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October 2005
January Conference Seeks to Upgrade Effectiveness of Short-Term Missions—and You Can Help Make It Happen
I don’t usually plug stuff (at least non-CSM stuff), but I’ve been part of a team working on an upcoming forum on youth missions that might be worth your time and investment.
It will take place January 9 - 11 in Orlando, Florida, put together by the Youth Missions Affinity Network of the National Network of Youth Ministries. To make a long story short, a few of us have been advocating for a forum that would tackle some of the tough questions related to the effectiveness of short-term missions head-on, and we may do just that in January.
The lead presenter will be Dr. Kurt Ver Beek, sociology professor at Calvin College. He recently published one of the few academically-defensible studies on short-term missions in existence; it made some provocative suggestions (e.g., a lot of what we do is pretty ineffective) and has stirred the waters somewhat. You can access his study at (http://www.calvin.edu/academic/sociology/staff/kurt.htm); when you get there, scroll down to his published stuff, b. is “The Impact of Short-Term Missions: A Case Study…”
What we’re hoping to do is have Kurt throw down the gauntlet with some of his findings, then open things up for guided discussion, response and interaction from the attendees, followed by responses the next day from a variety of credible presenters, many of whom will disagree with Kurt, all the while guiding a ton of response, discussion, and debate from the floor and in smaller groups. Our ultimate goal is for each interest group represented at the conference (mission agency folks like me, youth pastors/local-church mission leaders, and academics) to each identify one overriding new initiative/change/reform that could help us address some of our potential and real problems, and onto healthier roads toward short-term mission and service that actually makes a positive difference for everyone.
You can get more specific information on the forum at (http://www.youthgoglobal.com), then click on Youth Missions Network Forum 2006 over in the left-hand column. Within that writeup, you can also download the complete Forum invitation.
I’m pitching this because this could be a great chance to be involved in shaping the direction of the short-term mission and service movement for the better. It’s going to be a highly-interactive forum and the responsibility for real decisions and change will be with the attendees. So it could be fabulous or it could be a train wreck, but valuable in any case.
If you’re someone who cares about the effectiveness of short-term mission and service (and I suspect you are or you wouldn’t be on our website), think about joining us at the Forum. Feel free to call me directly if you have Qs or would like a little more background. My numbers are 1-619-596-0919 (office, San Diego area) and 1-619-654-3233 (cell).
Blessings,
Noel Becchetti, President
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