Missionary Confidential

This is Part Three of a Three-Part Series. Click for Part One: For, Not With and Part Two: Those Poor People.

So in Part 1 and Part 2, I’ve referenced my first-hand experiences in sympathy turning demeaning.  Earlier on this blog I’ve asked if an impractical donation can be considered generosity.  It would be easy to think that perhaps we’re experiencing unusual problems and situations.  But I’m afraid that we’re not the only ones wrestling with these issues.

Just over a year ago, I read “Following Up on Your Mission Trip” and was jolted by the honesty of this:
“I first became aware of the hurt we can unwittingly inflict when some co-workers of mine had stones thrown at them in a Mexican neighborhood.  The same kids who in years previous had attended our VBS’s had become sick of being ‘dissed’ by American youth groups whose leaders, whether out of ignorance or presumption, had no plan beyond four days of ministry, a trip to the beach, and a quick adios to their new friends. The locals had caught on to the shallowness of their commitment and vented their hurt rather eloquently.”

Wow.  Can’t imagine this got reported back to the sending churches.  When I’ve heard mission reports about difficulty with the nationals, it’s usually chalked up to “resistance to the Gospel”—which, of course, it can be.  But would someone honestly tell a congregation, “The locals became annoyed at being seen as a project, not as people”? » Read the rest of this entry «

This is Part Two of a Three-Part Series. Click for Part One: For, Not With.

If you’ve been around missionaries at all, you’ve probably heard about how they come through the experience totally changed in various ways, most of which are easily predictable (i.e., newfound love and compassion for the nation they worked in, desire to serve more in their church upon return, etc.) and all of which are great.  Before we entered our field, I anticipated that we, too, would be changed in these and other ways.  While I could go on and on with a list of these things, there have been a few changes in perception or attitude in myself that were completely unexpected.  The most striking change has been that I am heavily questioning how missions is currently done, both long- and short-term.

Perhaps this is because we are now on the receiving end of missions work instead of being the missionaries.

Oh, we’re still part-fundraised, part-tentmaking missionaries, serving a church in a foreign field.  That hasn’t changed and doesn’t look to be the case for a long, long time.  However, we’re on the receiving end of missions with our Vacation Bible School (VBS) because our mission field church had long ago established links with a parachurch organisation in the neighbouring country several hours away.  This parachurch group appears every year during summer to provide all aspects of the VBS, from teaching to leaders to advertising flyers to craft supplies.  Technically, no interaction from our church is necessary, and from what we gather, no one in our church did until we arrived.

It sounds like a great deal on paper, and it is run really well.  Our village kids seem to eat it up and appear for their “one-week-only” stint in our church, never to return until next year.  However, last year for the first time we did have two new families begin to attend our church due directly to their kids being in the VBS.  We’re really grateful to God for that.

But as we interact with the group leaders from the other country, we finally understood what it feels like when sympathy turns demeaning.  » Read the rest of this entry «

This is Part One of a Three-Part Series.

Over the past couple of years that this blog has been in existence, one of the hottest topics has been Short-Term Missions.  Every time it’s been brought up, the blog gets so many comments.  I’ve commented about it on several other blogs that have discussed the topic, and this blog still gets so many clickbacks from those other blog comments, some of which are now several years old.

Take out the financial arguments against Short-Term missions (which I still think can be valid depending upon the circumstance, but that’s another post for another day) and you’re still left with the question that no one appears to be asking: what is the effect on people, both emotionally and spiritually? And in that question “people” refers to those native to the mission field and the missionaries that serve, whether long- or short-term.

When we were in our fact-finding mode before entering our field, we had encouraged the national Christians to be open with us about what works here and what doesn’t.  One Christian man stated with pain, “Who are these missionary people?  They just show up out of nowhere, from a church we’ve never heard of, having already decided what they’re going to do and then run around barking orders.  We didn’t ask them to come over.  What makes them think that our churches need their help?  Then, when we’re just getting to know them, they decide they can’t handle things here and disappear without even a goodbye, never to be heard from again.”  His face was contorted with frustration, and since then he’s become understandably suspicious and hostile towards American missionaries.

At that point, we believed him, yet it was difficult for us to fully appreciate his stance–until we were on the receiving end as long-term missionaries.  » Read the rest of this entry «