Short-term Missions—Do They Work?
by Gwen Lee

Today, there is a phenomenal growth of short-term mission teams. For about the past 15 years the Church has employed the strategy of intensive two-week, two-month and two-year overseas missions teams to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to more than 1.3 billion unevangelized persons in the world.

Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? Still, an important question arises: Are short-term trips effective? Does the time and money funneled into these teams contribute to the Biblical mandate of evangelizing the world?

Unfortunately, limited research is availabe to help find the answer. However, according to an interesting study done in 1991 by STEM (Short-Term Evangelical Missions), substantial changes took place in the perceptions and behavior of their short-term participants as a result of the participant's experience. These changes include:

• higher commitment level to world missions
• longer and more focused prayer for missions
• increased monthly financial giving to missions
• increased involvement in mission-related activities and education
• increased desire to return to the mission field.

All of these changes are likely to contribute to world evangelization. As STEM concludes, “A well-planned short-term mission experience is an effective strategy available to the Church for developing and unleashing potential human and material resources to complete the Great Commission.”