Terrorism has affected short term missions

International (MNN) — As terrorism continues to be a concern around the world, the threat is having an impact on short term missions. Send International’s General Director Warren Janzen says, “On the college campuses we find that there are more and more students who are not choosing dangerous locations. There are more parents who are stepping in and discouraging kids from going to some of the hot spot, places where we have Muslim work.”

However, Janzen says the terrorist threat isn’t having that affect on older adults. He says, “For some it’s even putting more of an edge on missions. And, they’re articulating that fact that, hey, this is worth dying for. And, so for some it’s taking them deeper into commitment.”

You’d think the violence around the world would be scaring short term workers from going to the field. But, Janzen reports that’s not true. “This summer, we’re sending out the largest group of ‘short-termers’ ever for Send International. We’re looking at 490, close to 500 people going out this summer alone.”

It’s not all good news, however. As problems arise in a country, Janzen says many teams change fields and go to a safer area of the world. That can have a negative impact on ministry as the work isn’t completed as planned.

As terrorism continues to grow around the world, Janzen says it does help in evangelism. “It brings seriousness to life. It brings a new reality that something might happen and I might have to face up to whatever is happening after death. And, that does give us opportunities to address that kind of question, to talk about life after death, to talk about the consequences of our actions now. So, yeah, I think it is giving us more opportunities to expose people to the Gospel.”

You can find short-term mission opportunities on our short-term missions database, STMDB.org.