Bandaids on Bullet Holes: The Great Disparity in Missions

When we think of the average American sent short term mission trip, we think of a week long trip taken with several well intentioned, good people that spent at the very least $1,000 per person to travel to most likely an Latin American country to do some local, tame amount of manual labor, say painting a wall or tiling a church. These well intentioned people, unfortunately, end up spending a large amount of money and resources finding suitable and comfortable housing that they can stay in, nothing of what the locals are experiencing, have cooked meals that are sufficient and not too exotic and of course some tourism trips that would complete the short term mission trip as a life changing experience. What our American ignorance can fail to make us realize is the great disparity between the impact that those trips are doing and the enormity of need that that country is experiencing. Many times, well intentioned volunteers are untrained and unequipped to be doing those manual labor tasks who actually take away jobs from locals, who could do it with more efficiency and skill. Thus, creating a cycle of mission trips that lack vision, priority and change.

We have mistreated the enormity of poverty with redundant and ignorant resources thus propelling a stagnant movement of missions instead of cultivating sustainable change in these communities. 

When I was serving in Guatemala for 3 months last year, my team and I worked alongside a ministry of locals that went into the indigenous villages to provide physical relief for the widows that lived there. I had the privilege and honor to serve a woman named Paula in this village, a sweet natured, kind eyed and gentle spirited woman of the village. Her home was situated on the slope of a hill where her bathroom was far down the hill from her bed, and in her old age had hindered her from being able to go down and use that restroom. My team and I had devised a plan to bless her with a new and improved toilet that we would install right next to her bedroom and a cement walkway to her humble kitchen, all for free, with the intention of blessing and serving her. 

A few days into the process of meeting with her, creating relationship with her and getting to work, I was thoroughly surprised. Once we actually got to work, it became apparent that Paula had become very anxious and hesitant to the work being done on her house. She would pace around incessantly and frequently come to peer in at our work with anxious eyes. She would often shuffle over to us and remind us that we cannot get any of her wood wet and other things of that nature. We would nod and smile warmly, acknowledging and honoring the seemingly small request. My team and the local ministry hosts soon sat down to reassess the circumstance and why on earth Paula seemed to be so troubled. 

It came to our attention, almost embarrassingly, that Paula was an 86 year old woman living in a little village in the mountains of Guatemala, she had lived in that home her entire life and despite her aging body, she ultimately didn’t need a new and improved, functioning toilet. She needed the love of Jesus, just like we all do. 

Our americanized mindset had clouded us to believe the answer to her situation was the American fix. We were attempting to put a bandaid on a centuries old, systemic and deeply rooted wound. In response to this realization, we quickly repented of our ignorance and pursued Paula as a daughter of Christ over a project to be completed. We sat and we listened and we learned from her, heard her heart and asked her questions. We got to know her and prayed for her and encouraged her and washed her dishes and loved her well. Walking out of that village, we were all aware that we had not bandaged the bleeding of poverty but we had spoken life and shared love with our fellow sister in Christ, and that was more healing than any bandaid could do. 

In our perspectives classes that we have been taking in our month long training before launching to the Middle East, we are being asked the hard questions and being taught to face the realities of ignorance and lack of diligence in short term missions and then proceed to learn how to respond to those problems. One of the things that we have learned is that our worldview is engrained in us by the age of 5 years old or younger, meaning that our American worldview is more integral in our perception, personality and way of thinking than we think. Meaning that many times we can be more American than we are Christian. That is a terrifying thought. When other people see me, I desire that they would see the nature of Christ not the character of my culture. With this understanding, it becomes pivotal as missionaries that we deconstruct our worldview and educate ourselves in order to equip us to love others with a deeper level of understanding. 

In the face of the great disparity between short term missions and the actual need of the nations, it is easy to become discouraged by the enormity of need. The enemy loves to feed us the lie that, “if I cannot do everything, I shouldn’t do anything” and that perspective is stained in idleness and pride. We were never created to be the savior, nor the answer and I am terrified that we would desire a gratified conscience over creating a sustainable change. 

So what shall we do? If the little help that our hands can extend are proving to be adverse, where is the light in that? 

We must go back to the basics and fix our eyes upon Jesus.

John 20:21 says, “Peace be with you! Just as the Father sent me (Jesus), I am sending you” 

This scripture connotes such a powerful conclusion. Jesus didn’t call us to go and make converts or push our religious doctrine on people nor did He tell us to go to an impoverished country to tour around and paint a wall. He called us to go to the nations and embody Him. 

Embody Him, the one who came to earth from the womb of a poor woman, born a refugee, never storing up anything but giving everything away. Embody Him, who went and looked at the tax collector and the forsaken fisherman and said “you are my chosen disciples”.  Embody Him, who looked at the adulterous woman and said you are freed and you are redeemed in a culture that was to stone her. Embody Him, who was fully and completely God in all of His holiness yet was crucified and died on the cross being mocked and slapped. 

That is what He called us to do. 

We cannot reframe the disparity in short term missions by turning the other cheek or speaking negatively about it. Rather, we cultivate change by running closer to the heart of the Father and farther from our habitual ignorance. We embody Christ in His humility, in His patience, in His wisdom and His deep grace. 

Go to all of God’s people. Live among them, whatever the cost. Learn from them in humility.  Love them earnestly. Start with what they know. Build on what they have. That is missions. 

Through silencing the ignorance that is naturally held in our Eurocentric worldview, we are inching closer to understanding the fullness of the Father’s heart for the nations which empowers us to pursue missions with deep humility and loving diligence.