Sunday, May 18, 2008
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Mission trips and Sundry Other Stuff
I'm staying home from church today. Actually I haven't been to church in about three weeks. Today there are a number of reasons. First I simply need to crawl back into bed! Yesterday I worked in this heat. Combine that with staying up late doing a "Girls' Movie Night" with my daughter and not crawling into bed until nearly 2 AM and I truly am feeling exhausted.
The second reason is that today at church a group is reporting on their recent missions trip to Guatamala. Quite a few people I know went. There were 40 in all I believe. A number of them are part of the same Friday night Bible study I attend. Now, I've heard bits and pieces of their 'trip report' and I have to say it disturbs me on a number of levels. I've personally never been on a missions trip so I have no first hand knowledge base to speak from, but I don't feel God intended us to reach out to those in need then come back and make it out to be all about us.
Perhaps I am slightly cynical (yes, it's been known to happen
), and I've always been one to shy away from "group veracular". Even in my wastrel youth days as a hippie I was never able to say the "Hey Man, groovy stuff. I adapted what I liked into my own repertoire but I essentially stayed true to who I was through all of my "life phases". I grab something I particularly like and keep it forever which my kids tell me is just so "out there and confused"Anyway I digress......so I've heard already the "how much more blessed we were than those we were there for" "How many times we saw God working and answering prayers because of our presence" "How the roosters were so hard to get used to so early in the morning" "How awed we were by how many churches there were and how many people attended" etc etc etc.....
I don't know, there just seems to be something wrong with the whole thing...maybe it's just the feel I have from some of these people, but I guess what it amounts to is I "HEAR" how it changed them in so many deep ways, yet with the ones I know personally I don't "SEE" the changes I would expect based on what they are sharing. Maybe they're time release changes????
When they talk it seems all about how it affected them...which isn't in and of itself a bad thing I suppose....it's just something I'm weary of hearing...I want to hear about the need there, the people there, their lives there lived every day without ever being able to get on a plane and leave, and about how THEY see God working in their lives. I dunno, I guess if I did go to church today I might hear that...just too tired to take a chance.
When my niece and her best frined came back from a year long missions trip to C-City and Hyderabad, and they showed a powerpoint presentation at church, everything was about those in need, about their continued need, and littlewas said about how it all impacted them in their capacity as God's emissary.
So....I'm going back to bed...and I'm hoping that some of you may have been on mission trips and can share or help me understand what it is I am missing in this.....Jesus didn't do what he did then go around blustering about how it changed him or empowered Him or about what an incredible difference it made in the lives of those he touched...should we??? or maybe we should???? Help me out here 'cos cynical doesnt sit well on my heart.
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Comments (19)
I think there are all kinds of people and all kinds of mission trips. Sometimes you don't get to interact with the people on a very personal level. Sometimes you are doing something like building a church, which keeps you pretty busy, and also the fact that you don't know the language has a lot to do with it. There are also all kinds of reasons people go on mission trips. I have heard that some mission trips are set up almost like "tours" and I admit this seems kinda dumb to me. Why go if all you are doing is acting like a tourist? I encourage young people to go on missions trips because they need to see there is a big world out there, and many people do not have it so good. Not every country is in dire need, and not every trip is planned for ministry to those in deperate situations. I don't know much about Guatamala, but I say if people are impacted in any positive way, and did any good for those they went to minister to, it was a good thing.
We were good friends with a couple missionaries connected with Youth With A Mission. One of them was a well known recording artist back in the 80's in the Christian music industry. They both worked directly with the people in the lands they went to. One of the chief complaints of the people they were involved ministering to was that so many missionaries come for short stints and then leave. They didn't stay right with the people in the slums, squatter villages or dumps, the missionaries stayed in nice places instead. It left a negative impression on the people in these countries. One was Romania, the other was South Africa. I'm glad to say that our musician friends stayed right with the people they ministered to, stayed for months at a time...sometimes staying for a few years and coming "home" for just a month or couple weeks. This really opened doors for them to truly have a lasting impact on the people in these countries. It also impressed me, their willingness to strip themselves of all the luxuries to live in the poorest and dirtiest conditions known to man. We've lost touch over the years. I know they both reluctantly returned to the states following 9-11. My guess is that they both returned with a large group of others, willing to do the very same thing they did. Live among the people of the land they were called to minister to.
I agree with you about how you feel though. (As I also agree with Danishdoll---she's right ) I hope there will be more and more like the friends I just described. They, in my book, were true missionaries. I know God uses the short missionary trips for people, to change their lives. And we do have to thank Him for that. Hopefully, He will call them to do more long term stays to these people. I often think of going someday. God needs to do some extensive work not just within my own heart, but in situations that would allow for such a thing to happen. We adopted a Compassion International girl a few years back and I would absolutely LOVE to go see her and live among them for a time. But right now, it's just a dream.
God bless your coming week. ~~ janet
@Lamentations3_21_24 - You may perhaps have hit the nail on the head Janet. This mission trip the "team" stayed in hotels"; perhaps not the nicest but they didn't stay with the people and maybe on short term mission trips this is the way it is done. It may not be best for the people to have a team get that directly invvolved with them on a personal level then leave after 10 days. Your point gave me some things to consider. The mission my niece was on was with YWAM and very different. Because they were there for a long time they lived directly with the people in both "Garbage City" and in Hyderabad. They also were in situations where they werent allowed to evangelize. They were there to help in a midwife capacity and had to share God simply through their hearts and the way they lived and loved the people they came to be with. I can see that could make a huge difference in the reaction of mission team members. Thanks for the outlook.
@DanishDoll - I can certainly see your point, and Lamentations3_21_24 pointed out some things I hadn't considered either.
On this particular trip to Guataemala many of the team did speak Spanish, or at least enough to get by, they were there in several capacities; some were building an addition to a school, some were a medical and dentistry team, some worked at the daycare with the children, so there was a lot of personal contact.
Maybe also I haven't been hearing all they've said due to my own personal issues with some of the team members that has nothing to do with the mission trip. I need to speak with God more about that I think.
You are right that whatever work they did there benefited people with things they wouldn't have had if the team had not gone. It's up to God to have that impact make a difference in the daily lives of the team now that they are home.
Thanks for your perceptions, they've helped alter mine. Isn't Xanga wonderful!
oh dear, i think you may be judging them a little hard...did they accomplish anything you approve of for the people they went to help? i know people's enthusiasm can be a little annoying, but according to I Corinthians 13, love believes the best of all things..." it always protects, always trusts, always hopes..." it is always patient and kind...maybe you can forgive them their appearing to make it too personal of an experience and be glad of any good they accomplished?
i dunno,,, dont know much about missions,,,,, im on my own mission here,,,, hidalgogringo tho,,, he knows about missions,,, maybe you could talk to him,,,
@tialoca13 - Yes agreed, I think if you read my response to Danishdoll above, you can see her encouragement really helped me to consider other aspects of the trip, and Janet's (Lamentations) experiences of differences in short and longer term mission trips made great sense as to impacts both on those on the missions and those they were there to help. Very helpful clarity from both of them!
@mejicojohn - lol...I'll check his site out, thanks
Aaaah yes, the missions trip thing......nothing that irritates me more than people who have a lot of "I" or "We" instead of "God" when doing things "in His name or for His names sake".
Anyway, I pray you were able to make peace with the way you feel...and that you enjoyed a morning in bed - I havent had one of those in FOREVER!
@Willowlost - i just read your post, time limits...but i see what they said this morning...
Hey sis, I think I found a mission you'd enjoy! Living amongst them ... is there any better way to know and to understand the poor, than by becoming one of them? Check this out:
http://www.missionyear.org/shortterm/
Also check out Shane Claiborne's site, http://www.simpleway.org for more info on how people are living like Jesus ...
Hi Sarah. You are a lot like my husband. He thinks exactly the same way. It makes life a little harder for him (and you I presume)since it becomes difficult to move beyond the judgments formed.... At the same time, I totally understand the deep compassion of your heart and receiving some feedback will help you weed through the thoughts of discontent.
If you can get past what you think you hear and see, and ask God to put His filter on it rather than your own, I know that you will "get it" that His mercy extends to the short-term missionaries as much as the long-term and as much as the peoples they came to minister to. In this case some had prayed for an electrician for two years. Two were part of this mission trip and got the job done.
Love you lots and I am going to give you a huge hug on Sunday. And remember you are not God. God is God.
@IM2thenations - Yep I got past it. For me, writing what I am thinking and feeling is in itself cathartic. Often by the time I've developed a post here that has some actual "meat" to it I've already received the answers I need. More foten than not I post it then simply because it took me so long to type it.
This was one such post. My putting things in the written form always works better for me than the actual thought process. I think it is because it tends to focus my thoughts, narrow them down leaving outer interference somewhere else.
Also, I was only referring to a couple of people in actuality...and I know there were many who went. My bad for focusing on the part rather than the whole, for I know well there are many parts that create the whole, and I never intended to detract from the good done on this trip. It's the good I want to hear more about!!!!
Felt the hug Rennie even though I didn't make it to church yesterday...Thanks,.
@macadamianutz - Interesting sites..I'm kind of working on involvement in another sort of mission right now a little closer to home, but I really enjoyed taking a look at those. I wonder if we have anything similar in Canada?
Sarah, a mission tripmis really hard to explain. I went to Brazil in 1990, Karen went to Jamaica in 1991. You get there knowing there is poverty, but don't grasp the reality of it til you get there. I saw people living in what are called favilla's (communities of people that have built houses out of cardboard on the sides of hills). We have a different view of poverty here in the states. You do what you can while you are there and TRUST, you feel terrible that you couldn't do more or stay and keep helping. You get back and you are sort of in shock and not sure how you need to act when back home.At least thats how it was with me. We each got up to tell about our experience. I had a hard time with it. All I could say was they need our prayers and if God opens the door for you to go yourself to SHOW the people there you want to help.On our trip the people knew we had all saved our money just to be able to come and help them build their church and sing and worship with them. Not everyone is called into FULLTIME service as a missionary, but these short trips are VERY good. Sure some go with the idea, "LOOK WHAT I"M DOING FOR JESUS" Sometimes God uses that trip to break their ME PRIDE, and sometimes He doesn't. The ones that go to make themselves feel good or make themselves look good will answer to God someday, but God can even use the selfishness of other's for His Glory, so it's all good. I really don't know any other way to explain it. I didn't read any other comments. Maybe I can come back and read them when I have time. Take care Sarah! (((HUGS)))
Saw your comment while on Megan's site. I am 56 and have been on 3 missions trips, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and El Salvador again, in July 2007.
What needs to be kept in mind is that God uses anyone on the trip to work His good will for the people whom He draws to himself.
On all 3 trips we had some teens who really did not grasp the purpose of missions and I can only hope that they have grown a little after the experience.
For me, it was being there to do what was needed, being flexible, being available, sometimes just to listen. I am fairly fluent in Spanish so I used that to serve wherever needed. When someone speaks your language, the door is open to let them tell you about their life, their needs, their hopes. A pregnant lady accepted Jesus because I took the time to listen to her. She had been praying for a Bible because she could not afford one and she believed the Lord would send someone to her with a Bible. I gave her the last one we had on the bus. A mute girl in a city on my last trip was so excited that I could sign to her! She could hear but could not speak. We talked for 30 mins. before our bus had to leave. We signed to each other during the skits that were put on. I did not want to leave but we both knew I could not stay.
Right now our church is partnering with an outreach ministry in Swaziland as they have an out of control HIV/AIDS epidemic and without serious change, they may become extinct in 10-20 years, as many never live to the age of 35.
Hope this gives some insight on missions.
@UnworthyofHisgrace - One of your comments says all that I was missing Gene, "God can even use the selfishness of other's for His Glory, so it's all good."
One of the great things I enjoy about Xanga as a place to journal my thoughts is it allows me to learn so much from so many.
Thank you for sharing your experience my friend.
@martna1 - Thank you so much for sharing Martna.. Your words speak eloquently of how God can place each of us in situations that honor Him simply through our presence.
Thanks for your comment on my site....I just saw that you replied to my comment here so I'll go back and read that. I wondered if it only reply'd to the page you comment on. Now I know I'll have to reply directly on the commentors page. : ) Have a great day