Last week a group of 10 students and leaders from Vanguard University (formerly Southern California College, where Dara and I graduated) traveled to El Salvador to partner with ENLACE. This was the third consecutive year, and with each trip the partnership with the university grows stronger. Frequently college students attend missions trip for exposure to the world and for the experience of traveling with a group of friends to serve God. It is reported that “short-term mission” teams can have tremendous impact in the lives of the participants. In fact many leaders have told me that often the main beneficiaries of such trips are the student themselves, more than local people. I have often struggled with the energy and resources that are put into such trips that seem to mostly benefit the travelers. Some have even begun to tag the whole short term mission enterprise as “Christian tourism.”

However, last week I witnessed the amazing opportunity that exists with short term teams. Like most, these students had to raise all of the funds to make the trip. But this year, they trusted God to not only provide for their travel expenses, but for enough money to construct a house in the community of San Jose El Naranjo. Their heart was to come alongside the work of the Jerusalem church and the ministry of ENLACE. They were willing servants who came to serve and to bring encouragement with their finances, energy, words, and attitudes.

The Jerusalem church is in its second year of building houses for some of the poorest in their communities. Last year there were 10 recipients, and the church is hoping to build at least 10 a year for years to come. Each house costs roughly $5K, inexpensive by our standards. Yet, you should have witnessed the joy of the woman, Sonia who received this house last week. Sonia is a single mother of three who struggles to make ends meet by selling tamales and washing clothes. The church and the community had selected her through a prayerful and stringent process. Sonia could not believe that God had provided this house to her, and she was astonished by the outpouring of love shown by the “North Americans.” Her perception of God and the church was forever changed by the building of this home.

Churches like Jerusalem are shining examples of the influence a church can have when it serves its neighbors sacrificially. We as North Americans have an unbelievable opportunity to come alongside such churches in our own country and around the world. God will provide resources for more than just our travel expenses. These students demonstrated that God wants to pour out His love in tangible ways through short term teams. The people of San Jose El Naranjo were incredibly encouraged by both the financial contribution Vanguard students made and by their open hearts to build relationships that will sustain the long term work in the community. I can’t wait for the next team….

You can view photos of the trip at the following link: Vanguard Mission Trip 2007

A friend recommended a great article on short term mission teams written in ChristianityToday by an African pastor. Read it below…

clipped from www.christianvisionproject.com

The African Planter
An interview with Oscar Muriu |
Nairobi Chapel pastor on mission trips, and working well across cultures.

What happened to change Nairobi Chapel from a dwindling group of discouraged whites to a vibrant, international, church-planting fellowship?
They began to pray that God would show them what to do, and they sought new leadership to help them reach the African students around them. That's how I got to come to the Chapel. I was finishing my studies at Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology.

Any given Sunday maybe ten, sometimes only four people were there! They probably figured, "He can't do much damage."
read more . . .

Posted on May 1, 2007