A post from Emergent Village on Missions.
I've been on some short term mission trips that when they were over, I felt like "Did anything just happen?" I think alot of that feeling, or at least for me and some of my friends, there was this huge hype pre-trip that made us all think we were going to go out and reverse the downward spiral of our out of control world. The odd thing is that its awfully hard to change a society in a few days or a couple of weeks. Its the same kind of let down that we feel when we bust it in our own local contexts and see very little fruit. And this is even after years and years of pouring your life into it. What makes us think that if we only spend a couple days or weeks beyond our local contexts, that we're going to fill any differently?
Even that question, I think answers some of the problems associated with "mission trips". The question I've asked myself afterwards is "how come I don't feel differently?" As if the whole thing was about me. If I don't feel good afterwards, was it worthwhile? Did God not build a bridge to someone because I don't feel like I'm doing any good? So many mission trips, at least in my context growing up, were focused more on the individuals going than the individuals they were going to "see". Thats why when they came back and gave their report in front of the church and shared their stories, they usually revolved around what "we" did, or how "we" feel now or how fortunate "we" are. While I am in now way discounting the values of such feelings, I know that in my experience, so much was focused back inwardly on me. I hope that makes sense.
Another flaw I see in mission trips is that they usually turn into a type of Westernizing. So you go and start a church in Africa or South America that mimics the architecture, liturgy, and structure of your church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Its as if we go over there and try to sell them on our way of doing things instead of allowing them to create environments that are indigenous to their context.
Another side thought on this, wouldn't it be great if the majority of our missionary work was done by training and supporting locals in other nations so that they would have the education and resources to reach their people who they know. They know their culture better than we ever would. Perhaps we aren't being wise stewards when we take a group of 20 people @ $2000 a person for a week to do what sometimes amounts to nothing more than lawn work. $40,000 would go a whole lot farther if we built and staffed an educational facility that trained locals to reach their culture. It doesn't make much sense for a church from Zaire to come to the States for a "mission trip". So why are we continually thinking of "missions" in the same mold of us sending mass amounts of people overseas? Unless of course we are trying to Westernize them.
Finally, perhaps we need to begin to think of ourselves as "mission" as opposed to going on "missions". I think Newbigin talks alot about that or maybe its Guder in Missional Church. But we are mission. When we use terminology like "going on mission trips", I think there becomes a tendency for people to think that missions is something over there once a year to go to or give to and it is not something that concerns them in the immediate and local.
While it may sound like I'm bashing mission trips, short term and long term, this is not the case. Two of my best friends are gone long term right now and I and many of my other friends have gone short term numerous times. There is definitely a place for mission trips. I just think our thinking as to why we should do mission trips and how we do them and what we think afterwards are a bit off. At least in my experience which is not to say it is the same in yours.
