CHE training - Day One

Our whole team is going through CHE training this week in Phoenix. Today was day one.

Biggest takeaway - relief, betterment, and development are all necessary, however, doing one where another is needed more is detrimental to a community.

Motivation for Missions

Handouts and relief work make us feel good, but don't actually accomplish much.

For the last 20 years or so missions and charity work has been mostly based on what makes us feel good as the giver. Unfortunately after years of this we've expended an absurd amount of energy, money, and thought without accomplishing much in the realm of moving communities beyond poverty... but we definitely feel good about it.

Maybe what feels good to us is actually causing apathy and disinterest among the people we are trying to help. It's holding them back from owning their own communities and being the change they want to see. What's the point? If I work hard I can save money and paint my own house. If I do nothing but sit around and wait and look poor enough some organization will come and paint my house for me.

Robert Lupton says it well in his book, Compassion, Justice, and the Christian Life,

"Doing for a community what it is capable of doing for itself is charity at its worst." (PG 31)

The focus has to be on community members seeing themselves as the solution, not some government program or outside group that is going to be their salvation.

The richest man in the world is a Mexican. He doesn't believe in charity for some of the same reasons.

Without teaching capability and responsibility all the money and good intentions in the world won't end poverty.

Local Operation

This year we hosted around 1,000 participants on One Mission trips. That's somewhere around 50 houses this year. Thats 50 families of 3 - 8. Thats between 150 - 400 individual lives impacted. Not to mention the experience gained by all the participants.

In order to pull this off we rely on a ton of volunteers and a ton of volunteer hours. There are a lot of nationals who have stepped up and decided to be a part of the change happening in their community. We are excited to work alongside these people everyday. They are an incredible example of what a transforming community looks like.

To put this picture in perspective, a year ago we had 3 local volunteers and the rest was mainly run by Americans coming down and helping out for a weekend at a time. While we appreciated their help and couldn't have survived without it, we are proud to say that this is on track to become a locally run operation.

What we do: Spiritual Development

Our ultimate purpose at One Mission is to do more than just meet the physical needs of the people God places in our path. Spiritual development is at the heart of why we exist.

We believe life is not about religion or a specific denomination, but about living on mission: loving God and loving people. We are about introducing people to that life and then challenging, developing, and encouraging them.

We believe that God has gifted each person with unique talents that are to be used for the benefit of the greater community that is the Kingdom of God. We work to bring people to these truths by living out our Christian faith in how we act, what we say, and how we interact with one another using Christ as our example. We also create environments to further develop and serve communities such as Bible studies, church gatherings and community outreach events.

Our mission is that each community One Mission serves will overflow with people who passionately love God and are fully convicted to spending their lives for the good of others.