Recently a few of my friends shared an article that discusses seven reasons why the author believes mission trips do not matter. While, I applaud her for being bold enough for writing this article and actually going on a mission trip I do have to say that I know for a fact a lot of people who shared the article in agreement with her have never been on a mission trip before. I would like to add that I am writing this article to show the opposing side of her argument and not to belittle anyone's opinion or belief, because I feel so many times one side of the argument is so greatly ignored.

1. They are not focused on how the volunteers benefit.

I will admit, if you attend a church service after a mission group comes home or if you talk to anyone about their mission trip you will hear a lot about how much it impacted the lives of the people who volunteered to go. When you travel across the world to a place you have never been and see situations you only see on the news it does change your life, but these trips are not planned for our own gain. We go because as Christians we were called to spread the Gospel to every nation and, yes, we do find joy in serving others and doing what we were called to do. Overall our main purpose of going is not to add it to a resume or to get service hours, we go so that we might touch the hearts of the people we minister to.

2. They are significant.

Parts of her side of the argument on this do make sense, but over all the fact is these trips do make a difference. Anyone who has been on a mission trip and returned back in the next year or maybe even a few months after they leave will tell you there is a lasting impact even if you are only there for a week or two. When people go on mission trips often times they are passing out food or building a house/church and things like that last. You also can not forget that many times when one group leaves there is another group scheduled to come a day later, if not on the same day. Every group and every person who goes on these mission trips have a desire to love people, so no child will feel abandoned, no mother will feel helpless, and needs will be met.

3. They are only offensive to the devil.

I am not 100 percent positive how to word this kindly. We do not go to be tourists or to share with the world how bad off people in third world countries are. The world already knows about all of the people starving to death in third-world countries, but yet does nothing to change it. You tell your children to eat all of their food because "there is a baby in Africa dying right now because their mom can't cook them mac 'n cheese and you can't even eat three more bites." Do you not think that is offensive? If you go on a mission trip and you talk to an adult who has lived their entire life in a literal garbage dump you will hear them tell you how thankful they are for people who come in the heat to pass out food and tell them about Jesus, not only that you will hear them tell you how grateful they are to live in a dump because that makes them grateful to simply be living.

4. They are not a waste of money.

So you are either going to spend $2,000 to go to another country and spread the love of Christ or you are going to spend $2,000 for the orphanage to pay to build the sidewalk your team was going to do for free. I can promise you that when you see a bunch of little children running up to tackle you with love you will not be thinking about how expensive your plane ticket was and neither will they. You can not put a dollar sign on the love you can share with people in third world countries.

5. They promote independence.

A lot of mission trips now are medical mission trip and/or teaching mission trips. Meaning, people who are actually trained in certain fields pay to go lend a helping hand to a hospital in need of a few more doctors or go teach English to students planning to come to America for school. When these trips happen or when natural disasters occur people go and build or go and actually fix broken bones and/or wounds. I have never met a person who just puts a bandaid on a "gaping wound." Not only do they fix and build, but also they are teaching the locals how to do this as well and leaving supplies that will last until the next group comes.

6. Good intentions do build walls.

Yes, there is a difference between skilled and unskilled help I will give her that, but no one is going to put a group of teenagers in charge of building something if it will not last. Every group that volunteers to go on a mission trip has someone who is skilled in certain tasks whether that be carpentry, teaching, or a doctor no group is filled with just teenagers who know nothing. Also, are we forgetting the missionaries who live in these places who every single day are building walls and caring for the people in the area.

7. We aren't trying to rescue them.

Do you want to know my purpose for going on mission trips? To love other people. Do I want to pack up every single baby I meet into my suitcase and bring them back to America? Yes, of course I do. We go on these mission trips because that is what we were called to do. We do not go to "save" people because how the heck do you even do that? I am a human being, I am not Jesus. Our reason for going is this:Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20