COMMITMENTS –promises we as leaders and participants make as we approach our short-term trips

Note: This is a draft document of the CBC Missions Committee

• WE WILL dignify and respect the locals and the church we serve by not talking about them in demeaning ways
• WE WILL challenge the participants to see Christianity differently vis-à-vis the host culture instead of seeing the universality of the Body of Christ
• WE WILL reflect theologically on our short-terms mission programs and our ministry programs at home
• WE WILL probe the incongruity of poverty and joy
• WE WILL raise awareness of new experiences that contradict previous observations, interpretations, or expectations
• WE WILL challenge the participants to live changed lives based on the dissonance they feel as they see their wealth juxtaposed against poverty
• We WILLl train the trip participants to develop their Cultural Intelligence
• WE WILL encourage journal writing on the trip, focusing on things that make us uncomfortable, questions that come to mind, and insights we gain.
• WE WILL build into the trip sufficient time to process
• WE WILL as a group take the time to step back from the situation we’re in to see what’s going on by scheduling time for planning and reflection
• WE WILL be honest about what we accomplish on the trip by not exaggerating or overspiritualizing the experience in our report back. A short-term missions trip is one of many experiences in life that shape us, and one trip is only part of a much longer narrative that will continue to be written after our experience.
• WE WILL stop thinking of short-term mission trips as a service to perform and see them as another expression of a seamless life of missional living that includes giving and receiving. It’s a time to learn. When we’re with brothers and sisters from another part of the world, let’s spend less time thinking about how we can tell everyone back home what we did for them and more time finding out what they’re truly facing and getting their perspective on how we can help.
• WE WILL be honest with our national brothers and sisters about what we feel is useful for us to do in their context, especially when it involves inflicting aspects of our culture on theirs, or disrupting their culture
• WE WILL help the participants see how eating unfamiliar foods, sitting through services in a foreign language, and touring ancient temples is relevant to God’s call on their lives. It’s imperative that we frame our experiences as pertinent and related to the overall goals of our lives.
• WE WILL humble ourselves before God as His servants, and humble ourselves towards those we are serving as their servants, too.