When elephants dance: Thoughts on short-term missions

A story illustrating the problems which arise when over-exuberant, lets-get-it-done Americans interact with Christians of other cultures:

by Miriam Adeney

"Would you like to know what it is like to do mission with Americans? Let me tell you a story," said David Coulibaly, a ministry leader in Mali, West Africa.

Elephant and Mouse were best friends. One day Elephant said, "Mouse, let's have a party!" Animals gathered from far and near. They ate, and drank, and sang, and danced. And nobody celebrated more exuberantly than the Elephant.

After it was over, Elephant exclaimed, "Mouse, did you ever go to a better party? What a blast!" But Mouse didn't answer. "Where are you?" Elephant called. Then he shrank back in horror. There at his feet lay the Mouse, his body ground into the dirt -- smashed by the exuberance of his friend, the Elephant.

"Sometimes that is what it is like to do mission with you Americans," the African storyteller concluded. "It is like dancing with an Elephant."

"If short termers can learn the importance of being rather than doing, great good can be accomplished."

(Shared by Team Member, Jodi Hurst)