Being Over Doing Missions Starts with a Mindset Shift
For so long, the prevailing mindset in missions has been “from the West to the rest,” essentially a one-way model of us going to them. But just as no part of the human body ever only receives and never gives anything back—that is, every part of the body depends on every other part of the body to make up a functioning whole person—so too in the body of Christ must every part learn give and receive interdependently with the rest of the body.
Why the Western Model Needs to Change
I remember that when we first started taking groups from Mariners Church, my home church in affluent Orange County, California, to visit Mavuno Church, a fledgling but fast-growing congregation in Nairobi, Kenya, people were surprised that we weren’t taking along school supplies, food, money, or any of the other resources commonly associated with short-term missions. Furthermore, we didn’t have plans to build a school, paint a church building, or do Vacation Bible School. Those things are all well and good, but we didn’t want our people to focus on what they were going to do there; we wanted them looking for what God was already doing there and for what he was going to do in them. We want people thinking in terms of an ongoing faith adventure, not a short-term missions trip that would eventually fade in the rearview mirror.
For this to happen, we must become bridge builders. If we want people to change their mindset about missions, we must show them how to bridge the gap between where they are and where we want them to be.
For me, one bridge has been inviting people to go to Africa.
Being Over Doing Missions Means Building Relationships First
People ask me, “What are we going to do when we go to Africa?”
From Fixing Problems to Seeing People
“Well, we’re going to meet people who are doing XYZ, and we’re going to get to know them.”
“Yes, but what are we going to do?” The Western mindset that says, “I want to go do something, I want to fix something, I want to accomplish something, I want to maximize my return on investment,” does not change easily. So I tell them, “What we’re going to do is go be human with our brothers and sisters in this new place.” It’s getting to a place of actually seeing people as brothers and sisters, not just in lip service. We talk about our brothers and sisters in the Lord, but oftentimes it’s just a manner of speaking, it’s not a reality. But if we really see other people as our brothers and sisters, it starts to break down the impulse to try to rescue them or fix their circumstances.
This is where we get into the idea of being before doing. With your family, you don’t try to do something to connect with them. You just live your life with them. So, what if our essence is simply being with people—meeting people where they are, and engaging with them as they are? When you meet people as they are, you get to know them as fellow bearers of God’s image. And that should make you curious. What do they care about? What do they know that I don’t know? It becomes a different way of thinking. If we change our mindset from doing to being, it will move us away from the Western fix-it mentality or the African posture of begging. You see, for many Africans, what is ubiquitous is the idea of putting our hands out. It’s like we always have our hands out because we’re always looking for a Westerner to help us—not realizing that God has already deposited his image in us, and therefore we have a potency within ourselves. And what if we tapped into that potency?
Being Over Doing Missions Embraces Mutual Partnership
So I tell people when we go, “Don’t worry, there will be things to do, but they will be priorities established by the indigenous leadership, not some good intentions we’re bringing in from the outside.
So, for example, Pastor Sam, an indigenous pastor in Haiti, has a desire to plant churches in Les Cayes. How can we serve as a catalyst for his efforts? So we go down there and help them with the fifty-five orphans they’re caring for. We spend time with the church leaders, the moms, the orphans—you know, playing games with the kids. Over the span of ten days, we experience the culture, see what is happening there, and have four training sessions—how missions is connected to the mandate of the church; spiritual warfare; cultural sensitivity; and how to talk about your story and how it connects to the larger story of life. We also incorporate team-building exercises into all four sessions because we have seen too many short-term missions teams that were dysfunctional.
Learning from the Global Church
We want people to understand that this is not just going be about them doing something. It’s more about who they’re going to become. And as they become, they will start to realize the opportunities that God has for them, and that God is going do some incredible work in their hearts and their lives. What comes out of these trips is much more than what would have happened if we had simply gone to work on a project. We get to help advance what the indigenous churches are doing, and they have a chance to impart to us a sense of faith that we do not have, or perhaps insights on prayer and dependency on the Holy Spirit. Dependency on God and dependency on each other is something that is deeply embedded in African culture. There’s an opportunity to serve together. but also to grow together as we learn to collaborate in reciprocal partnerships.
Being Over Doing Missions Transforms Who We Become
At the end of every day, we debrief. What did you see today? What is God telling you? How is your life going to be different? Who are you going to be? And only then, what are you going to do?
Rethinking Success in Missions
During the reentry process at the end of the trip, we talk about how to integrate the experiences we’ve had into our day-to-day lives: Who is someone you’re going to be in touch with? And we talk about rethinking ROI: What is the return on investment we’re looking for in spiritual growth?
Becoming Bridge Builders in Global Missions
It’s hard for people to change directions. That’s why we have to walk alongside them. And that’s why my role is building bridges. Finding bridge builders is the key to changing people’s minds—and the bridge builders don’t have to be African, Asian, or Latin American. Anybody who learns the importance of mutual respect, healthy cultural engagement, reciprocal partnerships, and seeing the image of God in everyone can become a bridge builder. If more people would recognize this, and do it, it would be a big win for the Kingdom of God.
Adapted from People Are the Wealth: An African Vision for a People-Focused, Missional Christian Life by Christian Mungai, releasing in October 2025.
