I’m working on an article for submission entitled Understanding How Cultures Think: A Guidebook for Ministry Partnership. The project has forced me to analyze how people from different cultures can work together more effectively. In the process I am coming to the conclusion that the role of North American missions does best when they are placed in well-defined structure. As I think about those who have succeeded in missions, versus those who have failed, one reality jumps out -- those who accomplish something generally are those who go to the field with a specific task and are placed in a work environment where they have defined role.One guy I know in India, I’ll call him Robert, has lived and worked in this country for twenty years as a teacher in biblical studies. He is no academic slouch and is often asked to speak in different schools in the country. He and his wife have raised three kids and seem to be quite fulfilled in their role. What Robert does well is teaching and mentoring future church leaders. Only in eternity will we know what his impact has been for the Gospel.
Robert is not a high profile personality. If a supporting church or donor in America is looking to get spectacular ROI (return on investment) in terms of churches planted, an orphanage started or converts won; Robert’s work will not show up on the radar screen. Yet, while I have watched others come and go with a lot of flash and cash, but not much of anything else, Robert continues to plod along, adding value to the work of the church in South Asia.
I started training missionaries back in 1989. Many of those I have trained are still on the field; a few have gone on to other things. As I think of those who have now completed 10 – 15 years of service, with a few exceptions, they are people who found their niche in working within a defined role, either as teachers, curriculum developers, tech support personnel or administrators. The few entrepreneurs that have succeeded have done so because of they produced a product that was a felt need of the church and have developed a network of national relationships to make their project successful. All of them came with clear understanding what needed to be done and what they would do.
North Americans are, and will continue to be, a strategic link in global missions. It’s important that the western churches and sending agencies recruit the right people and place them in a places or responsibility who know what they are suppose to do everyday they are on the field. We need fewer franchisers and more facilitators; people who use their skills for the advancement of the Kingdom rather than those who go the field with a new idea and pray it works.
