"Vacationaries"

Churches Retool Mission Trips: Work Abroad Criticized for High Cost and Lack of Value

Excerpt:

Not long ago, the families of Fairfax Presbyterian Church spent thousands of dollars to fly their teens to Mexico for eight days of doing good. They helped build homes and refurbish churches as part of an army of more than 1 million mostly Christians who annually go on short-term international mission trips to work and evangelize in poverty-stricken lands.

Yet even as those trips have increased in popularity, they have come under increased scrutiny. A growing body of research questions the value of the trips abroad, which are supposed to bring hope and Christianity to the needy of the world, while offering American participants an opportunity to work in disadvantaged communities, develop relationships and charge up their faith.

Critics scornfully call such trips "religious tourism" undertaken by "vacationaries." Some blunders include a wall built on the children's soccer field at an orphanage in Brazil that had to be torn down after the visitors left. In Mexico, a church was painted six times during one summer by six different groups. In Ecuador, a church was built but never used because the community said it was not needed.

Comment: At the risk of offending my readers, this is a very good article. The neediest mission field (for short term missions) is often within 10 miles of one's church: Look no further than the corner of Golden Valley Road and Penn Avenue (check out the street view ... see the little Baptist church next to Wally's market!)