Case Study First Draft

THE KINGDOM IN SHORT-TERM MISSION

It is hard to participate in kingdom-like practices on a short-term missions trip; however, I feel that such hurdle can be jumped if we focus on the actions of Jesus rather than our own perceptions and “wisdom”.
I will be leading a group of men on a trip to Maneadero, Mexico, a city forty miles south of Ensenada. We will be serving in a soup kitchen as well as visiting a migrant farm where nomadic marginalized persons reside for undeterminable parts of the year. My advisor/mentor has told me that the objectives of the service project are to get the men in our group prepared for a life of mission, assist them in using their spiritual gifts to the glory of God, and to get each man out of his cultural comfort zone. Although these motives are benevolent, I believe that they are too inward focused and do not grant enough attention to the needs of the people we are serving.
In all honesty, it is hard to gauge how the kingdom of God can be manifested in this scenario simply because Jesus was not prone to taking short-term missions trips. Nevertheless, I will observe Jesus’ actions and try to extract what practices would exemplify the kingdom of God. I feel that God’s only mission and purpose for us to go down to Mexico is so that we can share his love with the people. Thus, we should not be focused on how we will grow spiritually from this trip; rather, we should pay attention to the need we are going to fulfill. We will do this by submitting to their culture as much as possible, being flexible in our service, and remaining open to learning from them.
By nature, evangelicals are focused on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I find this to be true and a blessing, however, in supporting such a belief, we tend to have a harder time grasping the importance of community and complete sacrifice for others. Such traits lead us to focus on the benefits we will be receiving even when the project is selfless in nature. Our group must embrace the fact that even though the each person might not be grounded in faith or service, this project exists for enriching others so that God may be glorified. This selfless attitude will lead us to do such things as learning Spanish, being comfortable (not uneasy in the different culture), and partaking in various other activities/disciplines that exert a sense of egalitarian sentiment.
From my perspective, this trip is not about enriching the men, as my mentor alluded to; it is about teaching the men to embrace true sacrifice in service.