To take part in the African revolution, it is not enough to write a revolutionary song; you must first fathom the revolution with the people. And if you fashion it with the people, the songs will come by themselves and of themselves. – Sekou Toure

One of the qualms that I have with “mission trips” is that there is this awkward mentality that surrounds them sometimes. That we, the enlightened folk, are going to show them, the backwoods folk, how to live life. To “bring them Jesus” or to dig wells or to build schools – what have you. While it is probably likely that the people living at the other end of the plane journey do need wells or schools, they are probably also fully capable of digging or building themselves when provided with the proper supplies. The developing world needs resources – that is a fact. The developed world needs to learn how to share resources – that is also a fact.

On short-term mission trips, I have a problem going in and “getting my hands dirty” in other people’s lives. There are countries where this is expected and welcomed and that’s fine. However, there are also countries where it is not. If I’m only in a country for two weeks, who am I to tell them how to run their school or their church if I can’t even speak their language?

I am not saying that we should end short-term mission trips. In the words of my dear friend Ann Pickens, that’s a “hells no”. Short-term trips are valuable experiences that bridge worlds and connect the Kingdom. I just think that maybe, especially if we’re only going for two or three weeks, we should go with an attitude of respect and learning and less of an attitude of doing.

This tension – between doing and being – was brought up on my recent trip to Rwanda. Rwanda, by the way, is not one of those countries where you can just show up and start working. That is simply not part of their culture. However, begin to ask questions about what their daily life looks like and what community looks like and they’d love to chat to you about that. And instead of trying to show them what their life should look like, or even help them do something towards what their life should look like; we just sat and listened. I loved that. I loved hearing about Rwandans helping Rwandans. I loved that the few social workers that we met had never been to school or heard of Shullman Skills. I have so very much to learn from these men and women who are living sacraficial lives for the betterment of their country and humanity.

Writing a revolutionary song is easy. It requires some catchy rhythms and lyrics that can be screamed at rallies. It may require cursory knowledge of the country, but does not require the writer to live and breathe and have their being among its people. It can be done from afar. But fathoming the revolution with the people? That’s trickier.

That requires doing life with people. Becoming part of their lives as they become part of yours. It is not a vacation or a simple passport stamp, but it is somewhere that your heart lies. Where you know their daily routines and the food is not foreign. Where you can live close enough to breathe deep into people’s pain and have them breathe deeply into yours. You have to be close enough for people to become family. Then you can start asking the revolutionary questions and maybe even participate in the answers.