>>565866
> Long term actual missions trips
if i may orthobro, while i agree with you, it's a misnomer to term the latter missionary work as a 'trip'
i'd go so far as to say that the phrase 'mission trip' has encouraged that exact type of charity-tourism we're against, in that it has demeaned the understanding of what a high calling it is to be a missionary; where like the early apostolic* bands, devout, learned, and mature believers were sent out as being set apart for the work of the Kingdom, having a deep desire to take the Gospel to areas as yet unreached
and historically, it has been that self-sacrificial commitment of people so moved in their hearts for lost souls, that they so moved themselves to live amongst them; becoming 'all things to all men' in the sense that they became of one people with those they sought - living with and for them, and even dying for the privilege of serving them
moreover, recent studies have shown that the charity-vacation culture has an opposite effect in the field, since the constant flow of new faces callouses the hearts of those they meet; especially so in the children who feel at first loved by these seeming angels who bond with them, and then as their hearts are broken by departure after departure, are inured to any tenderness and come to despise they rich westerners who treat them as pets - or worse; mere scenery for their selfies
t. someone a little burnt out by several years in the field
~
*apostolic with a small 'a'