Not Feeling At Home? ---------This Blaufway, Tu-ba-boo will Be "At Home" some day!

In West Africa the Agni Kids would chant "Blauf-way" the Jula "Tu-Ba-Boo" as we entered a village or courtyard. This practice is ancient I was told. For generations the kids were taught to shout this as a warning during the slave trade, "There's white people here!".

However, now it's more of a curious interest as they shout this with a huge smile because, frankly they do not see many white people in some of these rural forest villages. Kids, even the odd older woman, will come up and rub your arm to feel your skin, especially the blond red hair on my arm. However, "blaufway!" is still chanted every time in every village.

The Agni often tell their small kids; "If you're not good, the white man will come and take you away." So many infants have a horrible fear of us when we first begin working in a village. Mothers coming by with wide eyed babies to see their first white person. Often the baby's begin to ball hysterically clawing and clutching to their mother.

There was a time when for six months I had not seen a single western person or spoken English to anyone other than my wife and kids. One day I passed another white guy on the highway in the car and I wanted to turn and chase him down just to talk. Not because he was white, rather because chances where much greater that we shared a similar cultural background and language, therefore making it easy to just chat with full understanding. Cross-cultural communication is not easy because it involves more than just words of a language, but culture and world-view exchange. Anyway, for the first time in my life I think I kind of understood just a little bit what it might feel like to be black in an all white place, even though I was white. Though here I am given a more prominent status by default. Regardless, this experience did help me understand better the desire to belong. To feel at home. To feel welcome. To belong. I'm glad to say that over time in Africa I eventually did come to "belong" and be accepted too. What a precious gift they gave me.

However, now having lived it, there are some things that always weigh a bit heavy on my heart. I'm generally a happy person, but now there are things I can't put out of my mind very long that many of my western friends and neighbors can. Makes me feel "foreign" at times even though I am suppose to be "Home". In Africa I'm a "Blaufway", at home, well I am just not "at home" anymore. People don't "get" me. I know why this is in my head. I have become what they call a Bi-cultural person and the feeling of being at home never really comes anywhere anymore.

Don't feel sorry for me, this does not mean I am sad. No it's deeper, a sense of not being "at home" in either place now. I was told by an older wiser bi-cultural person that this "at home" feeling will now only be satisfied in the place made for us. Near the throne of heaven where every tribe, language, people, and nation will stand with us around the throne. Sigh! Home!

Submitted by Andy Rayner

Weight Watchers, South Beach & Atkins Diet - Meet World Misisons!

How hard have we tried to save others? The nearly two billion dollars American evangelicals give per year to mission agencies is one fourth of what they spend on weight-loss programs. A person must overeat by at least two dollars worth of food per month to maintain one excess pound of flesh. Yet two dollars per month is more than what 90% of all Christians in America give to missions. If the average mission supporter is only five pounds overweight, it means he spends (to his own hurt) at least five times as much as he gives for missions. If he were to choose simple food (as well as not overeat) he could give ten times as much as he does to mission and not modify his standard of living in any other way!

(“Reconsecration to a Wartime, Not a Peacetime, Lifestyle.” Ralph D. Winter. Perspectives On the World Christian Movement, William Carey Library, 1999, pg706)

Poor In India Sacrifice A Greater Percentage of Income for Missions?

Consider the fact that the U.S. evangelical slogan “Pray, give or go”allows people merely to pray, if that is their choice! By contrast the Friends Missionary Prayer Band of South India numbers 8,000 people in their prayer bands and supports 80 full-time missionaries in North India. If my denomination (with its unbelievably greater wealth per person) were to do that well, we would not be sending 500 missionaries, but 26,000. In spite of their true poverty, those poor people in South India are sending 50 times as many cross-cultural missionaries as we are! This fact reminds me of the title of a book, The Poor Pay More. They may very well pay more for the things they buy, but they are apparently willing to pay more for the things they believe. No wonder the lukewarm non-sacrificing believer is a stench in the nostrils of God.

(“Reconsecration to a Wartime, Not a Peacetime, Lifestyle.” Ralph D. Winter. Perspectives On the World Christian Movement, William Carey Library, 1999, pg706)

What are we up Against?

“We seem to assume that the world is simply the absence of good rather than the presence of both good and dynamic, intelligent evil.” Ralph D Winter

(“When Business can be Missions: Where Both Business and Mission Fall Short”, By Ralph D Winter. Mission Frontiers , Nov-Dec 2007, Pg 13)

People just don't "Happen" to be Poor - They are often Oppressed!

“…..When the Allied forces were poised to invade the continent on D-Day, they were, of course, seeking to liberate the French (Belgians, Dutch, etc.) from the oppression of Nazi occupation. But that could not be their only purpose. To do that they first had to track down and defeat Hitler and destroy his evil empire. In fact, defeating an evil empire was no doubt more prominent in their minds than liberating Paris.

Today in business or missions, then, we cannot simply go out to do good to people in need. People don’t just happen to be poor. They are oppressed. Yes, by humans, but also by intelligent, evil powers behind both social and biological evils. Human societies are riddled with graft and corruption and greed and unscrupulous operators of all kinds, for whom human life is meaningless.”

(“When Business can be Missions: Where Both Business and Mission Fall Short”, By Ralph D Winter. Mission Frontiers , Nov-Dec 2007, Pg 12)

Peace Corps Told--- "Have Nothing to Do with Missionaries!"

“The Peace Corps man, who lived in a village near where I worked, always avoided me. But once I found myself going up a steep narrow street and saw him coming down. I instantly knew that we would at least have to exchange a greeting. I had heard that his two-year term was soon to end and wondered what he had understood of what I was doing. When he approached I stuttered out a hello and asked him how the chicken farm was going. “Lousy,” he complained. “I don’t think it will continue when I leave.” I knew he had put his heart into it, so I asked him what was the problem. He snarled, “You can’t trust these Guatemalans. When I leave each month to go to the capital for our Peace Corps briefing, the egg production drops on exactly those two days. No, you can’t trust these Guatemalans.”

By this time I had been in Guatemala for almost ten years, so I took some offense. I found myself replying, “Look, you want to find an honest Guatemalan? That’s the business I’m in. I can find you an honest man in any village of Guatemala.” By then every village in Guatemala had at least one Evangelical congregation of humble people whose lives had been renewed because of a heavenly hope and a new earthly Master for whom deceit and dishonesty were detestable.

I could tell he didn’t believe me. Maybe I exaggerated a little. Nevertheless, mission work still has an inherent advantage. The diversity, mutual antagonism, and lack of coordination of the earnest efforts of the agencies I have listed above is a real burden and hindrance to development and hope. This burden and barrier is really only nearly erased when you get into the world of the religious agencies, particularly the standard missions. By “standard missions” I don’t mean the specialized religious relief and development agencies. They also cannot be effective in most cases unless the religious agencies get there first and generate honest people. All agencies need enough renewed people to create the minimal integrity required to manage the essential developing infrastructure of a country.

("When Business can be Missions: Where Both Business and Mission Fall Short", By Ralph D Winter. Mission Frontiers , Nov-Dec 2007, Pg 11)

Business as Missions - Some Issues Discussed - Worth Scanning!

"Business is basically the activity of providing goods and services to others on the condition of repayment to cover the cost of those goods and services. …… businesses that use profits in ways that add nothing to the business itself would seem to be very rare. Businesses, in fact, that try to put any considerable profit some where else would, it seems, inevitably run into conflict….....

The biggest problem I see with Christian college courses on business-as-mission is very simply that the average student taking that course may be enamored of this new approach but not be wealthy enough to swing it, even in his own country, let alone accomplish that amidst all the increased hazards and bureaucracy of foreign lands.........

I mentioned earlier a hardware chain founded by Swiss missionaries. It astonished people by the fact that if a customer bought something that had the wrong specifications or that did not work he could exchange it or get his money back—something unheard of in many countries. Thus, for a business to be effective mission, it needs to be perceived by onlookers as a service, not just a way for businesses to make money for the owners, although, frankly, most onlookers may still suspect the latter.

Here in America, of course, all businesses loudly pro claim their desire to serve the customer. We get used to that. We don’t really believe it. Businesses in many overseas situations don’t even claim to be working fox the customer. Neither the customer nor the business owner views the money received as simply a means of continuing the service rendered, but as a contest to see who gets the best end of the deal.

It is also true that no matter how altruistic an owner is, what pulls down many a business or ministry is the very different attitudes of the employees. The owner may have high purposes. The employees may not.

Furthermore, once a business starts overly siphoning off “profits” (whether to increase the owner’s wealth or to help fund some Christian work), the business may be unable to withstand competitors who plow almost all profits back into what they do, either to refine it or to lower their prices below what the Christian-owned business—with its extra drain on profits—can afford to offer……

We also read that “micro-enterprises” have their problems. If one woman in a village gets a micro-loan enabling her to utilize a sewing machine, she may produce more for less and be better off. At the same time she may simply put a number of other women out of work in that same village, which is no the most desirable witness."

(When Business can be Missions: Where Both Business and Mission Fall Short By Ralph D Winter. Mission Frontiers , Nov-Dec 2007, Pg 7-8)

Examples of Business as MIssions

“…….. in missions, I have for over 50 years never been paid by the people whom I directly served—a distinctly different dynamic.

Nevertheless, as a missionary in Guatemala I initiated 17 small business endeavors that others ran. I enabled seminary students to earn their way while in school. More importantly, that experience then gave them a portable trade after graduation, allowing them to serve beyond the confines of their own acreage. Most earlier pastors were tied down to the soil, so these 17 “businesses” were all portable (as with the Apostle Paul). ‘These businesses were also the first ever in which mountain Indians became the registered owners."

(When Business can be Missions: Where Both Business and Mission Fall Short By Ralph D Winter. Mission Frontiers , Nov-Dec 2007, Pg 6)

Self Supporting Missions? Business as Mission!

The missionary nurse fairly exploded in my face: “You can’t mix business and mission.”

She was referring to a worker she had trained who was now going out on his own across the mountains and giving people shots and other medicines as he used to do in her clinic. What was he doing wrong? He was self-supporting! She said, “He not only charges for the injections he gives but for his burro and his tip across the mountain”

I got into this tense conversation by suggesting that if her clinic could only become self-supporting it could be replicated. I figured the clinic was meeting only one percent of the need of a vast mountainous area where we both worked. If she could develop a self-supporting de sign it could be expanded to reach 100% of the need.

But, you say, poor mountain people can’t afford doctors! Not so! My thought was that her trained nationals could carry two-way radios. Most illnesses were simple enough to treat and did not need a doctor, but whenever something unrecognizable came up these agents of mercy could report key symptoms by radio to a doctor down in the city. People can’t pay a doctor for every problem, or even for a half hour consultation. They need to know when it is essential to make the arduous trip to the city. In most cases they can pay for two minutes of a doctor’s time—to find out if that trip is necessary. …….It is “a business” when the people being served can pay its costs. It is also “mission” if it is a God-glorifying blessing as well.

In my situation the medical committee of the mission would not hear of it.

(Editorial Comment by Ralph D Winter Mission Frontiers , Nov-Dec 2007, Pg 4)

Proximity to Muslims is First step - The Power of Holy Living!

"I should also note here an interesting occurrence: an article was released in the October 2007 issue of Christianity Today in which Dudley Woodbury and others shared a recent study of 750 Muslims who have followed Christ. The study reported that “respondents ranked the lifestyle of Christians as the most important influence in their decision to follow Christ.” At the same time, in an October 2007 article in EMQ, Todd Johnson and Charles Tieszen noted that more than eighty-six percent of Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists do not know a Christian. No matter what our view is of how to best share with them, we first must engage with them as we live out our faith."

(Letting the Gospel Thrive on the Inside: A Note on Insider Movements,By Greg H. Parsons. Lausanne World Pules Dec 2007 issue)

Worship Where It Will Bother Darkness!

Not sure how we would apply it to some areas needing serious sensitivity. However these comments on worship were interesting.

Worshipping to Be Light in the Darkness
"The Lord says we are to be as light in the darkness, illuminating a fallen world and directing it to the reality of the kingdom. We often ask God, “How, Lord, would you have us light this scene? From the top left? From the bottom right? Do you want a spotlight or diffused back lighting?” And we never get around to shining! A light does not shine as an action—it shines as a way of being. It shines because it is a light. We cannot shine at will—we must live believing we are light, and therefore shine because this is creation at its best and original intention!

---

To worship in the midst of darkness: that is evangelization.

---

In other words, we must worship as a way of life. If all of our time is taken in strategy and statistic flowcharts, when do we go out and shine in the darkness? How many of us have the courage to be light where it is needed? To worship in the midst of darkness: that is evangelization."

(Worship in a Place Where It Will Bother The Darkness, by Marcell Steuernagel, Lausanne World Pulse, Dec 2007 ISSUE)

Missions is at it's very heart Proclamation - Do So Often!

“Tell them about the Lamb of God till you can tell them no more.”

Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf
1700-1760

Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf became the father of the eighteenth century Moravian missionary movement. When he permitted a group of refugees to settle on his estate in Saxony in 1722, he had no idea that from this group the gospel would spread to Greenland, the West Indies, North America, Central America and Africa.

Zinzendorf became a visionary, practical helper, traveling missionary and second bishop of the Moravian church. He maintained an intense personal piety and enthusiasm that grew out of his childhood faith. He was determined to cling to the doctrine of redemption by the blood of Christ and to lay the atonement as the foundation of all other faiths.
(Source lausanneworldpulse.com December 2007 Issue)

This Blaufway, Tu-ba-boo Will Be Home Some day!

In West Africa the Agni Kids would chant "Blauf-way" the Jula "Tu-Ba-Boo" as we entered a village or courtyard. This practice is ancient. For generations the kids were taught to shout this as a warning during the slave trade. There's "white people" here!

Now it's more of a curious interest as they shout this with a huge smile because, frankly they do not see many white people in these rural forest villages. Kids, even and odd woman, will often come up and rub and touch your arm to feel your skin, especially the blond red hair on my arm.

However, this chant happens every time in every village. The Agni often tell their small kids; "If you're not good, the white man will come and take you away." So many infants have a horrible fear of us when we first begin working in a village. Mothers coming by with wide eyed babies to see their first white person. Often the baby's begin to ball hysterically clawing and clutching to their mother.

Anyway, there was a time when for 6 months I had not seen a white person. One day I passed another white guy on the highway in the car and I wanted to turn and chase him down just to talk. Not because he was white, rather because chances where much greater that we shared a similar cultural background, therefore making it easy to just chat with full understanding. Cross-cultural communication is not easy because it more than just language, but culture, world-view exchange. Anyway, I think for the first time in my life I think I kind of understood just a little bit what it might feel like to be black, even though I was white.
I understand better the desire to belong. I'm glad to say that over time in Africa I eventually did come to "belong" and be accepted too. What a gift they gave me.

You know something, there are just some things that always weigh heavy on my heart. I'm a happy person, but, there are things I can't put out of my mind that many of my friends and neighbors can. Makes be feel foreign at times. So now in Africa I'm a "Blaufway", and at home, well I am just not at home. I know why this is in my head. I have become what they call a Bi-cultural person (Read the right side bar near the bottom) and the feeling of being at home never comes. Don't feel sorry as this does not mean I am sad. No it's deeper, a sense of not being home. I was told by another old wise bi-cultural person that it will not be filled until we are in the place made for us near the throne of heaven where every tribe, language, people, and nation will be with us around the throne. Sigh!