Short-Term Mission With Long-Term Vision...
| Many of you know that I spend a significant amount of time serving in short-term mission in Mexico with Adventures in Life. One of the biggest problems facing short-term ministry today is the tendency to not only serve short-term, but think short-term as well. I have addressed that issue and included some thoughts on how the US church, by far the largest participant in short-term mission work, can reframe its thinking to a more long-term approach on my ministry blog. Read about it here and leave your thoughts! Labels: Adventures in Life, church missions, mexico, ministry, missions, short-term missions, youth ministry |
posted by Dave Miller at 2:54 PM
Comments on "Short-Term Mission With Long-Term Vision..."
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BB-Idaho said ... (6:35 PM) :
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Dave Miller said ... (8:21 AM) :
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Lista said ... (12:57 PM) :
post a commentI guess I'm a bit confused by 'short term'. I've met folks who pay a lot of money to fly to Africa for
a week or two on a 'mission'. They seem to be confined to urban areas less they get some endemic disease. From my understanding of your work, you work in the same
geographic area with the same locals. But how short
(or long) is an effective
short term mission?
Hey BB, that week or two mission is a pretty standard time frame.
I am more of the guy who serves long term in a country, and has those people coming alongside us for that week, or two week experience.
Unlike the situation that you cited, when someone comes with us, they end their time pretty connected to our other ministry partners.
No hotels, no ministry compounds, etc. We house our people in homes with locals.
What's an effective time period? I think it depends on the scope of the reason for your trip. For me, i find it hard to justify big expenditures if people are unable to stay longer than a week, but I know that is a pretty standard time frame.
I would like to see at least 10 days and maybe even twice a year.
BB,
When I Heard your Sentence, "But how short (or long) is an effective short term mission?", I was thinking of the Duration of the Effect, not the Duration of the Mission. If a Person can be Brought to the Lord, this can be a Life Changing Effect and therefore, the Duration of the Effect is the Person's Life Time.