It is time to review the schedule for the placement of your session in the AAACE Agenda. This is the final draft of the Schedule. When you look up your name, use the detail listing to check what days/times you asked to be placed. This is a huge program and we can accommodate necessary changes in day and time now, but may not be able to do so after September 1, 2013 except in emergencies. Please carefully check your placement and send any requests to Ginger Phillips, AAACE Conference Planner with AAACE Session Change Request in the subject line. We will respond to your email, but it may take us up to a week to do so. Thanks for your help in "fine tuning" this agenda!
Short-Term Mission: Short-Term Impact?
Type of Presentation
Poster Session (45 minutes)
Session Abstract
Millions of adults join annual international short-term trips expecting a new consciousness, yet research shows little long-term change. How is the personal/collective learning sustained and integrated into the sending church?
Target Audience
Educators in missiology, education, church management, cross cultural studies, nonformal teaching settings
Learning Outcomes
Learners will contrast the assumed benefits of this trending activity with the existing empirical research which suggests small returns on the financial investment, and lack of a long-term shift in participant lifestyle. The actionable question is how a church might leverage the collective experience of the members who are sent overseas, in order to impact their personal growth and the local church community in which they live and minister.
Session Description
The poster will display pros and cons of the learning opportunity during short-term trips, in the context of Christian churches, from the current research. This is an important because 1.5 million adults participate each year with an estimated 2 billion dollar price tag. The primary focus is on the facilitation of the individual’s experience and how that new knowledge is understood, integrated into a more meaningful lifestyle upon returning, and supported by the sending church.
The poster will present the following questions for discussion: What are the best practices in terms of educating participants about poverty, mutuality, social justice and the transfer of that understanding to sustainable change in their own lifestyles and service to the local poor?
What is the responsibility of the sending church in terms of participant support upon reentry, integrating the trip experience into local community ministries, and modeling / advocating a Christianity of social justice?
Efforts are made to try to schedule sessions on the day preferred by the Primary Presenter, though this cannot be guaranteed. Please check your preference.
No preference