-
…It is no wonder that adolescents are drawn to mission trips. Two generations ago summer camp offered young people the opportunity to enjoy the land instead of working it; and a generation ago the big concert event offered a pre-and nascent MTV generation a distinct Christian-centered youth culture event. Today the mission trip appeals to adolescents because they are movers: every minute they are moving in and out of new space. The mission trip offers these movers a chance to go, to move into a new space and harvest there new and unique experiences…
…When the mission trip is global tourism it is always about what we did; the group comes back to report to the congregation what they did. But if we want to avoid the tourist trap, we must not focus on doing, but on being. “What will we do?” adolescents ask. But if our purpose for going is not first doing for, but instead being with, the question becomes, “Who will we be with?” “Who will we be encountering?”…
…Global tourism as mission trip lives in the streams of what we do; but a mission trip that breaks the tourist cycle focuses on who God is and what God does. This does not mean there is nothing to be done, but instead of our doing—seeking to solve problems which we are, in reality, too small to solve—we go and join a people to yearn, hope, and (yes) work for God’s future together…
…Mission trips are about accompaniment, not activity. Mission trips are about seeing the thinness of our sensationalized, always moving world through shared life with others. The mission trip, then, is not global tourism, but a trip to the cross; seeking to go and find the crucified Christ who is revealed in the suffering of humanity. It is about being with, not doing for…
—“The Youth Ministry Mission Trip as Global Tourism: Are we ok with this?” in Dialog: A Journal of Theology
blog comments powered by Disqus
