Power In Partnerships

As mission thinking has shifted over the past several decades, so have approaches and thinking related to short-term mission.

In modern mission, much consideration is given to the balance and flow of power. This is most pronounced in short-term mission trips, where there is a danger of those ‘going’ taking a position of power over those ‘receiving’ or ‘hosting’. This can even adversely affect the ministry of the local church in that area.

There are godly, honouring ways to do short-term mission in certain contexts, but also dangers to avoid.

Short-term mission trips often take place in locations of poverty, which can lead to an ‘inescapable’ power imbalance when a group of wealthy (in relative terms) outsiders visit on a short-term trip. “Where there’s a wealth imbalance, there’s a power imbalance,” says Chris Ducker, Principal of ForMission College, at a recent event hosted by the Global Connections Short-Term Mission Forum.

“We have a tendency to hold onto the money and power that we have, but it’s God’s money…how do we use it in a way that honours God?” Ducker asks.

Some kind of power imbalance is unavoidable, it's inbuilt into the institutions of our world. The question is how do we, as followers of Christ, seek to honour God and our fellow believers, recognising the inert power we have as westerners?

“Good partnership takes place over a long period of time,” says Ducker, emphasising the importance of relationship in growing godly partnerships with those hosting a short-term trip.

“Get to know the local people by name, get to know the issues faced by the local village…that’s how partnership gets established,” says Busisiwe Sityata-Jones, who grew up in a village in South Africa and was until recently a Regional Coordinator with Hands at Work in Africa.

Power rests with those who set the agenda. Often, short-term mission trips revolve around what the team has decided they can offer the community they are going to visit, at times without consideration of what that community actually needs. When the host sets the agenda and the team go with a sense of humility, power is balanced more evenly.

“Sometimes when teams come and they are not willing to walk in the pace of the local people, in terms of understanding how things are done, they can easily want to solve the problem in the way their western minds think,” says Busisiwe Sityata-Jones.

“That can rob the local church of taking responsibility for the issues in their community…teams can do that when they are not willing to be led, to listen to the local leaders and to slow things down which is tough when people have got two weeks of their annual leave to spend in Africa because they want to go back and say, we built a house, we did this.”

A key to all this is attitude. As short-term mission participants, are we going with a longing to learn and serve, being led by our hosts? Or do we go thinking we can lead and transform a community in a short space of time?

Healthy short-term mission happens from a place of humility and service. It’s locally-led and the participant has more to learn than to lead.

To explore these issues further, find out more about the Global Connections Short-term Mission Forum.