Like the rest of our culture, the US church in the last fifty years has been captivated with a culture of professionalization. In our mission efforts this culture infers that only specialized Christians can or should do cross-cultural mission. In response, laypeople and local churches fall back from their own engagement in mission and defer to funding others to do mission on their behalf.
Global travel is a cheap ticket away.
They are reticent to give to a budget line item or turn over money to a remote decision- making body. Anything that looks like 'institutional maintenance' is uninspiring to them. The challenges before us are attitudinal, almost philosophical. Certainly we appreciate and honor the faithful approaches to mission that worked especially well in previous times. But mission approaches must always bridge to new generations to pass on a love for mission.