ATSS: Steve Case, “Short-Term Mission Trips: Benefit or Bane?”
2 April 2025 |
You’ve probably heard wonderful testimonies about what happens to volunteers who go on (expensive) short-term mission trips. Have you heard about the other testimonies—not so wonderful? Few want to share those.
Returned short-term missionaries happily share the wonderful sense of fulfillment for being the answer to the prayers of those they served, but we rarely hear from the recipients. Surely the short-term mission trip helped them, or was it more about making the short-term missionaries feel good about themselves?
The label “short-term missionary” raises questions about the consistency and duration of one’s commitment. We don’t call someone a “short-term Christian” or promote such a lifestyle as a discipleship pattern.
Jesus sent the 12 and the 70/72 on a short-term mission to proclaim the nearness of his kingdom. The Gospel Commission calls for God’s people to go to the whole world, and short-term missions offer one way to do that—whether preaching, providing medical care, constructing urgently needed buildings, or serving wherever needed.
In a sense, Christ’s incarnation was a “short-term mission trip” when compared to eternity. Could it be that we are just following his example?
Let’s talk about it this Sabbath and then put it into action (at least for a short term) if we aren’t already doing so.
Teacher:
Steve Case has spent most of his life in different forms of youth ministry and intergenerational church. Recent publications include Relational Bible Studies that can be downloaded for free at RelationalBibleStudies.com and lessons on finding Jesus in the Book of Revelation (Revelation101.com). He’s also done a paraphrase of Steps to Christ, called Connection: How to Have a Relationship with God.
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Coming up:
- Roland Blaich
- Don McAdams
- Laura Wibberding
- Olive Hemmings
- Michael Scofield
