10 Short-Termers You Don’t Want

May 15, 2009 – 11:07 am

In light of the summer season of Short-Term Missions (STM) trips, these ten “do nots” from George Verwer, founder of Operation Mobilization, are helpful reminders.

Short-term mission trips have become very popular and many churches run their own programs. Some churches want all their members to go on a trip.

Having been involved for 50 years with both short and long-term mission has given me some very strong convictions about who should go and who should not go. Here are ten short-termers who really should stay at home.

  1. Mr. Selfish
  2. Mr. Tourist
  3. Mr. Lazy
  4. Mr. Big-Spender
  5. Mr. Insensitive
  6. Mr. Critical
  7. Mr. Unteachable
  8. Mr. Prayerless
  9. Mr. Addicted
  10. Mr. Proud

-George Verwer

View/Download the entire article for more complete descriptions.

HT: @omusa [5.15.09]

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  1. 2 Responses to “10 Short-Termers You Don’t Want”

  2. You just rejected the Church.

    By Maury Buchanan on May 17, 2009

  3. Maury:
    If by your response you mean that all believers still battle against the ten sins listed above, I would agree. However, battling against selfishness, laziness, prayerlessness, etc. is much different than being characterized by them. I think that Mr. Verwer’s point is that by taking kids or adults on your STM that are characterized by one of the ten sins you are not acting in the best interest of the missionary/church you are visiting, the rest of the STM group, and the individual. Not allowing them to participate with your STM does not exclude them from membership within the community of believers. It simply refuses them the privilege of being involved in a particular ministry endeavor.

    By taynes on May 19, 2009