As I scrolled Twitter last night, I came across a thread that had gone pretty viral, with over 100,000 likes and 30,000 retweets.
The basic premise of the mini-thread is that Christian missionaries are horribly selfish people who only care about getting a photo op with poor people and “dipping their head in some water” to baptize them.
I have a lot to say about this – but first, let’s read through it so we’re all on the same page:
“Unpopular opinion and I really don’t care. You people that go on mission trips and exploit the **** out of children that are so far in poverty they can’t afford a pair of shoes or an education or much less a meal every day and think you are doing them a service by baptizing them and then posting a pic acting like y’all are bffs or like you really know that child is gross. If we spent the amount of money donating towards medical help, education, shoes, clothes, sanitary products, helping these people get an economy of their own started and functioning that is WAY more of a service to them than any Facebook post explaing their horrible sad situation that an innocent person doesn’t deserve to be in, in the first place. Nothing irks my nerves more omgggg. Oh? There’s a 10 year old that left his mother in Haiti to clean shoes for a living and to send money back to her because she can’t work? How about let’s find out a way to make that boys life better. Let’s donate some money, get him and his mother in a safe home where they have food and shelter every night. But nah you people want to post a lil cute. Saying how much YOU serviced THEM by dipping their head in some water and saying “you are cleansed!” Like *** off. Don’t pretend your mission trips are for anyone else other than you. To make you feel like a decent person for a minute”
The person, who is only known by their twitter handle @neelyyr12, sets the premise that Christians who go on missions trips only care about snapping selfies with poor kids and dunking them in the baptism pool.
For starters, any Christian who actually goes on a mission trip and pushes (even forces) baptisms in order to prop themselves up or their own ministry efforts, is behaving in a decidedly un-Christian fashion. On this point I agree. But do most Christians who go on missions trips act this way? Is this an accurate representation of reality? Or is this a straw-man argument?
My experience leads me to believe the latter.
The whole point of missions trips is to serve. We are called to do so because Jesus himself was a servant. He washed the disciple’s feet before instructing them to serve others with similar selflessness and humility. He commanded us to love one another, as He loved us. He commanded us to go to the ends of the Earth and minister to the least of these and care for their needs.
How would we know this and feel that pain in our souls so much that we are moved to act unless someone went, experienced it, helped, and then reported it to others?
And we are to do so sincerely, as Paul says in Romans 12. “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil, cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.”
Anyone following these and other Scriptural mandates on serving will not be haphazardly snapping selfies with poor people in order to fill up their Facebook feeds with good deeds. Anyone actually doing what Jesus commanded will do so with humility, not a savior complex.
Those I have met who go on missions trips are always the kind of people who understand why we go and serve. They are selfless, kind, and love to serve. Everyone I’ve ever talked to about missionaries they’ve met says the same thing. Nearly every noteworthy Christian missionary (ie Jim Elliot) does not fit the self-absorbed profile described in the rant. They are the exact opposite. It’d be nice if the person was a little more specific because without an example it makes it appear as if they just dislike Christians in general. Yes, it is true that not every trip is perfectly designed or executed – but it’s also true that without Christian charity and missions work, the world would be a much crappier place.
Interestingly, part of the critique suggested people donate money instead of returning home and immediately take to Facebook to post selfies and discuss the poverty situation:
“If we spent the amount of money donating towards medical help, education, shoes, clothes, sanitary products, helping these people get an economy of their own started and functioning that is WAY more of a service to them than any Facebook post explaing their horrible sad situation that an innocent person doesn’t deserve to be in, in the first place.”
Donations are great, but the rest of this premise is fatally flawed. How can we love sincerely and minister to those in need by just sending a few dollars? How can we stir the hearts of the American people, who are bathed in comfort, if they don’t ever really experience, understand, see and learn what it’s like living in a third world country?
When you genuinely walk alongside that person in need, even if for a short time, and bring them some level of joy, fellowship, help, truth, hope – that type of love goes far beyond what any long distance dollar can offer.
During my time in Haiti, one of the things I heard several times was “thank you for coming here and caring.” The ONLY thing I offered by being there was precisely what this person suggests is the worst possible thing to do: take a picture and tell their story.
It’s demeaning to portray poor people in their ‘horrible and sad’ situation as a people we should hide, not discuss, not interact with and merely send money to. While in the midst of some unhinged virtue signaling, the person behind the Twitter rant admits they don’t believe those trapped in poverty have much to offer.
Oh, how wrong they are. True, people in places like Haiti may not have much to offer in the physical sense, but they have so much to offer in the spiritual sense.
In that way, going on a missions trip represents a beautiful trade – those of us blessed with abundance in material items can be a blessing to those in need of them, and those of us lacking in spiritual joy can be blessed by those abounding in it.
Americans are often robbed of joy as we worry about our careers, money, stuff, and the empty pursuit of comfort. And let me tell you, many Haitians have a lot of joy to share. Check out this song from a church service – that went on nearly the ENTIRE DAY:
Yes, that’s yours truly holding a sweet little girl from the local village I was visiting. She had been carried down the mountain by a missionary so she could get a bath. She had some medical issues, but her family didn’t have access to water. So this missionary would carry her down the hill and carefully clean her. I was giving this missionary a little break while she attended to someone else.
It was a beautiful moment – one I’m glad I experienced, and one I’m glad I was able to share with my family and our audience. And one I’m sure blessed all who read it.
I know for a fact these efforts were greatly appreciated and welcomed by those in the community, with whom this area was well acquainted with.
What if she took the advice peddled by this guy on Twitter and just sent a check? A lot of people would’ve missed out on a lot of blessings.
Check out her story:
Here she is, delivering aid and a song of praise to another young girl with a leg wound:
A heartbreaking fact about third world countries many people don’t realize is that kids who suffer routine scrapes and cuts while playing — often see those small cuts get infected and grow into dangerous wounds — simply because they aren’t able to easily clean them out due to a lack of access to running water.
How would we know this and feel that pain in our souls so much that we are moved to act unless someone went, experienced it, helped, and then reported it to others?
When we humbly interact and help others in need, we connect in a way that sending dollars never can — and we’re able to spread awareness to others in ways we never could. The power of the human touch and personal kindness can never be underestimated. It touches those involved and then has the power to reach far beyond.
People have been throwing money at the problem of poverty for ages. They’ve been doing so in Haiti since the massive earthquake in 2010 — and it is not very working well. I met with former Haiti missionary Sean Moore in 2017 to discuss some of the changes that can be made in missions to help people in poverty-stricken nations.
They have some incredibly innovative ideas:
But none of those ideas involve simply donating money. In fact, Moore says that’s precisely the problem. Donations alone, without missionaries, volunteers, teachers, etc. create dependency rather than independence.
In the end, this massively viral twitter thread is built on a straw-man argument and doesn’t accurately depict Christian missionaries.
Here’s how they concluded their rant:
Saying how much YOU serviced THEM by dipping their head in some water and saying “you are cleansed!” Like *** off. Don’t pretend your mission trips are for anyone else other than you. To make you feel like a decent person for a minute”
Yes, we shouldn’t be going to the ends of the earth, dunking kids in the baptismal waters for sport. But that’s not why Christians go in my decades-long experience. They go to meet a need, show the love of Christ, and ultimately explain to people why they’re willing to travel halfway around the world in order to help a complete stranger.
That reason is Jesus Christ.
In Romans 10, Paul says “For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”
So, we must go and preach to them. If they respond to the Gospel message, great. If not, we will trust God and His good timing. But either way, we must continue to go to the ends of the Earth and proclaim His name.
When we do, it’s anything but “gross.” It’s a beautiful thing.