About halfway through the post, Black makes this statement:
I would like to suggest that there are very few places left in the world where a Western Christian presence is advisable, at least the way it has been practiced in the recent past. I have several reasons motivating me to make this suggestion.Some of the things that he mentions as reasons have their roots in much of the history of modern evangelical missions, not just the recent past (of course, recent is a relative term). Still, he makes some valid observations.
Personally, I think for western Christians to stop going would be disobedience to Scripture. But where we go, how we work, and what we do are serious issues with which we must wrestle. These questions don't just apply to missionaries from the northern and western hemispheres but to anyone from anywhere who responds to God's call to have beautiful feet (Romans 10:9-15).
- Is there still a place for western missionaries in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- If so, what is their place? How would you answer the questions of Where should they go? How should they work? What should they do?
For the Kingdom,
Bob A
Bob:
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent point. In our work (leading churches in West Africa and the US to engage unreached and unengaged people groups) we talk about small footprints and exit strategies (beginning with the end in mind). This is one aspect of the missionary effort where we need to be VERY careful. We need to introduce reproducible methods that exist without western support structures. At the same time, we should encourage and help to mobilize the church that is already here! Certainly, Nigerian Baptists (3,000 churches and nearly 10 million attenders) should be able to be a force to reach every single UUPG in our part of West Africa. Working together, the task is achievable.
A couple of other related blog posts:
ReplyDeleteAttention: Field to Missionary by a Kenyan student at NEGST (Nairobi). Eve challenges some of the things we say and do as western missionaries.
Is It Time for a Moratorium on Missions From the West. Another post by William Black in the same vein as the one I referenced above.
The New Face of Missions - Some Local Data. A short, anecdotal post by William Black on the growing number of non-western missionaries.
Great observation, David. We need to work together. That's not always easy and requires us (i.e., the western missionary) to step back and step down from absolute control.
ReplyDeleteI wish we could sit on the porch at Paa Amani with a cup of chai and give this several hours of discussion time.
ReplyDeletegood question. just left africa last week. i think they need us as well as us needing them but we can work together as equals. the church is big.
ReplyDeleteThanks for picking up on my post! I appreciate any conversation partner that comes my way, and don't presume to have all the answers, or even the most appropriate perspective. I do think it's time to revisit the big picture questions, as too much of what we missionaries do and say is simply assumed without much thought.
ReplyDeleteHerb -- a cuppa' chai on the paAmani porch would be great. That would be a good conversation between the Cadys, Kirkpatricks, and Allens. No shortage of opinions.
ReplyDeleteTSK -- the church is big and there is both room and a need for all of us to work together for the Kingdom.
William -- assumptions are dangerous and I'm afraid that they have come back to bite us (western missionaries) many times. Our organization just made some decisions about property and ministry without consulting national partners (home office and "remote" leadership). They assumed that since we owned the property and that the decision ultimately benefited the national partners, they could just make the decision w/o consultation. It hasn't gone over very well at all. Assumptions!