If you are interested in sponsoring a child yourself, you will be able to do so at the lunch, or you can stop by the Missions Office in the weeks following the lunch.

When: April 15, 2012 (After the Morning Service)

Where: The Gathering (FLC Foyer)

Companies are now offering poverty tours. Basically, wealthy people can pay money — sometimes a lot of money — to go see what life is like for those living in poverty.

One article I read recently calls it “poorism” — a catchy phrase for this idea of visiting a developing country and viewing those living in poverty as a tourist attraction.

Poverty tourists go as a group, following a tour guide as though they are seeing a museum exhibit or an attraction at an amusement park. One of the companies, the other article mentions, after a day of viewing poverty even treats the wealthy guests to a gourmet dinner as a culmination of the evening.

Sickening, right?

Yeah, that’s what I thought too. But I very quickly was struck with my seeming hypocrisy.

In thinking about the articles, and what it is about this trend that bothers me so much, I couldn’t help but think about our “vision trips” and sponsor tours, both core components of our marketing strategy. How are our trips any different than what these articles talk about?

Are we, through our exposure trips, simply promoting another form of poverty tourism?

We take groups of wealthy people overseas to see poverty firsthand. Many times on these trips we walk as a group of foreigners through a slum, observing how the poor live.

We look at the dilapidated shacks and dusty, rutted roads. We take photos and video of those living in poverty.

Yes, we spend time at projects or homes, loving on whatever children might be around. We stop and pray with single moms and overworked fathers. But we are still taking a group of people through the slums for the purpose of exposure.

And then at the end of the day, or the end of the trip, we return to our lives of wealth.

So tell me…is what we are doing on our trips different than what I was so quick to condemn in these articles? Is there a difference?

I think there is. That difference is in the answers to two questions:

What is our motivation for going in the first place? 
and
What is our response when we get back?

How we answer these two questions makes all the difference between our trips and those mentioned in the articles above.

Are our hearts broken into small enough pieces that we come back changed? Do we go back to our lives as they were before, or will we make a profound change because of what we saw? Will we be become a voice for those we saw who are suffering in silence?

If we don’t – if, after exposing ourselves to the poverty and suffering of others, our lives remain the same – that is when it beomes poverty tourism.

Courtesy of Compassion International: http://blog.compassion.com/all-aboard-the-poverty-train/#ixzz1nmgXt166

For: The Entire Church

Where: The Gathering

When: March 18, 2012 following the morning Service

At Compassion, we highly value our relationships with local churches in the countries where we work. They minister on the front lines to the children we serve. They also minister to us.

As Compassion Latin America and Caribbean regional vice president Edouard Lassegue writes,

“Though these congregations may be under-resourced financially, often they are spiritually rich and vibrant and able to contribute in an authentic two-way relationship.”

Much of the Christian Church today has been blessed with significant resources, financial and otherwise. Other parts of the global body of believers struggle with tremendous limitations of resources yet have incredible opportunities for ministry.

Partnering between the resource-rich part of the Church and the resource-poor part of the Church is not something particularly new or noble. It is just what we should do. It is simply what Paul asked the early Church to do.

It is only right and practical for churches in various parts of the world to partner together to care for each other and to advance the gospel and the kingdom of God.

When the Body of Christ comes together in partnership, we honor and obey Jesus’ mandate that His followers act as one. But it takes time to develop a partnership — especially the relational aspects of partnership.

Relationship is central to partnership. In the countries where we work, partnerships are perceived as being primarily relational. But often in North America and many of our sponsoring countries, partnerships tend to be contractual in nature.

True partnership requires the ability to set aside tasks and agendas long enough for the partners to listen to each other, identify their common mission and understand what each partner can contribute.

Edouard Lassegue says:

“Many times we rush through the process of partnership without taking the time to recognize and put in place the necessary building blocks of partnership. We jump into action without developing the foundation of true partnership — solid relationship.

“On one hand, lack of relationship causes a church in [a developing country] to see its relationship with a parachurch organization or congregation [in a developed nation] as a funding mechanism and not as true partnership that demonstrates equality in Christ, mutual benefits, and sharing resources and lessons together.

“On the other hand, lack of relationship causes the church or parachurch organization from [the developed nation] to want to solve problems for the local church in a paternalistic way, treating that church as a child needing direction, provision and supervision. … True partnership is based on solid relationship.”

At Compassion, we seek healthy relationships in spite of these potential obstacles. We intentionally hire national staff in every country in which we serve. Our front-line relationship manager with every church partner (the partnership facilitator) is selected as one who is as close to the partner’s culture as possible to encourage relationship and communication.

We must walk together, talk together, and have tea together before we will be effective in working together. Real partnership is an ongoing journey, and it takes time.

Courtesy of Compassion International: http://blog.compassion.com/a-strong-partnership-is-about-relationships/#ixzz1lc2BZSZt

If you are interested in participating in this program as a host, please go to the International Student Services website at http://international.tamu.edu/iss and fill out the application. The application can be found under the “Events” section. Once the application is submitted you will receive a confirmation email with further information and instructions.

If you have any additional questions regarding this program, please contact the ISS office, by telephone (979)845-1824, fax (979)862-4633, or e-mail at iss@tamu.edu and put Dinner in a US Home in the subject line.  You may also contact Adrea Dottavio directly at adottavio@tamu.edu.

Date: February 19th, 2012

What: Church-Wide Missions Lunch,  Free Meal

When: right after the morning Service

Place: the Gathering

For yearly Missions Lunch Schedule please click here.

Being people of God we are always caught in the Struggle for the lost. Through the saving Grace of Christ we have been given the power to call on the name of Christ to work in the lives of the lost. What has come to to excite me daily is that this is God’s yearning for the world. He wants all of man-kind to  know and praise him for all of time.  To share and learn  a missionary from the field is welcoming people to his family’s home to come and call out with one voice and intercede for the lost throughout the world. Join us every Sunday night at 9 to pray for the advance of the gospel throughout the Earth.

For more information about Central’s Missions Trips, please click here.

If you have any questions, please contact Mark S!