In the last few years there have been a number of books that have examined the "help" that Americans provide overseas. "When Helping Hurts" and "Toxic Charity" stick out as my personal favorites.
The challenge is not that Americans go overseas intending to hurt people. Millions of well intentioned people travel overseas to help each year which is a great thing.
The challenge is that too often Americans go overseas as the "experts" and do not seek to understand what type of help the people need or do not take the time to understand that other cultures behave and communicate differently. Many cultures would be embarrassed or even ashamed to turn away our help despite the damage it might bring in fear of offending their visitors from the US.
This last week we received one of our greatest Short Term Teams of all-time and I do not say this lightly. This team came simply to learn from our staff and the impact will be felt for years.
As a former Youth Pastor I think that it is great for High School students to travel overseas and expand their worldview. This trip will have a lasting impact on each of the students who came. I think the impact for them will be even greater because they took the time to listen to 4 different sessions taught by our staff on the issues facing Africa today including orphans and vulnerable children, development in the majority world and hands on learning on our school farm. Each of these students will have a greater understanding of how the rest of the world lives because they took the time to learn from the Africans they came to visit.
But the Americans weren't the only ones to benefit from the visit. It was an empowering exercise for our entire staff. For most of them their experience has been that the Americans come over to teach them and they are to sit and learn from the wise Americans. Unfortunately this has brought about feelings of inferiority rather than building authentic relationships and mutual partnerships.
By coming as learners the African staff were giving permission to share their own spiritual gifts and personal testimonies in a way that could build up the church in the US. Hearing the testimonies from the staff this truly is the deepest connection they have ever experienced with a short-term team in such a short period of time.
My suggestion to all groups planning short term mission trips overseas would be to incorporate a time of learning into your next trip. Meet with churches, schools and ministries that are having a great kingdom impact and seek to understand what they are doing to transform their communities. By learning from them you will gain a greater understanding of how to minister in that culture and you might be surprised - they just might end up being a blessing to you and give you some great ideas to bring back to your church and community!
