A couple of weeks ago my wife and I were invited to a luncheon to share our ministry. In highlighting our work among non-western missionaries, one dear lady made the comment that she believed that working with nationals was THE best way to do missions today. She repeated the mantra that for $1,000 a month they could support 100 nationals (not sure any place in the world people can live on $10 a month), whereas supporting one American missionary family would be four times that amount.
I tried to reel in the discussion with a reminder that (a) there is still a need for North American missionary involvement, though admittedly not as crucial as 100 years ago and, (b) supporting nationals is not THE only mission strategy, as it has its problems if it hurts the local national church in their supporting mission outreach and if the national missionary is not trained to serve cross-culturally.
On reflection, what interested in me in the discussion was how myopic we are when it comes discussing mission strategy and especially finances. This congregation was part of sending out about 10 college students for “mission work,” this past summer. In hearing their report, as far as I could tell, none of them intended to make missions a career. Though they did good stuff while they were overseas, I don’t think their presence made an eternal impact on the culture, though no doubt they may have had eternal impact on those they met. And, BTW, how much did they each spend on their six--week excursion?
In their testimonial report almost each one said, “It was a life-changing experience!” Though it is said by every short-termer, sometimes through tears, who is confronted with the reality of poverty around the world, I always want to jump up and ask, “How will it change your life?” Some suggestions.
- Commit to giving each year to cross-cultural missions at least, if not more, the same amount of dollars that was spent on your six week experience. After all, where your heart is, and since it has been changed, so will be your treasure.
- Change your profession. If the short-term experience was life changing then I am assuming the least one can do is make a commitment to leave home culture, learn language and, like the Apostle Paul, be willing to suffer the consequences of a life transforming experience.
While the lunch discussion was fascinating, what was not discussed was even more crucial. While supporting nationals was deemed efficient, the effectiveness of short-term work was never mentioned, even though it is a life-changing program.
