Perhaps the most popular project for churches and
individuals in missions is social work.
These acts of goodness come in the form of feeding programs, orphanages,
medical work, agricultural projects and a whole host of niche projects such as
rescuing women from the sex trade, outreach to AIDS victims and seasonal
projects for earthquake victims, tsunami’s and hurricane relief.
Working in the semi-nomadic region of Kenya the people we
worked with (Pokot and Turkana) were always on the verge of disaster. Depending on their cattle and goats for
their livelihood, if there were a drought year people suffered hunger and
disease. The Turkana have a saying, “The stomach
has no ears,” which translates…”If I am hungry I cannot listen to
anything.” To turn a blind eye to
the suffering of the people and just preach to them would be of no benefit and
would indeed be against the very gospel we proclaim – “If anyone has material
possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how
can the love of God be that person?” (1 John 3:17).
On the other side of the issue, Jesus was well aware that
many came to him, not to receive salvation but not healing. “Jesus replied, "I tell you the
truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the
miraculous signs” (John 6:26 NLT).
“Rice Christians” have been a concern for career missionaries for
centuries. The tension continues
between wanting to help people in desperate situations yet at the same time not
using food, clothing, medical assistance, care for widows or children as a tool
to draw people to church or baptism.
The role of the local church mission team is to be (1)
educated on missionary social work and (2) discerning as the team becomes more
knowledgeable of missionary social work.
Your missions team should function very much like a charitable
foundation that gives millions of dollars to good causes. When a foundation receives a request
for funds they put the effort, or do-diligence, to make sure the funds are used
efficiently and those who receive money have a track record of integrity. Charitable foundations do not grant
monies based on emotion.
Missionary social work is attractive because Christian
people, for the most part, are compassionate and caring people. Who isn’t inspired with a Mother Teresa
helping the poorest of the poor, or who is not willing to fill a shoebox full
of toys for needy kids all over the world? But social work also is trendy and, in some cases, often
abused. Orphanage ministries in
Africa and India can be legitimate, or it can be just a source of foreign
revenue for the national organization.
It is the task of the mission team to do do-diligence to make sure they
are legitimate. Feeding the poor
is noble, but does our charity help or hurt (recommended reading, “When Helping
Hurts” by Steve Corbett
& Brian Fikkert)?
Social work is, in some ways, the easiest work of missions. Starting a school for children, a work
program for widows, digging wells (all good stuff) is more rewarding than
trying to establish a church among the Hindus or Muslims. During the severe drought in northern
Kenya and Ethiopia one missionary related to me that he could raise thousands
of dollars to feed the starving but no one was interested in helping him finish
the church building.
In discerning need, it is important that the mission team find
balance. There is certainly are
worthy social work that must be done to demonstrate the love of Christ. At the same time there are 3.6 billion
people in this world who have never met a Christian. In every missionary endeavor the prevailing goal should be,
how do we reach those have not yet heard of His grace?
