Arguably
the most exciting prospect for student missions is the short-term
mission trip concept. One hundred and fifty years ago, the possibility
was unheard of. American missionary Adoniram Judson faced a long,
monotonous journey when he set sail for Burma in 1812. Scotsman
John Paton labored in the New Hebrides islands, a small archipelago
four and a half months away by ship.
Today we stand with the mission field at our doorstep. Less than
twelve hours separate us from any major city in the world. Mission
boards recruit short-term missionaries to work for anywhere from
three months to a year. Churches, mission boards, Bible colleges,
and individuals are organizing mission trips for high schoolers,
college students, families, and work teams.
However, with the excitement this new level of involvement in missions
brings, a host of mission trip myths arise, discouraging and attacking
a prospective mission tripper. Since I have taken several mission
trips, I want to take a few minutes to dispel some of the most daunting
mission trip myths.
Myth #1: A mission
trip is a failure if nobody gets saved.
This is a biggie. Perhaps the driving force behind this myth is
our desire to come back from a mission trip, full of excitement
over the souls we have seen saved. What could be better evidence
of a successful mission trip than having led a native to faith in
Jesus Christ?
The real question here is what is the purpose of a mission trip?
Is it strictly to evangelize the native people we meet? Two things
rule against this as the primary focus. First, a visiting student
hits the language barrier head-on. Unless he is fluent in the language
and culture (in other words, he has grown up in that country), he
will struggle to express even the most basic ideas with the nationals.
In his desire to give out the Gospel, he may butcher the language,
confusing a lost native and perhaps offending him. Even other English-speaking
countries have different words and customs, frustrating his witnessing
efforts.
Second, a short termer must remember that when he leaves after two
weeks or a month, the missionary is left with any problems he has
caused. A testimony lost, a carefully built relationship shattered,
an offense created in the neighborhood–all these can be the result
of an overzealous witness. I have personally had nationals ask me
why another short-term missionary was so loud and offensive. In
his zeal to witness, this student actually turned people away from
the Gospel!
No, the purpose of a mission trip must be more obtainable than simply
witnessing to the natives. My ultimate goal in a mission trip has
always been to serve the missionaries themselves. This takes the
form of packing my suitcases around "silly things" they want from
the United States, just sitting and talking (in English!) late into
the nights, helping them figure out their computers, doing small
jobs around the house, babysitting the kids so the parents can have
a night out, or doing whatever I can to serve them.
Ministering to the missionaries is how a mission trip can best help
the cause of missions. A student on a mission trip will see the
sacrifices a missionary makes for the cause of Christ: not so much
financial (although there are financial sacrifices), but being away
from family, the familiarity of the United States, and some comforts
that we have come to know as necessities. So why should anybody
other than a prospective missionary take a mission trip?
Myth #2: Mission trips
are only for those who feel God calling them into full-time, career
missions.
A second important purpose in taking a mission trip is the opportunity
to see first hand God's work in the world. Whether or not you feel
God's call on your life (yet!) to missionary work, you can gain
a perspective of the world and the mission field. When you begin
to realize that our world, as we know it, really entails a very
small percentage of the global population, the effect is sobering.
I never considered myself "rich" until I took a mission trip to
inner-city Dallas, Texas, and two Spanish-speaking kids asked another
guy and me where we lived. As we began to describe our lives, so
different from theirs, one stopped me and asked, "Are you rich?"
I will admit that I never felt so selfish and pampered. I realized
that yes, I am rich! I have more money than most of the world could
ever hope for. Taking that trip, even though I never left this country,
widened my perspective of God's blessings to me.
It will also change your view of missions forever. When prayer letters
are no longer just funny names you can't pronounce, but people you
have met and talked to, your prayer life will never be the same
again! When you realize that missions isn't just slide shows and
prayer cards and curio tables, but people, it will change how you
view missions. When you realize the language you struggle with in
school actually represents people who need to hear the message of
God's Word, it will give your study new meaning. Any Christian,
young or old, lay person or longtime pastor, will benefit in his
view and appreciation for missions by taking a mission trip.
Myth #3: I should
only take a mission trip to a field for which I feel burdened.
Wrong! You should take any opportunity you can to see God's harvest
field! Who knows, perhaps God will burden you for that field or
call you to missions because of that trip. Seeing other countries
and peoples will help you gain a broader view of the world. As a
student, you have probably the greatest opportunity of your life
to take mission trips. You probably don't have the demands of a
family or a full-time job. Take advantage of any opportunity you
have now–you'll wish you had later!
Myth #4: A bad mission
trip experience means God doesn't want me to be involved in missions.
A missionary's life isn't all peaches and cream! Never tie God's
will for your life to how you felt for a week and a half one summer.
As you take a mission trip, don't put out a fleece forcing God to
give you a "fun time" or else you won't consider serving him in
the future. View it as an opportunity to minister to the missionaries
(see myth #1), to expand your own horizons (see myth #2), and to
give God an opportunity to shape, burden and prepare you for future
service.
Myth #5: I can't take
a mission trip because I have to work.
Nothing could be more self-contradictory. Perhaps your first objection
to a mission trip (and it is a popular one!) is the issue of money.
Christian college costs money, and surely God wouldn't want you
to be a poor steward and not work through the summer, you reason.
But to say that you cannot serve God by taking a mission trip because
you have to work to pay for Christian college (so you can prepare
to serve God) is a little far-fetched, isn't it? Taking a mission
trip will allow you to step out in faith (maybe for the first time
in your life) and to trust God to provide for your needs.
My personal testimony is that God has provided above and beyond
my every expense for the last seven summers, as I have been involved
in mission trips and Christian camping. In that time, I never worked
a paying summer job, but God has provided! I challenge you: step
out in faith; serve God, and trust him to provide for you.
Myth #6: A mission
trip lasts 1½-2 weeks, and goes either to Canada or Mexico.
A mission trip is only limited by your own creativity! With the
price of flying and attractive pricing options available to a flexible
traveler, there is no limit to which mission fields are open to
you! Find out what trips are available from your school. Check out
fundamental resources like Student Global Impact to see what they
offer. Or, I would encourage you to choose a missionary you know
is a faithful, solid servant of the Lord (wherever in the world
he may be), and seek to visit that field. Go alone. It will challenge
you more, cause you to struggle more, be afraid more, but learn
more too!
Myth #7: The only
reason adults should visit the mission field is for a work trip.
This is simply not true. I am constantly amazed at how much families
spend on vacations–whether amusement parks, cruises, or exotic travel.
If a family took that same amount of money and put it into a family
mission trip, think of the encouragement they could be to a missionary
family on the field. Think of the impact it would have on their
own lives. My own family has done this several times and the blessing
has been enormous. We have visited missionary families in the United
States, Canada, and Mexico. My parents recently visited several
missionaries in Germany. Their trip was extremely affordable and
more important, it was eternally profitable.
So where does that leave you? What are you doing this summer? Take
a mission trip–it will change your life!
Mark Perry is currently a student at Detroit
Baptist Theological Seminary preparing to serve the Lord in
Mexico City as a church planter. He has been involved in family,
team, and personal missionary trips to Canada, the United States,
and Mexico. His e-mail address is mkperry@netzero.net.