Short-Term Mission - by Brian M Howell (Paperback)

About the Book

Brian Howell provides an anthropology of short-term mission (STM) among American Christians. Delivering a history of STM along with an ethnographic case study of a trip to the Dominican Republic, Howell argues that the movement is sustained by a uniquely Christian travel narrative that borrows from the anthropology of tourism and pilgrimage.

Book Synopsis

Over the past few decades, short-term mission trips have exploded in popularity. With easy access to affordable air travel, millions of American Christians have journeyed internationally for ministry, service and evangelism. Short-term trips are praised for involving many in global mission but also critiqued for their limitations.Despite the diversity of destinations, certain universal commonalities emerge in how mission trip participants describe their experiences: "My eyes were opened to the world's needs." "They ministered to us more than we ministered to them." "It changed my life."Anthropologist Brian Howell explores the narrative shape of short-term mission (STM). Drawing on the anthropology of tourism and pilgrimage, he shows how STM combines these elements with Christian purposes of mission to create its own distinct narrative. He provides a careful historical survey of the development of STM and then offers an in-depth ethnographic study of a particular mission trip to the Dominican Republic. He explores how participants remember and interpret their experiences, and he unpacks the implications for how North American churches understand mission, grapple with poverty and relate to the larger global church.A groundbreaking book for all who want to understand how and why American Christians undertake short-term mission.

Review Quotes

"Short-Term Mission is a fascinating look at the effects of short-term missions trips. Why is it that when students or adults return from a missions experiences they all seem to share the same story? Have we romanticized the experiences so much that we can't learn what God wants to teach us? Brian Howell explores how the pretrip narrative is driving the experience. Brian also exams how the culture of short-term missions gets in the way of experiencing and learning from the culture we are going to serve. If you are leading short-term mission trips, you need to read this book. The research that Brian has done clearly points to the need for rethinking and adjusting our short-term missions experiences."

--Doug Franklin, president, LeaderTreks

"A fascinating study on how language inadvertently undermines the best-laid plans. Howell's insights and practical suggestions provide great recommendations for thoughtful mission leaders. Whether your sphere is a church mission program, young adults, high schoolers, mission agency or in missions mobilizing, Short-Term Mission can help cultivate lasting impact. Giving voice to our majority world partners, revealing invisible aspects like structure and power, this book is surprising in its scope."

--Nikki Toyama-Szeto, program director, Urbana Student Missions Conference, coeditor, More Than Serving Tea

"Full of surprises in practical wisdom, provoking insights and giving voice to the majority world, Brian Howell's book challenges evangelicals to a new self-awareness of cross-cultural sensitivity and compassionate involvement in short-term missions."

--Robert L. Gallagher, Outreach Magazine, "Resources of the Year" issue, March/April 2013

"Howell causes us to reconsider our own cultural narrative as part of the learning process as we engage in STM cross-culturally."

--Daniel Murphree, Presbyterion: Covenant Seminary Review, 39/2

"Howell's book would be an excellent catalyst for conversation in a college class or among members of a missions committee."

--Daniel McGraw, The Christian Chronicle, July 2013

Well-researched, engaging, and insightful, Short-Term Mission is an essential resource for STM leaders and participants alike. Filled with thought-provoking case studies and narratives, the conclusions of Howell's research have the potential to significantly redirect the conversation surrounding STM. As such, this text is ideal for church leaders and members, scholars and students, and others interested in the development, impact and future of STM."

--Sarita D. Gallagher, Evangelical Missions Quarterly, October 2013

About the Author

Brian M. Howell (Ph.D., Washington University) is associate professor of anthropology at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. His books include Christianity in the Local Context and Introducing Cultural Anthropology.