Well stated. Thank you. I go with a team almost every year to the Dominican Republic. My daughter has been to Guatemala and Mexico when she was a teen. In addition to what you’ve listed, some teams take down needed items in their luggage - where it is not subject to exorbitant tariffs. Her first team took down 35 pieces of luggage filled with common medical supplies - aspirin, cold medicine, as well as supplies for diabetics. After they returned, the team had a “debriefing”, which my husband and I attended. To a person, every one of them had a new perspective on their own lives. For some of them, it had a lasting impact.
I went to Colombia once myself to visit some friends.
It wasn’t a missions trip and I paid for it myself, but I also took down lots of stuff to give away.
There is NOTHING like living in a country like that for a couple weeks to really change your perspective and make you truly appreciate what we have here.
Those people going on the short term missions trips are not spending the time on the beaches.