Sleepless

Church last night was good. It was small, not many people there on New Years day. David was totally right - some looked in pretty rough shape after staying up for celebrations the night before. I went down early to help with setup. Set up the board, then soundchecked Julia before Gary arrived to take over. I actually wouldn't mind getting behind the board again some Sunday - it's been a while since I've done any live mixing. It's been awhile since I've done anything with music. Kinda miss it. Wore a sweater-vest today. Dug it out of storage at the parents' place over Christmas. It's hard to believe they're coming back - and yet, you watch, it'll be this spring's big thing. Been thinking a lot lately about what church-based short term missions trips should look like. I've been doing some reading, some writing, and will hopefully be engaging a variety of different people in conversation about it in the coming weeks and months. A lot of this comes out of my own experiences in Kolkata this summer with Freedomize - both as a member and as a leader of teams working with Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity. These trips (like all similar trips) had their share of strengths and weaknesses. What was most moving, however, was the strong desire to expose a bunch of Western kids to the realities of the two-thirds world, and a leadership that saw this as an opportunity to see lives changed by face-to-face encountres with global poverty. I can't speak for the others who spent this summer in India, but I do know that my life has been changed. To start, it's got me writing this entry. Beyond that, tho, is an ever-growing document that could potentially be a framework for local church based missions trips that aren't a waste of time. For me, right now, it's not so much the actual overseas element that has me most concerned. Working within a pre-existing structure like the MoC volunteer system is an incredible way to a) be of service without railroading the established mission's daily work; b) expose a team to a reality outside of their own; and c) establish a truly generous community ethic amongst team members. To me these elements justify a trip - so long as what is learned in that cross-cultural context is not merely left behind, but rather continues to inform the participant's future choices in the homeland. Considering the broad range of short-term trips out there, it seems to me that many fail to: 1) Properly equip the team (spiritually, emotionally) prior to departure; 2) Adequately debrief and reintegrate team members into the home culture; and 3) Provide opportunity and direction to apply learned skills in the home culture. These three are vital in ensuring that cross-cultural trips such as one taken to Kolkata are more than consumer experiences. It seems to me there needs to be a consciously delineated framework in which these trips take place such that planning, prayer and attention are given equally to all three of training, cross-cultural experience and debriefing. All members need to be aware that their "mission" does not start when their plane touches down on foreign soil, and end when it leaves the same, but rather begins much earlier, and continues for the rest of their Christian lives. Mission is so much more. Maybe better-defining "mission" in a 21st Century context is the best place to start this conversation...