“Indeed, it is as though Christianity, wherever it went in the modern colonies, inverted its sense of hospitality. It claimed to be the host, the owner of the spaces it entered, and demanded native peoples enter its cultural logics, its ways of being in the world, and its conceptualities.” – Willie James Jennings[1]
“Before people decide they been called to go serve in a particular country, they should have to answer the question, ‘Who invited you to go there?’” – Sam Shewmaker

For the last several weeks, we have been traveling to various American cities and meeting congregational missions leaders presenting the results of the research we did with global leaders on relaunching Short-Term Missions (click here) after the pandemic. It has been interesting to see light bulbs going off above people’s heads and then hearing the feedback of “We’ve never thought about most of those things before.” It is amazing how easy it is to engage in practices that are meant to bless others without really understanding the impact of what we are doing. That is certainly the case with short-term missions.

When well designed (mostly by the people on the ground who are doing long term work in the destination country), and well run, they can be great experiences that bless everyone. But poorly designed and poorly executed short-term missions can be a massive waste of money that does more harm than good.

In the next few posts, I want to zoom in a little closer on the paper we developed and explore some issues in short-term missions (and longer-term missions by principle) as churches start traveling internationally in the name of Jesus again.

Let’s begin with a simple concept: when you are in another country, remember you are guests and don’t flip the script and start acting like you are the host. Here is some of what that means:

We don’t get to decide what is appropriate in other people’s spaces. House rules apply. What is rude there is rude. What is offensive there is offensive. How you dress, how you greet people, the pace at which things proceed, methods, etcetera should be determined by the hosts’ local culture and not the guests. This is not your house. Follow the lead of the local people and honor them by recognizing and acting like the guests you are.
Let the local people, or at least the long-term expat workers who know what is needed and appropriate, shape the design of the trip and tell you how you can help. Only take people who have the skills to serve their needs well.
Don’t make it about you. Don’t communicate directly or indirectly that you are the heroes who have come to rescue them. Don’t assume that churches in the U.S. or the way we do things here sets the standard and people in other countries just need to copy us. Go as learners and servants. Your blessing will come in direct proportion to the degree that you submit to the lead of others and bless them. The more you make it about you, the less you will grow and the more likely you will do unknowing harm.

Remember to stay in guest mode and take a learner’s posture. The gospel did not originate in America, the Bible is not a western book, the wealth of our country does not equal spiritual wisdom, and our natural assumption of superiority is unwarranted. The church is doing much better outside the west than it is where we live in America. The best reason to be involved in global missions is for what we will learn from the global church as we come alongside them as servants in a mission that is bigger than all of us.

[1] The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race, Introduction, location 210 Kindle

Showing Up as Guest Rather Than Host