The North American Perspective versus the Majority World Church Perspective on Short-Term Missions
The exciting movement of God among people all over the world is exactly why short-term missions deserves our careful attention. Never before have more North American Christians had the chance to see firsthand what God is doing around the globe.
Throughout the last twenty years, short-term missions trips have become a standing part of most churches’ annual calendars. Twenty-nine percent of all US adolescents participate in some kind of cross-cultural service project before graduating from high school.[39] Physicians, teachers, builders, mechanics, business leaders, families, senior citizens, and youth groups are all part of the short-term missions movement. Many travel as part of teams, and some go alone.
Short-term missions has outpaced long-term missions[40] in both personnel and budget. The North American church invests more money in short-term missions than in those who move overseas to live as missionaries. For a long time, the research done by missions scholars didn’t reflect that shift and instead still focused primarily on long-term missions. However, the last five years have seen a surge in the number of studies that examine the effectiveness of short-term missions. Most of the research referenced in the chapters that follow comes from a variety of studies I’ve conducted on short-term missions.[41] I’ve also referenced some of the seminal studies conducted by other researchers.
With four to five million North Americans participating in short-term missions annually, it’s unfair to generalize that my research represents every short-term missions experience. I’m not assuming that everything that follows applies to you or your team. At the same time, a number of us who have researched the short-term missions movement have been comparing our findings, and there’s a consistency to what has emerged. So beware of too quickly writing off the critiques as not applying to you. Listen to the conflicting perspectives and pause to consider whether there’s an element of truth in them for you or your team.
Part 2 is called “Conflicting Images.” The reason will be obvious soon enough, but suffice it to say, many perceptions held by North Americans about short-term missions efforts are radically different from the perceptions of the majority world Christians who host these teams. There’s some hard-hitting data in this section, but my intention is not to say that everyone who has done short-term missions has done it wrong. Instead, this section is meant to widen our perspective and improve the way we serve.
I’ve included something as part of the North American or majority world viewpoint only if it was voiced by enough people to make it a common theme. And alongside the words of caution voiced by majority world Christians were many positive things they said about short-term missions visitors. But since we aren’t lacking for enthusiasm or confidence regarding the value of short-term missions, I’ve spent more time looking at the words of caution.
Our challenge in the North American church lies in putting our passports down long enough to take a closer look at what’s going on in short-term missions. I’ll tip my hand. I think there is a place for short-term missions, but I think many of our short-term missions efforts need to be rethought and reworked. Much of what follows could be confessional from my last twenty years of traveling the world. It’s also a chronicle of how my own perspective has widened. I pray it will help you do the same. Open your eyes. Look at what you may have previously missed when looking at short-term missions.