When a Mission Trip is not a Mission Trip

Last week I went on a mission trip. Except that it wasn't really a mission trip. In fact, we didn't accomplish anything. No houses were built; no church buildings were painted. The name of the trip itself indicated that doing something wasn't the purpose of going: Encuentro was about meeting people and hearing their stories related to immigration at the border areas of Mexico and Arizona. If something was changed as a result of our trip, it wasn't because those of us from North Carolina accomplished a specific task.

Short-term mission (STM) trips have been more than trendy for the past 20 years. It's actually de rigueur for young people in many Protestant churches to go on an overseas excursion each summer. Indeed, my own faith journey has benefited greatly from mission trips, beginning with a STM to Paraguay in 1991 led by a group called Go International. It's hard to imagine that I would have become a missionary and a pastor without these cross-cultural experiences to South America, Haiti, and the Solomon Islands.

But when every Christian young person in the US expects to go on a mission trip, these experiences can become more of an industry than a ministry. Several folks have already written on this subject, and you can check out some summaries of those critiques here in Christianity Today and Christian Century. (I think that second article requires a subscription.) As these authors suggest, STM trips can be very effective if they result in meaningful encounters between guest and host -- where listening is the bigger part of doing.

On Encuentro 2015 our team did just that -- we listened as our hosts shared their experiences as migrants. At Casa del Migrante in Tijuana we ate supper at a guest house, along with 50 men who were staying there in transit between the US and Mexico. The ones I spoke with personally had

Men at Casa del Migrante (Photo from migrante.com.mx)

recently been deported from the US and were trying to figure out what to do next. They had grown up north of the border, having moved there with their parents at a young age. Now they found themselves removed from the US because they lacked proper documentation. These men had to find their way in a strange city in a country they don't know, separated from their families. These stories are numerous, especially as the US has increased deportations over the past 10 years. Many ministries and churches have responded to this crisis of dislocated families. We also visited Padre Chava, which houses and feeds migrants, along with a Salvation Army shelter. North of the border we met with workers from Samaritans, BorderLinks, Neighborhood Ministries, and the United Methodist Church. All of these groups help migrants to survive the physical and legal perils of living in the US without documents.

Looking through the fence into the US

It was difficult to hear these stories about deportations, especially when they involved men who where forcibly separated from their wives and children. As a visitor to Mexico, there was nothing I could do to help these families. It would have made me feel better to paint a room or build a church fellowship hall, but it wouldn't have helped. In fact, a STM work team might have taken employment away from some of these migrants who were stuck in Tijuana without a job. All we could do was listen. And worship.

One of the most meaningful things we did on Encuentro was to celebrate Communion at Friendship Park in Tijuana. For a few hours on Saturdays and Sundays the US Border Patrol lets people approach the border wall. That allows people on either side to see their loved ones face to face. In many cases this is the only way these families can visit each other in person. It is very difficult for Mexicans to get papers to come to the US, even as tourists. And many on the US side are stuck in the years-long process of obtaining documents, which prevents them from leaving the country. During our afternoon at Friendship Park, we saw a family reuniting -- that is, looking at each other through a metal barrier -- after 15 years of not seeing each other. It was in that place that we had Communion. Two pastors presided over the service -- one in the US and one in Mexico. The pastor on the northern side preached in two languages and consecrated the elements. Then we on the Mexican side lined up and received them. Although a wall separated the worshipers from each other, we realized that God's grace was not limited by borders and walls created by human governments.

STM trips can be heart-breaking. Encuentro certainly was. I couldn't fix anything in the 6 days I was there. All I could do was listen and pray for the people whom God has called to minister to migrants. In the meantime I can keep praying and celebrating the risen Christ who is in the business of reconciliation and barrier-busting.

Receiving the body and blood of Christ at the border fence