Short Term Missions Build Faith and Learning

According to missiologists, short-term mission trips (STM) are one of the biggest trends in evangelical Christianity. Between one and four million North American Christians reportedly participated in STMs in 2003, and the number keeps rising, according to Christianity Today.

Dr. Ralph Winter, the founder of United States Center for World Mission, has said that short-termers do not have much impact on missions, but the experience is valuable as a way to build faith.

"Short-termers can’t do missions, but they can learn," said the 80-year-old missiologist recently cited by Time Magazine as one of top 25 evangelicals in America.

This is what senior at Trinity University studying Religion and History, Laura Abrams, is doing in Manila, Philippines as part of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's short-term missions program, the Global Urban Trek.

The "Trek" allows undergraduate students to choose from several cities where they can minister to the poor for roughly six weeks in the summer.

Though not necessarily making as much an impact as she had thought, she grew in faith and humility.

"Recently, God has been emphasizing that I cannot possibly understand Him in His fullness. At the same time, He is deepening my relationship with Him," she wrote in her online journal called Tracking the Trek.

The short-termer found she is being ministered to even more than the poverty-stricken people of the Philippine Islands.

"We are not bringing God to the Filipinos. He is already here and working," wrote Laura in her online journal. "He does, however, invite us to come and see what He is doing. He desires to transform us, our hearts, and our worldviews."

Laura stated, "We are also doing His Work by being here, but right now we are in a learner’s position. It was really humbling for me."

Her experiences drew her closer to the world's poorest.

"I am starting to wake up more to the injustices of the world, and I’m starting to mourn and cry out to God about them."