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Mission Trips: Do they help or hurt?

Sa • Fri, Jul 22

Christians get all excited about their "mission trips". Oh, how they love to raise money, collect supplies and spend a week or two in the most impoverished place(s) their nearest airline will take them. They love to put on week long Bible camps, tour orphanages, hand out first aid supplies, sometimes they bring along a doctor who can provide life-saving medicine (or just medicine). They love to take pictures and praise Jesus and tell all their friends about the incredible, life changing visit they had, and how their heart now belongs to [insert unknown village here].

But are they actually being helpful? Is giving free handouts and spending one week in a village really as helpful as they think it is? Is this just encouraging the "White Savior Syndrome" (where people living in impoverished situations wait for the White Savior to bring them free-handouts because either A. They don't know how to get themselves out of the impoverished situation, or B. They don't want to get out of the impoverished situation)?

If you DO think short term mission trips are a bad idea, what can be done to make them more productive? How can we TRULY help others in a short time?

If you DON'T think short term mission trips are a bad idea- why do you think this? What's so good about them? How are they helpful? Clearly I don't believe they're good, so help me out and please explain your opinion.

**I realize people of other religions go on mission trips, but for the sake of this debate I just stuck with Christians, please feel free to talk about how other religions handle their trips.

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