Life Changing Experience! Really?

A couple of weeks ago my wife and I were invited to a luncheon to share our ministry.  In highlighting our work among non-western missionaries, one dear lady made the comment that she believed that working with nationals was THE best way to do missions today.  She repeated the mantra that for $1,000 a month they could support 100 nationals (not sure any place in the world people can live on $10 a month), whereas supporting one American missionary family would be four times that amount. 

I tried to reel in the discussion with a reminder that (a) there is still a need for North American missionary involvement, though admittedly not as crucial as 100 years ago and, (b) supporting nationals is not THE only mission strategy, as it has its problems if it hurts the local national church in their supporting mission outreach and if the national missionary is not trained to serve cross-culturally.

On reflection, what interested in me in the discussion was how myopic we are when it comes discussing mission strategy and especially finances.  This congregation was part of sending out about 10 college students for “mission work,” this past summer.  In hearing their report, as far as I could tell, none of them intended to make missions a career.  Though they did good stuff while they were overseas, I don’t think their presence made an eternal impact on the culture, though no doubt they may have had eternal impact on those they met.  And, BTW, how much did they each spend on their six--week excursion?  

In their testimonial report almost each one said, “It was a life-changing experience!”  Though it is said by every short-termer, sometimes through tears, who is confronted with the reality of poverty around the world, I always want to jump up and ask, “How will it change your life?”  Some suggestions.

1. Commit to giving each year to cross-cultural missions at least, if not more, the same amount of dollars that was spent on your six week experience.  After all, where your heart is, and since it has been changed, so will be your treasure.

2. Change your profession.  If the short-term experience was life changing then I am assuming the least one can do is make a commitment to leave home culture, learn language and, like the Apostle Paul, be willing to suffer the consequences of a life transforming experience.

While the lunch discussion was fascinating, what was not discussed was even more crucial.  While supporting nationals was deemed efficient, the effectiveness of short-term work was never mentioned, even though it is a life-changing program.

Resource for Leadership

This past week I started working through organizing my office.  In the process I have been sorting and throwing away past notes of meetings I have attended over the years.  I was surprised how many notes on leadership I have accumulated.  Staff meetings on leadership, seminars on leadership and so many book on the subject of leadership with titles such as Servant Leadership, Good To Great, On Becoming a Leader, Leadership is an Art, and many more.  As I looked at some of the notes of past leadership meetings, I am a bit embarrassed by those of us in "leadership" positions, by our attitude of self-importance and distinct lack of humility.  Americans are obsessed with leadership themes.  I've noticed that one of the most popular subjects pastors teach on short-term mission trips is on leadership, as though the rest of the world can gain insights on how to do things effectively. 

In the midst of my week a book arrives.  As I thumb through the pages I am confronted with ANOTHER leadership book, but it is very different. 

In the Presence of the Poor, is the story about a professor of geology, an awarding winning scientist, a former Communist sympathizer who, in his early years was troubled with one question, “Why did God make so many poor people?”  It’s a book about a man who used his profession to rectify the plight of those most in need. The expert of rocks and soil retires from the formal halls of academia to establish a structure for micro-enterprise, which the government endorses as a model to help those 80% of the population living on less than $2 a day.  Quietly fighting injustice, he and his wife empower poor village women and the outcaste with literacy programs and self-help income projects.  Returning to the foundation of his grandfather and father, the professor turns from the ideology politics to the One who understood the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized and the spiritually penniless.  Forever the instructor, he builds a campus that teaches and trains bi-vocational men and women to take the Good News to those who have never heard the Name of Christ, along with the practical occupational skills to help lift people out of poverty.

Though not meant to be a book on leadership, that is exactly what the story of Dr. B.E. Vijayam is all about.  Admittedly, I am biased about this story as I’ve been privileged to work with TENT for the past five years.  As good as the book is, (and Kay Strom is to be commended for her fine work) it still doesn’t quite capture the spirit of one of the most humble and genuinely good people I have met in India (and I have met and worked with many).  “Uncle” Vijayam is one of the most unassuming, godly, truly genuine leaders I’ve met. Prof. Vijayam and his wife, “Auntie” Mary, have instilled in their children and staff the core value of prayer and integrity that is rare in this age of self-promotion and organizational marketing. 

(J. Samuel, Vijayam, Lewis, Sunil)

If you want another good book on leadership, get this one.  You will be glad you did.

Resource for Short-Term Mission

If you’ve been reading my stuff for very long you know that I have a dim view of short-term mission (STM) trips. But, then again, if you’ve been reading my stuff consistently you know that I have a dim view of many things missions, including career missionaries who have no cultural training, those who have no real clue of what it means to have a strategy of missions, nationals who are as clueless about taking the Gospel cross-culturally as those from the west, and people who make a living doing “feel good” ministries among people who already have access to the Gospel while 89% of 3.6 billion people in this world do not personally know a Christian. Part of my negative slant is to counter the glowing hype by people who are either marginally involved in missions, missionaries who merely follow trends and, especially, those who have never lived overseas yet somehow believe STM is God’s Divine plan for American involvement for the 21st century.

But hold on, if you remain committed to this blog you also know that I am not totally against STM, that I do believe there is still a vital role for career American missionaries, that I am committed to training non-Western missionaries in how to cross cultural divides and mobilizing the church to see beyond the four walls of their local congregation to that 89% that doesn’t personally know a Christ-follower.

In my attempt to find “balance,” in matters of missions, I lean heavily on the insights of others. Recently I have been asked to speak to a STM group as part of their pre-STM training. Kudo’s, first of all, to the pastor who makes such an attempt to do STM right. To help temper my bias on STM I read David Livermore’s book, Serving With Eyes Wide Open: Doing Short-Term Missions with Cultural Intelligence. Livermore’s book does not address all the issues of STM, but touches many bases on what a STM group should be thinking about.
Some interesting sub-titles in this book include: “Missions Should Be Fun,” “They Don’t Fly Planes in India When It Rains,” “Just Stick to the Bible and You Can’t Go Wrong,” and “Stop Petting the Poor.”

It’s estimated that as many as 4 million Americans are involved in STM annually (one of the reasons I hate to fly overseas May through August). The American church now spends as much on STM as they do on supporting career missionaries and, in many churches, their STM program is their MAIN missionary outreach.

Get a copy of Livermore’s book and I invite you to share other good books you’ve read on STM.

Mormon Missionaries and Missions

I saw them, white shirts, black ties, black nametags and back packs, on my left as I walked through the park for my evening exercise.  I didn’t think much about them until I heard them call after me as I was going down the hill.

“Hi,” the very early 20’s something redhead said to me, sticking out to shake my hand, “I’m Elder Brown and this is Elder Jones.”

“You look awfully young to be an elder,” I replied as I noticed this kid didn’t even have peach fuzz on his face. 

“Yeah, well, that’s just our title,” he admitted.

For the next twenty minutes I indulged them as we exchanged our pedigrees.  One of them was from Utah (big surprise) the other from Washington.  Elder Brown had been in the area for about six months; Elder Jones was new, but was sent to the area to work with the Hispanics in the area as he was given an intensive Spanish class before his assignment. 

I told them that I, too, was a missionary, a Baptist, who worked with evangelical colleges and seminaries around the world.  I asked them if they knew what an evangelical was and they said, no, they never heard the term before.  I also told them that I had a friend in college who use to be a Reformed LDS.  Though the RLDS church broke from the Utah Mormons 150 years ago, these kids have never heard of them. Strange, I thought.

Our meeting was cordial.  I actually liked these young men, but had no desire to engage in a theological discussion.  As I started to leave Elder Brown said that if I had any questions about their church they would be happy to talk with me.  I politely declined and continued on my way.

What struck me about my conversations with these two adolescent “elders,” was how similar they were with most evangelical missionaries I teach around the world.  I knew a whole lot more about the LDS than they knew about me or my faith.  They, like so many zealots, have an agenda to deliver their message, follow their talking points, refute common arguments, but have no clue, or interest, about those they talk to.  

In my class I spend considerable time on epistemology, i.e., the science of knowledge – How do you know what you know and how do you know what you know is right?  If LDS missionaries are successful in gaining converts it’s because they capitalize on the ignorance of cultural Catholics, Baptists or any other person who has a cultural faith.  These two young men are truly cultural Mormons.  They believe what they believe, not because they are convinced, but because it’s all they have ever known. 

As I continued my walk I thought, again, of the words of our Lord, who said that in the last day He will tell many, “I never knew you,” even though they said they worked on His behalf (Matthew 7: 21-23).  God deliver me, and those I teach, from serving Him through my own cultural blindness.  May I be convinced, not because of a cultural bias, but through the constant challenge of knowing what I know through intellectual and spiritual growth.  

Third Culture Kids

They are sometimes called TCKs, which means Third Culture Kids. They are children who grow up in a different country than the place of their citizenship…fully, though not complete Americans, but certainly not the place of their residence, though they identify strongly to that cultural environment. Placed in “no-mans-land,” they create a type of third culture, their own, among their peers.

I have been reminded these past two months of this unique group of kids as my grandchildren and daughter from Senegal have been staying with us this summer. It’s been deja vu as I see the 6 and 3-year-old play and my mind goes back in time to our two daughters who grew up in Kenya. TCK’s now raising TCKs. What goes around comes around, as the old saying goes.



Missions is so much more than just unreached people groups, the study of culture, national leadership, raising support – the “X’s” and “O’s” or scorecard of ministry. Missions is also about having a decent place to live, how best to educate your kids, staying in touch with family back home; attached but not obsessed with parents, friends and siblings we leave behind. Living overseas for an extended period of time is not like short-term missions where the most crucial thing in their lives is do they have enough snack food to carry them through their 14 day excursion. Missions is about being uprooted, displaced and forever a “foreigner.” Even twenty years after the kids grow up and no longer under the protection of their parents, TCKs, in some ways, continue to define their identity.

As my TCK and her TCKs get ready to return to Africa I have a better appreciation for my parents who had to go through the emotional rollercoaster of the high’s of seeing your children get off the airplane to the low’s of saying goodbye to them at the gate. What’s unique about missionaries is that, though separation is still difficult, it is a part of our lives – it comes with the territory of serving Christ overseas. And, in the broader sense, aren’t all of God’s kids TCKs? Not really a citizen here, not yet a citizen there. Our existence is merely a pilgrimage until time is no more. Then, finally, we will be home, all His TCKs.

Kenya Missionary Training

Training Kenya missionaries for cross-cultural work was very successful. To review the report and links for more video clips, CLICK HERE.