyone that has gone on a short-term mission trip and later decided to go into full time ministry as a result?  Well, you have now.  Me!  And I have met hundreds of others just like myself who have caught a brand new vision of how God can use them in unexpected ways while on a short-term mission trip.  It is a great opportunity to step out of your own environment and experience God at work in other cultures and contexts.  It is the perfect recipe for a life changing experience.

Short-term trips are fun!

Serving Christ can be arduous, painful, tedious, and even dangerous.  But it can also be exciting, adventurous, rewarding, and just plain fun.  Positive associations with serving Christ are a helpful tool to counter all the negative ones.

Tourism may not be such a dirty word after all…

as long as you avoid all those countries that do not want tourists.  Wait… what country does not want tourism?  None.  Trust me, I Googled it.  Nations build their entire economies around tourism.  Everyone wants tourists to come to their countries.  It is good for the economy.  So what could be wrong with a group of Christians going to a third-world country where poverty is rampant, and spending money, buying souvenirs, eating the local food, shopping the markets, experiencing the culture, and boosting their economy while they are at it?  It is a great investment, not just in the people, but also in the kingdom of God.

The curse and blessing of being American

Have you ever walked into a room and it seems like everyone stopped what they were doing and just stared at you?  That is what it is like being an American in a foreign country.  One thing Americans do well is draw attention to ourselves, whether we like it or not.  A good mission trip will teach you how to use that attention as an opportunity to draw others’ attention toward Christ.  We can actually use our “Americaness” as a ministry tool!  This leads me to my next point.

It is time to break down stereotypes

In every other country and culture in the world, you find people who hold certain opinions about Americans.  Most of these opinions are developed from American TV programs, movies, and what their own media says about us.  Call me crazy, but I am guessing they have not gotten a great perspective on Christ-following Americans.  What a great opportunity to break down stereotypes and introduce Christ by going to meet them face to face and serving them in practical and loving ways.  There is much ground to be made for the Christ’s kingdom just by going to other countries and NOT acting like “ugly Americans.”

New news is good news

The gospel message of Jesus Christ is a peculiar thing.  It is everywhere and nowhere.  Now days you will be hard pressed to find a people group the gospel has not yet reached.  Yet, you will never find a place the gospel is no longer needed.  The possibilities of how God will use us to spread His message are endless.   Just think of how God can use you to reach someone’s heart in China, Israel, or Ireland this summer.  You cannot.  There is no way to know unless you step out and go!

The bottom line is that we should not limit ourselves to what we think does and doesn’t work to spread the gospel.  There is a reason the Bible does not give us step-by-step instructions on evangelism.  God can use any and every opportunity to increase his Kingdom through us, so let’s not narrow our scope of opportunities but increase them!  Short-term mission trips are a great way to do just that.  Maybe a short-term trip to China is not for you.  That is OK.  How about a short-term trip to the coffee shop?  God can and will use you anywhere.  In everything we do, let us live and go with a great commandment heart, ready and willing, just like Phillip in Acts 8:26-35.

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Originally Published December 7, 2009