Poorest Evangelism Ever!

"Judgment is a terrible evangelism strategy. People don’t line up to be judged. Instead, they flee."

~ Carey Nieuwhof

Western Church Discipleship Models Have Been Tested & Failed!

(I originally published this in 2009)The true success of our church discipleship is found in the litmus test of our very own born-and-raised" evangelical church kids. I'm not speaking about evangelism outside the church. I'm talking about our own glaring inability to transfer faith within the family unit. Consider the following:

"Every year, hundreds of thousands of American evangelical young people lose their faith while attending college: An estimated 65% (My Note: This is very conservative estimate. I have seen studies that suggest 75%). Here they are confronted with a secular humanist world view, often anti-Christian, which they have not been prepared to engage. Next year a new batch will be sent, and this spiritual holocaust will go right on with few people seeking to do anything about it.

Now why is that? And what is the real problem? Could it be that we are merely entertaining our young people in youth groups across the country instead of disciplining them? On the other side, why can almost all of our great Christian leaders point to someone in their life who mentored them in faith? Is there a connection here? Many missiologists believe so....

What kind of Christianity are we seeking to establish around the world? Is it a copy of our own- one in which we can't even keep our own young people who have been raised in Christian Homes"

(Discipling All Peoples: Today's Imperative and Vision of Tokyo 2010. David Taylor. Mission Frontiers, September-October 2009 vol. 31, No. 5. US Center For World Mission)
Interestingly, home-schooled kids have a 95% faith retention rate when they go off to college and university. We can not pass this off as merely "Sheltering", becuase once these kids are out of the nest, they are exposed to the same secular humanism and challenges in university and college.

So, if home-schooled kids are exposed to the same influences in university, why the amazing success? The difference is found in the type of discipleship the kids have received at home. They have not been brainwashed, but rather "mentored" in a very effective manner. Rather than sheltered, most have actually been exposed to the fallacies of secular arguments and ideologies, and been given adequate Christian answers and tools by which to measure the philosophies they encounter with a Christian World view.

The home-schoolers success rate in transmitting their faith to their children is so impressive, that non-homeschooling Christians best not criticize them. Their mentoring discipleship approach is working much better than the methodology the average christian family or church is using- or not using.

Effective discipleship involves more than just transmission of "information". But also requiring Relation, Conversation, and Assisted Application. Unfortunately, the only conversation most kids get about Jesus is, "Great ready for Sunday School or Youth Group". But little actual mentoring from many christian parents or church staff.

How Open & Honest is Your Missionary Journey?

(If You are Familiar with EMQ You Must realize Gary is not bashing Missionaries and Agencies.) But Gary is asking a valid Question. How honest are we about the challenges of mission, not just the successes?

Why we must be honest- if all people here is glowing success and none of the challenges they begin to question every missionary about their apparent lack of success. Certainly, in rare cases an odd missionary is simply not working hard, or refuse to look at some wise strategy change that might possibly help them. However, what about people working in limited access countries, where it takes years to build a church? Churches measure Pioneer missionaries against the success of regular missionaries who are working with a high percentage of Christian people with many existing churches of all stripes to work with and through.

Just a personal note. My experience with a "Rayner Rambler" private email that went to the over one hundred of the keenest of interested people within churches was a smashing success. Discussing ups, downs, discouragements, church struggles, raw form the village each week.
Those ramblers were the most commented on news, far out stripping glossy newsletters and printed materials. The 20-35 group is looking for real heart and life news about what is involved in the "Journey", not only wanting to hear about the end result, after the fact.

"I almost cringe when I hear of groups launching new marketing plans, expanding public relations departments, or engaging in “branding” exercises, While each of these may have its place, these and similar activities are also breeding grounds for the professionalization of falsehood. Whatever happened to just being ourselves and being faithful to our values?.....IF that is all the Lord requires of us, why is the massaging and packaging of truth necessary for others?

But these are not the only places where shaded truth emerges in the mission enterprise. It exists all the way from rank-and-file missionary prayer letters to the most articulately argued missiology. It’s too discouraging to our donors, we surmise, to burden them with the real struggles we may be facing. Things like loneliness, uncertainty about what to do next, and feelings of depression are not the stuff of missionary heroes, Besides, our partners support us in order to see certain things accomplished, and they want to hear how that’s happening, not the hindrances we’re dealing with. This is particularly so, we conclude, when those hindrances may reflect personal or professional inadequacy on our part. But in doing so, are we not declaring how unimportant we really think prayer is?

(A Second Look: The Audacity of Hype and Humility. Gary Corwin Editor EMQ. EMQ January 2009 Vol 45, No 1 pp6-7)

Enough Mission to Do At Home! Why Bother with other nations?

"That there are thousands in our own land as far from God as possible, I readily grant, and that this ought to excite us to ten-fold diligence to our work, and in attempts to spread divine knowledge amongst them is certain fact; but that it ought supersede all attempts to spread the Gospel in foreign parts seems to want proof."

(William Carey, 1792. An Enquiry Into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens. Perspectives,Ralph Winter, 4th edition 2009, William Cary Library pg314)

God is NOT Colorblind. But He is Very Colorful!

"A shift in the epicenter for world mission occurred around 2005. The 3rd world, our mission fields, are now the majority voice in world mission, and the majority voice in world kingdom affairs for the church. The church of Jesus Christ has expanded so globally that ethnocentric westerners, for the first time, must sit down and listen to other nations, and watch what unfolds as our God is glorified, and the Kingdom is expanded, from the roots of other nations, languages, and peoples.

For example. The Unity movement seeking to promote dialogue between all three lines of Restoration Movement tradition (Non-instrument, Disciples, and Christian churches - see World Convention.org) reminds us that all three share a common heritage around the content of "The Declaration and Address". It is still our vision for a united body under Christ. Certainly, there are differences.

However, interestingly, this movement is now reflecting the colorful global reality. The current president of World Convention, B. J. Mpofu, is a native of Zimbabwe Africa. The majority voice of the restoration movement is now rising from the nations, other peoples, languages and ethnic groups of the globe. Exciting times! I praise God for his colorful work!

We should be humbled as we see God raising up a new wave of global "Passion", surprising as it may be to some, among other peoples and languages of the earth. We for too long have though that we are in control of God's purposes of uniting a people in worship of his glory. God is moving on to the nations with us, and is some cases without us. Find Him there, and join him please!
I relish the international flavor of our movement. It's good to see Africa and Asia at OUR Table, only to realize it is now predominantly their table.

Is God Colorblind? God is not colorblind, but He is colorful. He craves the unique worship that only each unique tribe, language, people and culture can give him. God loves, desires, relishes in, and actively seeks out, the colorful variety of worship from the diverse nations. So the next time you see youth "Popppin"worship with some new form of christian music, or some Asian native in colorful dress swaying or dancing as he worships, or some Africans playing drums very enthusiastically in worship, just remember this; maybe "I don't like that", but who cares! Let's both be quite. You and I are not the measure of all things. God is colorful, and He desires to receive the unique kind of worship that only each generation, culture, language, tribe or ethnic group can bring, only they can bring it, to HIM. To God be the Glory!"

(Quote from Writings of A... R... West Africa.)

The "Missing Link" for the "People" of South Sea Islands

In 1833 Charles Darwin went to the South Sea Islands looking for the so- called "missing link." As he studied the cannibals who lived there, he concluded that no creatures anywhere were more primitive, and he was convinced that nothing on earth could possibly lift them to a higher level. He thought he had indeed found a lower less developed Level of humanity. That would fit his theory of I evolution.

Thirty-four years later Darwin returned to the same islands. To his amazement he , discovered churches, schools, and homes occupied by some of those former cannibals. In fact, …..Many frequently gathered to sing hymns.

The reason was soon learned: Missionary John G. Paton had been there proclaiming the truths of Salvation! Darwin was so moved by their transformation that he made a generous contribution to the London Missionary Society. Darwin's "missing link" thus remained missing. -Henry G. Bosch

Gandhi &The Power of the Scriptures

"You Christians look after a document containing enough dynamite to blow all civilization to pieces, turn the world upside down, and bring peace to a battle-torn planet. But you treat it as though it is nothing more
than a piece of good literature."

(Mohandas Gandhi)

NOT Called to Plant Churches?

“You might say `I’m not called to plant churches.’ Yes, you are! It’s always the will of God to have a people who worship His Son in the nations. You’ll never have to worry about making God mad if you try to plant a church. It seems crazy to me that people are under the delusion they need a special calling to save souls, to disciple them, and to get them together to love Jesus”

("Apostolic Passion", Floyd McClung. "Perspectives on the world Christian Movement", 1999, William Carey Library, Pasadena California . Pg 186c)

Atheist Confesses Christianity Changes Africa for the better.

"As an Atheist, I truly Believe Africa needs God"

Missionaries, not aid money, are the solution to Africa's biggest problem - the crushing passivity of the people's mindset

Matthew Parris

Before Christmas I returned, after 45 years, to the country that as a boy I knew as Nyasaland. Today it's Malawi, and The Times Christmas Appeal includes a small British charity working there. Pump Aid helps rural communities to install a simple pump, letting people keep their village wells sealed and clean. I went to see this work.

It inspired me, renewing my flagging faith in development charities. But travelling in Malawi refreshed another belief, too: one I've been trying to banish all my life, but an observation I've been unable to avoid since my African childhood. It confounds my ideological beliefs, stubbornly refuses to fit my world view, and has embarrassed my growing belief that there is no God.

Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.

I used to avoid this truth by applauding - as you can - the practical work of mission churches in Africa. It's a pity, I would say, that salvation is part of the package, but Christians black and white, working in Africa, do heal the sick, do teach people to read and write; and only the severest kind of secularist could see a mission hospital or school and say the world would be better without it. I would allow that if faith was needed to motivate missionaries to help, then, fine: but what counted was the help, not the faith.

But this doesn't fit the facts. Faith does more than support the missionary; it is also transferred to his flock. This is the effect that matters so immensely, and which I cannot help observing.

First, then, the observation. We had friends who were missionaries, and as a child I stayed often with them; I also stayed, alone with my little brother, in a traditional rural African village. In the city we had working for us Africans who had converted and were strong believers. The Christians were always different. Far from having cowed or confined its converts, their faith appeared to have liberated and relaxed them. There was a liveliness, a curiosity, an engagement with the world - a directness in their dealings with others - that seemed to be missing in traditional African life. They stood tall.

At 24, travelling by land across the continent reinforced this impression. From Algiers to Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and the Central African Republic, then right through the Congo to Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya, four student friends and I drove our old Land Rover to Nairobi.

We slept under the stars, so it was important as we reached the more populated and lawless parts of the sub-Sahara that every day we find somewhere safe by nightfall. Often near a mission.

Whenever we entered a territory worked by missionaries, we had to acknowledge that something changed in the faces of the people we passed and spoke to: something in their eyes, the way they approached you direct, man-to-man, without looking down or away. They had not become more deferential towards strangers - in some ways less so - but more open.

This time in Malawi it was the same. I met no missionaries. You do not encounter missionaries in the lobbies of expensive hotels discussing development strategy documents, as you do with the big NGOs. But instead I noticed that a handful of the most impressive African members of the Pump Aid team (largely from Zimbabwe) were, privately, strong Christians. “Privately” because the charity is entirely secular and I never heard any of its team so much as mention religion while working in the villages. But I picked up the Christian references in our conversations. One, I saw, was studying a devotional textbook in the car. One, on Sunday, went off to church at dawn for a two-hour service.

It would suit me to believe that their honesty, diligence and optimism in their work was unconnected with personal faith. Their work was secular, but surely affected by what they were. What they were was, in turn, influenced by a conception of man's place in the Universe that Christianity had taught.

There's long been a fashion among Western academic sociologists for placing tribal value systems within a ring fence, beyond critiques founded in our own culture: “theirs” and therefore best for “them”; authentic and of intrinsically equal worth to ours.

I don't follow this. I observe that tribal belief is no more peaceable than ours; and that it suppresses individuality. People think collectively; first in terms of the community, extended family and tribe. This rural-traditional mindset feeds into the “big man” and gangster politics of the African city: the exaggerated respect for a swaggering leader, and the (literal) inability to understand the whole idea of loyal opposition.

Anxiety - fear of evil spirits, of ancestors, of nature and the wild, of a tribal hierarchy, of quite everyday things - strikes deep into the whole structure of rural African thought. Every man has his place and, call it fear or respect, a great weight grinds down the individual spirit, stunting curiosity. People won't take the initiative, won't take things into their own hands or on their own shoulders.

How can I, as someone with a foot in both camps, explain? When the philosophical tourist moves from one world view to another he finds - at the very moment of passing into the new - that he loses the language to describe the landscape to the old. But let me try an example: the answer given by Sir Edmund Hillary to the question: Why climb the mountain? “Because it's there,” he said.

To the rural African mind, this is an explanation of why one would not climb the mountain. It's... well, there. Just there. Why interfere? Nothing to be done about it, or with it. Hillary's further explanation - that nobody else had climbed it - would stand as a second reason for passivity.

Christianity, post-Reformation and post-Luther, with its teaching of a direct, personal, two-way link between the individual and God, unmediated by the collective, and unsubordinate to any other human being, smashes straight through the philosphical/spiritual framework I've just described. It offers something to hold on to to those anxious to cast off a crushing tribal groupthink. That is why and how it liberates.

Those who want Africa to walk tall amid 21st-century global competition must not kid themselves that providing the material means or even the knowhow that accompanies what we call development will make the change. A whole belief system must first be supplanted.

And I'm afraid it has to be supplanted by another. Removing Christian evangelism from the African equation may leave the continent at the mercy of a malign fusion of Nike, the witch doctor, the mobile phone and the machete.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article5400568.ece

Is Christianity Relapsing Globally? Does Our Missions Movement Have Depth?

This article is a needed challenge. I have dealt with syncretism and poor ethics in leaders. I have also dealt with missionaries who indicated "Their" work or church does not have the same problem as mine. I listened politely. However, I also know what leaders knew about actions of "their" national leaders, and I realized these guys where just fooling themselves.
Read this and Let us examine the fruit of our work, and work for more depth.

"Is Christianity Relapsing Globally?
Far worse, is the nightmare of a thought that our vast global, hard-won expansion of Christianity is falling to pieces before our eyes. We always used to think, “Even if things are not going too well in the USA, at least those millions of newly won believers overseas are flourishing in the faith.”

Okay, that is mainly true. They are flourishing. However, there are some disquieting facts that are hard to ignore. Kenya, with over 400 denominations and almost as many Evangelicals as in all of Europe, has exploded before our eyes—into nasty and unprecedented intertribal warfare—despite being 80% Christian, just like the USA.

Nearby, the Central African Republic is considered by some to be one of the more dangerous and corrupt countries of the world. We might say, “Those people need Christianity.”Well, 70% of the country is “Christian” in 59 denominations, with a higher percentage of Evangelicals than any other country in Africa.

In Nagaland, almost 100% of the Nagas are Christian—it is the most Christian state of India. It also is considered the most corrupt. At least there is less head-hunting.

Does this mean we are planting a superficial kind of Christianity all around the world? Are people seeking or accepting our offered Gospel for reasons other than what we have expected?"

(Ralph D. Winter. Editorial Comment, Mission Frontiers, March-April 2008, p 4)

African Warns Short-Term Missions "Wounds" at times! But Needed Skills Come as Well.

The trendy short-term mission giant has been striding across Africa and leaving some indelible footprints, some of them positive, others negative. On the positive side, people are coming to faith, revival is breaking out in communities hospitals and schools are being developed, women are becoming economically empowered and there is significant church growth. Short-term missionaries have not only visited, they have given financially, professionally and spiritually. They have founded orphanages and ministered to financially handicapped women, equipping them with skills to improve the quality of their handcrafts for better marketability.

The giant has, however, left some indelible wounds and impressions as well. ibis is a concern raised by some national leaders. Here I will argue from interwoven data that in an age of growing partnerships between the Western and the African Church, careful and adequate pre-mission training needs to be done in preparing westerners to engage the cultural context of Africa in short-term missions. In this way, the short-term mission giant can be enhanced for greater fruitfulness and effectiveness....

During and after the short-term mission trip, the local pastor and other leaders face challenging missiological issues. These include clarifying the Missionary's’ language and etiquette, competence, stewardship of resources and contextualized worship. In one incident, a short-term missionary tried to speak the local language but ended up using a word which insult ed the local people. The pastor had to go back to the people to clarify what the missionary had meant. The same missionary also declined to eat food offered to him. This led the local people to say, “He was not prepared well enough to live with us.” The hosts found it very difficult to minister to him.

In another case, a missionary with very little training was sent to serve as a pastor. His preaching was so poor that the local pastor asked him not to teach from the pulpit and to take time to acquire some biblical knowledge.

(The Trendy Giant Wounds: Some Lessons from the Church in Africa, David Ngaruiya. EMQ, January 2008, p.58-59)

Does God Still Give Special/Specific "Calling"?

I know in my fellowship this sort of stuff is relegated to the apostles and special "Bible Times" people. This is worth considering. The author is dealing with a myths about mission.
When replying to "God no longer calls his people" he writes.

He was thirty years old when he heard an interviewer had come to his country. The interviewer was trying to understand how it was possible for men and women in this particular country to come to faith in Christ, given the severe persecution that was so prevalent. The man’s people group exceeded twenty-six million at the time— and at that time, outsiders were aware of only three believers.

The man arranged to meet with the interviewer. He shared about earlier days. lie talked about dis harmony in his marriage. He explained that his children were sick and weak, his crops simply refused to grow and his livestock multi plied erratically.

True to his folk-Muslim culture, he went to the spiritualist for ad vice. After describing the problems in his life, he received this word: “I will sacrifice a chicken on your be half. You are to return home, Fast and meditate for three days and three nights. On the third night, an answer to your problems will come,”
The man did exactly as he was instructed. He told the interview er, “On the third night, a voice without a body came to me, saying
‘Find Jesus, find the good news:”

The man knew nothing but Islam. lie had nothing but an oral Quran. He had never met a Christian. He had never heard of a Bible. Lie did not know whether “Jesus” was a fruit, a vegetable or a rock. He did, however, want the good news he had been told about. This voice instructed him to go to a particular city about five hours away. It was a city the man had never visited. The voice instructed him to ask the first two men he met in the city to direct him to a certain street. Then, he was to search for a door marked with certain numbers.

This man, without informing
his wife or children, left his village the next day. lie walked five hours over the mountains, lie arrived at the city, and he asked the first two men he saw to direct him to a certain Street. He walked down that street until he saw the door marked with the correct number He knocked on the door until an older gentleman opened it. “What do you want?” the older man asked. The young man answered, “I have come to find Jesus and the good news!”
A hand shot out and pulled the young man into the house. “You Muslims must think I am idiot to fall for something like this!” the older man cried. But the young man replied, “Sir, I do not know if you are an idiot or not, but this is why I have come. I have been told to come.”

Over the next hour, the young man told his story. God had led this man to the home of one of the three believers known among that people group at the time! Patiently, this older man shared the story of Jesus with the young man until the good news became his own. The young man returned to his village. Over time, his wife saw the change in his life and she too became a believer. His children regained their health; his crops and livestock prospered. Faith broke out in his village.

Five Lies about Missions, Nik Ripken & Barry Sticker. EMQ, Jan 2008, Vol 44, No1, p.33-34)

Bridges of Understanding with Islam?

"Even a cursory reading of Islam reveals that there are vast areas of agreement between the Islamic view of Allah and the Christian view of God. Both Islam and Christianity affirm the absolute reality of God as the center of everything that is. Islam does not debate the existence of God; it is taken for granted as an undeniable reality. Allah is the creator, the Lord of history and the one to whom everyone must give an account on judgment day. Both Islam and Christianity affirm that God sends prophets, that he calls us to worship him, and that he is the central reality of our existence."

— Timothy C. Tennent,Christianity at the Religious Roundtable:Evangelicalism in Conversation With Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam(Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2002), p. 152

The Challenge facing us Through Postmodernism (& Pluralism)

This sentiment is very relevant to us today. Half of the people sitting in our pews really believe this deep down inside. How do we respond, and keep missions passion?

"How can you tell but that the Turks had as good Scriptures to prove their Mahomet the Saviour, as we have to prove our Jesus is; and could I think that so many ten thousands in so many Countries and Kingdoms, should be without the knowledge of the right way to Heaven... and that we only, who live but in a corner of the Earth, should alone be blessed therewith? Everyone doth think his own Religion rightest, both Jews, and Moors, and Pagans; and how if all our Faith, and Christ, and Scriptures, should be but a thinks-so too?"

(John Bunyan,Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners,ed. Robert Sharrock(New York: Oxford University Press, 1962), p. 31)

A further Examples of pluralism's emerging.

"The needed Copernican revolution in theology involves an equally radical
transformation in our conception of the universe of faiths and the place of our
own religion within it. It involves a shift from the dogma that Christianity is
at the center to the realization that it is God who is at the center, and that
all the religions of mankind, including our own, serve and revolve around
him."

(John Hick,The Second Christianity,3rd enl. ed. of Christianity at the Centre(London: SCM Press, 1983), p. 82)

"Christians, in their approach to persons of other faiths, need not insist that Jesus brings God's definitive, normative revelation. A confessional approach is a possible and preferred alternative. In encountering other religions, Christians can confess and witness to what they have experienced and come to know in Christ, and how they believe this truth can make a difference in the lives of all peoples, without making any judgments whether this revelation surpasses or fulfills other religions. In other words, the question concerning Jesus' finality or normativity can remain an open question."

(Paul F. Knitter,No Other Name?A Critical Survey of Christian AttitudesToward the World Religions(Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1985), p. 205)

"A theology of world religions that wants to be true to the empirical situation
in the way the religious traditions confront each other must not evade or play
down the conflict of truth claims. If we look to the history of religions in the
past, there was always competition and struggle for superiority on the basis of
different truth claims."

(Wolfhart Pannenberg,"Religious Pluralism and Conflicting Truth Claims,"in Christian Uniqueness Reconsidered,ed. by Gavin D'Costa(Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1990), p. 103

Inter-religious Dialogue, Pluralisms & their affect on Missions!

I Have been Studying the Theology of Religious Pluralism. I assure you this quote is a real issue.

"I confess that although I have read dozens of books on interreligious dialogue, I have enjoyed precious few of them. Yet I am now in the curious position of writing such a book. Upon reflection, the basic reason for my dissatisfaction is that the average Christian would hardly recognize the Christianity that is often presented in such works. Certainly, the apostles— the eye- and ear-witnesses of Christ’s life and the first to testify about him— would go away scratching their heads in bewilderment. The Christian gospel is often presented as one among many different paths to God. Christianity is ranked side by side with religions such as Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism in much the same way as films are displayed at a multiplex cinema. The Islamic Qur’an or the Hindu Upanishads are as likely to yield spiritual light as the Sermon on the Mount.

I do not believe that the authors of such books distort the gospel message intentionally or maliciously. Rather, most of them simply do not affirm the historic Christian confessions; yet curiously they continue to identify them selves as Christians. Even scholars among the non-Christian religions have begun to recognize this phenomenon. For example, Grace Burford, a practicing Buddhist scholar, comments on this in a recent Buddhist-Christian dialogue titled Buddhists Talk about Jesus—Christians Talk about the Buddha. Her chapter is insightfully titled, `If the Buddha Is So Great, Why Are These People Christians?’ She bluntly asks about these scholars, If they were so taken by Buddhism, why did they hang on to Christianity… Why would people be prepared to surrender every central claim of historic Christianity and yet be so doggedly determined to remain spokespersons for Christianity?”

(Timothy C. Tennent, Christianity at the Religious Round Table: Evangelicalism in Conversation with Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. Grand Rapids, Baker Academic, 2002. p. 9,10.)

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)

Missionaries love Dirt, Right?

“A missionary in Africa was once asked if he really liked what he was doing. His response was shocking. "Do I like this work?" he said. "No. My wife and I do not like dirt. We have reasonably refined sensibilities. We do not like crawling into vile huts through goat refuse... But is a man to do nothing for Christ he does not like? God pity him, if not. Liking or disliking has nothing to do with it. We have orders to 'Go," and we go. Love constrains us."

(Love is a Costly Thing, by Dick Hillis, Our Daily Bread.)

Submitted by Jurgen Schulz

Hindu declares Propagation is Central to Christian Faith.

“An interesting incident took place when India’s new constitution was being passed in the National Legislature. In the portion where it says that each individual has “the right to profess, practice, and propagate his faith,” that word “propagate” was a question mark to many In the midst of it a Hindu said, “To the Christian it is inherent to propagate his faith. If he is faithful to his faith he must propagate his faith. So if you do not allow him to propagate his faith you do not allow him to profess and practice his faith.” That argument swung the situation and it was adopted."

(“The Word Became Flesh”, E. Stanley Jones. Abingdon Press. 2006, p. 313)

Submitted by Jurgen Schulz

Early Attitudes about Unreached people!

"When he (Hudson Taylor) suggested that the inland peoples of China needed to be reached, he was told you could not get there, and he was asked if he wished to carry on his shoulders the blood of the young people he would thus send to their deaths. This accusing question stunned and staggered him. Groping for light, wandering on the beach, it seemed as if God finally spoke to resolve the ghastly thought: “You are not sending young people in the interior of China. I am.” The load lifted."

("Four Men. Three Eras, Two Transitions", Ralph D Winter. "Perspectives on the world Christian Movement", 1999, William Carey Library, Pasadena California . Pg 257)