I’ve had the privilege of knowing about Dave Livermore and observing his dedication to cross-cultural ministry for more than a decade. As with many of the early devotees of short-term missions, especially trips involving young people, Dave’s interest in and commitment to short-term missions started with a view that focused primarily on giving Western Christians a great cross-cultural experience to foster their own growth.
In the late twentieth century, churches across America (and other wealthier nations) jumped at this unprecedented opportunity created by the advent of long-haul travel to go, minister, and learn in a fascinating world of cultures and adventures. Short-term missions morphed from a primary avenue for missionary recruitment to a foundational way to provoke spiritual growth in the lives of the participants.
Thankfully, Dave did not stay locked in this “missions for the benefit of me” mind-set. His long-term dedication to listening to and learning from brothers and sisters in the non-Western world transformed his perspective into what is now a commitment to genuine cross-cultural relationships and effective partnerships with the church in the majority world.
I finally met Dave personally when he was well into this journey, and I deeply appreciated his willingness to be self-critical, to ask tough questions about some of our culturally insensitive assumptions, and to practice what he preaches in this book. He has slowed down, put his passport on the shelf for a while, and asked questions about rethinking and reworking short-term missions.
This book is the result of his reflection and research. It will serve well any leader who is willing to ask questions about how short-term missions can best serve the global advancement of Christ’s kingdom—and not just the experiential advancement of Christians who are wealthy enough to participate in global adventures.
Dave’s global overviews, careful research, and practical tools combine his skills as a youth worker, missiologist, and anthropologist. Like a news reporter in the helicopter above the highway, Dave gives us the “skyway patrol” view of short-term missions. While we are celebrating the sheer volume of short-term missions traffic, Dave takes time to give us a sense of the road ahead. He warns us of the culturally insensitive potholes that could keep us from joining the mainstream of God’s activity in the majority world. He gives voice to non-Western leaders so that we don’t continue on the road to ineffectiveness. And he points us in a direction that will keep us from taking the wrong exit, a detour into our own cultural self-absorption caused by our failure to evaluate our basic assumptions and listen to our non-Western co-travelers.
Like Dave, I believe in short-term missions, and I encourage churches and ministries to get involved. But I also believe that our Western approach to short-term missions, behavior in relating to those from other cultures, and perspective on the purposes of short-term missions desperately need an overhaul and a reevaluation. Serving with Eyes Wide Open: Doing Short-Term Missions with Cultural Intelligence provokes this overhaul. Any leader who is willing to take time to reflect on where short-term missions fits in our Western contribution to global Christianity will find this book an essential resource.
Paul Borthwick, Development Associates International, author of A Mind for Missions