Pastor Tony’s Blog

Mission Nigeria Surgical Theatre

Mission Nigeria Orphanage

The Puritans on the 1st Commandment

I'm doing some preliminary study on a seven week series on Idolatry that will follow our study of Nehemiah. It will begin, hopefully, on April 18.

In reading through several books, I was reminded of the Westminster Confession's article on the 1st Commandment, "No other gods before me." The statement chalked full of meaning and application. This is what it says:

The duties required in the first commandment are, the knowing and acknowledging of God to be the only true God, and our God; to worship and glorify him accordingly, by thinking, meditating, remembering, highly esteeming, honoring, adoring, choosing, loving, desiring, fearing of him, believing him, trusting, hoping, trusting, hoping, delighting, rejoicing in him; being zealous for him; calling upon him, giving all praise and thanks, and yielding all obedience and submission to him with the whole man; being careful in all things to please him, and sorrowful when in anything he is offended; and walking humbly with him.

The Benefits of Short-Term Mission Trips (Revised)

On the journey back to the States from Nigeria, I began collecting my thoughts about the benefits of short-term mission trips. Are they worth doing? If so, what makes them so significant?

I've heard many objections to short-term trips (by short-term I mean around 10 days), such as: "They are more like vacations," "You can't accomplish anything," "I don't like flying," "You just get in the way of full-time missionaries," and many more.

I must admit that they are times in which a person might get in the way, and the trip may not be very necessary, or appear more like a vacation. However, most of the people that I've talked to, that have actually participated in a short-term mission, would say that their experience was actually "life-changing."

A lot depends on the location, the needs, and the abilities that the mission team provides, along with the contact person at the location. It is very important to have a bit of a "Macedonian Call" where the full-time missionary says, "Come over here and help us." When they ask for specific assistance, either for a one time trip, or better yet, a long term partnership, I think there are numerous reasons to go. The question actually becomes "why not?" in those cases.

So, assuming we are talking about legitimate trips, in which the short-term workers assist the full-time missionaries, allow me to list the following benefits to doing short-term mission trips (I've added two from the previous post):

1. Evangelism. Obviously, when you send a team of, say 12, to a dark region of the world, they will be able to help the full-time missionary with the work of evangelism. This might be through conversations, events, surveys, camps, or a host of other evangelistic endeavors. We go on short-term mission trips to show and share the Gospel.

2. Meeting Needs. One of the blessings of the Nigeria trip was that we had a team with various abilities that could meet the needs of the hospital, church, seminary, and orphanage. Sometimes the people on the ground need particular work done that the short-term missionaries can offer. And this work ranges from how to raise chickens to fitting people for reading glasses to doing surgeries to fixing tractors to teaching in seminaries to playing with orphans to helping business men make a profit and invest it in the kingdom. Don't think of short-term mission trips as simply handing out tracks (in fact, you can't do that in most places). If you have any abilities then chances are, third world countries can use you. The whole world needs the whole body of Christ. Jesus will accomplish his mission by a people, not a pastor or one person.

3. Encouragement. One of the reasons to go to a dark region of the world is to encourage the missionary that is there all year long. In turn, they will encourage you by their steadfastness. We help to "stir up one another to love and good deeds" on these ventures.

4. Focus. I love waking up in the mornings of these trips, knowing that I don't have meetings, emails, phone calls, funerals, counseling, book projects, deadlines, talks to deliver, classes to teach, conflicts to resolve, letters to write, questions to answer, leaders to disciple, ministries to oversee, fellowships with other pastors to attend, weddings, funerals, and a host of other "normal activities." On a mission trip, you wake up and do your work with incredible focus. This focus helps you recover the essence of what it means to be on mission with Jesus that hopefully spills over to your normal life when you return.

5. Purging. When you pull yourself away from the TV, internet, temptations, and even some of the good things that you get accustomed to, it is amazing what happens to you spiritually. A short-term mission trip is a fast. You are removing normal activities for spiritual purposes. Every experience that I've been on, and granted there are exceptions, has been an occasion where my mind was more set on "things above, not things on earth."

6. Perspective. These trips change your perspective at all levels. At one level, you see what you live with, and what you could live without. You are reminded of the blessings you enjoy, while seeing how much more open-handed you could be. After returning to Nigeria, I just wanted to simplify my life, and at the same time, thank God for running water, clothes, and electricity. Most of the world lives on less than 2 dollars a day. Short-term trips help you see poverty, touch poverty, and experience poverty to the point that you view the world differently.

7. Increased Compassion and Sensitivity. This trip has affected the way I treat my wife, my children, and others. I have much to learn about loving selflessly, but I can say that trips like this one, has enlarged my heart and increased my sensitivity. It makes you want to live with an open hand.

8. Friendships. One of my highlights of Nigeria, was to come back to our house after a long day of work, and have a bowl of rice and mystery meat, and talk with the guys about the day. I got to know these guys in really neat ways. Some of them I hardly knew, and others I got to know and love even more. Most of our lives are very busy, but when you go on long trips together, and when you have no entertainment and nothing to do late at night, then you have hours to tell stories and talk.

9. Vision. It is amazing how God speaks to you when you are on a short-term assignment. It may be about your own spiritual life, and how you need to redirect an area of your life. It might be a ministry you want to start when you return. It might be people that you want to bring on the next trip, or ideas about how to partner with the ministry you're working with. The most powerful thing that I've seen happen, with regard to vision, is how a person on a short-term trip develops a love for the area and wants to serve there full-time. Most full-time people that I've talked to say that their interest in a location was awakened on a short-term trip. It's not always the case, but it happens a lot. I've also seen people re-think a location or their commitment level, after doing a short-trip, deciding to consider other options.

10. The Sending Church. Churches that release the team with prayer, blessing and support generally experience encouragement and joy. It also helps the church develop an outward focus.

11. Encouragement to the Community. In many cases, the people of the community are encouraged by the missionaries showing up and saying they care. We certainly experienced that in Nigeria. The people kept saying, "you're welcome." They had an increased sense of joy and hope by us being they are displaying compassion.

12. Credibility to the Full-Time Missionary/Church Planter. Often the church planter is alone and the locals may have mixed feelings about him. When a good team comes in to do excellent work and display compassion, then his credibility often rises in the eyes of the people he's trying to reach.

These are some of the benefits of short-term trips. I'm sure I'll think of others later. Why would you not want to go on at least one in your lifetime?