The Church in Mission

Recently. I received the following review from the World Mission Program Unit of the PCUSA concerning mission trips taken by local congregations. It may be of some use to your group, if you are considering a trip. I will post another view as well, but here is this one from the former president of the Evangelical Presbyterian and Reformed Church in Peru, Rodrigo Maslucan:

Short Term Missions in Peru: Analysis and Proposals

Introduction

Five years ago, I had the desire to meet foreign missions groups that were coming to help our church. The Evangelical Reformed Presbyterian Church of Peru (IEPRP), of which I am a pastor, began to have a relationship through personal contacts with the PC(USA) in 1997, developing in the city of Iquitos and the church of Moyobamba.

As a result of a negative experience in Iquitos, the church felt the need to communicate with the PC(USA). It was regarding a problem that happened because of inadequate missiological principles, and the inadequate guidelines that were used by some short-term missionaries sent by an NGO independent of the PC(USA).

Thanks to the invitation from Dr. Paredes, director of the Andean Amazon Evangelic Center of Missiology, to participate in a case study on short-term missions under the direction of Dr. Robert Priest, director of the doctorate on missiology of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, I was able to take an up-close look at what short-term missions are, and what impact they have in Peru.

In this paper I will present a simple analysis and proposal for the church regarding short-term missions, with the end of giving a detailed contribution about what is happening in Peru and what guidelines should be followed for the future, especially with regard to the IEPRP and the PC(USA), and churches from other countries. Short-term missions are a new phenomenon in the US, Canada, and European countries. How did short-term mission originate? Why did it originate? What are the positive and negative aspects that it poses for long-term career missionaries? What are the new mission ideologies and how do we understand them in the context of globalization and post-modernity? What are the challenges posed to the churches and Theological Institutions regarding missiology that are being investigated? Because of the length of such questions, I will not be able to cover all of this. May the Lord illuminate the missiologists to investigate these mission models to help the churches with the objective of improving short-term missions, and giving a challenge to the theological institutions.

Analysis

According to my observations and the long conversations I have had with pastors, I have found that churches are moved to send short-term missionaries because of love and service, but also because of tourism and desire to learn about Peruvians.

We find an example of love and service in mission groups that look for contact with Peruvians, requesting to stay with Peruvian families from the church, instead of being comfortable in a five star hotel, serving with humility.

As an example of tourist mentality missionaries are those who don’t reach out to learn about Peruvians, take photos, make films and give money and gifts.

On the receiving church’s side there is a tendency to establish relationships with the goal of receiving money and gifts, of getting a visa, or even giving up children for adoption to those who are visiting. But there are also churches that share their knowledge and spiritual riches, that learn from each other’s capabilities and capacities.

Love, serve, and establish permanent relationships should be the reasons that drive short-term mission groups to take action and that drive the receiving churches.

Love should be sought after as if it was the Love of God; a love so great that there is no greater love, because it became real in the offering of his only son, not to dominate, not to invest in white elephants, or to get rich in the world, but to serve and to die in the most horrible torment ever known.

The object of God’s love is the sinful, rebel, lost world (nations, towns, cultures, languages). Mission groups and receiving churches that have the objective to reach the “world without Christ” have to act with love as the love that God demonstrated when he sent his only son.

Pastor Percyn Chumbe said that the short-term missions to Iquitos lacked coordination. “They were bringing their own agenda, but when we gave our opinion they were not receptive, so what kind of love is this, and what kind of service are we talking about? They were coming to do what they themselves wanted.” (July 2005) It is possible that this is not the case for most short-term missions, but it was the case in this occasion. We ask ourselves, what are the reasons that these groups did not respect the leaders or the churches. Where is the love?

Initiatives

The idea in the beginning was that short-term mission work came from “outside,” but today it goes from both sides. Career missionaries from Peru or Peruvian pastors that travel abroad are the contacts that largely participate in short-term mission in local churches, not necessarily denomination specific. When the denomination does not take initiative, or if it takes initiatives but doesn’t develop the ideas, the local church takes its own initiative. We also found that local churches and other pastors from the same denomination get together so that they can discuss with the leaders of mission groups what they know, and that way serve other local churches.

Pastor Mario Perez of the Christian Missionary Alliance in Comas, Lima asserted that “A North American missionary took the initiative to come to Peru and see the church’s well-being.” Later Pastor Perez was invited to visit the churches in the United States to present plans and projects and coordinate visits for the late couple of years for one or two months period trips.

The person that takes the initiative should invite the other party. They can dialogue, get to know each other, see the reality of the church, and share the plans, the projects, the vision and mission. In the case of Pastor Perez, the churches from the US should listen first, get to know the plans and projects of the church in Peru, which is willing to receive the short-term missionaries.

They highlight “respect and mutual consideration.” Authoritarianism should not exist on either side, especially from foreign churches that want to support a local one. It should not happen like the case of the Evangelical Presbyterian church in Iquitos where they did not listen to local leaders, but brought a canned plan and no process to hear each other out, in the local or national church.

They highlight “unity and good relationships.” The initiatives lead mission groups to sit down together, in spite of cultural differences. The language of the Spirit forges unity and good relationships. From the beginning we should work as one, Peruvians and foreigners. When I heard the testimony of Pastor Perez, I said “Halleluiah.” He said, “The initiatives are marked by respect and consideration, of unity and good relationships that glorify God, building the church, for the world to see the good testimony.”

Through this experience, we learn the importance of the PC(USA)’s promise to the Evangelical Presbyterian and Reformed Church of Peru, “as local churches or as a national church, you take the initiative and we will help you.” Furthermore, the PC(USA) carries out the Peru Network Conference inviting delegates that represent the IEPRP.

In the network meeting of April 2005 in Burlington, NC, I shared a document entitled “missiological principles and strategies of the IEPRP” with the purpose that the future short-term missions that visit the IERP be conducted within these missiological principles and mission strategies, and in this way be able to avoid negative experiences like those that occurred in Iquitos.

The “beautiful” agreement was that the missionary groups would coordinate their work with the IEPRP, with the directive in Lima and with the local church. In practice, this agreement was not accomplished as agreed. On the other hand, the IEPRP did not take the initiative to get information about the short-term missionaries. I hope that this agreement will be reevaluated in the May conference in Chicago. This will ensure that local and national churches sending missionary groups will be healthy, it is necessary to establish a mechanism of coordination from both sides.

The Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries are on both sides, but we ask ourselves, who benefits more in short-missions?

The local church benefits with the direct work of those who visit because of their capabilities or professions in construction, finishing, hygienic services, evangelism, theatre, music, leadership training, and the gifts of clothes, shoes, medicines, etc.

There are ways that “help” can be harmful to the church. If the visitors do not value or consider their work as an opportunity to learn together, or when churches do not coordinate the incorporation of the local church members with the missionary groups. For example, doctors and nurses in medical campaigns, brick masons, electricians and handymen for construction sites.

There are also unnecessary benefits of short-term mission. For example, people in the local church could paint their walls, plant grass, distribute tracts and evangelize. Even though they receive the benefits from visiting churches the local churches could do these things themselves if they had the money. More local church members could get work in a context of lack of employment.

The other genuine benefit is that the short-term mission groups make personal contacts that can be permanent. I have found that young Peruvians were invited to the US for a few months, and that a love relationship and marriage was formed. This opened the opportunities for a family to immigrate to the USA.

Short-term missions

Short-term missions give the opportunity to get to know another country, another culture, do tourism. I say to myself, “How great an economic effect could this have for Peru – for hotels, restaurants, and tourist sites. The whole country turns out to be benefited. The adventure and excitement to get to know about other countries gives real people a real incentive to receive short-term missionaries.

There are also spiritual benefits. Young people give their life to God and want to be baptized in the Church, a Church to which they will return to help

(For interest of time and brevity, the rest of this document will be summarized)

Professional people from the sending churches get to practice their profession in missions.

The Cost

How much does it cost for each person to come to Peru on a short-term mission trip? Approximately US$1800-2000 (including travel, room and board, but not work trip costs)
Some mission trips work on planting grass and painting walls. I ask myself, couldn’t work like this be done by Peruvians? If trip groups incorporated local people/church members in work projects, it’d be beneficial.

Short term mission groups must coordinate with the local churches that have a short-term, middle-term, and long term vision of mission, as has been shown with the Presbyterian Church of Moyobamba.

Short-term missions

Humility is the key element of stewardship and generosity. There may be great investments by US churches, but what are the real results? Be sure to take care and be responsible with the resources the Lord has given the church, especially coming from a land of affluence.

Recommendations

For short-term mission teams:

• Avoid making money band-aids, for imposition or predomination, not giving further power to the empire of money
• Please be considerate by not smoking, drinking or dancing, as this is would reflect a respect for the local believers, so as not to create scandal for local believers.
• Avoid creating dependency.
• Reflect about the role that the church serves.

For local churches:

• Don’t feel incapable to participate in the work of short-term missionaries.
• Don’t try to meet your needs with only short-term missions.
• Ensure continuity in the unfinished work or unfulfilled promise of the past.
• Commune with the short-term missionaries so that they will be seen not as a fountain of dollars and cents.
• Give orientation to your members so that the congregation will not use the opportunity to try and take advantage over the general interest of the church

Proposals

The Peruvian church should plan short-term trips. It knows what the community needs. There should be a deep understanding of the mission ideology of the church before a short-term trip is realized. Before the trip takes place, detailed plans and schedules are in order. People should know about climate, etc. Short-term missions should be done within the long-term missions.

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