Virtually all of the published research related to short-term missions focuses on the
perspectives of the short-term missioners themselves… with very little research
exploring the experiences and perspectives of those in the receiving communities.’
Priest (2007a, pp179-180)
This dissertation explores the practice of short-term mission in Moldova, Eastern
Europe, showing how indigenous perspectives can be sought and learned from.
Twenty-two Moldovans with collective experience of nearly 400 short-term mission
trips were interviewed, yielding significant quantitative and qualitative data and a
deep insight into “host perspectives” of short-term mission. These perspectives were
complemented by views shared in a seminar with an additional fourteen Moldovans,
as well as interviews with representatives of several mission agencies working longterm
in Moldova.
The issues raised in this research made it possible to question what is meant by the
effectiveness of short-term mission, and in Moldova in particular it can be improved
by ongoing partnerships, greater cultural sensitivity, and constructive,
contextualised, “biblical” feedback.