I hear a lot of Christians who,
whether their students of mine or people I've met,
who have said, you know,
they're going to another country to go on a mission trip. They're going to go during winter break or spring break
and they're gonna, you know,
bring the love of Jesus, or bring some Bibles, or maybe try to help build some shelters or something.
And so there's this
ambivalence I have regarding mission trips.
And what always comes to my mind,
and maybe this is just because I am a teacher,
is this program called Teach For America.
And Teach For America is this thing that a lot of
students do, especially
elite students, you know, at the best schools in our country. They're from Harvard, Yale, really good schools.
And what they decide to do is after they graduate,
they're going to spend two years
taking a crash course over the summer learning how to teach.
And then they're going to go into some of the roughest schools in the country
and they're going to teach those kids and they make a two-year commitment, minimum,
to work with these kids and educate them.
And on paper, that actually looks like a great idea, that they're going to--
You know, you have these brilliant minds
and they have a passion for teaching.
Obviously, their intentions are wonderful, and they're going to go there, and they're going to help these kids,
But the reality of the situation
and I've seen this article after article, where former Teach For America,
people who either dropped out of the program
or finished it,
but had a bitter taste in their mouths,
a lot of them would write these articles about how they don't actually think they helped.
And the reason is you're going into these schools, where
the kids need some dedicated teachers, with experience, who know what they're doing...
Passion is great,
but if you don't actually know how to,
you know, handle a group of 30 rowdy kids,
you may not really be helping them. And if you don't know how to teach,
and sometimes that takes a few years to really develop,
are you really doing what's best for those kids?
And so, two years after they finish their commitment, a lot of these students
leave the program, and they go off to law school, or medical school, or
whatever their future plans were, you know.
You hope they're not just resume builders,
but in some cases that turns out to be the case, where they went for these two years just so they could look good on an application.
And so, they leave these schools, and these kids
end up worse off
than where they would have been with another teacher.
A regular teacher went through a certification process.
And you know? All these good intentions didn't really go anywhere.
So, that's what I think of when I think of mission trips because I see these wonderful people who want to do this thing
that sounds so great on paper. They want to go to another country
and help these people, these poor people.
And they want to give them... What?
They want to give them Jesus, they want to give them Bibles,
they want to build a church.
And I'm thinking like, "Wow, that's not what they need."
They need shelter and they need food and clothing.
Clean water.
That's what they need. And you're going in there...
And are you really helping? Because it's not like you land there
and all of a sudden you're off and running.
It takes a little bit to get acclimated to the territory and to learn about the people you're trying to help.
And so, when you have these, like, one week mission trips
and then you leave, and you get your photo op, and you feel like you've done a good job,
I have to ask, like, "Have you really helped them?
Or, "Was this for them or was this for you?"
And I think, in too many cases, these mission trips are just there for the people who go.
It's there to make them feel good about themselves, like they really helped,
when I don't think they always do.
It's there to, you know, make the church look good,
like they're actually doing something beyond the church walls to help.
I think if people who go on mission trips-- Because, again, these are
well-intentioned people,
their heart's in the right place,
but if they really want to help,
there's a couple things they could do.
One is make a serious long-term commitment.
If you're going to go to a third world country,
stay there for the whole summer. Take a year off and go there and help.
That could actually do something meaningful, because you have some time to actually get to know them
and their environment.
That would be beneficial. And wow! I would find--
I would have a very hard time complaining about a Christian
who says, "I'm going there. Yes, I want to
teach them the Bible and stuff I don't think really helps.
But I'm going to be there for a while. I really want to help these people out. And we're gonna,
you know, help them with medical supplies and building a hospital, maybe, somehow,
or building a school and educating them and tutoring them."
That would actually help, but that requires a long-term commitment.
And a lot of church mission trips
they don't plan on long-term commitments.
But here's a simpler idea:
a lot of these mission trips cost
thousands of dollars. I mean, these kids have to raise
a lot of money, hundreds, maybe of thousands dollars
to go overseas, and they're raising that money.
Here's a better idea:
take that money that you fundraised
and then put it in an envelope
and send it to a group that is already working there long-term.
Because those people need things that cost some money, they need those wells to get water. They need supplies and food.
And they need people who are going to stay there for the long haul.
They really don't need you going there for one week,
so you can get some photos and share them on Facebook.
Again, I realized not every Christian's doing that,
but a lot of them are.
And I've heard this even from Christians who
don't like the way mission trips are done at their church.
So,
I'm glad their intention is good. Their heart's in the right place.
But if they're going there for a week or two weeks,
and especially if they're going there just to spread the gospel,
they're not helping anybody.
People in the third world are not surviving because they have a Bible next to them on their bedside.
What they need is a bed.
So, let's go out there and actually help them.
And again, I think if churches made an effort to send people overseas
for a long time, for a serious commitment,
it would be very hard for people like me to say,
"Mission trips don't actually help."
My name is Hemant Mehta. I write at FriendlyAtheist.com
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