Authentic Status

The other day we had lunch with one of our friends. She is a very talented person, extremely gifted in organization. Recently she directed a school play, a musical on the Book of Esther. The reviews in the paper commented that it was so well done it could have been “professional” theater. Our friend is an accomplished vocalist and has been asked to direct a couple of concerts this year. She told us that when people ask her what she does she replies, “I’m a mom.”

This blog is not about motherhood or working women. I believe in both. My thoughts are about two other things, humility and status.

Unless you have spent much time in this culture you can’t really appreciate the importance of status in this society. Everyone is forever dropping names, offering their credentials, analyzing your name to determine your caste, examining your clothes to see where you rank socio-economically and even how fair your skin is to determine if you are from the north or south. Our friend has the pedigree, credentials and contacts that could really impress, if she was into that. In fact, if it wasn’t for her personality she could use all that status stuff to really be obnoxious. Instead of turning to a professional status, she says simply, “I’m a mom.”

People of this world system really don’t respect humble people. They see humility as weakness, maybe even false. I find our friend and her husband’s humility so wonderfully refreshing. Arrogance is such a trap and I feel it in my own life. I see it in others as well, who are obsessed with the things they buy or the house they live in. I know others who, in attempt to be humble, make sure everyone knows the sacrifices they are making. Our friend’s house is nice and very comfortable, but not extravagant. They dress well, but their wardrobe doesn’t scream, “Look at me.” (Actually, the husband is so laid back there may be times when he could ratchet it up a notch. But, that’s why we’re such good friends as I am a bit of a frump). Humility is a Christ-like character, as Jesus displayed humbleness from the cradle to the cross, yet He was the King.

What our friend’s have taught me is that one does not need to sell yourself to make it in this world. That is a Western capitalist free-market economy concept. My favorite verse is, “See a man [or mom] skilled their work? They will serve before kings, not serve before obscure men” (Proverbs 22:29). The Master told us the meek will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5). Good reminders…do your work well and walk with humility. You won’t have to tell others how great you are, they will know it.

Mama Njeri

Last week Jecinta passed away. It came as a shock when I received the news from her husband, Paul, that she was in a Nairobi hospital after suffering a stroke. As I write this note her body is still in the morgue and won’t be released until the hospital bill of $8,500 is paid. In Kenya, bodies left in the morgue for long periods of time is not unusual. There was a politician whose body remained in the cooler for over a year until the dispute, between his wives, was resolved on where he would be buried.

Paul Gichuki was one of the first men who became a believer in our ministry in Kenya back in 1977. He became pastor of the church nine months after it was established. A couple of years later he and Jecinta got married. We always called her Mama Njeri, after their first child, Njeri, was born.

Jecinta was not an overly friendly person. While she was always kind to my family, and me, she wasn’t warm. She would sit and laugh and engage in discussion when she did sit down to visit, but it wasn’t natural for her. I think she was always shy around us, maybe a little intimidated.

Paul has been pastor of the Makutano Baptist Church for over 25 years. A bi-vocational pastor, Paul has been a farmer, a merchant, a Bible teacher, all at the same time. He and Jecinta, who are Kikuyu, were forced out of West Pokot District a few years back because of sectarian violence. Though he now lives thirty miles away from his church, several times each week Paul makes the trip to Makutano to lead his flock.

The Gichuki’s and Lewis’s are forever linked. Our children grew up together. Paul and I pioneered the work in West Pokot together. I buried his father in 1979 after Masai cattle raiders killed him. We watched four of his six grow before we left Kenya in 1989. Pastor Paul is one of the most deeply godly men I have ever met, so it does not come as a surprise to me that he has accepted Mama Nejeri’s early home-going as the Sovereignty of God. My prayer goes out to Paul. My thanks to all of you who have helped him financially and for those who are praying for him. Jecinta will be buried May 5th.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:3).

No, He Didn't Kiss The Bride

Another wedding, another experience. This one was the sister-in-law of my lawyer friend. I figured since he soaked me for legal services the least I could do was take advantage of the reception supper. I ate as much paneer, gosh, rice, fish, and roti as I could handle, but I’m still far from making a dent in my legal bill.

A mutual friend picked us up and we arrived at the church fifteen minutes early. Even our Indian friend wasn’t certain if the service would begin at the stated time of 5:30 p.m. The family are professionals, so there was a chance they would operate in “time orientation.” However, it was no real surprise to any of us that the bride began her walk down the aisle at 6:40. It’s a law here that one must be married or buried before sundown, so by the time we got to the “I now pronounce you…” they just got under the wire.

As the pastor cited the familiar phrase, “Do you promise to love and honor..” I wondered if the bride and groom would lie? Love? This union, like ninety percent of the marriages in this country, was arranged. After the relatives made the match, this young couple perhaps had a cup of coffee together to give a quick analysis on whether their parents had made a good choice. American speed dating has nothing on this society, how about speed engagements! A quick review of educational qualifications, and her willingness to immigrate to Canada and the deal is done. When will they learn to love one another? Maybe after a year, perhaps after their first child, maybe never. But they signed a contract, so the chances of them not honoring their vows are considerably less than the emotional drip ("But, daddy, I just loooove him so much") that is in my country.

There were more video cameras at this wedding than a Bush Rose Garden press conference. They even had one guy who was panning the congregation that was then projected on a screen in the front of the church. I felt like I was at the Texas Rangers stadium and when I saw my face was on the screen I had an incredible urge to wave and yell, “Look! It’s me! Hi mom!”

After the service the bride and groom stood on the steps of the church for photographs. About ten eunuchs (transvestites) showed up, clapping and being obnoxious. They show up at all weddings to harass the guests for money. Some Hindu’s believe they have the power to bless or curse so they would rather give into their demands than beat the crap out of them. (I have low tolerance for rudeness, whether it is a he, she or "I'm not sure?").

Five and half hours later, we made it home. We left very early so I am supposing the reception went on for another four hours. My comments reflect my “time” worldview. For this culture it was an “event,” which is to be enjoyed by all. And, no, when they were pronounced husband and wife, the groom lifted her veil but did not kiss the bride.

Be Transformed

This past month I taught at the South Asian Institute for Advanced Christian Studies (SAIACS). As a consultant I work in different training environments and SAIACS asked me to teach a doctoral class in cultural anthropology. As I’ve stated before, my training focus is with the people of the future, its leadership. Eight men, most of them holding significant positions in their own denominations or non-profit organization, were in this special class.

Because of time constraints and because of the makeup of the group, I did not teach my standard course. Instead, we had a one-week workshop analyzing their organizational workplace environment. Using anthropologist Mary Douglas’ grid and group social theory model (Cultural Bias 1982), they worked to identify if their organization were franchiser, bureaucratic, hierarchical or facilitator. I was not surprised with the outcome. Seven out of the eight work in a high grid/high group hierarchical work environment. The odd man out is a guy who has his own consulting business and he, like myself, works as a low grid/low group franchiser.



At the end of the analysis the question is always, “So what? What good is it?" That’s a bottom line question for everything we do in life. It’s one thing to understand what happens, it’s entirely a different matter to know why things happen and, even more importantly, what to do with the findings. So how does this workshop help in planting churches or reaching the world with the message of Christ? It’s through, as my friend Sherwood Lingenfelter (Transforming Culture 1998) says, finding transformation principles.

Organizations are often ineffective and inefficient because they function within the boundaries of their cultural prescriptions, but they do not operate with Kingdom principles. The organizations that are hierarchical are notoriously closed to outsiders, to innovation, as well as sound discipleship principles. There are no “ideal” or “biblical” structures, though Americans are forever trying to make other cultures operate as franchiser’s or facilitator’s, because that is how they function. All work place environments need Kingdom transformation if the goal is to grow and be an effective witness.

Confused? So were my students, at the beginning. But as they grew in their understanding of how systems work, they saw how God can use them and their work place environment for greater impact when they apply the scriptural principle, “Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2,3). As a cross-cultural worker my role is not to change culture or organizations, but help people see how they, corporately and individually, can be transformed to serve Him better. My belief is that when people and work place environments are transformed, the foundation for people movements and, ultimately the transformation of a nation, are in place.

Manager Wanted

For me, management is like art. I may not know how to create a masterpiece, but I know it when I see it.

I think the worse thing a company could do is hire me as a manager. To be a manager means being someone who can organize and coordinate. A manager is someone who can take the vision and make it function. As one who can conceptualize how it should be done, I can get it started, but if it’s going to be efficient in the long haul, it will need someone who can make the pieces fit. In the thirty years I have been in ministry I have started a number of projects including church planting among tribals, non-formal training programs in the US and in other countries. But in all that time I have never managed any program beyond its initial launch. I’ve given up more titles of responsibility than you can count…pastor, head of training in Kenya, Overseas Director, Asia Director, VP of Training, all were positions I held at one time. I gave them up because I know, as an entrepreneur, how to create, but I don’t have the gifts to manage it.

Miller, in his book Barbarians to Bureaucrats. Corporate Life Cycle Strategies: Lessons from the Rise and Fall of Civilizations, identifies well the differences between a leader and a manger:

"Managers must understand the difference between leadership and management. Leadership provides the vision, values, and purpose that creates motion. Management channels the energy leadership creates."

In America, there is usually a clear line between the visionary leader and management. This is not true in India. In Asia, the leader and the manager is all-in-one. Nine times out of ten institutions (be they business or church) are a high grid/high group hierarchal structure with those at the top of the extended family calling the shots. The problem is that those who are at the top many times don’t know how to manage anything and as a result the organization does not function well. It survives only because the core group of family isn’t going anywhere (look for another job or go to a different church), but it does not grow because outsiders are not included except for what they can provide to the group.

My wife and I have been attending a fellowship in the city for over two years. We go there primarily because the pastor is a marvelous expositor of the Word. We attend church, not to have an emotional encounter, but to be spiritually fed. However, attending this church is often an exercise in frustration as the service, prior to the preaching, is an excruciating experience. The worship team doesn’t know how to lead the congregation in singing, most of the time the tech team can’t get the choruses on the overhead screen, microphones squeal, offering is a last minute scramble to find the offering baskets and ushers to pass the plate. If the pastor is out of town, which is often, the substitute speaker is woefully inadequate in his presentation. We continue to attend this fellowship because of the friendships we have built and for what it is, in spite of what it isn't. Because of our commitment to the assembly, we support its purpose, but are saddened by its loss of potential. With a little management, it could be more effective and has the prospect of having even more of an impact in the community.

Apart from this blog, which I am certain no one in the congregation will read, I would not, I cannot, give suggestions on how to do things better. Why? Because in a high grid/high group social environment it’s extremely difficult for change to take place and besides, as an outsider, I have no role.

Our local church is just one example of the how organizations operate in this country. If we went to another fellowship it would likely have the same structure. I am not suggesting that the high grid/high group structure is inherently wrong nor that the low grid structures are superior (explanation in the next blog). However, those in the West, who hope to do business or ministry in this country, need to understand that things work here based on the hierarchical (chief, extended family) system. If it works well it’s because the hierarchy possess both vision and management gifts. It’s a rare combination indeed.

Death and Resurrection

I was told I could get a really good hamburger in Bangalore. I even had a friend in the states who wrote and said it was a treat, on him! Can’t beat a deal like that. But alas, it never happened. The reason, Raj Kumar passed away and the whole city shut down, even the five star hotels where I was to go for my treasured beef between the bun.

Rajkumar was an old time movie star from the area, a poor kid who made it big on the silver screen. As many of you know, India makes more movies, I think an average of three a day, than any place in the world. Bollywood (from Bombay) stars are not just admired, they are worshipped, and so it was with Mr. Rajkumar. The day he died until they buried (not cremated) him the next day, there were riots in the street with over 100 vehicles burned and at least eight people killed.

We were in Kenya when we heard that Elvis died. An American friend of ours cried that day in 1977, and was in mourning for a period of time after that. Even today, Graceland is visited by thousands each year. I would suppose that some even pray at the grave of Elvis as it is some kind of a spiritual experience. In this country, where almost everything can be considered a diety, Rajkumar's death was, for some, a loss of a demigod. The riots, in reality, was more political than anything else, giving people a reason to vent their frustrations at the local government.

I didn’t mind not getting my hamburger, it wasn’t that important. I am saddened, however, with the misplaced devotion of people to a man who, like us, was just human. Yesterday, Christians around the world remembered the Son of Man who was like no other who has ever lived on this earth, and His death 2,000 years ago. Sunday, we will remember again that He conquered death and rose from the grave. To those who have put their faith in Him, we, too, will one day live again. Our hope is not in a movie star, a prophet or guru, our hope remains in Christ.

Spiritual DNA

This week my wife and I are in Bangalore. It’s a nice break from Delhi, though surprisingly the temperature here is the same as in the north. In spite of the summer heat, the one thing that we revel in is the quiet of the campus. We can actually hear birds singing and when they sleep through the night, there is not a sound.

Everyone needs physical refreshment. Though this setting is not a resort and I still have to teach six hours each day, it’s a time where the change of scenery is as welcome as a day on the beach. We end our day with an evening walk, perhaps watch a movie on our computer, or just read. Sandy found a delightful autobiography of Essie Summers and we are now both trying to finish it before the end of the week. Essie, married to a minister, was a romance fiction writer and, from what I read by searching for her on Google, was quite well known. As a guy, who has not, nor ever will read a romance novel, of course I’ve never heard of her. My interest in her is the life she lived as a writer in New Zealand in the ‘50’s until her death in 1998.

My thoughts are on all the people who have graced this earth in the nearly sixty years since I arrived; the people who once lived, who shared this planet with me for a brief period of time; for those who are now gone or who presently share this globe with me who are in physical and spiritual formation. As The Preacher writes in Proverbs, "man’s days are like a shadow, like a vapor." And yet, within this brief moment we call life, God is touching the lives of people who will touch the lives of others, maybe even my own. I believe heaven will be fascinating, as we will have eternity to map our spiritual DNA. That person who lived a thousand years ago who, whether peasant of king, gave birth to a witness who, over the centuries, lived and gave witness to another, which eventually led to that event in a little Baptist Church in Gardena, California where I accepted Christ as my Savior.

Our lives are unique and not, as the Hindu believe, a repeat of a former life. My creation was no accident, as the humanist would suppose. Created for Him, my arrival into the Kingdom will be due to those that preceded me. Who are these people that not only shared this planet with me, but whose existence had direct impact on mine? When time is no more I will learn that my spiritual “kin” were noble and ignoble, rich as well as poor, righteous as well as wicked. My spiritual lineage will be much more interesting than my family lineage, I am certain. I look forward to meeting those who lived their lives in submission to Christ and because of their faithfulness they had eternal significance on my soul. I pray that I, too, will have such significance and perhaps in eternity someone will come up to me and reveal that my presence on earth was a link to their salvation. Could there be a greater reward?

Organizational Failure

Last December (12/22 post) I predicted that Jimmy would quit the team. I learned this past week that, indeed, Jimmy and his wife were on their way home after only four months on the field. I have little first hand knowledge of the details, but I’ve been around long enough to read the tea leaves.

Jimmy and Joline (obviously not their real names) were setup to fail. They had their first child three months before their arrival and, because they are first time parents in their early 40’s, this miracle child became the center of their world. Nothing wrong with that, every parent should feel their family is the most valued possession God has given them. Jimmy wanted to wait for another few months to come over, but the organization insisted they get to their field immediatley. They arrived at the worse possible time of the year as the weather is atrocious in December. They had to immediately find an apartment, buy furniture and enter language school. All the time Joline is hating every minute, probably hating Jimmy for dragging her to a place she did not want to be. It’s my guess that it isn’t this country that’s the problem, any field would have been every bit as unacceptable.

Jimmy and Joline will now go to counseling for a month to assess their situation. After a month they will make their decision on whether to return or not. I’m not a prophet nor a counselor, but my guess is that the therapist will suggest they not return. I am certain counseling will be helpful, but the counseling is partly a face-saving measure for J and J, but mostly for the organization ("we did everything to help them"), before they resign.

I got into the business of training people for overseas work because of people like Jimmy and Joline, so I am obviously interested in the why people who do not make it on the field. I do not believe this couple are victims and they indeed bear some of the responsibility for leaving the field. Before they moved here they had made a short-term visit and seemed excited to live here, though I doubt that Joline was as excited about it as was Jimmy. After the baby was born everything changed, and this is where I believe the organization failed this couple.

When situations change it’s important for all parties to recognize it and be honest. J and J probably should have been asked to reevaluate their “calling” when they found out that Joline was pregnant. If J and J insisted they still wanted to be fielded, the organization should have done one of two things. One would have been to say to them they would not be fielded for another six months to a year. This is what J and J wanted, but they were denied. The other option would have been just to tell them that their situation had changed so much they would not be fielded. This is tougher, but someone needs to have the courage to say no to people rather than try to hope for the best.

Discernment is a rare gift. An even greater gift is having discernment and then making the hard decisions. Jimmy and Joline had little chance of succeeding on the field, the leadership knew it before they got on the plane.

My guess is that, in time, J and J will be fine once they get back to the states and settle into the surroundings they are both comfortable with. They will for years carry the stigma of a couple who raised a lot of money to get to the field but didn’t last. I’m sorry for that, because it didn’t have to happen. Some people are just not cut out to live overseas. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. The greater issue is the process of their failure. I hope the organization will not scapegoat this incident and take a hard look on how to do things better, for the sake of people, for the sake of Christ and His work.

Book Review

I finished reading The Namesake while in Chennai on a teaching assignment. About the only time I can read a novel is when I am on the road. To read non-fiction at any other time seems to be a violation of time stewardship.

Sandy, my wife, who is a ferocious reader, consumed the first 75 pages before I left town. She said the character wasn’t interesting and she couldn’t get into it. Our friend Sharmila, who read it while in Japan, also said she didn’t care for the book as the author, Jhumpa Lahiri, was too detailed which distracted from the story. With “two thumbs down” you’d think I would have abandoned the project, but hey, I was going to be alone in my room for two weeks with nothing else to do, so why not?

As a student of culture, I enjoyed The Namesake. It’s a story about a Bengali family from Calcutta who moves to the U.S. in the ‘50’s and the struggles they faced as new immigrants. The main character is Gogol, their son, who was given this “good name” at birth. It was only meant to be a pet name until their grandmother in India sent his real name. That name was somehow lost crossing the Atlantic and the boy lives with Gogol until he is old enough to change it himself. The name Gogol is neither Indian nor American, but Russian, named after Nikolay Gogol (1809-1852), the Russian novelist, dramatist, satirist, founder of the so-called critical realism in Russian literature.

Lahiri’s book was interesting as it gives insights on how people from India cope with living overseas. They, like all immigrants, usually group together in ethnic coalitions rather than integrate into the larger society. This is still very much the practice today with most immigrants, especially with Indians who are more group oriented than individualistic American's living overseas. I found the main character, though hardly endearing, a fascinating study of “third culture kids” (TCK). Indian on the outside, mostly American on the inside, Gogol, like all TCK’s, struggles to find his true identity. Had the story continued, Gogol’s children would probably have embraced the culture of their grandparents, wanting to identify with their “roots.”

I have not read enough Indian novels to make judgment, but the few I have read all leave me thinking about one word…fatalism. Fatalism permeates the Hindu worldview. Why do peasants accept their life with resignation? It’s fate, there is nothing one can do about it. Why does the caste system, where a persons lot in life is predetermined, continue to prevail in this society? Their belief in dharma, that all creation must adhere to a sense of obligation and must fulfill his role in society, even as an outcast, somehow makes the pain of life bearable, though meaningless. As I read the last lines of this novel it left me neither happy nor sad, neither gratified nor disappointed. It just ended -- like life.

For an outsider wanting to learn the inner workings of culture, The Namesake is worth the read. If you’re looking for a Bollywood ending, I suggest you buy a copy of Hum Tum on DVD.

Justification of Role

Every one justifies what they do. So, when my friend asked me last week in Serbia if I believed the day of North American missionary was over, my answer was probably self-serving. There is no question that what I did thirty years ago in Kenya isn’t what I would do today. Yet, there are many people still going to Kenya, and other places in the world, doing ministry that the national church should, and indeed are doing. I’m not sure there is any place in the world, where there is a strong Christian presence, that requires Americans to be involved in hands-on church planting. My self-serving belief is that Westerners should only be going to the field to be a resource for the national church. To be a good resource one should have the gifts and expertise to add value for what God is already doing throughout the world.

“The problem I see,” I continued, “is that mission organizations continue to send people to the field to either do pioneer work or as facilitators for the national church though they have no gifts in those areas of need.”

“If that’s, true,” he asked, “Why do agencies continue to send them?”

“It’s a combination of things. First, and foremost, the American church wants to be involved in global outreach. This is right and noble, even if it’s not always effective. Secondly, [admittedly a more sinister and uncharitable opinion] it’s an economic issue,” I replied. “With each support dollar a missionary raises the organization siphons off between 12 to 25 cents. Missions has become a business. Mission organizations don’t recruit people for a task; they recruit them to be a part of the grand scheme of world evangelization whether they have gifts for the task or not. If people were recruited for a specialized task, half of those on the field would have to come home. But everyone feels their job is essential because everyone justifies what they do.”

While this is true of faith organizations, which rely on field people for their operating budget, it is no less true of large organizations that have salaried personnel. I’m always amazed with those denominations that have tons of money but don’t seem to be any more effective than the mom-and-pop groups. I’ve met some of these salaried people who are as lost on what they should be doing as the independent franchisers.

If we recruited people for a task two things would happen. First, those serving overseas will be people with special and proven skills. Whether that skill is helping in organizational management, teaching (specialized subjects) or assisting in social development programs (micro-business enterprises, facilitating global English-medium based projects, etc.), a focused task skill will always be in demand. The numbers for such people are significant, though not enormous, which leads to the second development for task (purpose) driven missions – fewer people on the field and the death of many missionary-sending agencies.

Will there come a time when there will never be a role for Western missionaries? No. Because we are a part of the Body of Christ worldwide, we will always have a function. And, our role should certainly be more than just funding nationals. But to serve as an essential component of the Body, we need to continue to define what is our greatest contribution. Those of us who understand our role will always have a part to play, but then again, everyone justifies what they do.