Finishing Up

After spending my whole summer in Guatemala, these months are finally coming to a close. I am heading back home on Tuesday, August 1st! It has been a summer full of being challenged, learning, and growing.

Over the summer, I worked with 6 teams from all different locations (plus a team made up of my brother and dad). I learned a lot from both the Americans and Guatemalans that I was working with on a weekly basis. My job basically consisted of doing anything a team did. I did lots of translating in conversations, worked on relationship building, prayed with patients in the hospital, went on many home visits, helped with work and construction projects, and even went on a few trips to Panajachel and Antigua. I went to Guatemala City (a 4-hour drive) on nearly a weekly basis to pick up teams from the airport or bring them back.

I was challenged to not only be outgoing in English, but also in Spanish, as I was put into many new situations with new people on a daily basis. When I was younger, if you would have told my family or me that I would do this one day, we all would've laughed (I was pretty shy. And by pretty shy, I mean extremely shy!).

As my posts have shown throughout the summer, God has been teaching me a lot about missions. He's opened my eyes to see the negative and positive aspects. He has put a passion in my heart for missions, especially for the Guatemalan people. He's given me patience and energy throughout a very difficult and busy time in my life. He's brought me comfort, peace, and provision when I've most needed it.

God has also shown me other lessons throughout this summer too, and not necessarily ones I would have expected. He's taught me more about giving, patience, forgiveness, conflict resolution, self-control, and working with people of all different types. It's been hard, yet rewarding. I have been able to visit old friends and make lots of new ones too. I've connected with people of different ages, races, genders, and professions. God has shown me more of the plan He has for my life and has given me determination to follow Him in that.

So as I go home Tuesday, I will remember this summer. When I go to Baylor later this month, I will remember this summer. And as I go on with life, I will remember this summer. Because even though it wasn't easy, God was faithful. He had His hand in my summer. And for that, I will always remember.

How You Can Help - Part 8

From my past seven posts, I think you could find that short-term trips are difficult. I didn't give many answers to the multitude of questions, and I know I don't have all the answers. However, there are some ways you can help.

First of all, before going on a short-term trip, pray about it! Make sure God wants you to go there, so it doesn't become just a self-serving trip. When preparing for the trip, make sure the missions organization wants you to come, and ask them what you can do to help. If you go with your own agenda, you may not be helping the indigenous people in the best way possible. Usually the missions organizations know best when it comes to "help" projects. It isn't wrong to request projects in your field, so you can best use your God-given gifts, but have patience and seek advice from the people who have more experience with missions and teams.

Sometimes, God doesn't call us to go on a trip. However, that doesn't mean we should just forget about the people serving abroad or the impoverished indigenous people in other countries. Every missions organization needs a wide donor base to continue with their ministry. Giving money can often be a huge help to an organization, even if it is to just keep their doors open.

They also need prayers! Pray for missionaries and organizations to seek God in all their decisions. Pray for wisdom for those in charge and those serving God in another country. Pray for energy, health, and safety, as the days become long and hard. Pray for them to have patience and grace with the people they are working with.

Finally, be a missionary wherever you go. When we go to India, or Haiti, or Guatemala, we call ourselves missionaries. But we need to be missionaries wherever we are. It doesn't matter if you're from the rural Midwest, an urban city, or another country. We are just as much of a missionary yesterday, as we are the next, regardless of location. So don't become a fake version of yourself on a missions trip, and then go back to another life when you go home. Be genuine, honest, and build strong, Christian relationships in every location.

To sum up my series, I'm not against short-term trips, but I'm not for all of them either. I hope my series helped people consider some of the problems with short-term trips. I'm not trying to discourage people from short-term missions, because they can do great work. However, if people open their eyes to these situations, I hope they will grow and learn how to face them in the correct way. I'm praying that we all become missionaries wherever we are, because we can share Christ's love anywhere and everywhere.

Doing Missions the Right Way - Part 7

Doing short-term missions is like an art. There are good and bad ways to do it. In the last six posts, I have discussed various issues relating to short-term missions. There are a lot of trips that can be poorly planned and executed. But of course, there are so many great things that happen as a result of short-term missions.

I believe one of the best ways to solve some of the problems with short-term missions is proper training. Teams should have many meetings before and after the trip. Big issues with short-term missions should be discussed, so people go into it and out of it with the right mindset. With this training, people still may miss the big picture, but they will be more likely to miss it without any of this training.

It is not a bad thing to require people to research, read some books, study the Bible, and pray before they decide to go on a short-term missions trip. So many people approach short-term missions now as tourism. This isn't a trip to just shop and take pretty pictures for your Instagram. Sure, some of that may take place, but that isn't what the trip is about. "Voluntourism," or so they call it, isn't what short-term missions should be.

Big picture discussions should take place, so that your trip provides a sustainable solution to someone facing poverty. A great short-term missions trip partners with the local people, so you can provide support, but not tell them the way to do everything. Creating a partnership between your church and a local church is a great way to minister to another country. In this way, you can support a church who can reach out to more people within the community that you may not be able to connect with.

We should make sure to pick projects that aren't taking jobs away from local people. Listen to the long-term missions organization on what they need, as they usually know how to face the situation best. Many people approach missions thinking they might know how they can best help. However, people who have been in the community for longer periods of time will know the best solutions.

The title of these trips, short-term missions, should also be put into consideration. Should we call them missions? We can't do a missionary's job in a week. We can't even do it in months. I think it takes away from the great work of missionaries, when we start to call these one- to two-week trips "missions." I don't consider myself a missionary, because doing what an effective missionary does takes years. Maybe we should start titling these trips something different, like "help trips" or "personal awakenings." Because in reality, that's what these trips are. We often help for a short time with a small project, and personally, our eyes are opened to the problems people face around the world. Missions just doesn't happen with a snap of a finger (or in a week). It takes time.

There are a lot of great missions organizations out there. Most of them understand the issues and problems facing short-term trips. But these are problems that take a lot of work and thought to solve. A lot of people within the church don't want to have these conversations. It hurts to hear that we might not actually be helping the community as much as we think we are. It hurts to hear that we don't always make a big difference in the lives of others. We like the satisfaction of feeling like there was progress made and lives changed. But when you don't see the after-effects of these trips, you really don't know what impact you made, whether good or bad. So yes, this topic hurts. But it is oh so important. If we want to really make a difference and have effective missions, we must talk about this.

We're Not Meant to Feel Guilty - Part 6

The first time I came back from Guatemala, I felt guilty. I felt guilty for all the things I owned and the money I had. I felt guilty for growing up in a nice Christian home where I never had to face "real" problems, like the Guatemalan people. It's easy to fall into this trap after a short-term missions trip. A lot of people stand up in front of their church, telling about their trip, and are brought to tears because they remember how little material possessions people have abroad.

Now, it's not a bad thing to have this reality check. It's not bad to realize how grateful we should be. But if you come back from a missions trip, and that's all you get out of it, I think you're missing the big picture. A missions trip isn't supposed to just leave you feeling guilty. Many lessons can be learned from missions trips, but this definitely shouldn't be the only one. God has put each of us in a place for a reason. I know I'm not deserving of being born into the United States. I know I'm not deserving of all the material items I own. However, God has blessed me with those things.

Sulking in your guilt doesn't change you or change others. The point of missions is not to see how poor other people are, but instead it is to share Christ's love with others. We cannot save someone from poverty always, but we can try to direct them to Jesus. This relates to a prior post of mine, where I talked about poverty. Again, when you have a relationship with Christ, you are rich.

If we come back from our trip feeling guilty because of the grips of poverty in other places, we are underestimating the riches of Christ. If these people have Christ, they have it all. Why can we be brought to tears about the lack of material items, but not be brought to tears about the lack of Christ? Instead of feeling sad that people are poor all over the world, we should feel more sorrow and grief because people don't know of Jesus.

It's difficult to see poverty. It's difficult to go back home to your wealth. But God had you put in your place for a reason, whatever it may be. Material riches shouldn't even come close to the riches of Christ. We should be so joyful about our wealth and fullness in Christ, that we wouldn't even think about our material items in the same thought. Material poverty is sad, but knowing Christ is of supreme importance, and no other sorrow should compare.

Changing Yourself - Part 5

I like to ask people what they believe is the point of short-term missions. The most common response is that short-term missions changes the people that go on the trip, more than it changes the people that they are trying to affect. I wholeheartedly agree with this. I wouldn't be in Guatemala right now if it wasn't for coming on that one-week trip when I was just a freshman in high school. I wouldn't be learning all these lessons about short-term missions without going on one myself.

I believe it is important for people to learn from short-term trips. But I also want to make myself clear: did it change you for a few weeks or for life? It is all too often that I see people go through the steps. They go on the trip, they post about it on social media, they talk about it for a few weeks, and slowly, they forget about it, until their next missions trip. We say we will change our ways after a trip, but how often do we? How many people go back and build relationships with the most impoverished in their community? How many people decide to pursue long-term missions because of it?

I am just as guilty of this as the next. There is a huge population of Guatemalans, the people I have connected with, right in my community. They even have a church. I could have reached out to them, but instead, I used the excuse that I was too busy and didn't know Spanish yet. I didn't even think of the fact that my short-term mission three years ago should have pushed me to do this. If I could go back, I would have reached out to them, and tried to build relationships with them. I made this mistake, and so many others do too. But we don't have to keep making the same mistake. We can change this.

People often say short-term trips lead to long-term missionaries. And again, I won't refute this. After I came for a week, years later, I came for longer periods of time. However, in the past decade, there is a boom of short-term missions. So there should be a boom in long-term missionaries too, right? Wrong. Over the past few decades, the number of long-term missionaries has stayed steady. People can keep defending short-term missions in this way, but sadly, it's not the truth.

Lastly, short-term missions are a very expensive way to change yourself, especially if this change doesn't last. The Gospel Coalition states that in 2005 alone, $2.4 billion was spent on short-term trips, each averaging about eight days long. This huge amount of money is more than the GDP of over 20 countries. I am sure that this number has only grown, as the amount of short-term missions has grown since 2005. It's wonderful that Christians in the Western culture are willing to give this much money to missions. But can you imagine how that could affect impoverished countries if it was given to the right organizations in the right places?

So if our trips to impoverished countries are changing us, why can't we see a difference in our communities? Short-term missions isn't about your posts on social media. It's not about the kids that you met for a few days. It's not about you. It's about sharing Christ's love wherever you go. It's said "missions is right in your backyard," but that seriously could not be more true. If we can take off a week or two of work or school for a trip, why are we often too busy for people around us? Maybe we need to slow down and simplify our lives, so we can make time for building relationships, sharing Christ, and serving others right in our community.

Short-Term Missions, But Long-Term Fixes - Part 4

As I work with teams this summer, I know people are coming to help the Guatemalans. They see poverty and are hurt by it. But how can we help in the best way possible? I think one of the most important things to think about when helping to alleviate poverty is sustainability. Is the item you're giving the impoverished widow going to sustain itself? Will it help her for a few weeks, or for years? Will she be able to make real use of what you gave her?

Often on a short-term missions, people give out stuff. All sorts of things. They'll give food, and clothes, and money. But do these things last? Whatever you give them, if you're truly trying to help alleviate poverty, it needs to be sustainable. World Vision is an example of a big organization that has great ideas for sustainable gifts. They give animals. Animals produce something that people in poverty can either use, eat, or sell. They also reproduce so that they can constantly have an income or something of use from the animal. Now, only one thing stands in their way: the food. Although animals do provide an income, they also cost money because you have to continue feeding them.

Another example of a project many missions complete is building houses. A home is wonderful as
long as they can use it. In America, we like big, grand houses with lots of space. However, in other places, they might like small, practical houses. Most organizations that do this type of project have

Construction is hard work, but it also pays for families.

this part down. However, there are other things that come with building houses. If you build the house, will you help upkeep it? Will you check in on it, and help build a new one when this one is falling apart? Often, this is the job of the long-term mission. Short-term trips can't go back a few weeks later and make sure it's working properly; however, missionaries can. Another thing to think about with building houses is the job itself. Construction work, including building houses, is a career for a lot of impoverished people. Sure, it's hard work, but it provides money for their families. For each team that comes and builds a house, are you stealing someone's job?

As you can tell, with each idea, there is a good side and a bad side. I'm not saying either of these projects are bad ideas. In fact, they are good. However, I believe when going into projects like these, we need to consider both sides of the issue. We need to think about how we will affect not only the family we are giving to, but also how we will affect others in the community. We need to think about how long our gifts will last. We need to think about how we are helping, but also how we could be hurting someone. Yes, these thoughts and discussions take time. It makes it more difficult to feel like you're getting true results as a short-term team. However, it also helps create the most lasting results. A well-thought out trip doesn't hurt anyone unintentionally in the process.

Short-term missions do many different types of projects. Before you go on one of these trips, I encourage you to think about these things. Think about how you can help them in a lasting way, while also not hurting anyone else. There are many ideas out there, both good and bad. Short-term missions can be beneficial to many impoverished families, as long as we take some time to think about what we are doing.

What is Poverty? - Part 3

What is poverty? Most would say that people affected by poverty lack material possessions, or lack the necessities to care for a family. We think dirt floors and tin roofs. We think rice and beans for every meal. And yes, that is poverty—material poverty. But have you ever thought about different types of poverty? There are different kinds—poverty of knowledge, resources, education, and on and on. So when it comes to approaching missions, I think we need to redefine our thoughts on poverty.

I recently listened to a sermon by Francis Chan, where he talked about preaching in Simi Valley, California. Although this may be one of the richest places in the country, and even the world, he told them he chose that place because of poverty. Obviously, this isn't material poverty; however, because of their wealth, they are some of the people most likely to be spiritually impoverished. In Matthew 19, Jesus is talking to the disciples and says, "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." I don't immediately think about myself or my community affected by poverty, but maybe we actually are. Is spiritual poverty affecting your community?

Some might stop me right there, and tell me to stop looking at poverty as a Biblical issue, rather than a material problem. But doesn't the Bible say that we have fullness in God? We're wealthy in God. Ephesians 3:16-19 says,

" that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

Did you catch how we are filled with the fullness of God? We have fullness by having His power within us. We are filled by having Christ in our hearts. We are filled by Him. Sure, material poverty is a problem, but spiritual poverty is a much bigger problem. When you don't have God, you don't have anything. When you do have God, you have everything. He changes the narrative.

When it comes to impoverished countries, they often don't realize they are impoverished. If everyone lives the same way throughout the community, they don't see any difference. The story changes when we start to bring in groups of wealthy people. We tell them they're poor. We tell them they aren't well-off because they don't have carpet on their floors or they don't drink milk with every meal. Some of the ways impoverished people live is unsafe or unhealthy, like not having nutritious diets. However, other things, like whether or not you have carpet, is only a preference. Just because we prefer one thing, doesn't make it better than the way anyone else lives throughout the world.

We can try to alleviate poverty with a constant move of teams in and out through missions organizations all over the world. But that's never going to solve the problem. Quick handouts of free clothing and some food doesn't save lives. Jesus saves lives. Quick handouts help us feel like we have results. We can go home and tell people how much we gave to the impoverished people. But Jesus gave the ultimate gift, and it's our job to share about it. Giving people material possessions seems nice, but introducing people to Jesus shows more compassion. Saving souls is much more important than material things. It's even more important than safety and nutrition. Instead of always sharing our possessions, let's try sharing our Savior.