Short-term mission trips are often inefficient — local missionaries are more effective with the same funds

Mike has struggled with the efficiency of short-term missions. He estimates a group might spend ,000-,000 to send people overseas when the same money given to local missionaries would have greater impact. He has participated in trips where he preached through a translator and realized the local translator would be more effective without him. He has also been on trips that amounted to painting a church — a task could have hired locals to do better. However, short-term trips have value for the participants' personal discipleship: getting out of routine, focusing fully on kingdom work. Long-term missions are the more substantively important investment.