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The Future of Short-Term Missions

Where is the movement right now? Where does it need to go?

Paul Borthwick holds a doctorate in Cross-Cultural Ministry from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and teaches missiology at Gordon College near his Boston home. He's the author of How to Be a World-Class Christian and 14 other books. Borthwick has coordinated over 100 missions trips all over the world. He also serves as a senior consultant with Development Associates International. Borthwick spoke with Round Trip Missions about the future of short-term missions and about how to best serve with our Christian brothers and sisters in the Global South.

How would you describe the present state of the short-term missions movement?

When I think about short-term missions, I recall a comment someone made about the People's Republic of China: "Anything you say about China is true." Well, almost anything you say about short-term missions is true, too. On the positive side, is it producing new missionaries? Yes, there are cases of that. Is it giving people a greater vision, and taking people across ...

March
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