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Roughly one and a half million Americans go on short-term mission trips each year, and I would guess about one million digital cameras and camcorders go along for the ride. More and more churches are using video to help the entire congregation participate in these overseas trips. The entire congregation can't go to Mexico, but a video can do a lot to help church members understand and appreciate a developing partnership in Tijuana.

Often a member from the church media team gets recruited to record the experience for the congregation back home. These videographers need to think as much about how they will shoot as what they will shoot. It's not just about what they put on tape but how they do it.

What follows are three scenarios, loosely based on personal experience. I have learned the hard way that there is a cost to focusing solely on the technicalities of shooting overseas and ignoring the art of cross-cultural communication. Each of these stories shows how shooting in a missions context requires more care and planning than asking, "What equipment should I take?"

Scenario 1: The team arrives at a small school that will be their mission site for the next ten days. The first person to jump out of the bus is the videographer because he wants to get reaction shots of the team as they arrive. In order to set up the shot, he quickly slides through a large group of children and teachers waiting to greet the group.

One of the most important rules to establish while shooting short-term missions is that what is happening on the trip is more important that what you create with your footage. If we start with that rule, it makes life a lot easier. In the first situation the videographer is ignoring local customs that are not only important, but actually may make the shooting experience better if they are attended to. Not only that, the videographer is putting tension on the relationship between the host and the guests. Imagine if you are a teacher or principal of the host school. You have your children all lined up ready to greet these honored guests from the United States and out from the bus bursts this man with camera gear that costs more than four teachers' annual salaries. He storms past you completely ignoring your extended hand and immediately sets up a shot and yells, "Action!" I think it would be understandable if you were a little perturbed.

But it is not just about paying attention to proper greeting customs. You need appropriate buy-in on the part of your hosts. Assuming a shooting project should be OK with those in a developing country is another form of paternalism. Yes, if you wait for permission, you might lose that first hug, but if your hosts are on board with your project you will find you will have access to much better opportunities later.

So in this situation, the most appropriate action would be for the videographer to exit the bus with the rest of the team (with camera equipment safely stowed) and greet people in a culturally-suitable fashion. Then, when appropriate, the team leader and the videographer can talk with the hosts and ask for permission to record aspects of the trip. Remember, your video might have a shelf life of about six months at most, but this partnership could potentially last for decades.

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