Newswise — The case of the 10 American missionaries arrested on child trafficking charges in Haiti should serve as a wake up call for other U.S. congregations that are increasingly becoming involved in short-term mission work. “Missionary groups that are local and more independent, like the ones arrested in Haiti, are very vulnerable when doing service work in a foreign country, particularly in times of crisis” said Bill Leonard, dean of the Divinity School at Wake Forest University. “This is an illustration of the danger that almost every church faces when they send lay people into foreign lands, and in some ways, I’m surprised that there are not more of these incidences.”
The Baptist missionaries were arrested on January 29 for trying to take 33 Haitian orphans to the neighboring Dominican Republic without proper paperwork. Eight of the missionaries were released this week and returned to the United States after a judge ruled that there was no criminal intent in the case. However, the group’s leader, Laura Silsby, and Charisa Coulter, continue to be held for questioning in relation to their trip to Haiti before the January 12 earthquake.
While mission workers used to take on long-term assignments under the auspices of large mission boards, most missionary workers these days are lay people sponsored by their local churches. “I call it a 737 mission strategy. Mission groups get on a plane and can be on “foreign fields” often in a day,” Leonard said. “On the positive side, this has given a wide cross-section of people direct mission experience. But in this litigious society, taking people into a foreign country can be very difficult if things go wrong.”
In addition to having a clear-cut mission strategy, churches should take the time to train missionary workers on the cultures and practices of the countries they will be visiting, Leonard said. They also need to outline strategies on what to do should situations get complicated, and have the proper infrastructure in place in case of emergency. Insurance is also a good idea, and should include both life insurance and kidnap insurance depending on the locale. “There are adequate insurance capabilities that will better help churches better respond to a crisis,” Leonard said.
As for the case of the missionaries arrested in Haiti, Leonard said he was not surprised to see the missionaries released. “These are people of good intentions who did not go in to engage in inappropriate trafficking,” he said. “But it took a while to sort that out amid the terrible chaos of the situation in Haiti.”
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