I want to start out with a disclaimer: I am in no way an expert on mission work or poverty or the world's needs. This is an opinion piece, so this is my opinion, and opinions change. With the spirit of an open mind, I am always open to discussion with anyone who reads this piece. That being said, I begin with some personal experience.
For my spring break during my senior year of high school, I went on a one week long mission trip to the Bahamas with my youth group. In the months prior, I raised the money needed to go on this trip by writing letters of need to my friends and family, the price accounting mostly for the bus and plane tickets there.
It took us an entire day of travel from Tennessee to the Bahamas, where we spent the next five days volunteering at a kid's camp, preparing before the kids would arrive in the summer. Our tasks involved helping build and roof a new cafeteria, cleaning out storage sheds and old cabins, and constructing bunk beds. After we worked at the camp in the mornings, we would take vans to a local playground and host a "bible study" for some local children, who we recruited by knocking on doors in the neighborhood and telling them to tell their friends. We would play games with them, have snacks, and make crafts that incorporated some sort of bible verse or story, using that as a bridge to teaching them about a personal relationship with Christ. At night, we would return to the camp for dinner and had our own bible study and then free time to swim, play cards, or do whatever we wanted. I had no phone and no worries, was surrounded by kind people, and spent my time helping others. I was so happy.
But not for long.
On Thursday night, one of my close friends and I talked about anything and everything in the bathroom of our cabin until 4 in the morning. I felt like I was holding in some of my opinions for the sake of others during the week, but I had known her for a long time and was finally comfortable being honest with someone. She had been on a mission trip before, while this was my first. The spring break before, she traveled to Nicaragua, where the conditions are horrible. Families live in complete poverty and starvation, so she spent the week handing out food and praying with them. She confided to me that it was miserable. In comparison to this trip, where the views of the ocean made it feel like paradise and our soul purpose was to have fun with some kids, that trip was absolutely miserable. But it got me thinking: did I come here to have fun, or did I come here to actually help people?
She certainly helped people on her trip to Nicaragua- people that were hungry and dying. But what did I do? I did some roofing that locals could have been hired to do, therefore helping the local economy. Not to mention they were actually skilled and could have completed it way faster than me. I spent the week growing Christ-driven relationships with kids that I will never see again. Imagine if, as a little kid, some older kids came to your town and became your new friends, loving you and caring for you, only to leave a week later. This can cause serious abandonment issues in these children, children who already might be emotionally unstable.
Nothing of this mission trip was out of the ordinary. Millions of Americans every year go on mission trips just like this one. And why? Because it makes us feel good about ourselves. With our imperfect human logic, we can take one week to serve others and think that we are done for the year. God didn't call us to love others once a year - it should be a mindset we have continually!
If you are get more out of a mission trip than you put in, you're doing it wrong. This is a very uncomfortable truth, but I can attest, because I am fully guilty. With the money I spent on the airplane ticket, I could've bought a year's worth of food for a starving family in a developing country, although donating money isn't really a sustainable way to help those in poverty. Still, the idea makes me uneasy, and makes me wonder if this was the best thing to do if I really wanted to help people, or if I was just being selfish.
Now, I didn't write this article to denounce people who go on mission trips, because they do amazing things in our world, like providing medical care where people can't afford it. I believe we should be critical of everything we do and confirm in ourselves that our motive is pure before we set out for such an expensive adventure. Voluntourism is a growing issue these days, and I did all I did was give into the trend of such short-term mission trips.
So next time, before planning an expensive trip to travel abroad for a week to do work that you are not trained to do, or forming a relationship with a child you are just going to abandon and exploit in your Facebook profile picture, reconsider. Put more energy into volunteering in your local communities and loving all of those around you, and be a light of Christ for more than just one week a year. :)
