I've seen this meme going around lately and I'm so torn. I've been one two short term missions trips and can truly say they've changed my outlook on life and I've made some incredible relationships. But I don't think I could ever do it again and here's why: https://twitter.com/elainegaw/status/1253118352287043586

I want to preface this by saying I have missions pictures on social media, and they were never shared with selfish intent. Spending time loving on these kiddos was truly some of the most fulfilling time of my life. Nevertheless, it's problematic.

so I looked into labor costs and currency conversions and figured out that it would cost about 30 USD to hire a Dominican day laborer to do the entire week's worth of work I did.

there are plenty of available people looking for work in the city of Santiago, and that money could have been used to hire someone who needed a job, and the money likely would have stayed in the local economy

I spend about $1,000-$1,200 to go on each weeklong trip. Most was fundraised by family, friends, and my church. Generally, our group did yardwork/other unskilled labor. It really started to hit me that I am not the most effective person to be doing day labor jobs