Post Covid Missions: Avoiding Voluntourism

This blog was written by HSP employee Rebecca Andrews

My high school and college summers always had one special highlight: my missions trips to Honduras. It was a time for fellowship with my church family and building relationships with communities we worked alongside. Short term missions trips were not unique to my church, everyone was doing them and going all around the world. 

And then COVID hit and the world grinded to a halt. 

With quarantine came increased free time, which many people used to research the world around us and learn how to stop participating in toxic industries. Through this research came an interest in what voluntourism is and the negative effects it has on the mission field. 

Volunteering abroad is a great way to make an impact in the lives of people and communities around the globe, but it can be easy to fall into the trap of “voluntourism.” Without proper safeguards and intentional planning, many voluntourism trips may do more harm than good – resulting in exploitative practices and tokenizing local communities. 

As we come out on the other side of COVID and more people are becoming comfortable flying again, you may be wondering how do we navigate a changing mission field that intentionally avoids the trap of voluntourism. 

The Highland Support Project has been working alongside indigenous communities for over thirty years. We are very aware of the lasting impacts of colonialism and the dangers of voluntourism- we follow the lead of our indigenous partners who identify projects that would be the most beneficial to them. When our teams are on site they are not building projects in place of locals, but instead working alongside local experts! 

We have programming going on year round and have utilized a transformative model of mission work. Rather than having missionaries from the United States move to mission sites, we work with community members to engage in missions with their own people. This is important because it ensures that when teams aren’t there, missions are still happening that respect the local community and continue their traditions. 

I know what you’re thinking, this sounds great, but… mission trips are hard to plan and involve a lot of time. 

That’s where we come in! We have been planning mission trips for over 30 years and take care of the heavy lifting, we can even book your flights! We have long lasting relationships with our partners in both Guatemala and Arizona and will take care of all logistics! You just need a team of people who are ready to go and learn from indigenous communities. 

Contact us today to start your mission trip journey!