Short Term Missions with Cultural Intelligence

Serving With Eyes Wide Open

Serving with Eyes Wide Open: Doing Short-Term Missions with Cultural Intelligence. 
David A. Livermore. Baker Books, P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287. 2006, 188 pages, $12.99.

Reviewed for EMQ by James E. Plueddemann, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, IL.

“The world is crawling with foreigners,” exclaimed a student in one of my cross-cultural communication classes. Cultural intelligence is often missing in the 4 million Americans who travel abroad each year to do short-term mission work. While there are several good resources to help short-term missionaries know how to apply for a passport and where to get yellow-fever shots, Serving with Eyes Wide Open is based on solid research and fills an important gap in the literature. It is a most readable book with many examples to help short-termers understand cultural pitfalls and gain cultural intelligence.

David Livermore begins with a succinct overview of the world and the global Church. It is important for short-term missionaries to realize that the Church outside of the United States is growing rapidly, often faces persecution, recognizes spiritual warfare and is becoming a major sending force. Such an overview may help overcome the “here I am you lucky people” complex.

The next section looks at the motivation for short-term missions. I am impressed with the balance in this section. From his own experience, Livermore points out the shallow motivation that drives many short-term missionaries. He gives sad but humorous examples of what pastors from the United States thought they were teaching and compares it to what the national pastors actually thought of the teaching. He describes misunderstandings between short-termers and host people in the use of time, the urgency of the task and oversimplification of complex situations. He is concerned that too often short-termers parachute into what they perceive as a backward culture, distribute goods and then retreat.

“Open your eyes!” is the continual challenge of this book. Readers will find practical steps for gaining cultural understanding in four areas. Short-term missionaries need to gain knowledge of basic cultural differences. Then using this knowledge they can interpret cues about what is really going on in the other culture. Livermore encourages perseverance as short-termers deal with confusing situations, and gives practical advice on how to behave while applying the above three principles in another culture.

Livermore concludes with a powerful chapter on “The Heart of the Matter,” doing missions out of a genuine love for people and for God. If short-term missionaries can love the people to whom they minister they will treat them with dignity and respect. If they serve because of their love for the Lord, they will avoid a self-serving motivation and focus on genuine service.

Finally I have an accessible book on short-term missions that I can use as a textbook and also give to our youth director as she prepares a group from our church to spend two weeks in Brazil. The book is grounded in research by respected theorists such as Geert Hofstede, Robert Levine, Edward T. Hall and Robert Kohls, yet the book is written for the layperson with compelling examples and insights from practical experience. Many books on short-term missions are either descriptions of the “nuts and bolts” of how to lead a team, or are naïf propaganda extolling the virtues of the so called “next paradigm in world missions.” Serving with Eyes Wide Open is written with a perceptive understanding of the dangers and problems of short-term missions. It also gives a sense of hope by encouraging godly motivation and cultural intelligence.

Other valuable resources for short-term missions:

David Mays of ACMC has put together a valuable CD called, Trip Stuff: Stuff You Need To Know About Doing Mission Trips In Your Church. (April 2006) Contact him at http://www.davidmays.org/.
Elmer, Duane. 2006. Cross-Cultural Servanthood: Serving the World in Christlike Humility. IVP Books.
Judge, Cindy, 2000. Before You Pack Your Bag, Prepare Your Heart: 12 Bible Studies for Short-Term Mission Preparation. Wheaton: Campfire Resources.

Short Term Missions - Doing Good - Avoiding Harm

How to Avoid Doing More Harm Than Good in Short-Term Missions
Seven Standards of Excellence

Jim Plueddemann

Every year I ask my M.Div students at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School about their view of short term missions. Almost all of them have had experience either as a team leader, or have received short-term teams.  I ask them about the effectiveness of short-term missions from the perspective of the receiving people.  Invariably about a third of my students feel the trips are worthwhile, a third say they were OK and didn't do much good or harm, and a third feel strongly that short-term missions do more harm than good.  Short-term missions is not intended to be therapy for the missionary. Providing experiences for short-termers isn't bad. Maybe call it "short-term experiences" but just don't call it missions. 

1. God-Centered – Is God honored through this experience? Is love for God and love for people the chief motivation? It is quite possible that seemingly "successful" projects of short-term missionaries actually bring shame to Christ. Most short-term teams are blissfully unaware of unintended consequences of their projects. 

2. Gospel-Centered – Will the trip contribute directly or indirectly to evangelism and developing committed followers of Christ?  Many people travel around the world doing good deeds that contribute to causes other than Christ and his Kingdom. While the service projects are commendable, unless there is a Gospel component, is not truly missions. 

3. People-Sensitive – Do short-termers appreciate and build on the cultures and giftedness of those they go to serve? Are short-termers humbly willing to listen and learn from local people? Toxic charity is doing good things for people that in fact, make them feel less than human. Treating people as objects or recipients of aid is dehumanizing.  

4. Field-Focused – Will the experience strengthen the ministry on the field? It the trip actually strategic for the field? Short-term mission trips may broaden the horizons of the short-term missionary, and at the same time be a hindrance to the ministry of local pastors and long-term missionaries. At times churches fund short-term missions often drain precious resources from the support of long-term missionaries and field ministries. 

5. Long-term Outcomes – Does the trip promote the a commitment to long-term missions or more fervent prayer or sacrificial giving? Does it empower local people to be more self-supporting and self-sufficient? There is quite a bit of  evidence that the work of short-term missions facilitates dependency and hinders local initiatives for those being served, and has little long-term missional impact on the short-termers.   

6. Appropriate Preparation – Does preparation make short-termers aware of God’s plan for the nations, and an appreciation of cultural values of the local people? At times short-termers are coerced into going on trips resulting in resentment from those receiving the missionaries.  Some short termers go in order to discover themselves and experience the broader world. Such a motivation is not bad, but neither is it missions. Maybe such trips should be called "self-awareness experiences" rather than missions. 

7. Through Follow-Up – Does the trip lead to greater understanding and long-term missions commitment by the short term missionary and the sending church?  Does the short-term trip encourage some to be long-term missionaries, to pray for fervently for missions or to give sacrificially to missions? Some research shows that the effects of the short-term experience wear off after six months, and may immunizing them against serious long-term involvement in missions.  There is little evidence that, on the average, short term experiences contribute to increased prayer or financial support for world missions.