Why Short-term Missions?

When I worked at Kamloops Christian School and was in charge of the Foreign Missions program, people would ask me all the time, "Why do we send out students to Guatemala? It is so expensive. Wouldn't it be better if we just sent the money? It would help so much more."

Now that my family has been here, in Guatemala, for 5 months and we have hosted numerous teams, my answer is more firm than ever. Yes, sending groups on a foreign missions experience is expensive. The cost of flights and out of country costs are high. But it is not about a one time monetary cost - it is about affecting a heart for missions for a lifetime.

You see, by coming here (or to any other developing nation) and seeing first hand what is happening, a person's heart is touched. We take groups on home visits and show them how the majority of the world actually lives! It is very eye opening. They discover that we, as North Americans, are not normal! It is a humbling experience, that causes them to look at their lives and what brings them satisfaction. We hear, over and over again, comments like, "they have so little, yet they seem so happy." We are able to look at where real joy comes from and discover it is not routed in stuff!

We take them to places like the sink hole in Chicoy and share with them the spiritual bondage that the people here are in. We do this to increase their empathy for the Guatemalan people, but also to give them an opportunity to examine their own lives. It is a very powerful experience to look long and hard in the mirror and allow the Lord to touch areas of our lives that are keeping us in bondage.

We go to the hospital and visit the children's ward. Bed after bed we talk to the parents and the children, give the boy or girl a small toy, and pray for them. We place team members in positions where the Lord uses them to bless others. It pushes them way out of their comfort zone, but that is where our hearts and spirits are more open to the Lord, and they walk away blessed having served in this way.

By going on a short term missions trip, a person experiences what they do not (perhaps cannot) experience at home, and it affects them. One of my former students put it this way, "it expands your world and your thinking." Thanks, Anthea! And it is this expansion that affects world missions. I don't mean that everyone who comes on a short term missions experience will land up serving on the foreign mission field, although that can happen for some. What I am saying is that the next time a missionary visits their home church, they listen a little more closely, their hearts are affected, and they desire to help in whatever way they can. Because they have "been there" and seen first hand the reality of the stories they are hearing, their hearts are softer than they were before. This impacts world missions. It may be a sad statement, but what touches our hearts, as North Americans, touches our wallets, and foreign mission organizations need financial support to continue to serve those who have yet to hear the Gospel we hold so dear.

So, why short term missions? Because it is life changing for the one going and it advances the work of the Kingdom of God.

Perhaps it would be good if we started to ask the Lord questions like, "Lord, how do you want me to be involved?" "Lord, have you called me to go, or to stay home? " Keith Green said at one of his last concerts before he died something like this, "Every believer is called to go, but only a few are called to stay." His statement is a radical departure from how most of us think. The last time I read "The Great Commission" it didn't say to go if you feel like it, if it is financially doable, if it works into your schedule. It isn't really stated as an option at all. It says, "Go!"

Blessings,

Karren