I’ve talked with dozens of youth mission trip organizations.  It’s a multi-million dollar industry.  This year, America will send about 2 million students on a mission trip.  One would think that with the grassroots short term mission trip explosion in the past few decades that we’d be training and equipping a small army of long term missionaries and future funders of those missionaries.  However, the data suggests otherwise.  Even though short term missions has exploded, the number of long term missionaries hasn’t.  Students that go on mission trips tithe the same paltry 2% that most Christians tithe.  And to top it off, short term missions tend to do as much damage as they do good to the target population they’re trying to serve.  Our models of short term mission trips are very, very broken. But S.L.A.M. trips are different.  First, S.L.A.M. trips are run by indigenous leaders — Corey Greaves is Yakama.  Second, S.L.A.M. trips puts the students in the posture of a listener instead of a giver.  You can find tons of mission trip companies that will give you the chance to help “poor Indians” on the res.  But you won’t find many other organizations that will allow you to be immersed in Native American culture, coming as a learner and a listener to hear the stories of the people who first inhabited this land. As you shop for a mission trip, ask 3 questions.

1. Are the leaders of the organization indigenous to the community they are serving?
2. Do the leaders of the organization live year round in the place where the students will be serving?
3. Do the leaders of the organization have long term relationship (long term being greater than a decade) with the people that you’ll be serving?

At S.L.A.M. trips, the answers to all three questions is an emphatic “YES”.  I’ve talked to dozens of mission trip organizations, I’ve yet to find a “YES” to all three questions, except for SLAM trips.   That’s why it’s the only mission trip I’ll take my students on!

OK, let’s be honest here.  If your top priority is a slick feel good trip then S.L.A.M. trips isn’t for you.  S.L.A.M. trips are run on the reservation.  First Nation people prioritize relationships over timeliness.  That’s different than Western culture where we prioritize timeliness over relationships.  But your students need to see a different culture up close and personal.  Being flexible is part of the learning process.  S.L.A.M. trips are well run, your students will have the opportunity to work hard and lean from Native American experts, but more importantly they will come to understand and appreciate First Nation culture and faith.

S.L.A.M. trip leader Corey Greaves refers to God as “Creator”.  Mending Wing (the parent organization) doesn’t meet in a Church, they do a worship circle.   You might wonder, “Are these guys really Christian?”  Or you might worry that they are synchronistic (mixing pagan & Christian spirituality).  The simple answer is, Yes, they are definitely Christian. Here’s the issue.  For those of us from a traditional American Christian cultural background, we tend to evaluate what is Christian based on our cultural history.  Christians gather in a brick & mortar church, sing worship song, practice liturgy, give a 35 minute sermon from a professionally trained pastor or priest, and then collect an offering.  While all of those things are great, none of them are biblical.  You won’t find Jesus in the bible singing worship songs, giving a 35 minute three point sermon in a church, or collecting an offering.  All of those things are actually cultural, and ironically enough, they are largely pagan in origin (see Pagan Christianity by George Barna). On S.L.A.M. trips, you’ll see a completely different way of worshiping Jesus.  It will be different, maybe even uncomfortable, but it will be Christian.  In the space of different, uncomfortable, and new, your student’s imagination about what it means to be a Jesus follower will grow!

This is a no-brainer, YES!!!  Imagine that I told you about a week long conference for your students where they would learn cutting edge missiology presented by experts in the field, have integrated service projects, and be immersed in a different culture.  All food & lodging would be included.  You’d expect that would cost well over $1,000!  But S.L.A.M. trips are exactly that, and it’s only $400, it’s a steal!

Short answer, Maybe.  Let’s be honest, our Christian ancestors did some awful things to Native American people.  The reality is that the mistreatment continues to today.  We, as followers of Jesus, must lament the fact that we haven’t always sought after the Justice that Jesus commanded.  Will your students experience a guilt that tends towards shame — No!  Will your students experience alienating guilt that will cause them to despair — No!  Will your students experience guilt that motivates them to seek justice in their daily lives — Yes!  Your students will feel uncomfortable, they will be challenged, their pre-conceived notions will be changed.  Those are all good things!  Remember that Jesus made church goers feel uncomfortable.  Just read Matthew 23, and remember that the audience was the mainline church, people like us!  Feeling uncomfortable is part of following Jesus!  Gladly, we are all washed in the merciful grace of Jesus, and in that posture of grace and forgiveness we are challenged towards Justice!

That’s a really critical question, I’m glad you asked!  Preparing your students makes all the difference in the world.  But preparing yourself, as the leader, is even more important. Here’s a list of stuff that I’d recommend:

1. You should read Richard Twiss, One Church Many Tribes.  Read the whole book, it’s imperative that as a leader, you’re familiar with Twiss.  Corey Greaves was mentored by Twiss, and Twiss is considered a leading edge expert in missiology.
2. Prepare your students to come as listeners, and not as givers.  Prepare them to experience a new culture, to listen respectfully to people who’ve lived on their land for millenia.  They have something to teach us!  We need to hear their stories!
3. Tell your students the story of Spokane Garry story from Richard Twiss (One Church Many Tribes), page 143 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spokane_Garry http://www.historylink.org/File/8713
4. Research the First Nation people in your community.  Invite a Native American person to your church to speak to your students!
5. Read Toxic Charity or When Helping Hurts.  Teach your students about how doing short term missions can actually damage the communities they intend to serve.  Talk about ways we, as the Church, can engage in missions that will bring healing and reconciliation, and empower the communities we’re trying to serve instead of disempowering them.
6. Prepare your students to treat the First Nation people they meet like experts.  Often times, well educated affluent people that go on mission trips come feeling like they have a lot of expertise (which is actually partially true).  However, we don’t have any expertise in what it’s like to be Native American.  In fact, we often have the opposite of expertise — we have preconceived notions that just aren’t accurate.  When we come in the posture of experts, we lose the ability to learn.  When we come in the posture of receiving from the experts, then we really learn.  You, your students and your leaders will need listen attentively, do what they are told, and accept the First Nation people as real honest to goodness experts.  We may have more money, more education, more fancy degrees, but that doesn’t make us experts in the Native American experience (quite the opposite, actually).  Your students will have to dress differently than they are used to (see the dress code), worship differently, and act differently than they are used to.  Preparing your leaders and students to change during the trip will allow them to fully appreciate the culture they are going to experience.
7. Spend time praying.  Gather your students multiple times before you go, and pray for the Yakama people.  Pray that you would be able to learn from them.  Pray that your understanding of Jesus would grow by seeing the Yakama worship God in their own creative ways.  Pray that God would allow you to “let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!”