Short-Term Missions: Reservations and Commendations
Topsy-Turvy Missiology

Samuel F. Metcalf

Honestly, when you first moved here, I expected you to leave after a few months.  We had seen two kinds of Western Christians--those who give money in order to "do" Russia during a short-term project, and those who say that they will pray but are never heard from again.  You have shown us there is a third kind of Western Christian:  the kind who moves here to live among us, to learn, to understand, and to serve with wisdom.  Of all those who have come to us, I'd say only five percent understand what is happening here.  You are one of the five percent.

In light of the unprecedented missionary "glitz and blitz" that has invaded their country since the demise of the Soviet Union, it is perfectly understandable for the average Russian to ask "Are Western missionaries really necessary?  Aren't they doing more damage than good?  Couldn't the amount of money being spent be better used?"....Good questions!

But the basic answer to the generic question whether long-term, resident missionaries are needed is an unequivocal but qualified, Yes!  This answer is based on the following observations and convictions:

1. Any missionary being sent to this part of the world today who is serious about laying solid foundations for the church of the future should be competent in the language and have a thorough understanding of the culture.  A recent missionary letter from Russia illustrates the point:

The scene was a new Bible study for women.  Lynn, a missionary working in St. Petersburg, was asked to attend a gathering being led by a new missionary with another agency who had just arrived in the city and was already diving headlong into ministry.  At the end of the meeting the teacher asked Lynn, "So, what did you think?"  How does Lynn, who speaks excellent Russian, tell this person, who speaks no Russian, that at several junctures the Russian women made comments to the translator like, "Don't translate this....What  she's saying is nonsense."  And all the while, the teacher just smiles and moves on to new material in the study, oblivious to the conversation.  Such is the plight of many a missionary who doesn't know Russian.

The attrition rate for missionaries is large and growing.  Most of the church plants started by ill-prepared Westerners the past several years are failing.  Many Westerners wanting to minister better go back to the drawing board, perhaps a Russian drawing board, and start all over again.

4. The national church is weak, anemic, and rife with legalism and dissension.  Authoritarian leadership patterns are the norm.  It could take a generation or more for new, healthier models to evolve.

5. The extent of the communist legacy of social dysfunction is staggering.  Many outsiders wanting to minister in post-Soviet societies underestimate the depth of the social pathology, the damage and hurt these people have experienced, and how crippled the social fabric really is.

6. The equipping of Russian nationals for the task of planting new churches must include building relationships of trust, a task that is exponentially more difficult in societies where mistrust is endemic.

7. Leadership development will be a long-term, time-consuming process.  It will not be quick.  It will not be done in a seminar.  It can only be accomplished where there is shared language and a deep, profound understanding of the host culture by the one who has come to serve.  Simply providing information, no matter how good the quality, which we in the West falsely think  is training, is grossly insufficient.  Hands-on help that is based on relationships of trust is the need of the hour.  It is slow.  It is tedious.  It is behind the scenes.  It is not glamorous.  It does not produce flashy, numerically impressive or immediate results.  Anyone who reports anything different in this part of the world is either grossly misinformed, not adept at discerning the reality of the situation, or deliberately being misleading.

8. The type of ministry that is needed to multiply churches is not where Westerners come, plant, and then function as pastors.  The answer, rather, lies in skilled missionaries committed to developing indigenous leaders.

9. Some stress the value of funding indigenous missionaries and evangelists.  On the surface this can appear to be an attractive option for those in the West concerned about getting the best return on their financial investment.  "After all," this reasoning goes, "nationals already know the language and culture and supporting them is considerably cheaper than the high cost of sending missionaries."  However, such a view is often naive and short-sighted for several reasons:

a) It is a rare national who is able to handle being on the dole from the West.  Finances can be extremely corrupting and when they flow cross-culturally, more often than not, the results are tragic and disastrous.

b) The funding of nationals has the propensity to breed dependency and create structures that are impossible to support locally.  It stifles the necessary creation and evolution of indigenous means of support.

c) There are further complex issues:  How do we insure accountability?  What does this say to those who do not get funds?  How are choices made?  Are we certain we know what such funding communicates in the host culture?  Are we aware of what levels of funding are appropriate and when support steps over the line to the point of facilitating avarice?  Missionaries rarely know, unless they are competent in the language and thoroughly understand the environment, to whom money actually should be given.  Outsiders are often misled believing they are getting the straight story from certain nationals who speak English, a particularly deadly pitfall in the former Soviet Union where very few of the present missionary force know the language and culture.  All this is not to say that outside money should never underwrite nationals.  It can be done successfully.  But, potential pitfalls must be kept in mind.

The bottom line is that no substitute exists for incarnational ministry.  This timeless biblical principle remains true regardless of the context or culture.  Ministering in a deep, profound manner where lives literally are transformed must be a priority.  If this is true, then a great demand does exist for missionaries to this newly freed part of the world who know the language and culture, and who are committed to being present long-term to assist in leadership development. 

Samuel F. Metcalf (M.A. and D.Min. from Fuller Theological Seminary) is president of Church Resource Ministries, Fullerton, CA.  The agency's 160 missionaries serve in a variety of urban cultures worldwide and have been ministering in East Central Europe since 1986.  CRM has career personnel in Romania, Hungary, Poland, and Russia.

Seven Principles for Highly Effective Short-Term Missions

Mike Stachura

Everyone's doin' it!  Short-term missions, that is.  There seems to be an unprecedented enthusiasm for short-term mission trips in all shapes and sizes.  And therein lies a problem.  With all forms of trips, ministries, and experiences now falling under the title "short-term missions," it's getting very difficult to determine what is short-term missions.

Short-termers are getting a lot of "hard press" these days.  Terms like "glitz and blitz," "hype," "run and gun" are now used to describe many of the current efforts, especially to reach the former Soviet Union and East Central Europe.  Some see short-termers as actually counterproductive to the goal of world evangelization.  What is most needed, however, is clear recognition of the difference between serious short-term programs and glorified overseas sightseeing trips.

What does make an effective short-term missions effort?  Based on my experience in Operation Mobilization, let me suggest seven principles for highly effective short-term missions, which I believe embody many features of Jesus' earthly ministry.

1. Clear and Prayerful Strategies.  Many good models exist for short-term ministry.  Examples include Scripture and Christian literature distribution and assistance in the construction of church, medical, and educational facilities.  Short-term efforts that are prayerfully and carefully thought through, with clear communication beforehand to national church leaders and/or longer-term missionaries, serve as powerful sources for new evangelistic initiatives, the encouragement of local believers, and the equipping of national leaders.  Regular group intercessory prayer before going to the field helps discern God's strategy, making the teams better able to adapt as He directs.

Prayer undergirded the ten-person team which headed toward Novosibirsk, Siberia, for a summer of outreach in 1991.  Eighty visas had been applied for, but only ten were approved.  The team prayed for and recruited bilingual translators from the local university, only one of whom was a Christian.  At the end of the summer, only one of the translators was not a Christian.  Today, OM, in partnership with the Navigators, ministers together with more than 50 national believers in a new fellowship in Novosibirsk.

2. Leaders of Character and Competence.  Nothing is more critical to the success of a short-term missions team effort than having a leader of mature, godly character who has the gifts, abilities, and experience to guide a cross-cultural team.  George Verwer puts it this way:  "We must have people who are disciplined.  It's going to be rough.  It's going to be tough.  Their hearts are going to be broken.  We need people who are spiritual fighters....We can't really do much with gospel wimps on the mission field" (Verwer:  1994).

3. A Learner's Attitude.  From the very beginning, all short-termers must be committed to learning as much as possible (before going!) of the language, culture, history, church, and mission situation in the city or country they're visiting.  Short-term missions involves an ongoing commitment to deepen one's spiritual life and to learn the content of the gospel to be communicated in the context of the culture.  It means learning from national believers and more experienced missionaries.  It means avoiding the posture of "knowing what needs to be done."  It means more listening and less talking.

There are numerous excellent resources available to any church, group, or individual who's contemplating going on a short-term mission team.  (Please check the "Recommended Reading" at the end of this article.)  There are also excellent organizations with a long track record of practical steps on how to prepare for, go, and return with lasting results from mission trips.  Such groups are eager to assist and offer practical training for those going to the field.

4. A Servant's Spirit.  Nothing is more damaging to cross-cultural missions, short-term or long-term, than a patronizing, paternalistic attitude.  Paul came determined not to present himself, but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  As for Paul, he wanted to be known as Christ's bondservant ("doulos").  A servant's spirit starts in the home church or group with a willingness to do whatever is asked.  It is reflected in the team life where all members are willing to take their share of the workload.  It means esteeming others, particularly national Christian workers, as better than ourselves.

5. Partnership.  Short-term efforts generally fail when they are not vitally linked with the efforts of a national church or longer-term mission.  Short-term work should be a great complement and supplement, not substitute, to existing long-term work.  National church leaders often ask for short-term teams to help them out.  It is precisely this type of strategy that has worked so effectively for the ships Logos II and Doulos, for our teams in Russia and East Central Europe, and especially for our largest land-based work in India (McQuilkin:  1994).  The focus is on building a "both-and" approach that uses both the efforts of short-term mission and long-term follow-up.

The Novosibirsk outreach continues because of the commitment by both the Navigators and OM to see a self-propagating, mature, discipled fellowship established in Siberia.  Partnership in short-term efforts has led to a deeper link on a long-term basis.

6. A Commitment to Ongoing Ministry.  "Been there; done that" is not an acceptable philosophy for short-term missions.  While vision trips can stimulate genuine enthusiasm, lead to new ministry opportunities, and even encourage local believers, a real danger exists of creating false expectations, particularly in the host culture.  Launching a short-term missions team means accepting responsibilities either to keep on sending teams as needed or ensuring that a proper foundation is laid for leaving the work in the hands of competent national Christians.

In Durres, Albania, an OM short-term team of three entered in 1991 with a commitment to learn the language and culture, to start three Bible-study groups, and to see a fellowship of believers commence.  Within a year, they were well into the language, had started 12 groups (with several national Albanians helping to lead), and worked with a partnership of a dozen or so agencies in a large evangelistic campaign in the city stadium, and were involved in two new fellowships resulting from that larger effort.  Today, more than 120 national believers in Durres meet regularly for worship and Bible study, and are planning short-term evangelistic outreaches to remote mountain villages.

A local church near Atlanta has sent over one-third of its members into the former nation of Yugoslavia under the theme, "On the Road to Sarajevo."  While they have not yet established a permanent church-planting effort in Sarajevo, the Lord has led them to be involved in relief efforts, refugee ministries, evangelism to youth and the elderly, and a host of dynamic opportunities.

7. Christ-Honoring Communication of Results.  Perhaps it's a Western cultural penchant for numbers, plans, and quick results.  Or, perhaps it's an untamed ego which takes more credit for spiritual harvest than is merited.  Whatever the cause, nothing is more dishonoring to Christian missions than exaggeration and self-congratulation over perceived results of short-term ministry.  Short-term reporting must repent of "hype."  To start with, realistic expectations of goals for a short-term team should be stressed.  Groups must report real results that have been checked out carefully, with integrity and humility uppermost in mind.  Short-termers often are painfully aware of their own inadequacies.  When shortcomings are honestly admitted they help underscore the truth that humility still is a powerful message in a world waiting to hear the Good News. 

Mike Stachura is USA Director of Operation Mobilization, Tyrone, GA.  OM has trained 85,000 Christians since 1957.  Currently it has ministry bases in more than 70 nations with 2,400 missionaries, 40 percent of whom are career workers.

Peterson, Roger P.  and Timothy D.  Is Short-Term Missions Really Worth the Time and Money?  Advancing God's Kingdom Through Short-Term Missions.  Minneapolis, MN:  Short-Term Evangelical Missions, 1991.

Aeschliman, Gordon, ed.  Short-Term Missions Handbook.  Evanston, IL:  Berry Publishing, 1992.

Hawthorne, Steve, ed.  Stepping Out:  A Guide to Short-Term Missions. Seattle, WA:  Youth With A Mission Publishing, 1992.

McQuilkin, Robertson.  "Six Inflammatory Questions - Part 2."  Evangelical Missions Quarterly 30 (July 1994):  258-64.

Pirolo, Neal.  Serving As Senders.  San Diego, CA:  Emmaus Road, 1991.

Tanin, Vicki, Jim Hill, and Ray Howard.  Sending Out Servants.  Wheaton, IL:  Advancing Churches in Missions Commitment, 1993.

Verwer, George.  "We Can't Do Much with Gospel Wimps."  Mission Today.  Evanston, IL: Berry Publishing, 1994.

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© 1994 Institute for East-West Christian Studies
ISSN 1069-5664