Motives for Mission: Confronting our biases and fears, with CJ Quartlbaum Artwork

Re-Imagining Short-Term Missions

In this podcast we take an honest look at short-term mission practices, and talk frankly about unhelpful models even as we dream of healthy alternatives. In this podcast we look critically at the top-down, one-way, unbalanced relationship dynamics between sending organizations and the communities that receive their teams. Instead, understanding that all churches in every culture are broken in some way, we try to re-imagine how churches in cross-cultural partnership can serve one another in mutuality service. The essential aim of this podcast is to consider new ways for Christ-followers in every part of the world to collaborate, working together to meet the world's deep needs.

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Re-Imagining Short-Term Missions

Motives for Mission: Confronting our biases and fears, with CJ Quartlbaum

March 21, 2023 • CJ Quartlbaum • Season 1 • Episode 3

What happens when people who participate in short-term missions do it for the wrong reasons? How much damage can be done by short-term teams when they haven’t taken an honest inventory of their own fears and prejudices—when they haven’t done the necessary heart-work in advance?

In this episode, we’ll look for answers to these questions as we talk to CJ Quartlbaum—a writer and speaker from Brooklyn, NY. His current work focuses on theology, culture, and personal development—and in particular, he advocates for more accurate and honest teaching of Black History than what is currently taught in schools. CJ is also one of the authors featured in the book Re-Imagining Short-Term Missions, and his essay—called “When Non-Believers Go on Mission Trips”, draws on his experiences hosting short-term teams—mostly from white suburbs—who travel to New York ostensibly to serve in the name of missions. More often than not, though, he has seen some of these visitors cause hurt and disruption when they act not out of genuine Christ-like love and humility—but more out of self-interest, unexamined bias, and even deep-seated racism.

CJ Quartlbaum
Re-Imagining Short-Term Missions

Most of the folks you’ll hear on this podcast are also contributors to a new book called Re-Imagining Short-Term Missions. So if you like what you hear, and want to learn more about what these folks have to say, the book will be a great resource for you.

Website: https://reimaginingstm.com

Publisher's book page: https://wipfandstock.com/9781666712919/re-imagining-short-term-missions
Email: reimaginingstm@gmail.com
Instagram: @reimaginingstm
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100078703976617