Cross-Cultural Learning Experiences

Recently, my church back home renamed their short-term mission trips to be called "cross-cultural learning experiences." I have participated on two mission trips during my high school career to New Orleans and Guatemala City and the emphasis placed on avoiding Christian tourism was large. It was interesting to me to see how this initiative grew throughout my high school career to the point where we were only allowed to have one camera for the entire team when we went to Guatemala and we weren't allowed to take photos without explicit permission of the people we met in Guatemala.

I found it interesting that my church renamed short-term mission trips altogether. It places an emphasis on the learning part of a mission trip and removes the idea that participants are going somewhere to "save the world" or "change a life." Often times, we embark on these trips thinking that we are going to infinitely better the lives of those we meet through the work we do for one week. I like that "cross-cultural learning experiences" places more focus on the two-way street that a mission trip truly is. On every trip that I have participated on, I have learned and grown more from the experience than I ever gave. The change in name makes the entire trip more transparent, the purpose more clear - because the truth is, there isn't much you can do during one week. You can't expect to be a superhero and it's dangerous to go on a trip with that mindset - rather, when your purpose is to go on these trips to help you step outside of your comfort zone and every day routine to serve alongside one another while growing closer to those you meet on the trip as well as your team, the trip takes on a whole new identity.