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Ten Ways to Ruin a Mission Trip
Believe it or not, it's possible to have a bad short-term missions experience. Most times, this
is not the fault of the situation or organization. The root cause is most often the short-termer's
own attitudes and expectations.
To help you maximize your short-term experience, here's a checklist of what not to do.
Keep narrowly focused on "spiritual" activities. Since you want to win people to Christ,
focus on only the loftiest of things.
Avoid menial work like data entry, loading trucks, or working on buildings. Such things
will only distract you from your primary task.
To tighten up your schedule, eliminate personal prayer and Bible study. You will be so
rushed that you won't have time. Besides, can't you get all the spiritual food you need from
group devotions and from church services?
Stay organized and on schedule. Set detailed goals before you go. Establish schedules
and refuse to deviate from them. Do not accept delays, last-minute changes, and impromptu
visits and invitations. Those things will just keep you from getting things done for God.
Help the missionaries by pointing out their mistakes. Bring them up to date on what
you've heard are the latest missions trends. Some missionaries are stubborn. So, you may
need to enlist some support among the nationals for your views about how things should be
run.
Get involved romantically with someone. Being away from family and friends makes this
the perfect time to get involved romantically. While it may distract you slightly from the work,
you will be able to expose national Christians to America's progressive dating customs.
Don't embarrass yourself by trying to pick up the local language. People are always
saying that English is spoken all over the world. So, insist that those people use it with you.
Immediately begin pointing out your team members' faults. Time is short. It will be
difficult for people to make the needed changes if you don't help them from the start. Focus
your helpful criticisms on team leaders.
As you go all out in warring against attacking germs, don't eat any of the local food.
To be sure, you may miss some friendly opportunities with "the natives," but you'll avoid all
those awful germs!
Keep your distance from team members who couldn't raise their full support. They
may try to mooch off you. Don't give in. Sweating over finances will help them build their faith.
When you return home, scold your home church and friends for their lack of
commitment, for their weak prayers, and for their inadequate giving to missions. This
may be one of the few times you will have their deferential respect. Make the most of it.
If you'll do all ten of these things (or even some of them), I can promise you a bad short-term
mission trip.
Believe it or not, it's possible to have a bad short-term missions experience. Most times, this
is not the fault of the situation or organization. The root cause is most often the short-termer's
own attitudes and expectations.
To help you maximize your short-term experience, here's a checklist of what not to do.
Keep narrowly focused on "spiritual" activities. Since you want to win people to Christ,
focus on only the loftiest of things.
Avoid menial work like data entry, loading trucks, or working on buildings. Such things
will only distract you from your primary task.
To tighten up your schedule, eliminate personal prayer and Bible study. You will be so
rushed that you won't have time. Besides, can't you get all the spiritual food you need from
group devotions and from church services?
Stay organized and on schedule. Set detailed goals before you go. Establish schedules
and refuse to deviate from them. Do not accept delays, last-minute changes, and impromptu
visits and invitations. Those things will just keep you from getting things done for God.
Help the missionaries by pointing out their mistakes. Bring them up to date on what
you've heard are the latest missions trends. Some missionaries are stubborn. So, you may
need to enlist some support among the nationals for your views about how things should be
run.
Get involved romantically with someone. Being away from family and friends makes this
the perfect time to get involved romantically. While it may distract you slightly from the work,
you will be able to expose national Christians to America's progressive dating customs.
Don't embarrass yourself by trying to pick up the local language. People are always
saying that English is spoken all over the world. So, insist that those people use it with you.
Immediately begin pointing out your team members' faults. Time is short. It will be
difficult for people to make the needed changes if you don't help them from the start. Focus
your helpful criticisms on team leaders.
As you go all out in warring against attacking germs, don't eat any of the local food.
To be sure, you may miss some friendly opportunities with "the natives," but you'll avoid all
those awful germs!
Keep your distance from team members who couldn't raise their full support. They
may try to mooch off you. Don't give in. Sweating over finances will help them build their faith.
When you return home, scold your home church and friends for their lack of
commitment, for their weak prayers, and for their inadequate giving to missions. This
may be one of the few times you will have their deferential respect. Make the most of it.
If you'll do all ten of these things (or even some of them), I can promise you a bad short-term
mission trip.
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