Lausanne World Pulse – Themed Articles – Developing Relationships in Short-term Missions
By Ryan Brown
March 2006
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I recently received a bad haircut. I had a feeling it was going to be a bad haircut when halfway through, the stylist stopped and stared at me with a concerned look on her face. She said, “You know what? I’m not going to charge you for this.”
In the past, when it has been time to get a haircut, I have typically chosen the first available stylist at the cheapest barbershop I could find. In light of this recent experience, however, and in anticipation of the photos that will be taken at my upcoming wedding, my fiancé has encouraged me to be a bit more selective in finding a stylist.
You might ask, “What does any of this have to do with short-term missions?” The answer is that whether concerning haircuts or short-term missions, relationship has a cost.
I can certainly see the value in having one particular person cut my hair. In time, this stylist would become familiar with my preferences. He or she would know what I liked and expected. The problem is not in recognizing the value in the relationship with a new hairstylist. The problem is that a haircut now requires a lot more work: making appointments, scheduling times, etc. It’s one thing to value relationship; it’s another to actually pay the cost of relationship.
The same could be said for short-term missions. We all want our short-term mission trip to have a long-term impact, but how many of us are really willing to pay the price?
I remember my very first short-term mission trip. My friends and I had heard the rallying call of the Great Commission to “go” and so we went with great passion and conviction. My well-intentioned youth pastor loaded us up in a rented van and we headed to Mexico to paint the walls of a church. During the day we painted the church while locals from the community watched from a distance. During the evening we held a service. I had a blast with my friends from the youth group that week, but in retrospect I can’t help but wonder if we had missed out on a tremendous opportunity. I do not remember the name of the community we went to or the names of any of the people we met. My fear is that this anonymous community has no memory of us either. My fear is that the only testament to our time in Mexico is the church walls that are now in dire need of a new paint job.
In reflecting upon this first mission trip, I can’t help but wonder what could have happened if rather than simply going and then returning, we had made an effort to stay in contact with that small church. What if, rather than us painting the walls as members of the community watched from a distance, we painted alongside these community members and served them as they refurbished their church building? What if we had committed to praying for them and they had committed to praying for us? What if we had committed to returning a year later to again serve the community and the church body there? What if during the year prior to a second trip, we had engaged our church and community and challenged them with ways they could also get involved? What if, rather than focusing exclusively on the “go” part of the Great Commission, we had paid attention to the whole commandment to “go and make disciples”?
While going is a good starting point, it’s simply not enough. As Christians, we’ve been called to go and make disciples – a much higher cost of relationship. At Food for the Hungry (FH), we believe the short-term mission trip offers a unique opportunity to speak into three types of relationships: (1) the relationship with the receiving culture, (2) the relationships with fellow team members and (3) the relationship with the sending church, churches or individuals.
Relationship with the Receiving Culture
In viewing the relationship with the receiving culture, we stress the importance of focusing on relationships in the local community. For most team members, there will be a strong desire to focus on the task or project rather than the people encountered along the way. In the case of my first mission trip, our youth group focused on painting the walls of the church rather than on the community members who watched from a distance. How much more impact would the trip had if instead we simply laughed with them and taken breaks to play with the kids, even if it meant the community had to finish painting the church after we left?
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Ryan Brown oversees the Short-term Team Ministry at Food for the Hungry which sends over sixty teams each year to thirteen different countries. |