To Be Effective

When missionaries in a foreign country invite you to spend the weekend with them in their home and to see their lifestyle, you say yes. That is how I ended up in Guatemala City for the weekend with Glen and Judy S., who are with CAM and who are well-suited to their role of caring for other missionaries in the area. Through them, I have met other missionaries in the area and now have a much better picture of the spiritual attitude of this area and of the Godly work being done here.

A big personal joy is that I've had the opportunity to talk in depth with missionaries who receive teams from The States. Since I am moving toward coordinating trips from The States myself in the near future, their input is invaluable to me right now. They have seen it done poorly. They have seen it done well. They have seen teams come here and "wing it." They have seen teams be organized. They have seen choirs come and only sing in English. They have seen choirs learn Spanish and sing with locals when they got here. I've learned that some teams from the States are really effective, and some are really not. The people I've met are very supportive of what I want to do--be a liason with missionaries in order to bring teams that work together with local churches and people on the ground in order to be effective and have a positive impact and edifying relationships.

Another missionary couple staying in the house this weekend hosts several U.S. teams a year, and they shared with me ins and outs like preparing a menu, strategies for exchanging large amounts of money, safe transportation, housing, etc. So much work goes into hosting a group of foreigners for a week!

I am strongly encouraged that many missionaries here are so supportive of the type of thing I want to do. I think everyone would prefer not to have to rely on foreign teams, but the fact remains that The United States has resources Guatemala doesn't have right now, so it is a good and beneficial strategy to have teams come in from time to time. Nevertheless, we must make sure to be effective workers and not just detrimental, busy tourists.