This article reflects my personal view of short-term missions as someone who’s worked internationally as a missionary and with mission organisations in Africa. Before I start, let me offer some disclaimers. Firstly, this article is by no means a depiction of the overall reality in Africa. Our continent is much too vast for sweeping generalisations. Africa isn’t monolithic. Nor are missions here. Secondly, the article is based on Cameroonian realities. These realities, too, are not uniform across my country. Broadly speaking, there are two larger sub-cultures in Cameroon, a legacy of colonialism. All of my examples are drawn from Anglophone parts of Cameroon, with occasional references to Nigeria.
My Perception of Missions as a Young Cameroonian
I grew up in the 1990s and early 2000s, in what was then the small town of Kumbo. Like most locals, I used the term “missionary” as a synonym for “white person”. After all, every white person we knew was a missionary serving with Helimission. Most of them were pilots or doctors, respectively flying and treating critically-ill or injured patients, often in conjunction with Banso Baptist Hospital.
Looking at those missionaries, we all assumed they were wealthy. For they lived in the fanciest parts of Kumbo, often in compounds, near the hospital where they served. They enjoyed reliable access to the internet and other services like clean drinking water, electricity, and security. By Western standards, these missionaries were not necessarily rich. Only, they were relatively better off than the majority of Cameroonians where they ministered. These facilities were unimaginable to most of us.
I’ve wondered about the effectiveness of these missionary endeavours.
Missionaries who didn’t reside in Cameroon would conduct what we might call short-term missions. They would visit the communities they serve for just a few weeks at a time, paying thousands of dollars in airfare and hotel costs, before driving or flying (at the cost of several hundred dollars more) to the villages and small towns where they’d stay for a few months or even weeks. Now, please don’t get me wrong. I’m not condemning these gestures. Those Western missionaries came here with a genuine desire to serve and help people. They were answering God’s call and meeting people’s needs, doing what they thought was best.
But upon reflection I’ve wondered about the effectiveness of these missionary endeavours, especially the short-term missions. These reflections were brought on when the American government slashed foreign aid, now just over a year ago. Those actions have jeopardised countless missionary organisations on the continent, raising questions about whether short-term missions are the best option; or if don’t need a more long-term and sustainable approach.
More Sustainable Mission Efforts
It’s my growing conviction that missions work will be far more effective when local Christians are involved. In addition to serving long-term, I’m also convinced that Western missionaries need to embed themselves in the lives of local communities; they shouldn’t live isolated Western lives, insulated from local communities and culture. Africa has benefited immensely from short-term missions, such as doctors that stay a few weeks in the village to treat illnesses and prescribe medication. But Africa benefits much more from the missionary doctor who serves in a local hospital for five years.
The Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS) is a non-denominational NGO that trains African physicians to become surgeons, anaesthesiologists and obstetricians. This is carried out in several Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC) hospitals, as well as Christian hospitals in other African countries. Africa has a staggering shortage of surgeons and PAACS is going some way toward empowering local surgeons to better serve their communities. Since its beginning in 1996, many Western missionary efforts have supported and partnered with this program.
Missions work will be far more effective when local Christians are involved.
I’ve also already mentioned Helimission, which is among other missions agencies doing noble work in the aviation sector. In addition to flying healthcare professionals into remote locations, some are also seeing that local pastors get to conferences and hard-to-reach places or people. Despite the amazing work being done by these organisations and missionary pilots, many of them only come to serve for a few weeks at a time, raising questions of sustainability. Many lives have been saved through their work. But what happens to the needs of locals when they’re gone?
So we come around again to the crucial question of sustainability. Would it not more effective for Christian organisations to train African pilots to fill this gap? According to Operation World, many African countries could be considered Christian nations, often with more than 70% of their populations identifying as Christians. Arguably then, we don’t need more Bibles or church buildings. Africans need empowerment.
Africa Isn’t Only in Need, Poor and Helpless
As Christian populations swell in the global south and contract in the West, we need more African missionaries. In my own country, the CBC has seen this need and is sending missionaries to nearby countries, such as Gabon and Nigeria. On top of this, the CBC has expanded its efforts tremendously in the past two decades. It has planted churches, built hospitals, and started schools, both in Cameroon and other African countries. This wholistic approach has opened the way for evangelism, even in predominantly Muslim regions. For instead of merely dropping off Bibles and doing some drive-by preaching, African believers have been able to integrate into the communities they’re helping.
There are many means to construct sustainable futures, while also supporting other important works.
All of this is being supported through the impressive expansion of CBC’s infrastructure in Cameroon. Local congregations and the convention alike aren’t waiting for foreign aid or partners. They’re using their resources wisely in the building of better, more sustainable structures. The headquarters of CBC has seen the construction of new administrative offices, a hospital block with state-of-the-art equipment funded by local churches and institutions. Other CBC churches are investing in real estate that they’re renting to local businesses. The proceeds from those rentals are being combined with offerings and tithes to finance even more ambitious projects.
The examples of initiatives I’ve mentioned above could be multiplied. But my point is simply that there are many means for African churches to construct sustainable futures, while also supporting other important works. These churches also understand the needs of their local communities better than foreign missionaries, who tend to assume that they know what is best for local churches. My examples also prove that African churches aren’t poor. They have resources. So with the right leadership they’ll be able to make a significant impact, transforming local communities and uplifting others from poverty. Already they are creating jobs, paying pastors’ salaries, combating disease, starting orphanages as well as rehabilitation centres.
The African Church Can Do Missions
African churches need to write a new narrative. We need to correct the concept that African churches are poor and will only survive with Western aid. Surely the rise of megachurches, starting in the 1980s, should’ve already undone this concept. Large independent, non-denominational churches have been able to build universities and fund private jets for their owners. Tragically, most of these megachurches operate like private businesses, enriching the few. But the phenomenon shows that African Christians give. It proves that with the right direction African churches could do great work on our continent.
African churches need to write a new narrative.
We must be grateful for the partnership of Western missionaries. They’ve done incredible work, helped countless people. However we also need those partnerships to prioritise sustainability. We need them to give more of a platform to African believers and leaders. Western support can still go a long way towards assisting African churches in biblical discipleship and the planting of more churches, as well as the meeting of physical needs. Only the African church should also stop waiting for that support before acting.
“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). This isn’t only true of the missionaries and Western churches that have paid so much to come here. It’s also true of African believers. Short term missions aren’t the solution. They aren’t sustainable. We need gospel partnerships that prayerfully aim at serving the continent, in the long run. And in order to do this we need more African believers to cheerfully give towards that end, whether it’s money or time or service.
Keep Short-Term Missions but Think Long-Term
Short-term mission trips can inspire. They certainly encourage. Without a doubt they meet immediate serious needs. But we cannot forget the words of Galatians 6:9. “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Thus our approach to missions in Africa demands perseverance and consistency, relationship-building and a longer view. Jesus commanded his disciples to “make disciples of all nations…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). This is a long-term commitment; not a seasonal excursion.
Perhaps the most impactful path forward isn’t to replace local initiatives but to strengthen them.
Western missionaries have a vital role to play in Africa. But perhaps the most impactful path forward isn’t to replace local initiatives but to strengthen them. By investing in leadership training, sustainable projects, and mutual discipleship, Western partners can leave a legacy that outlasts their physical presence. This may mean fewer plane tickets and more direct support for the efforts of local African churches and Christian institutions already serving on the ground.
Missions should move away from dependency-creating models toward partnership that honours the gifts God has already given to his churches. When African and Western believers serve side-by-side—each contributing resources, wisdom, and cultural insight—the body of Christ grows stronger. In this way, missions become not just an event. It must become a shared life of service that glorifies Christ and transforms communities for generations to come.
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