Perspectives: EMQ Guest Editorial

We are an oral culture in Africa. This calls for face-to-face contact.

The problem with speaking about “mission” and “service” in the same breath is like the proverbial query of comparing apples and oranges.

My dilemma with giving began after I arrived on the field in South Asia. And it started with tithing.

The kind of Christian vision that insists upon measurable results and invests only in “grassroots” training may enjoy admirable motivation. However, it also may depend on simplistic assumptions about “the other” that, once brought into the open, wither in the light of day.

I didn’t know who was going to win the 2004 Athens Olympics marathon. I did know, however, who wouldn’t win.

As a church planting missionary, I have made a remarkable observation. Lost people, without Christ and without hope in this world, have a much better chance of hearing the gospel of saving grace from a missionary if they live near an international school.

We hear a lot of talk these days about the importance of indigenous churches, churches that are truly “home-grown” and reflect the values and culture of the people.

At a recent conference of Christian organizations, my roommate told me of a donor retreat his agency had just sponsored where the two-day cost, including golf, was $50,000. It reminded me of a conversation I had recently had with someone I met at an Urbana missions convention.

Awhile ago I taught a modular class on spiritual warfare at a theological seminary in West Africa. Every time I return to such places I am reminded of how ill-prepared I was for missionary service when I first went to the field.

We in the missions community think of ourselves as being in the church planting business. But somehow I often wonder if we are deceived. Jim Collins’ book Good to Great, inspired me to think about what we are good at and what we are deeply passionate about. What really is our raison d’etre?