Five For Togo

Some time ago, I received the following message from a former missionary who now works with a US church. It captures why so many missionaries have gotten badly hurt as they sought to follow their calling. It also explains why we at MRN believe equipping the American Church must be job #1 for us.

American churches who do not understand current global realities and who do not really prepare themselves for global ministry unintentionally sabotage their own mission workers all the time. American churches have been remarkably blessed with resources. We have money, facilities, experienced people who have worked globally and have knowledge in all kinds of fields that can help people in other countries (medicine, business, technology, engineering, etc.). This kind of work can not only improve the lives of people around the globe, it can also help us earn the trust of nations where we work and create open ears for the good news as we demonstrate the love of God.

However, what we don’t do well as a Americans is trust people in other countries and partner effectively as servants rather than masters. We want to change that at Missions Resource Network. Read the experience of this former missionary and you will understand how critical the role of church equipping is. But the problem is bigger even than he describes.

Things I have witnessed/experienced:

I have seen elders, in an elder’s meeting, read aloud letters of request for financial assistance from missionaries and respond by voting “no.” That vote being taken, the letters were dropped (almost ceremoniously) into the trash can beside the presiding elder with no intent to respond.I have heard elders in churches that were supporting almost no mission work complain about a call to do so by pointing out that the church has to be careful not to send out so many missionaries and spend so much money on missions that they fail to “keep the home fires burning.”

As a pre-missionary preparing to go to the field I was never asked one question about doctrinal matters, about my relationship with my wife, about the health of my children, nor about anything having to do with my personal finances. I have had missions leaders in a supporting congregation ask me during a phone call, while I was a missionary, “Do you need anything? Do you need any clothes?” (remembering, I’m sure, the missionary barrels of long ago.)

During twelve years on the mission field, I was visited by an elder from an overseeing church one time. This in spite of their agreement to visit the field annually. I have seen nationals receive support from US congregations for decades and never receive a visit from any US church leader that sent them money.

During furlough, following my first three-year tour, I discovered that the quarterly slide-tape presentations I had been preparing and sending home to my sponsoring congregation were lost, some having never been viewed by anyone in the leadership – nor had they been circulated to other supporters as we had agreed they would be. I also discovered that outside supporters of my work had not been thanked for their support nor acknowledged as part of the work. This had the result of some having dropped their support. My sponsoring church picked up those shortfalls (thankfully), but never informed me. This resulted in some resentment toward my work because of the unexpected cost.

As a furloughing missionary, I have spent the first full week on my furlough calling people trying to find a vehicle I could use for my furlough travels. Also, I never received any supplemental funding for furlough expenses. As a returning missionary, after more than a decade on the field, I was not welcomed home by anyone from my sponsoring congregation. I was not offered the opportunity to receive re-entry counseling for myself, my wife or my children.

During my 12 years as a missionary, I had three different congregations serve as my sponsoring/overseeing church. One was a small inexperienced church that meant well, but had problems comprehending the nature of the endeavor. The other two were larger, experienced churches that were viewed as mission-minded, mature churches. The things I’ve listed did not all come from the same leadership. I’ll also point out that I had a good relationship with all of my overseeing churches and supporting churches. So, none of these experiences grew out of (or into) hard feelings or arguments. I have not listed these things in order to accuse or complain nor are they here to illicit sympathy. I have listed these things to illustrate a point. There is across the spectrum of church leaders a profound abundance of ignorance about the missionary endeavor.

I have also been on the other side that endeavor – the stateside side – for well over a dozen years, now. I can say there has been some progress made in a handful of leaderships. However, they represent a trickle of change when what is needed is a sea-change. Add to that the fact that the missionary endeavor is, itself, in the midst of great upheaval and the work of equipping leaders becomes even more imperative and difficult.

In spite of the shortfalls and struggles I’ve mentioned above and after decades of observation and involvement I am totally convinced that there is no agency or entity that can do the work of God’s mission in the world more appropriately than the church. It is not the church’s job, however, to simply fund the missionary endeavor. It is the church’s job to DO the missionary endeavor. But, if the leaders of the churches remain uneducated and ill-equipped for that endeavor, the mission of God will continue to suffer.