Learning from the Aussies
About the Author
Aaron is a mission trip coordinator for a small non-profit working in Tijuana, Mexico. The organization builds homes for the poor and operates an orphanage where he can often be found helping out with the children.
Does distance traveled play a role in how successful your mission trip is? Are you going to have a greater impact spiritually on those you serve if you go to Africa rather than Guatemala? To Guatemala rather than Mexico? Will you grow in the Lord more if you travel further?
The organization I work with in Tijuana builds simple houses for the poor with church groups from all over the U.S., Canada, and even Australia. On a typical build, after two or three days of work the construction is wrapping up and there is always a little ceremony where the group presents the keys for the completed home to the family who will live there. Other than translating, I intentionally stay hands off during this process which typically goes prayer, keys, group photo with family. For me, this is the best time to get a gage on how the group has been impacted by the trip as well as the family on the receiving end.
Two different groups, from two different continents, with two very different experiences
Group one is from Los Angeles, a four hour drive if the traffic is bad. Group two from Australia, an 18 hour flight across seven time zones.
The team from LA worked hard all weekend on their house. They have been hammering away since 7:00 this morning (never mind the neighbors trying to sleep) and by dusk have managed to get that second coat of drywall mud sanded down. They put all their power tools to work and built a great house. Come ceremony time everyone gathers around, the team leader says a quick prayer for the family, and it’s time to hand over the keys. That moment when the hands of the leader and those of the family receiving the house are both holding the keys lasts an awkwardly long time as over a dozen camera flashes go off, reload, and flash again. From there it’s a group photo in front of the new house and the team is off to dinner at the local taco stand, then North to the border.
The church from Australia worked a little slower on their house. They opted to work for three days instead of two and were just able to finish by dark. One thing that slowed them up was their tireless effort to communicate with and get to know the family they were building for. They tried to get all the children in the family involved in the construction. The eldest helped out hammering and the younger ones worked on painting with mom. The Aussies even tried teaching some of the kids from the neighborhood how to tape and mud drywall. Ceremony time with this group was very different than their counter part from LA. With the family in the doorway the Aussies all circled around the house and took turns thanking God for the opportunity to serve him, praying for the family. and petitioning Him that the house would be used to His glory. Notably fewer flashes went off as they handed over the keys and took the group photo in front of the new home. The ceremony concluded here but instead of tacos for dinner the Australians had prepared a mini carnival with food and games for the entire neighborhood. They get a great turnout and end up serving over 500 hot dogs!
Hit and Run Ministries
The two stories I just related are indicative of the relationship I see existing between distance traveled and the experience one has on a mission trip. Are there exceptions to the rule? Plenty. What I hope you take away from this article is not that you need to travel further for a great mission trip but that the danger of falling into the trap of “hit and run ministries” or “lets hurry up and bless these people” is greater when serving close to home. Through prayer and focus you can have a great trip wherever you serve, be it at your local soup kitchen or at an orphanage half way around the world.
May 29th, 2006 at 7:29 pm
Very surprising to me (and sad) that you’ve found this to be a pattern. I wouldn’t have expected it.
I’m wondering if other organizations have found this to be the norm also?
May 31st, 2006 at 8:59 pm
Dear JD,
Thank you for the comment. Yes, friends from other organizations tell me they have noticed a similar pattern with the groups they work with.
Here’s something equally as mind boggling; Every year we have more groups come to our orphanage in Tijuana from Vancouver, British Columbia, 1,400 miles away, than San Diego, California, a 30 minute drive. Distance seems to play a big role in everything from getting a congregation to commit to serve right on through the experience they have on a mission trip.
June 3rd, 2006 at 7:05 am
I’m interested to know why you think this is the case, and if you know of any ways this pattern can be changed within a group a person may work with.
June 7th, 2006 at 7:48 pm
Garrett, I think this relationship exists primarily because of the time and effort that gets put into a trip by the team leaders before anyone crosses the border. A mission trip overseas takes much more planning and preparation –which results in more prayer time– than one an afternoon’s drive away.
Another factor would be cost. If you have a group of 30 people who have been saving for months –again, more prayer time– for the opportunity to serve vs one who’s members consist of those who chipped in for gas money on the way down, that can play a big role also.
Some might point to culture as the main reason. They could say Southern Californians live a more rushed life than Australians, but similar, though less dramatic, lines could be drawn comparing groups from San Francisco and Seattle or Portland Oregon and New York.
As far as changing the pattern, this may sound cliched and corny, but my advice would be to not make the mission trip about accomplishing a task at hand. Don’t make blessing people a line on your check list. And don’t come home with a PowerPoint presentation of Americans building a house.
Do make it about humbly serving God. It’s all about Him. The more everyone keeps that in mind the better the trip is going to be.