It’s just a vacation, right? Something to break up the summer. A feel-good adventure. Isn’t that the bottom-line truth about short-term mission trips? I mean, come on. It’s not like a group of teens is going to change the world!
Actually, when youth pastor Matt Paschall—also a mission mobilizer and trainer with DELTA Ministries International—took a group from the First Baptist Church of Peekskill, N.Y., to Senegal, West Africa, the goal was to accomplish substantial work in three rural villages. Such as taking a medical team to people with no access to a clinic. Such as helping drought-stricken villages protect and restore their depleted land by planting trees. Such as sharing the gospel through word and action.
The group spent four months preparing spiritually and culturally for the trip. Even so, Tom Caputo says that when he arrived, he was shocked. “People leave their garbage on the street for the pigs. It smelled terrible!”
Why the Teens Are Important
But how much can teens really contribute to such a trip, especially when they don’t even speak the language? Sure, they can plant trees; but they aren’t medical personnel.
According to Matt, the teens were essential. For instance, doctors and nurses have a much easier time doing their jobs if the village children are entertained. So the teens played lots and lots of games. (“Soccer!” said Justin Angle. “The kids loved to play soccer.”) And, through interpreters, the teens told the children Bible stories. They also used their creativity to come up with unique and culturally appropriate ways to share the gospel. For instance, they performed a mime drama about a girl with a demon, showing how God delivered her. A situation of great interest to the Senegalese, by the way.
“The people there rely on witchdoctors to heal them,” Katie Eckhoff said. “They showed us old baobab trees with huge openings in them and told us that it was spirits that opened those trees.”
Sixteen-year-old Tom and his translator went directly to the heads of the villages. “If you could change them,” Tom said, “you could influence everyone else.”
In general, it would not be culturally acceptable for one so young to speak to the elders of the village. But Tom’s translator was older, so he was able to gain acceptance. The approach Tom’s team used was simply to begin talking and wait for people to come. When a group had gathered, the team members would ask such questions as, “Where are you going when you die?”
“They are very religious people,” Tom said. “Much more than in Brooklyn. They liked to discuss things like what Mohammed did compared to Jesus and to talk about miracles. It was easy to segue from there to what Jesus did for us.”
In one village, the chief told Matt, “It is obvious that you love God and you love us, or you wouldn’t have left your village to come here.”
And in a country that is 94 percent Muslim, in the village of Ndiop, Chief Abdou—whose brother is the leader of the local mosque—said, “We have suffered famine and drought and health problems. When Muslims come, they always ask us for money and take our animals and crops. But when you come, you give to us. They say they will come back and help us, but you really do come back.”
When Matt asked him how he would explain the difference between Islam and Christianity, Chief Abdou said, “I am not an expert, but I think the difference is Jesus. He always helped people, and He always kept His word.”
That night, with the majority of Ndiop’s 600 villagers gathered around— including the chief’s brother and all the village officials—Chief Abdou pointed to the group from the First Baptist Church of Peekskill and declared, “These are people of truth who love us. Any of you who want to follow Jesus have my permission and my blessing.”
Partnership, a Two-Sided Gift
The wonderful truth about a partnership is that both sides give and both sides gain. “When we would walk to someone’s house, they would drop everything and welcome us,” Katie said, still slightly amazed at the memory.
Matt explained that the attitude of the Senegalese is Whatever I have is yours. “They are better at community, at taking care of their own,” he said. “That impacted our teens.”
For the first time in their lives, the teens witnessed real poverty.
“All the people had was a mud hut and a mud mattress,” Justin said. “It makes me so grateful for what I have. I won’t take things for granted anymore.”
“Even to be able to talk on the phone,” Tom added. “The availability of food. Rain. … And garbage trucks.”
The kids, who developed deep relationships with their translators, also saw firsthand the great personal sacrifice required to become a Christian in such a culture. Believers, thrown out of their families, struggled and suffered to follow Christ alone.
A vacation adventure? Quite honestly, Senegal isn’t exactly the spot most people would choose for a summer getaway. And think again about the positive impact a bunch of teens can make toward a changed world. …
“Before I went, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life,” Justin says. “But I loved working with the children there. Then we gave them the gospel, and I knew what I wanted to do. I’m going to be a youth pastor.”
Even before the trip, Katie was thinking about becoming a missionary. “But now it’s a certainty,” she says. “A missionary nurse—that’s what I’ll do.”
Life decisions made. And life-changing realizations, too. “I heard that something like $20 billion is spent each year on ice cream,” Justin said. “If that was used to help people in Senegal, imagine what a difference it would make!” Then he added, “One person can make a difference. It doesn’t matter how small a contribution is—even the smallest helps.”
Thanks, Justin. I couldn’t have said it better myself!
After witnessing firsthand the dire need for trained local workers, Matt Paschall and his family are preparing to move to Senegal with World Venture to train emerging national leaders. To learn more about partnership in West Africa, contact Matt at mpaschall@worldventure.net.
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Kay Marshall Strom is the author of 32 books. Her latest, Harvest of Hope: Stories of Life-Changing Gifts (InterVarsity Press, 2007), demonstrates how lives are transformed by our charitable donations. Kay also speaks to groups all over the United States and internationally. She and her husband live in Santa Barbara, California. For more information, see kaystrom.com.
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