Gauging the effectiveness of short-term missions
Being a short-term missions organization, we obviously believe that short term mission trips are effective, but there is a lot to consider in building a case for or against the effectiveness of short-term missions (STMs).
In choosing a mission trip, someone should have a healthy amount of skepticism and reservation before engaging in any kind of short-term (or long-term) mission work, but one also needs to be aware of the potential fruit in a short-term missions experience.On one side of the argument, there are some legitimately bad ways to do mission trips. For instance, treating a mission project as a glorified vacation and not following up on your mission trip
afterward is poor Christian stewardship.
On the other hand, a short-term mission project may be the only chance some people would ever have to connect with a missions experience.
At Adventures In Missions, short-term mission trips are opportunities for discipleship. With our group missions, we partner with a youth leader or senior pastor and use the mission field as a context for God to speak to the young participants.
With our high-school mission trips and college mission trips, we invest deeply in our short-term missionaries through intense spiritual training, preparation, and on-the-field discipleship. With the World Race, an 11-month mission trip around the world, we meet our participants out on the field to debrief them and help them process what they’re learning and experiencing.
Short-term missions, when used properly can be an amazing discipleship tool. Doing a good amount of research before deciding where you want to go and with whom you want to partner is important. To aid you in your search for the right missions opportunity, here are some articles to consider, regarding the pro’s and con’s of short-term missions.
Articles Debating the Effectiveness of Short-term Missions:
- The Case for Short-term Missions by Seth Barnes
- Short Term Missions, Lifelong Change by Adam Miller
- Are Short-term Missions Effective? by Chuck Holton of CBN News
- Five Pitfalls of Short-term Missions by Hannah Nielsen and Jenny Collins
- Short Term Missions Can Create a Long Term Mess from the Chalmers Center of Covenant College
- The Benefits of Christian Youth Mission Trips by Jeff Goins
Other Opinions on Short-term Missions:
- The Effect of Short-term Missions on Poverty by Bill Walsh of Desiring God
- Are Short-term Mission Becoming Faddish? by Seth Barnes
- Doing Short-term Missions without Doing Long-term Harm by Chalmers Center Staff
- Short-Term Missions: Is it worth it? by Latin America Mission
More About Short-term Missions:
- Short-term Missions on Wikipedia
- About Short-term Missions on Squidoo
- Effective Engagement in Short-term Missions
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