NOPE.
Every once in awhile a realize that there is often a huge disconnect between my life and what other people think my life is. Let me explain.
Short Term Mission Trips is to Missionary life what dipping your toes in the pool is to swimming laps.
There is a large discussion in Missiology (study of Missions) about the current (large) role of STMT (short term mission trips) in missions, and Christianity in general. There are those for and against. There are right ways and wrong ways to do STMTs. But to clarify, going to Mexico for a week (or so) is not being a missionary.
In some sense, we are all missionaries. I am a firm believer in STMTs, because it was a STMT that started my journey to becoming a missionary. But a STMT is better called a "vision trip" or a "learning exchange trip." It is a moment in time where you push pause on your life (not STOP), and see another life--and then return to the original life--hopefully a different person, adding in new learnings and experiences.
A SHORT term mission trip is SHORT, generally between a week to a month. A LONG term mission trip would be like an internship, generally at least 3 months to a year. But they are both "trips." They both imply a pause on the rest of your life while you try something different.
As I wrote here, "Officially, I would say when most people think of the word “Missionary,” they mean someone who has moved (become a migrant) somewhere different (than their own culture) for the specific purpose of telling others about Jesus (direct spiritual ministry in some form), mostly being supported (at least partially) by Christians from their original culture/home."
This isn't the only definition of Missionary--nor should it be. I think the ways we do missions should be as different and colorful as the people who do them. But because it is so hard to do things outside of a general definition (see the conversation at the top of this blog for an example), some definition and explanation is needed.
To me, I didn't feel I could call myself a missionary for a long time because (among other reasons) I was in limbo land between long term missions and missionary for so long. I had visa issues, and so could only be in Brazil for 6 months a year. I still had a life in the USA that I returned to. I had a room with clothes in the closet and pictures on the wall--in the USA. In Brazil I had to pack everything up each time a left, and didn't know for sure when/if/where I would return. After about 5 years of this, I realized I needed to make some inward decisions about my life, and where it was headed. From there, I started transitioning into what I consider a missionary...but it took a lot of time and failure (also because in current culture, I think it is harder for single missionaries to do this).
Now that I am married with two Brazilian children in Brazil, I can tell you it feels different. We are renting, but we have a home. We have a home that is our home. That when we leave, our pictures stay on the walls. While other people may use it, it is still our home. In the USA, our clothes and things are in storage. When in the USA, we stay in someone else's home. While God may call us to return to the USA someday, our lives are not on pause in the USA--they have ended, and we are living our lives in Brazil.
This moving, this ending is what I feel really defines a Missionary. We will always be connected (STRONGLY) to the USA by our family and friends, but our lives are here in Brazil.
I do not say any of this to diminish the work and importance of STMTs (or Long Term Mission Trips) I thank each person who gave of their time and money to come to Brazil and serve here with us. Who pushed "pause" on their life and invested and poured into the ministries and people here. But it isn't the same thing as being a missionary, and it is important to know that, as I have personally found out.
Do come and dip your toes into the water: just don't think that in a week or two you will be swimming laps.
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