Missions
Yep, pretty much my thoughts...
Developing countries don't need us.
Why do we think they do?
There's a good heart behind short-term mission trips, but a lot of money goes into "helping others" when we're probably not even helping that much. Let's start by admitting that.
When our school was adding on, we had a teacher work day. It was a cool idea. Teachers came up to school on a Saturday and helped build parts of the new addition. We had some professional Guatemalans working with us. Good thing, because we were all teachers! Some of us helped mix cement. We all moved cement blocks by forming a line and passing them one at a time. (Really efficient!) We then got the task of "gluing" the cement blocks together. A friend and I probably spent about 30 minutes (not even an exaggeration) putting together our one block. Then we called the professional over, proud to show him our work. He quickly removed the block and cement we had so "perfectly" placed, and within five minutes, he had redone our work, now up to the standard.
All that to say, it was a fun and memorable day! We worked together. We laughed. We sang along to songs that were playing from someone's phone. We got some physical exercise. We enjoyed a really great lunch at the end. If that was the goal, it was a huge success! If the goal was to help and serve others by constructing part of a new building, we shouldn't have been there.
Developing countries don't need us.
Why do we think they do?
There's a good heart behind short-term mission trips, but a lot of money goes into "helping others" when we're probably not even helping that much. Let's start by admitting that.
When our school was adding on, we had a teacher work day. It was a cool idea. Teachers came up to school on a Saturday and helped build parts of the new addition. We had some professional Guatemalans working with us. Good thing, because we were all teachers! Some of us helped mix cement. We all moved cement blocks by forming a line and passing them one at a time. (Really efficient!) We then got the task of "gluing" the cement blocks together. A friend and I probably spent about 30 minutes (not even an exaggeration) putting together our one block. Then we called the professional over, proud to show him our work. He quickly removed the block and cement we had so "perfectly" placed, and within five minutes, he had redone our work, now up to the standard.
All that to say, it was a fun and memorable day! We worked together. We laughed. We sang along to songs that were playing from someone's phone. We got some physical exercise. We enjoyed a really great lunch at the end. If that was the goal, it was a huge success! If the goal was to help and serve others by constructing part of a new building, we shouldn't have been there.
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