Lessons in Short-Term Missions (India Part 2)

The Research

My first short-term mission trip was to Ecuador in the summer of 2002, in between my junior and senior year of high school. Interestingly enough, my future youth ministry prof. and close friend, Terry Linhart, came along with our team on that trip to do some on-sight research on the effectiveness of short-term missions for his doctoral studies.  A book and several published articles later, Terry has put together some cutting-edge research on the topic.

In his article "If We Send Them, They Will Grow...Maybe," published in The Journal of Student Ministries, Linhart, along with co-researchers Kara Powell, Dave Livermore, and Brad Griffin make  the bold statement that Short-Term Mission Trips (STMs) do not necessarily guarantee life change for the students who participate. They identify five components of effective STMs, namely:

1. Focus--helping students prepare emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and relationally.

2. Action-Reflection--helping students accurately interpret their experiences.

3. Support-Feedback--assisting students in their learning as it takes place.

4. Debrief--reflecting on the experiences of the trip as the students prepare to return home.

5. Learning Transfer--helping students make what they learned on the STM a part of their daily lives back home.

The research here suggests that a STM experience in and of itself will not necessarily provide long-term change in the lives of students. This think tank of researchers concludes that as leaders we must be very thoughtful in how we approach STMs and in how we encourage students to process everything that they are experiencing.  I couldn't agree more.

My Experiences

Going into my trip to India, I didn't really think about it as a STM experience.  In fact, I really didn't have much time to think about anything going into this trip.  I joined the India team merely 3 weeks before we left.  Therefore, my preparation for the trip was very much a blur.  Because of this, I probably skipped more than one or two of these five components to effective STM experiences.  Now, I certainly wouldn't suggest doing that, but as I have looked back and reflected on the trip (my attempt at learning transfer), I have come to the conclusion that it was probably my most impacting overseas experience.  More so than the week I spent in Ecuador, or in Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, or even the 3 months I spent in China!  At first, this conclusion puzzled me...why did India impact me so much more than any of the other trips I had experienced?  

The answer...relationships.

I made more meaningful relationships with the native people on this trip than I ever had before on any trip.  In 9 days, I made more connections with Indian people than I had in 3 months with the Chinese people!  One of my prayers going into this trip was that I would be clothed with the love of Christ.  It's hard to explain, but in a supernatural way I was able to love those people with a love that I myself had never known and had certainly never been able to express to others.  And in the same way, I felt that love returned back to me from so many of the Indian people that I met.

As I assess STMs and the experiences I have had, I have come to the conclusion that one of the greatest gifts we can give to students on STMs is an opportunity to intertwine their hearts with the hearts of people from all around the world.  Students definitely go into these trips prepared to give a piece of their hearts to someone. Unfortunately, often times we as leaders don't give them opportunities to love on the native people, so they end up throwing their hearts at the cutest guy or girl on their team (can you say mission trip hook-up?).  It happens all the time.  What a waste of a trip and an opportunity to experience the diversity of the Kingdom of God.  I am convinced, though, that if students are given the opportunities to connect with people from other countries on STMs, they will leave forever changed by the relationships they have built.

I leave you with a few pictures of the life-changing relationships I built while in India.

This is Jhumki.  She's 5 years old.  She stole my heart on this trip. 

The short guy on my right is Ibrahim.  He's currently working in Bhutan, one of the most closed countries to the Gospel in the world.  He risks his life every day for the sake of Christ.  I received an email from him today saying that he's praying for me and my ministry here. Wow...humbling...

 This is Sreejan.  He's about my  age, and he's a stud cricket player.  Sreejan lives in Orissa, an Indian province where the demonic strongholds of Hinduism are very evident through acts of human sacrifice (often babies or teens) to "the gods of the soils," and where churches are burned and Christians are often killed for their faith.  Sreejan has a heart of gold, and he's truly searching for what God would have him do with his life.  I suggested that he might be well fit for vocational ministry, to which Sreejan replied, "I could never pursue ministry for the Lord unless God Himself calls me to it."  I wonder how many fewer pastors we'd have in the U.S. if we all had such strong conviction about God's calling as Sreejan did!!!

These are my guys--Rahul, Bunty, George, Vishal, Johnson, and Pratik!  I love these guys!!!

That's all for now.  Much, much more to come!