Preparing for short-term missions
By Becky Castle

Dr. S: Dr. Raymond Smith

BC: If someone intends to participate in a short-term missions trip, how should he prepare?

Dr. S:
o Physically
While every situation is different with its own demands, everyone should maintain a healthy lifestyle and diet.

o Emotionally
This is the most overlooked aspect of preparation. If an individual is not in an ongoing discipleship relationship or actively involved in a local community of Christians, he or she could be afflicted with, yet hide, a number of emotional issues that could very well manifest with severe consequences on a short-term trip. There is no substitute for maturity.

o Mentally
As stated above, this is a very important aspect of everyone's life. Again, accountable involvement in a community of faith with help to promote ongoing discipleship and prayer can serve to insure good mental health.

o Spiritually
This is perhaps the key element in the entire package. Many times short-termers have been sent, or pushed to go to the mission field to "get saved." I have been the recipient of such people for an entire summer. There is a mentality that going on a short-term trip will cause a person to get "close to God" or that seeing the mission field will spark something in them that causes them to want to get serious with God.

This may be the practice of some, but it is not a biblical model by any stretch of the imagination. Citizens are never sent into battle to convince them of the need to become soldiers. Citizens are trained to be soldiers, then they are sent into battle. Those who go on short-term trips should not be sent or go in any condition that would impede the purpose of the intended outreach.

BC: What do you think is the purpose and effectiveness of short-term mission trips?

Dr. S: Participation in short-term mission trips has escalated almost beyond calculation over the past several decades. Organizations such as YWAM and Teen Mania have provided tremendous platforms for multitudes of younger individuals to participate in what is commonly referred to as "exposure ventures," which is a term coined by Dr. Gailyn Van Rheenen.

These "ventures" expose short-termers to new worlds where they are confronted with a variety of shocking experiences involving the social, economic and spiritual conditions they encounter. These experiences can serve to lead the short-termer into a larger world of Christian responsibility and obligation if they are processed in a beneficial manner.

BC: What positive and negative results have you seen from short-term trips?

Dr. S: Ultimately, whatever results occur, both individuals and churches feel their effects. After thirty 30 years of cross-cultural involvement, I have seen a great many of both.

The negative ones have traditionally occurred because individuals were "cross-culturally" ill prepared or they simply did not possess either the emotional or spiritual maturity (regardless of their chronological age) necessary to warrant their being included in the outreach.

Fortunately, the positive results traditionally outweigh the negative ones. Even though these may not fully manifest themselves for some time, both individuals and churches receive the eventual blessings.

My own career in missions began as a result of spending the summer of 1974 in Hungary and Romania with indigenous church leaders and workers who were facing a type of challenge I had never dreamed of to that point. Yet God used the trauma of that summer and those incredible experiences to begin a life-changing transformation that covered a three-year period. It has resulted in 29 years' involvement in missions and preparing others to do the same!

BC: What mistakes have you seen students make on short-term trips?

Dr. S: Traditionally, mistakes made by short-termers occur due to the inability to "read" the host culture. This is because students cannot relate on a cultural level to the indigenous personnel. How could they? Everything in their cultural arsenal is designed to function back home.

This monocultural orientation leads the short-termer to interpret indigenous input assuming they are capable of doing so accurately. This is because everyone begins an involvement in cross-cultural ministry thinking that everyone is just the same and sees everything the same way. Nothing could be farther from the truth. This "condition" affects every aspect of life and often results in confusion, frustration, misunderstanding and miscommunication. Without the necessary intercultural insight, people must settle for relating on an emotional level.

BC: What should students learn about a culture and religion before embarking on a mission trip?

Dr. S: As much as possible. In most cases, books (such as those comprising the "Culture Shock" series) and interviews with individuals who have experience in dealing with the culture of the place an individual intends to travel to and individuals from the target culture are very helpful.

Ultimately, I feel it is the responsibility of leadership to make every effort to orient aspiring short-termers to the culture and religion of the people to whom they intend to minister.

BC: What should students keep in mind while they're in the country?

Dr.S: Primarily, the student is a guest in the country and should make every effort to maintain a Christ-like attitude toward the people and their culture. They should go as a learner, not a teacher.

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