A Critical Perspective on Short-Term Missions

There is a growing number of participants going of short-term mission trips from the North American church. There are many criticisms of short-term mission trips, including that they are planned around tourism and completing projects, rather than learning from the people in the communities being visited and sharing in their own Christian ministry. One reason for this is that false promotional messages from churches and mission organizations give participants wrong perceptions of the purpose of these trips, creating market demand for tourists who want to help the poor. Mission organizations and churches not only need to change the structure of short-term mission trips, but also the messaging in order to attract the right target market and show participants more appropriate reasons for going on such trips. With these changes, short-term missions will better benefit both participants and the people being visited