Nick Cady and Aaron Salvato talk with missionaries Jed Gourley and Pam Markey about the situation in Ukraine! We at CGN wanted to do what we can to help our Calvary family understand what is happening in Ukraine during the start of this war and how we can all be praying.

I really like hot sauce. In fact, I recently tried to make my own. I went to the farmers market and bought some seedlings. I planted, watered and tended to my peppers for several months until they were mature for harvesting. After much research, I discovered that fermenting the peppers enhances the flavor so, of course, I chose to go that route. I prepared the brine, added my peppers and began the waiting process. And then, like a very sad anticlimactic twist in my adventure, I heard about botulism (a deadly illness caused by incorrect fermentation). My heart sunk. Had I fermented properly? Was it worth the risk to move forward? Six months later, my potentially poisonous peppers are still fermenting in the corner of the kitchen like a harsh reminder of my unfruitful labors. I haven’t thrown them out. I’m still in denial.

Had I taken the necessary precautions, my story would have ended differently. In the same way, none of us want to invest our hearts, time or money in something that doesn’t have lasting value. When it comes to short-term missions trips, we should carry the same mindset. Having been on both the going and receiving ends of short term teams, I have seen trips that truly benefited the local ministry and trips that were more of a burden than a blessing.

We must aim for the long term benefit of the local ministry. If we don’t, there is a strong chance that we will be left with the question ( What did we really accomplish? ) and be disappointed with the answer. Before you go, ask God how He would use this trip to strengthen the local ministry in a sustainable way.

As we examine fruitful and effective short term missions trips, I think three aspects should be considered: the missionaries, the local church and the native people.

1. The Missionaries

Imagine treading water and trying to juggle at the same time. Welcome to the life of a cross-cultural worker! Missionaries have the unique job of ministering the gospel in a foreign context, and it gets tiring. Remember that most missionaries live on a tight budget and don’t have family around. They often feel isolated and discouraged. Also, don’t forget that missionaries are the ones who stay after your team leaves! When planning a trip, do all that you can to strengthen and refresh them.

Suggestions:

Send a missionary couple on a date while someone watches the kids. This was a huge treat my wife and I enjoyed after eight months of not being on a date.

Relieve them of all financial burdens they wouldn’t have if the team wasn’t there. Pay for their meals at restaurants. You’re probably eating out more than they normally would. If you take the team on a day trip, pay for their gas and tolls.

Take them out for coffee and see how they’re doing. Even missionaries need to be ministered to!

2. The Local Church

Unfortunately, I’ve seen churches on the mission field frequently host teams from abroad to do things that the local believers should be doing. I believe this stunts the growth of the local believers by making them feel inferior or incapable of doing what the teams come to do. It can also communicate an unbiblical dependence on the West to serve and evangelize.

The reality is that the local believers are probably more capable than your team is at communicating the gospel in their context! They know their people, speak their language and remain when the team leaves. During your trip, try to do all you can to include them, encourage them and connect them to the unbelievers you’re ministering to.

Suggestions:

I strongly discourage street witnessing with a translator. Imagine how strange it would be for someone and their translator to approach you on the street like that. Have the translator share the gospel!

Let what you’re doing be a joint effort. Whether you’re doing outreach or working on a building project, involve the members of the local church.

Do something that the local church can’t do by itself. For example, a team from America recently hosted free English classes at our church. Some of our believers and many unbelievers from the city attended. I taught the classes, and the team led small groups and built relationships. At the end of the week, we invited our English learners to a concert where they heard testimonies and a gospel presentation in their language.

The team had a specific purpose in coming. They did something we couldn’t do by ourselves. Most importantly, this event connected unbelievers to our church, and we are still ministering to them.

3. The Native People

I’m not saying that missions teams aren’t important! As foreigners, you will have open doors that the locals won’t; people will be intrigued by your presence. Part of God’s plan is to use His people to share the gospel cross-culturally. Just remember to be sensitive to the culture you’re visiting, and be careful not to be offensive. Also, keep in mind that cultures outside of the West are generally more relational, so take time to talk and get to know people!

Suggestions:

Ask the missionary for cultural do’s and don’ts before you arrive!

Don’t be obnoxious. If you’re coming from America, remember that we tend to be much louder than other cultures. Keep in mind that you are representing the local ministry you’re working with.

Learn some basic phrases in the local language. It shows that you care.

Build relationships as a way to share the gospel with the natives. Remember that these are people, not a task.

In the end, my hope is that these thoughts can help us do short term missions trips even better for the glory of God. May He prepare us for that day when we, with people from all nations, will be worshiping around His throne!

Patrick Johnstone, author of Operation World, will be our keynote speaker for the 2018 Global Missions Conference, happening January 2-5. Registration for the conference is still available!

How will future historians write about the first decade of the 21st century? I reckon they will comment on the massive tectonic shifts in political alignments, economic upheaval, ideological failures, global connectivity, etc. of that decade.

Consider the following:

1. Christianity has become global and indigenous for the first time in history. We have had the greatest ingathering of people into God’s Kingdom ever known. This peaked in the 1990s. I look back over the past 50 years with amazement at all the answers to prayer for Kingdom growth! Most Christians have not realized this was happening because we are too focused on the bad news and the general spiritual decline in the West.

2. There were major breakthroughs in Africa from the 1960s, Latin America in the 1970s, East Asia in the 1980s, the former Communist World in the 1990s, and in some Muslim nations in the 2000s (especially Iran and Algeria).

3. In 1960 there were possibly 43 countries with no known indigenous group of worshiping believers. Now there are less than eight – most very small.

4. The center of gravity of evangelical Christianity has moved from the West to the non-West.In 1960 only 20% of Evangelicals were in the non-Western world; by 2010 this had become over 60%.

5. A global mobilization of missionaries from nearly every country to every country.

The Present Changes

The first decade of this millennium was a time of pivotal change:

• 2000 – The publication of the first full list of the world’s peoples and languages (The World Christian Database, Joshua Project)

• 2001 – “911” and Jihadist Islam’s war on other forms of Islam and also the West is generating massive flows of refugees, a developing Sunni-Shia “Middle East War” leading to a huge disillusionment among Muslims.

• 2003 – The Allied invasion of Iraq with all its strategic mistakes and cultural blunders –marks the beginning of the gradual loss of Western dominance morally, economically and in politics.

• 2005 – Missionaries from Asia, Africa and Latin America became more numerous than those from the West

• 2007 – The year when the majority of the world’s population became urban rather than rural. This will result in 90% of the world’s population in 2100 being city dwellers.

All these are related and deeply impact the way we need to function as missionaries.

The Future Challenges

These developments will mean massive re-thinks of our strategy in:

1. Urban ministry

For years we have focused on the least evangelized people groups in the world. Such unengaged groups today are few and small. During the 21st century the number of languages that will become extinct is estimated to be over 2,000 of the 6,500 spoken today. Children will speak the main languages of the cities. We have to do missions in a different way – mainly through intense, intentional discipling of future leaders. Cities will increasingly be the focus of our ministry.

2. Hostile governments

The decline of Western influence has accelerated. Many Muslim lands ignore the UN Human Rights and religious freedom promises to which they signed up. Since 2015 the governments of China, Russia, India, Nepal, Myanmar (over half the world’s population) have passed legislation limiting or banning evangelism and conversion because they know they will not be challenged by the West or the UN. Persecution of Christians has become widespread – how do we function as a mission force in such a world?

3. Islam

How do we disciple the millions disillusioned with Islam? I reckon that in 1960 there were less than 60,000 believers in the world who had once been Muslim. By 2015 this had risen to probably 10 million. In my home church in England, we are baptizing former Muslims every month – mainly Iranians, Afghans and Kurds.

4. Multicultural teams

How can mission teams from multiple countries work effectively without slowing down the work to cope with our cultural differences? We can only do this by taking our cultural identity to the cross and embracing a biblical Kingdom culture!

Are we ready for these challenges; there is still lots we have to do to evangelize and disciple the 21st century world!