Haiti – please know what you are doing

June 15, 2010

Kara Powell
Kara Powell

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Last week I had a chance to chat for a few minutes with Reggie Joiner from reThink.  I’ve gotten to know Reggie a bit this past year and impressed with his passion and his creative thinking about “orange” ministry (“yellow” stands for the church; “red” stands for the family – how can we bring the two together to make “orange”).

Reggie returned recently from Haiti.  I’m hearing about more and more folks going to Haiti.  That’s probably a good thing.  But when I asked Reggie how the trip was, he said parts of it were discouraging given how far that nation has to go in its rebuilding.   I told him I had been invited to go to Haiti with a short-term mission agency but couldn’t make it work with my schedule.  He said, “Folks going there really need to make sure they go with folks who know what they are doing and can speak the language.”

I thought immediately of the important work done by Dave Livermore, the Executive Director of the Global Learning Center at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary.  Dave’s a good friend whose writing on Cultural Intelligence has helped FYI and me personally understand the importance of really getting to know the cultural you will be serving, and making sure that you are doing work that is truly helpful.

For you doing a short-term mission trip this summer, have you asked — really asked — your host what they need?  Have you really listened?  And are you willing to set aside your own agenda for the needs of the folks you are serving?

©2010 Fuller Youth Institute

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  • Sharla Chinniah

    For more resources in asking yourself questions about doing Short-Term Missions well, check out http://www.stmstandards.org.

  • http://adammclane.com adam mclane

    I think going with eyes wide open is a really good thing. Go as a learner, a pray-er, a listener. It scares me when people talk a lot about what they want to DO.

    It’s big, it’s complicated, and there’s an unfathomable amount of effort left to do. But that doesn’t mean God’s people should not be involved. We should just, as Reggie encouraged, go with people who know what they are doing.

    It’s also small, really simple, and entirely plausible that nearly anyone could make an impact.

  • http://www.fulleryouthinstitute.org Kara Powell

    Last night we had some friends over for dinner, including someone who had been a missions pastor for a decade or more. I asked him what he would have done differently, and he said overall he felt really good about the mutual relationships that the short-term teams developed with their various host teams and countries. But that he wished they had done more training before and after the service experiences. It was a good reminder and confirmation of the training we’ve tried to offer through Deep Justice Journeys.

    And you’re right, Adam – one person can certainly make an impact.

  • http://www.davidlivermore.com Dave Livermore

    I continue to be grateful for our collaborative efforts on these fronts Kara. I just spent the last 2 days with some inspiring N. American church leaders who want to partner with Haiti for the long-term in a way that is truly helpful. I really believe the tide is turning.

    Having said that, one Haitian doctor at the conference said that dozens of private hospitals in Haiti have closed because of US medical groups that have come in with their own people and equipment. As a result, the local hospitals and medical professionals can’t “compete.” He also described how it grieves him to see kids selling “Nestle” bottled water on the street and wonders why someone wouldn’t use the money for shipping all that bottled water to help Haiti build its own bottled water plant.

    FYI’s obsession with “justice” and systemic change must continue to inform how we get involved.

  • http://transformingseminarian.blogspot.com Mark Baker-Wright

    Cynthia Eriksson, a Fuller School of Psychology faculty member who was part of a trip to Haiti recently, observed something similar to Dave’s comments re: hospitals in Haiti closing down due to well-meaning US involvement.

  • http://www.studentministry.org Tim Schmoyer

    I’m so glad more people are saying this! Too often youth groups use missions trips like a trip to the zoo: they go, take a lot of pictures, do a couple things they consider to be helpful, and come home to show off their pictures. And the whole time the natives feel like they used mostly to help rich Americans observe their poverty.

  • http://seanmcgever.com Sean McGever

    This is wise advice. In my grad work I did research on the effects of short term mission work, which was anything less than 2-5 years depending on who you are reading, in which I found that by far the number one benefit was for the person going on the trip, not the people or place being visited. Personal growth is still a very worthwhile cause, but if we really want to help we should support existing long-term mission work (the ones who have the long-term relationships, the language, the connections, the follow-up, etc.) with our prayer, finances and encouragement.

    So am I crazy to suggest we slow down on all the hype about our week-long trips, and concurrent blog coverage, to Haiti and consider a year-long prayer and fundraising mission instead? Maybe combine this with serving local Haitian communities in the USA?

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