June 1 Twitter Chat Wrap-Up

We enjoyed a intro discussion on missions today during our first #JustMissions twitter chat. Thanks to all who participated!

We covered:

- Our own experiences on short-term missions, some of us on long-term missions
- Good things that can come from STMs like new perspectives, hearts of service, new friendships, realization of different norms, recognition of global realities, humility, and a greater sense of shared humanity.
-Improving STMs with preplanning, post-evaluating, and self-reflecting (even on the actual trip each night). We talked about lectio divina, openmindedness, debriefing/discussing as much as possible, training, and attitudes of humility that can go a long way. Input from receiving community from the preplanning phase would be beneficial.
-We all seemed to agree the church should participate in missions, it is a calling. Though we also admitted not everyone defines missions the same.
-We can be more just in missions by understanding our gifts and the needs of the trip before we leave, reading more than just white male theologians for our theological frameworks, remembering we are all poor AND rich, not feeling like we'll change the world in one week, being OK with deepening relationships as our own measurement of success, recognizing the powerplay that happens automatically on the field, maintaining right and good approaches to mission.

Drop the Mic Moments:

"The church in all of its global expressions absolutely should participate in missions! Not just the US/Western church!" @elgoyito
"[Improving STMS comes from] Being self-reflective as a mission team to discern our own cultural idols. What do we NOT want to replicate of US Christianity." @fullofearth
"Making disciples is paramount in missions; to be effective cross-culturally, we must be better at making disciples at home." @sowingseedsM28
"Mission tourism can objectify people. When people are no longer people, but projects or photo ops we've crossed the line." @m_andrew_gale

Resources discussed:
videos:
The Just Us Video Series
articles:
Letter From a Birmingham Jail, MLK Jr.
Slumdog Tourism by K. Odede
10 Reasons Why Mission Matters by theasianroughrider
Several others here.
Books:
M David Sills, The Missionary Call
A Theology of Liberation, Gustavo Gutierrez
Black Theology, James Cone
Kent Annan, Slow Kingdom Coming
Gena Thomas, A Smoldering Wick