Part two of a two-part series examining the efficacy of short-term trips
Open wide
Steve Saint, son of martyred missionary Nate Saint—and a missions expert himself from years spent with the Waorani tribe that killed his father—believes there are healthy ways for short-term missions to work.
"Instead of dismantling short-term mission trips, we should find some legitimate outlets for them," Saint says. His book, "The Great Omission," details the way short- and long-term missions have fostered dependency among communities missionaries originally sought to serve. Instead, he writes, all missions should re-focus on the goal of making disciples: "The purpose of missions is to plant indigenous churches that are self-propagating, self-governing, and self-supporting."
How do short-term teams contribute to that? "The answer in my mind is not to go and do," Saint says. "It's to go and teach. That's the gospel. It's one beggar showing another beggar where he found bread."
In addition, Saint recognizes the validity of the shift to holistic ministry in evangelical missions to include more relief and development work.
Physical needs are often a wide-open door for mission outreach, Saint says. In recent years he has worked with The Indigenous People's Technology & Education Center (I-TEC) of Dunnellon, Fla., which trains developing-world pastors to pull teeth. "Dentistry requires the ongoing care that fosters an ongoing relationship," Saint says. The physical component of church ministry for these pastors opens the way for them to teach about spiritual matters.
"It's not that big a deal to open your heart when you've opened your mouth," Saint says.
Holistic ministry
This sort of holistic ministry—the combination of physical assistance with spiritual insights—has become a mainstay in global missions. According to Douglas McConnell of Fuller Theological Seminary, holistic mission is the "intentional integration of building the church and transforming society." In the Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions, McConnell credits this shift in evangelical missions with the proliferation of relief and development efforts. In addition to parachurch organizations, churches are getting involved.
Centering the local church as the hub of a holistic ministry is the idea behind Rick and Kay Warren's new initiative in global missions. Warren's Saddleback Church will host the second Global Summit on AIDS and the Church, Nov. 30-Dec. 1. It also launched the P.E.A.C.E. Plan to activate local churches to combat spiritual emptiness, corrupt leadership, poverty, disease, and illiteracy worldwide through holistic outreach. This plan includes five steps: plant churches, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick and educate the next generation. There are a plethora of ways short-term missionaries can take these steps.
Dr. Florence Muindi of Nairobi, Kenya, founded Life In Abundance International, and has worked extensively in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to establish a church-based outreach that includes medical clinics, children's schooling, feeding programs and evangelism. She has found success in plugging short-term mission teams into each of these areas of ongoing ministry.
In particular, ministry to people living with HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia, where there is limited access to anti-retroviral medications, has led to a reliance on the holistic care model that Muindi calls the "emerging strategy" in missions. Muindi will be a featured speaker at a special session devoted to discussing holistic mission at the 11th annual Global Missions Health Conference at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Ky., Nov. 9-11.
"Global outreach trends have borne new strategies with increased success," Muindi says. "The compassion of Christ we emulate preaches a holistic gospel. Bringing healing to the sick is part and parcel."
Living water
In the same way, healing a community water source can open a group of people to the good news of Christ.
According to EDGE OUTREACH, a Christian mission organization that focuses on short-term trips and water purification, providing clean water to a community is a simple add-on to any short-term trip and can become an integral part of a holistic ministry.
"The ministry possibilities are endless," says Executive Director Mark Hogg. He recommends churches, orphanages and medical clinics set up a water purification system to help communities.
The simple New Life International Water Purifier used by EDGE is now operating in 54 different countries.
"It can be installed in a village and be operating at 55 gallons per minute within a couple of hours," Hogg says. The work requires little technical expertise. However, insuring that the water purification provides a lasting impact on community health and hygiene as well as a spiritual impact requires a more holistic view of missions. That's why EDGE offers training in partnership and leadership development and community education and research, as well as water purification installation and follow-up.
"More than installation and instruction in the use of the equipment, time must be invested in community needs assessment, leadership development and buy-in, to insure a successful project," Hogg says.
Holistic mission work may involve short-term teams in everything from construction projects to sports, the arts, research and teaching. What makes short-term mission work effective is the integration of teams into ongoing long-term, whole-person ministry.
Saint's tribal grandfather, Mincaye, who traveled with him to India in 2005 to train pastor/dentists, described holistic missions this way: "The tooth isn't the big problem. The big problem is with their heart. So if you go slowly and gently you have more time to teach them."
Read part one of this series: Fulfilling the Church's mission two weeks at a time.
