Before you start planning a mission trip to an orphanage, knowing these eight principles can help protect orphaned and vulnerable children.
More than two million Christians travel on international short-term mission trips every year. Many of these participants seek to serve orphans and vulnerable children, desiring to live out the Bible’s call in James 1:27 by visiting orphanages.
Mission trips make possible experiences, interactions and service that can be transformative – both for volunteers and for the communities they visit. Many child advocates and leaders of organizations serving vulnerable children today trace their commitments back to an international service trip.
At the same time, such service-focused travel can also cause great harm if not carefully planned and wisely led.
These risks can be especially high when visitors seek to serve children, particularly those lacking the protection and connectedness of family.
This risk – and the real harm that sometimes results – has led to powerful criticism of short-term missions. This concern is warranted, and the significant hazards of short-term missions must be considered with humility and openness to change.
The potential for good offered by short-term missions calls for continued refining, correction and improvement.
When carried out with due caution and wisdom, short-term missions can benefit children for the long term — by building up the families and communities capable of caring for them over time.
To do this well, trip organizers and participants must have a clear sense of how to plan, prepare for, and carry out their service in ways that ensure safety and promote the lasting well-being of children, families and communities.
How can you ensure your mission trip doesn’t cause harm to orphaned and vulnerable children?
With input from dozens of member organizations, CAFO has developed the following eight principles to help support every church and organization seeking to serve orphaned and vulnerable children through short-term mission trips.
Protection: Safeguarding children is first priority
Whatever good we hope to do, protecting children’s well-being – both immediate and long-term – must be our top priority.
It is imperative that organizations and their partners establish and consistently review a comprehensive child protection policy that applies to all staff, volunteers and trip participants. All trip participants should be thoroughly screened prior to participating in the mission trip, including background checks and references. Ensure that all contact with children during the trip occurs in public, observable places.
By prioritizing protection, we create a safe environment where children can thrive and reach their full potential.
Attachment: Support bonds between children and parents or primary caregivers
One of the most crucial aspects of a child’s development is the bond they share with their parent or primary caregiver. Short-term mission trips should support and strengthen this existing bond, rather than competing with it by allowing children to form attachments to mission team members.
Good boundaries are critical to supporting healthy attachment. Avoid allowing short-term visitors to enter children’s homes or fulfill caregiving roles better served by parents and local, long-term care providers. The making and breaking of bonds can be especially detrimental to children separated from parental care, so limit interaction with new trip participants. Volunteer interaction should not include interactions with children under the age of 3, as attachment is most vulnerable at this age.
Instead of hugging and holding children, give them a high-five or a handshake and encourage them to seek physical and emotional affection from their long-term caregivers. Teach trip participants how to redirect children to their parents and primary caregivers to get their needs met. This simple act of respect for the parent-child relationship can have a profound impact on a child’s emotional well-being.
Caregivers: Honor their role in a child’s life
Parents and primary caregivers play a pivotal role in a child’s life, and their contributions should be honored and celebrated.
Instead of overshadowing their role, mission trips should spotlight them as the true heroes in a child’s life. Be willing to take on a supporting role, empowering caregivers and reinforcing their invaluable influence on the lives of their children. Instead of bringing gifts to give to the children you will be serving, as many groups thoughtfully do, consider bringing small gifts to give to the parents or caregivers
Community: Support the communities surrounding children
While our hearts may be drawn to individual children, it is essential to recognize that they are part of a larger community tasked with caring for children and families.
Instead of working in a children’s home isolated from the broader community, work through community entities such as churches and schools. Prioritize activities that benefit the entire community, such as camps, clinics or training programs. By uplifting the community as a whole, we create a supportive environment that nurtures the well-being of every child within it.
Expectations: Ensure all participants understand the purpose of your trip
Ensure that the purpose of the trip is clear and that expectations are thoroughly understood by all participants. Convey clearly that short-term trips are not meant to “fix” long-standing challenges.
Help mission trip participants to view listening, learning and building relationships as more central than any tasks they may accomplish on the trip. By aligning expectations with the true purpose, participants can approach their experience with a mindset of humility, openness and a genuine desire to serve.
Partnerships: Anchor every trip in long-term relationships with quality partners
Meaningful and lasting change requires long-term relationships with quality partners.
Long before sending trip participants, do the hard work necessary to investigate potential partners thoroughly. Consider the quality of their work, their local reputation, and their standing with local and national authorities. Co-create trips with local partner input from the beginning. A strong partnership built on trust and mutual understanding is the foundation for a successful and impactful short-term mission trip.
Training: Commit to learning before doing
Thoughtful education prior to, during and after a trip is critical to preventing harm.
Training should repeatedly emphasize the primary role of parents and caregivers, the priority of local leadership, and the understanding that the long-term needs of each child must always take precedence over the desires of visitors.
By equipping participants with the necessary knowledge and perspective, they become better prepared to navigate the complexities of serving vulnerable communities with wisdom and sensitivity.
Media: Share stories and images with care
When sharing stories and images from short-term mission trips, it is crucial to exercise care and respect. Images that include vulnerable children should only be taken and shared with permission from the child and their primary caregiver. Ask the hosting organization about their specific policies and guidelines for taking and sharing photos of the children and families you will be interacting with. It is important to remember that capturing photos for our own memories or for sharing with those who have financially supported the mission trip must be a secondary consideration to the protection and respect of those we are serving.
Protect the dignity and privacy of those you serve by being mindful of how you represent children through media.
A journey together toward better short-term missions
These eight principles are not merely guidelines; they are a call to action. They challenge us to approach short-term missions with humility, wisdom, and a deep respect for the communities we serve.
Our hope and prayer is that these principles for better practice will help to ensure that every short-term mission experience will bring enduring good to children, families, and communities and honor the God who describes Himself as a Father to the fatherless.
– Nicole Wilke is the Director of the CAFO Center on Applied Research for Vulnerable Children and Families.
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Ready to learn more?
Read more about the eight principles for better practice in the booklet, Wise Short-Term Missions and Practices.
