Why not just send over money?

When you've seen how much short-term mission trips cost, perhaps you've pondered the question, "Why not just send over money?" It is perhaps the most common question I get, and it is a logical, legitimate question. After all, how many orphans could we support in a year for the amount of money it takes our team to get there for just two weeks? There's no arguing that in a simple trade, it's hard to see how the trip makes financial sense.

I'd like to offer a few thoughts:

One of the things the teams do is simply to visit with and pray with various people. We meet with the guardians (who care for the orphans), we meet with church members, we meet with Bible students, and we meet with church leaders. We learn from them, perhaps we teach them something, and we develop relationships and pray with them. You cannot imagine how grateful and encouraged people are that someone would come all that way to spend time with them. It's one of the ways they are encouraged to endure the hardships of ministry in a tough place.

We also develop relationships at the institutional level, connecting Kenyan churches and ministries with US churches and ministries. These relationships are crucial for being able to maintain long-term ministry partnerships, which provide framework for that orphan sponsorship that we want to dollars to ultimately go toward. So in a way, the money spent on the trip does go to orphan sponsorship.

By working Bible students and church leaders, we help them to multiply the ministry. The more pastors and other leaders who are trained, the more the churches can move forward with excellence, and the more churches that can be planted. By bringing teaching and encouragement, we have a part in the multiplication of the church, which in turn affects all kinds of ministry. We've already seen several churches planted by the graduates of the Ahero Evangelical School of Theology.

By sending at least one person per year, we also can update all the biographical information of all the orphans for their sponsors, including current pictures. All this data is crucial for the sponsorship program to proceed. Furthermore, regular visits provide a regular form of accountability, so that the ministry never falls victim of any accusation of malfeasance.

Our teams who work at the orphanage also provide a bit of a break for the teachers, who work so tirelessly day in and day out. Often, we can minister to them directly and encourage them as we do the Bible students.

Perhaps the greatest evidence that short-term missions are financially responsible is that our friends in Kenya think it's worth it. They know it's expensive. They know is a long, arduous trip. They know that we give up relative comfort in order to come. And they think it's worth it. So, I'm inclined to believe it's worth it, even for reasons I may not be aware of or even be able to comprehend.

The fact that our Kenyan friends have so much to teach us about faith and worship, endurance, standing up to the real enemy, and even true joy is a fantastic side benefit. It doesn't justify the expense by itself, but it helps the conclusion that it's worth it. Plus, it keeps us from thinking we're the experts who have come to save the day.

The best way to look at this is not to think that money for the trip is being spent instead of supporting orphans directly, but rather that money well-spent on a short-term trip is an investment for the long-term health, success, and growth of the ministry to orphans, students, and the Kenyan church.