Have you ever considered serving in missions but were unsure for how long? What has it looked like? Did you feel pressured about how long you should go, and how effective a short trip could be? Perhaps you’ve heard the notion that a short-term trip impacts the traveller, while serving long-term impacts the locals. There are so many wonderful stories of career missionaries, it’s easy to feel the burden of which one is more effective!
The truth is, each of us has a unique path in which the Lord leads, and it’ll look different for every believer. Indeed, not everyone goes, and not everyone who goes stays! Valuing our roles as senders is an incredibly important part in all of this! In this instance, though, let’s take a deeper look at the benefits of short- and long-term ministries.
In Mark 16:15, Jesus says, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Some might argue that the best way to live out this verse is to serve as a career missionary, but that doesn’t mean we should disqualify the value of a shorter trip.
Mike Taylor has a unique perspective on all of this. He’s actively been involved on both the sending and the receiving ends of mission work, first as a youth pastor in the United States, and then as a full-time Christian worker living in England. He’s quick to acknowledge, “I definitely think short-term missions is important.”
Going deeper, he shares that the goal is to “get people invested in relational connections that lead to either gospel conversations or gospel conversions, but we’re not hung up on where those happen or how they happen, but just [that] they do happen.”
With that being said, let’s explore both short-term and long-term opportunities from Mike’s perspective, looking at just a few examples of how impactful each can be:
SHORT-TERM MISSIONS
Brings encouragement. “When we receive people… it’s a huge encouragement to our team on the ground. There’s a lot of energy, enthusiasm – things that come from a short-term trip that really fuels our people on the ground.”
Life-long Impact. “90% of the conversations I have [with career missionaries] on the Instagram livestream I do every week, those people went on short-term trips, and now they’re serving career.” “Even if [short-term participants] don’t feel called to go long-term, I think they see the world through a different lens because of the impact of the trip.”
LONG-TERM MISSIONS
More Influence. “The longer you’re in a place doing life, the greater chance you’ll see spiritual fruit. One of our mantras is ‘The gospel moves at the speed of relationship.’ The idea isn’t just someone giving their life to Jesus, it’s just furthering the conversation.”
Deeper Conversations. “The other mantra we say is ‘Live your life in such a way that people ask, “Why?”‘ For example, ‘Why are you doing what you’re doing? Why would you come all the way from Canada to Germany, or France, or England, or wherever?’” Locals will better see something different about you when you’re living among them, and as conversations deepen, doors will open for gospel truths to be revealed.
Regardless of what your ministry looks like, one core value that keeps coming up is the value of serving as a relational-minded Christian. This sounds like something that would benefit us right here in our neighbourhoods at home, too, doesn’t it? And because seeds are planted by both short- and long-term interactions, any budding relationship with someone can then grow and be nurtured by those who have long-term connection, whether long-term missionary or national believer!
So just as GEM missionaries pray every day at 10:02 (in reference to Luke 10:2), will you pray with me for the Lord to send workers out into the world, however that might look? Would you ask God if He would like to send you out into the harvest?
“He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.'” – Luke 10:2
