A very interesting
article in RELEVANT Magazine from last fall asks the provocative question: “
Is missions about words or deeds?“
Here is an excerpt:
Evangelical youth now hold the term “missionary at arm’s length, afraid
of the colonialist connotations of the word. They prefer being involved
in “social justice” under the auspices of a more generalized Christian
sense of charity rather than operating under anything resembling (groan) “soul winning.”
Certainly, this raises the ageless question of whether
short-term missions are still effective or relevant. That is, however, a topic for another time. For the sake of
this discussion, let’s assume that we agree that short-term missions still have a place in the church and the development of a young person’s faith.
How, then, do you deal with this issue of increased wariness of short term mission trips among youth and young adults?
That is, how do you get your students to get involved in missions without leaving Jesus out of it?