GMHC 2020

Virtual

Assessing Efficacy & Impact of Medical Short Term Trips

• Breakout Session
• November 12 2020 1:00 AM - 11:05 PM

Short-term service trips, or short-term mission trips, have been an integral part of medical missions for many years. Yet, more recent criticism has questioned how these trips engage the broader goal of building and sustaining local partners. The impact of short-term service trips can be incredibly positive, allowing for collaboration and mutual benefit, or negative, when there are destructive practices or disproportionate gains. We will discuss the experience of a mission hospital in rural Kenya that navigates these tensions through its role as both a receiving and a sending institution and the challenges of this growth. These tensions will be discussed not for the answers, but to approach with wisdom the thoughtful discussion required to effectively care for those we are called to serve in the best way possible and the realization that God is faithful and ultimately responsible.