The Cost of Short Term Missions

1. Summarize what Ho Ann Van Engen is articulating her article.
Ho Ann Van Engen explains that short term missions are meant to benefit people who go on them but not the people they visit. People fundraise thousands to go on the missions for themselves and when they return they talk about what they saw and how it changed them instead of what they did. She explains that most short term missions have the same problems. They are expensive, raising the money is the more than some people in the area make in an entire year. Short term mission groups almost always do the work that could be done by the people of the country they visit. They are unable to do effective evangelism which is the goal of many groups.

2. What is your reaction to the statement "Everybody knows that short-term missions benefit the people who come, not the people here."
My reaction is that it's true, we will be affected and the people we visit probably won't change but it is a gained experience. The people who do short term missions are positively affected by the experience and will most likely be more appreciative of what they have and be interested in doing much more globally in service. Those missions will ripple to direct involvement and awareness inspiring and strongly motivating people and students to continue making change.

3. What was your reaction to the author's commentary on visitors coming to the United States and serving?
I think her message is clearly understandable. It is offensive if people came to the Salvation army and stayed in nice hotels and ate only what they brought. We don't need their help, we can help ourselves. I know that our short mission group, Kealakehe's Engineers of Unity, will not be that way. We will respect their culture and eat what they have to offer and work as hard as we can to help them. We wouldn't mean to come off as rich people building to make Guatemalans feel inadequate.

4. What is the author suggesting that we do? Why is this important?
The author suggests that we stop thinking about short term missions as service and think of them as a responsibility to learning. She says to send representatives to study what people are facing in those countries and figure out ways that we can help them. It's important to focus on learning because it should be a service learning project. "Even though short term missions are expensive and requires spending money that the third world countries could desperately use, the missions can be worth every penny if they mark the beginning of a long relationship."

5. After reading this article, why do you want to go on the trip?
I want to go on the trip for a hands on direct involvement with service learning. I'd like to experience moments with the people in Guatemala and learn their story and the struggles they face. That kind of knowledge will push my motivation to act harder in service and inspire me to do more in my life because there are bigger and worse things going on out there. That experience will make me want to change myself so i could take on small steps to changing the world.

-Shannon G Wong