Acts 20:31: “Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears”.
I hesitate in writing this because it’s awkward. My favorite part of my 30+ years of being a missionary is receiving short term teams. They breathe life into everything we are doing. They reinforce everything I’ve been teaching about the Lord while they’re here.
One thing I don’t like about teams is that as they are leaving to go back to the states, they are the cryingest, most melodramatic group of people I have ever seen in my life. But I love that totally different kids, from completely different cultures, are interacting and learning about my Friend and Savior Jesus Christ.
I’ve had over 300 american teams down here in Nicaragua, Panama or in Cuba. Thousands of people, literally. My only prayer was that the teams would be permanently impacted by what they experienced here in Nicaragua or in Cuba. Also that the people here, that these young people were ‘ministering’ to, were permanently impacted with the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. Who knows how many people truly get saved as a result of short term mission trips, and how many crowns are waiting for us in heaven.
We’ve had tons of great experiences and really appreciate their time and efforts over the years. One team had 120 kids come down, some were 60 or more. Thousands made professions of faith, sometimes even the short term missionaries themselves.
However, missions, like evangelism, are irresponsible without correctly planned follow-up. Follow-up is showing the people you really care about them to put into place a system where those that were impacted can become true followers of Christ.
Follow-up is not sending 20 dollars behind the indigenous pastor’s back to the most manipulative, attractive or cutest person that you ‘ministered’ to. That only leads to badness. They flaunt the 20 dollars in front of the obedient, well behaved, quiet kids who didn’t draw attention to themselves. Evil all the way around. The 20 dollars usually is wasted on beer or weed. The manipulative kids usually aren’t followers of Christ.
Follow up has to do with a concrete plan on what to do with the people you leave after you led them to Christ. A few (one or two maybe?) evangelistic teams have had a solid follow-up plan. The rest didn’t.
Evangelistic teams or missions teams aren’t like (for example) evangelizing a muslim family between flights in an airport. There you just have time to share Jesus’ love and to pray with them. Then you have to run off to catch your flight and trust God to work the rest out.
The idea of missions is to plant seeds and then get them into discipleship programs. That’s what the local churches are for, to become their spiritual family after you and the excitement of your visit leaves.
But you SHOULD stay in communication with the people you ministered to, in order that they may see that Christ’s love is real. The local church should have a way to do that without the team giving out their personal info. Some pastors say ‘write to us and we’ll put you into contact with who you want to talk to.’
Giving your personal contact info NEVER WORKS OUT the way you think it will. I beg my teams to not share their personal info (unless I feel a couple missionaries are spiritually mature enough to handle it.) Most everyone ignores my warning though, and in their emotional state while saying good-bye, they give ALL their contact info. My kids down here are pros at follow up.
If you give out your contact info, you have to have the common courtesy and real love to answer them after your two week tropical vacation is over. Let your yes be yes and no’s no’s. Work with them and their pastor so that they can abide in Christ. The most important thing is that they’re plugged into a church, and have a personal relationship with the Lord. If not, they’re looking for other things not so Godly, so beware.
What I never ever get used to is the short term missionary’s coldness and indifference after a couple of weeks back ‘home’. The whole church in the states is drifting from short term missions for that same reason. No one really wants to hear the kids’ stories, so they forget all about it. There’s no lasting effect. Except for about a couple handfuls of individuals and a church in Mexico (Abundant Life, Aguascalientes) most just disappear forever.
Most of the short term missionaries backslide back into the world, away from Christ. Is there even a correlation?
2 Tim 4:10 For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world.
Many of the ‘missionaries’ who gave out their personal info actually get annoyed with me when some kids spend the only money they have to their name, to go to the cyber to write their ‘new found friends, and some times spiritual fathers’ in america. Of course they’re going to ask for money, their parents ask them to.
I have one kid who looks up to his spiritual father, a ‘short term missionary’. He said his spiritual father looked just like Jesus. His spiritual father won’t even accept his friendship on FaceBook though, REALLY??? Of course the kid isn’t even walking with the Lord anymore.
These missionaries yell at me because they are being pestered by the kids whom they gave their emails to against my advice.
These children are living in the squalor garbage dumps and it would mean so much to hear even once from someone who promised so much.
Right now I am in disbelief. I don’t think anyone I ever took to Cuba has ever communicated with any of the hundreds of wonderful people that I introduced them to in Cuba. Cubans DO not ask. While accustomed to the negligence or disregard of ex ‘short term’ missionaries, the 6 short term teams that I took to Cuba, completely ignore the people they ministered to. I hear from the pastors there. It’s really sad. Cuba is flat on its back right now from the hurricane. People are literally dying.
Except for 1 faithful Puerto Rican couple from CC Boca Raton FL and some YWAMERS from Mexico, Colombia and Nicaragua, not one person that I know of, has reached out to our Cuban brothers and sisters there. They already had no food, electricity nor clean water BEFORE the hurricane. Already in deep Poverty, with NO infrastructure. It is now much much worse with no relief (or food) in sight!
2 Tim 1:4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy