My church homegroup is almost through reading "When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor... and Yourself" by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, a book I highly recommend. A recent chapter questioned the increasingly popular church trend of short-term mission (STM) trips, which Americans spent $1.6 billion on in 2006 alone. While certainly not calling for the end of such trips, the authors point out the harm STMs can cause and introduce good practices to follow when planning and embarking on them. They also identify STMs as a stewardship issue:
"Spending $20,000 to $40,000 for ten to twenty people to be on location for two weeks or less is not uncommon. The money spent on a single STM team for a one- to two-week experience would be sufficient to support more than a dozen far more effective indigenous workers for an entire year (173)."
In the next chapter, the authors talk about doing missions in your own backyard (Christian Community Development, the type of work that my employer, Abundant Life, does). Even though he lived before Jesus walked the earth, Lao Tzu wrote a poem that really embodies the principles of Christian Community Development:
"Go to the people
Live among them
Learn from them
Love them
Start with what they know
Build on what they have
But of the best leaders
When their task is done
The people will remark 'We have done it ourselves.'"
I have often wondered about the value of short term mission trips, and have debated from side to side. I know the mission trips that shaped me the most were the ones where I hoped in a van and travelled 3 hours down the road.
ReplyDeleteI just found your site. It looks pretty interesting, and I think I do a bit of what you do. I could definitely learn from you.
Peace.
I love this. I am adding currently reading "Bridges out of Poverty: Strategies for Professionals and Communities" (which I recommend), and will add "When Helping Hurts" to my reading list.
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