Short-term missions provide opportunities for the formation of cross-cultural relationships and joint evangelistic endeavors. Scholars have challenged the typical unidirectional nature of short-term mission and partnership efforts, advocating for a more bidirectional flow of resources. This article analyzes the dynamics of reverse short-term missions with the goal of understanding their contributions from the perspective of the American hosts. The author suggests that reverse short-term missions bridge social capital across social networks and function as “networks of invigoration” by bringing information benefits to their hosts. These types of exchanges have the potential to help the American church reinterpret familiar experiences and see the mission of the church in a new way. Five perceptual outcomes are identified: alteration of perspectives; service opportunities for the hosts; renewal of spiritual commitments; first-hand exposure to a different culture; and contact with faith-mission models.

Today’s dramatically reconfigured world has created opportunities for unprecedented types of social interaction and engagement in missions. Amid economic, environmental, and pandemic crises, it is incumbent to critically assess the various alternatives available to further God’s mission on earth. This article explores the concept of social capital, seeking to offer a framework by which to understand and embrace the opportunities hidden behind virtual platforms of social engagement. This article also considers trends in the approaches of religious social capital, seeking to gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics involved and of the implications for contemporary missions.

It was not until the last decade that missiologists placed the short-term missions (STM) movement at the center of their research. As the initial wave of STM scholarship surfaced, research centered on measuring the impact of STM on participants. Later, attention shifted to unraveling the impact upon the host community. More recently, with the exponential growth of partnerships between congregations in the Global North and the South, researchers have focused on analyzing the prevalent dynamics and patterns of relationships that involve STM teams. This article unravels the impact of STM in terms of its contributions and challenges to the global missionary enterprise and describes emerging patterns, such as reverse STM and multicultural STM teams.