An Extension of Aid

Many churches and religious organizations, if not all, have some degree of outreach ministry or a focus on missions. While the types of missions have changed over the years, much of the narrative of a church body with something to give and a person or community with a need to receive has stayed the same. However, with this power dynamic comes many unhealthy trends and narratives not for the giving side, but for the receiving side. There are countless stories of communities who have had 20 different missions teams come in and paint the same building 20 different times, churches in Africa that have created fake orphanages in order to receive funding from American churches, and Americans going on expensive trips to exotic locations to spend 30 minutes helping a community while spending the rest in a self-glorifying vacation congratulating themselves for a job well done. An instagram account with 130,000 followers called BarbieSavior is a satirical play on the hundreds of cases of people who go into a community, hoping to do well-meaning work, but instead help to feed into a culture of short-term missions that are destroying communities.  With short-term missions come several implicit assumptions. First, that the poor and vulnerable are in need of an affluent savior to bail them out. Second, that they are incapable of allocating given resources in a resourceful and responsible way. Third, that missions must be done in a foreign place rather than one’s own home community. “Short-term missions groups spend an average of $25,000-$50,000 per group for a one-week STM; this covers expenses for lodging, airfare, and food for the group. If this money were made available to local clinics, it would more than adequately support the work of that local clinic for a full year” (Bartelme, 2015). These short-term missions, which will be referred to as STM for the remainder of this paper, provide short-term solutions for long-term problems without addressing the root of what is causing these situations in the first place. “North Americans often come seeking the emotional rewards of hands-on involvement rather than a way to make an investment in long-term empowerment” (Adeney, 2000, p. 5) Most of the people sent on STM are unskilled, unaware of cultural differences and relevant practices, and rarely prepared for the experience they have. By trying to engage all of the problems of the world, people quickly become emotionally numb to feeling empathy for these issues, or as Annie Dillard put it, “compassion fatigue”. There are several stories that help to explain the impact of short-term missions. One comes from an African storyteller. “Let me tell you a story about Americans, an African Christian friend said to me. Elephant and Mouse were best friends. One day Elephant said, “Mouse, let’s have a party!” Animals gathered from far and near. They ate. They drank. They sang. And they danced. And nobody celebrated more and danced harder than Elephant. After the party was over, Elephant exclaimed, “Mouse, did you ever go to a better party? What a blast!” But Mouse did not answer. “Mouse, where are you?” Elephant called. He looked around for his friend, and then shrank back in horror. There at Elephant’s feet lay Mouse. His little body was ground into the dirt. He had been smashed by the big feet of his exuberant friend, Elephant. Sometimes, that is what it is like to do mission with you Americans, the African storyteller commented. It’s like dancing with an Elephant.” (Adeney, 2000, p. 9) 

Fighting For Change

While global inequalities and disparities could be destroyed much more quickly primarily just by donating funds that can be allocated respectively by the community itself, there is something to be said about the relationships that are formed in a healthy way through short-term missions. For example, Loyola University Chicago has an Alternative Break Immersion program that carries out short-term trips with long-term partners, and focuses on pillars of community, simplicity, justice, and faith. The difference about the ABI program is its focus on preserving dignity and creating relationships, rather than enacting a white-savior complex. There is a large push for cultural awareness before the trip and cultural appropriateness during and after the trip. This can be seen through the requirement of no phone or electronic usage, being made aware of the cultural food and dress practices, and other relevant material. Another organization focused on long-term relief of global problems is that of Team World Vision. Their vision is to end the global water crisis in our lifetime, and they do so by a sustainable model that implements projects that provide a clean water source in areas that have little to no access to clean water. Their model aims at the organization being in and out of the community within ten years, allowing the community itself to be running, fixing, and delegating the water project to members within their own body rather than requiring outside sourcing for the long-term. By having sustainable models such as these, STM can minimize their negative impact on communities and maximize the partnership between American churches and organizations and communities in need. Another large way to make short-term missions effective would be to match whatever the cost of taking the trip would be with an equal donation of that money to the community. While it can be said that it would still be better to just donate the double amount of money to the community, at least this is a push in the right direction. Also, there should be a greater focus on short-term missions to places within or close by to the place of origin for the group, rather than always pushing for an extreme or exotic STM. By carrying out these three solutions in addition to better educating the entire sending organization or religious congregation about short-term missions, sustainable change and an end to global disparities can indeed be found. There are also so many low-impact ways to be helping those in need all around the world that anyone of any socioeconomic standing can participate in that can truly make a difference, from spreading awareness of social issues around the world, investing in education, reducing food waste, choosing sustainable food sources, and empowering women.