An atheist’s viewpoint on God and missionaries

I must have had twenty or thirty emails from friends over the past few weeks, encouraging me to read an article which was published in the Times on 27 December 2008, where an atheist, who had grown up in Malawi, shared his viewpoint on the role of missionaries and Christians in Africa. Matthew Parris writes columns for the Times. If you are one of the few who haven’t read this article yet, here is the link: “As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God.”
What he writes is truly amazing – not so much because it is strange, but because I think it must be difficult for an atheist to admit this. After 45 years of being out of Malawi (or Nyassaland as it was formerly known), he returned to the country and found that the real positive changes in the country had happened through the intervention of Christians. He writes: “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.”
Actually, this is how it should be. If Christians become a light for the world, then they have no option other than to make a difference in the community. But Matthew doesn’t stop at the aid given by the church. He recognises that faith itself, made a difference, not only to the missionaries, but also to the people. Listen to what he observed, as a child, about the Christians: “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.” Wow! Isn’t that a great testimony of what God can do in the lives of people who allow Him to become their Lord!
Mr Parris made another observation, which I have long felt myself but which most people would consider politically incorrect to say. Western people seem to have the idea that traditional tribal values in Africa are correct and above critique. (I find this irritating habit in many Hollywood movies where some Chinese guru constantly has all the wisdom available and never makes any mistake, never becomes angry, never does anything wrong!) What Matthew saw was that traditional tribal values has many flaws. Traditional tribal values bind people. It is only when Christ becomes a reality within a community that true liberation can take place. Which, of course, is exactly what is written in John 8:36: “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
I have one question to ask Mr Parris: Is the reason perhaps why you have become an atheist, while living in the Western world, because you have seen so little of true Christianity in our world?

When a missionary’s support falls away

Probably one of the most traumatic experiences a missionary can face, is to be informed that his or her support is going to be terminated. It is my guess that this will be happening again as the impact of the global financial crisis starts having greater effect on the income of missionary organisations and churches. Over the past week or so, I’ve received three messages from missionaries or mission support organisations, all mentioning that dark days may be lying ahead. Things like a global financial crisis or a depression are more or less out of the control of the church. I was reading a post today of someone who described how their church had kept on sharing their funds in spite of severely hard times that they went through. People who make faith decisions like this need to be honoured. It is also understandable that individuals who had supported missionaries in the past, may now be faced with the harsh reality that they need to decide whether they will continue with their support or not.
I do not know of a single missions organisation that do not need financial support. Long distances that need to be travelled, the harsh circumstances under which most missionaries are working amongst people who more often than not are themselves barely surviving, the lack of proper schooling, sicknesses and many other issues have the result that finances are needed to support those who are working as missionaries. When it comes to the point of support, I can think of a few things which need to be kept in mind if the work has to continue over an extended period of time.
First of all I think that it is not wise for one individual or one organisation to fund a missions project on their own. Supporters lose interest. Financial circumstances change. A variety of things may occur which makes it impossible for the individual or the organisation to continue with their support. What happens if the supporter dies unexpectedly? What happens if the supporter’s source of income falls away? If a potential supporter is convinced that a missions project is from God, then they need to discuss it with other partners and get them to invest financially in the project in order to establish some form of sustainable support.
Secondly, new projects need to be considered prayerfully and not emotionally. Now, this works both ways. I’ve seen many a project being started due to the convincing arguments given by a missionary. But if such a project is from God and the supporters are truly living in a relationship with God, then God himself can convince the supporters to fund the project. Gather people together to hear whether the new project is really from God. But the argument also has another side to it. I’ve seen many a missions project stopped because the supporters or supporting organisation used equally emotional arguments why the project could not be started. Sometimes a new project has to be started as a leap of faith. As long as we are convinced that it is what God wants us to do, we need not fear to take the next step.
Thirdly, supporters need to realise that they are working with people’s security when they make decisions about support. I once attended a meeting in advisory capacity where the future support of missionaries working in Asia was discussed. The congregation was not going through a particularly tough time, but they did need to do some renovations to their own property. They then suggested that the missionary’s support be cut by 50%. I had trouble to control myself, asking the meeting where they wanted the missionary and his family to cut on their own budget. Their rent was fixed. Water and electricity was fixed. School fees for the children were fixed. The only place where they could cut, was on their monthly groceries. By cutting their subsidy, this family was effectively being told to eat less if they wanted to remain in Asia. The sad news is that the cut was approved. The good news is that individuals then started supporting the family with even more than the reduction in the subsidy.
Financial support for missions is an extremely sensitive issue. I am aware that some missionaries misuse funds. But on the whole, most of them are stretching the funds to cover much more than would ever be possible on the home front. Whether you want to start supporting a missionary or whether you are starting to feel the pinch and considering to withdraw your support, don’t do it without seriously praying about this and discussing options with Christian friends you trust.

Leading, Reading or Feeding

Jason Jaggard wrote a very interesting article which I recommend that you read yourself. It has the title: Stop Learning.
Two weeks ago I was invited to preach in a certain church and I started my sermon on Isaiah 58:1-12 with an illustration which I had heard from Rev John Thomas, a pastor at the Fish Hoek Baptist Church close to Cape Town in South Africa, who is doing absolutely amazing work in his community. The illustration goes that this man was visiting a restaurant, looking at the menu, discussing the ingredients of each dish, calculating the calories of each dish, considering which wine would best complement the dish, but never ordering any food. (In my sermon I elaborated on this illustration, making myself the subject of the story.) John calls this: “Menu Study!”
I then applied this illustration to the way in which many people see the church. The come to church to hear a good sermon. They attend cell groups to be fed spiritually. They attend Bible Studies to learn more about the Word. At home they are constantly reading spiritual books. Some even reach the point where they enroll in a course in Greek in order to understand Greek grammar. But a great number of our regular church goers (could it be the majority?) never step out in faith to do something for God. They are so busy doing Menu Study that they never get to eat the good food.
And this is why Jason’s post was so exciting to read. The theme of his post fits in nicely with the theme of my sermon. Church members, in general, do not need to be fed. They need to be led! They don’t need to read more spiritual books. They need to find a place where they can make a difference within the Kingdom of God. The sad thing is that more and more church members who are realising this, either leave the church and live out their Christianity outside the church (in my mind a bad thing to do) or they move over to another church where they can be challenged to make a difference. And the churches where the leaders have been satisfied to feed the flock and to give them more books to read, are left with those people who find the meaning in their spiritual life in just being fed.
Earlier this morning I had a long telephone conversation with a friend of mine who is busy organising an AIDS conference where he wants me to speak about possible ways in which the church can get involved in this pandemic. As we discussed the nitty-gritty of the conference, I asked him about the potential audience and what their attitude is towards AIDS. Although the audience comes from a very large community in South Africa which is especially hard-hit by the effects of AIDS, I was told that many of their pastors still want nothing to do with AIDS, believing that it is caused by immoral women. (Apparently the men have no blame in the spreading of this disease.)
Can it be possible for a pastor to find fulfilment in knowing, at the end of his or her career, that they had spent thirty or forty years merely feeding the flock? And will that pastor’s successor continue for another thirty or forty years, doing the same? I absolutely agree with Jason that church members need to be challenged to move out of the church building to do something for God.
John Thomas, at a recent conference, told the story of a certain man who arrived at the church just a few minutes before the end. As he went inside, he whispered to someone: “Is the service over?” To which the other person replied: “The sermon has been preached, but the service has yet to start!”

The Church and Communitas

I’m wondering what it is that makes some books “readable” while you struggle through others. I’ve been busy with Alan Hirsch’s book, The Forgotten Ways, for ages. It’s good. He really challenges many popular beliefs in church. But I just can’t sit down and finish the book.
I’ve been reading his chapter on Communitas yesterday and today. I’m not sure whether he has a specific definition for the term (he describes ot more than defining it), but it boils down to the fact that the early church was forever stretching itself through it’s involvement in the community. Communitas happens when a group of people are united around a vision or a mission where they want to make a difference. It happens during short-term mission outreaches, where a group of people leave their comfort zone and spend time in situations which they are not used to. It also happens in times of tragedy (he uses the examples of 9/11 and the tsunami) where people are united in a common cause to help others.
This is all a bit philosophical, but what he says is that this attitude is (and has always been) normative for the church of Christ. But somewhere along the line we lost it. I was in a meeting some time ago where a pastor of a church tried to make me understand that not all people are gifted towards caring for others and reaching out in love towards those in need. Obviously I don’t agree. Some people are especially gifted towards serving others. I know people like this, who are forever looking for ways in which they can help others. (I don’t like them – they make me feel guilty!) But the church cannot shrug its shoulders when confronted by the tragedies surrounding us.
If we want to make Hirsch’s term practical and relevant, then it means that the church has to have a vision for the world’s needs, whatever it may be. In the majority of churches I know, the church exists for its members and pastors are there to entertain the church members on a Sunday morning. Someone used the argument some time ago: I work long hours everyday and I don’t need to be reminded on a Sunday that I need to do even more. On a Sunday I want to relax in church!
Hirsch was in trouble for saying that the church needs to exist for the world. But he believes, and I believe, that the church only finds it’s true meaning once we move outside the walls of the church into the community, bringing the love of Christ, in whatever way is necessary, into that community.

Facing up to the AIDS situation in Swaziland

I started working again this week, after a few weeks of rest. At a conference hosted by HEARD, which I attended last year at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, I was privileged to meet Prof Robin Root, associate professor at the Baruch College in New York, in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. She has been working on the topic of the role of faith-based organisations in the fight against AIDS in Swaziland for some years. After we met in Durban, I invited her to come and visit our home-based care project in Swaziland, which she did, and at the moment she is back in Swaziland to continue her research. Not only has she been interviewing the coordinators of the different home-based care groups (twelve at the moment), but she has also been visiting some of the clients who are being supported by our caregivers.
So this was a long introduction to speak about a situation we came across on Thursday. Before we entered the home, the specific caregiver working at the homestead warned us that the client is in a bad shape. Oh boy! Nothing could have prepared us for what we saw. This man was lying on a very thin mattress on the floor with the most grotesque sores on his feet imaginable. (I’ve seen something similar before and a doctor told me that it was most probably Kaposi’s sarcoma, a type of skin cancer caused by the herpes virus.) What does one say to a person in this situation. He cannot walk, because the huge tumours are covering the soles of both his feet. He has been taken to a rural clinic for blood tests to try and determine the cause of the tumours, but the clinic either lost the blood sample or they lost the report (I’m not sure which). He lives in a house without running water and without electricity. As we sat with him, he was using a rag to try and chase the flies away from his feet! Furthermore, he is living in severe pain, but the local clinic was only able to give him the weakest form of pain killers available in Swaziland.
As we left, I said to Robin that we should try and imagine a similar situation in the USA. Had anything like this happened there, the patient would have been hospitalised. He would have received medication. Most probably the tumours would have been surgically removed. Once he returned home, he would have had access to medication which would at least have kept the symptoms under control. Physiotherapy, occupational therapy and whatever else was prescribed by the doctors would have been available to assist this person to lead as normal a life as possible.
But in Swaziland this will not happen. At the moment he has no other future, except to wait for his inevitable death.