Do we go abroad because it's depressing at home?

Do we sometimes go abroad because it's depressing at home?

Over the last few days I've had several conversations on the subject of overseas missions.  Churches like mine often send out teams of members to different parts of the world (over the last couple of years people from my church have gone to Uganda, Mongolia, Cambodia, Nigeria and several other places, some more than once).  These teams have taken part in different activities from helping build a school to leading conferences to encourage and train local church leaders.

I started to wonder why this was.  Obviously I don't think it's a bad thing that people can travel to other countries and share their skills and knowledge with Christians around the world.  Often both sides learn from the other and people come back with a deepened faith and better understanding of what it is like to follow Jesus in difficult circumstances.  But is this the only reason it is, for want of a better word, so popular?

Going abroad on mission can seem so much more glamorous than trying to do similar work at home.  In Africa and Asia the church is growing while in Europe the picture is much more gloomy.  Do we in the church in Britain (apart from maybe a few places) feel some kind of despair and almost give up on ever seeing anything happen in our own communities?  Is it much easier for us to imagine people coming to Jesus amid the poverty and persecution of the developing world than among our own mostly middle-class neighbours?  Do we look at our own churches and wonder why anyone would want to come there?  Do we go abroad in the hope of seeing faith at work that will encourage us while the situation in our own country only depresses us?*

I think perhaps we do.  And it's not wrong to be encouraged and inspired by what is happening in other parts of the world.  What would be wrong is if we neglect our own communities and our own country in favour of going on high-profile trips abroad.  It might not be so exciting or produce immediate visible results, but that doesn't mean we're excused from doing it.  The church should be at the heart of the community.  Mission isn't just something that happens in Africa, or at certain times of the year.  I think it should invoke the idea of the church serving the community.

Someone pointed out in one discussion I had that while these teams and individuals are often prayed for in church services and prayer meetings, much less time is given to praying for those who have a mission role in our own community.  Which, if you think about it, is more or less all of us.  For example, there are several people at my church who are involved in social work, or who are teachers.  These people have a big impact on the lives of those they work with.  Perhaps we should learn to value what are traditionally seen as 'secular' jobs more.  And to value and support those who do mission 'at home,' a daily slog of meetings and initiatives that maybe don't seem exciting or don't see much result.

Jesus said his disciples would be his witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea (ie, locally and nationally) as well as throughout the world (internationally).  All are important, and all are valid.  Some people are called to one and some to another, some see great results and others don't but we shouldn't forget that we are all his witnesses, wherever we are.

*I say we although I've never personally been on such a trip.  Judge for yourselves if you think that has prejudiced my point of view.