Cultural and Social Qualifications for Overseas Service (Urbana 73)

Speech Delivered at Urbana 73
by Pius Wakatama

"Any mission organization which is still sending white-only teams to work in predominately non-white situations is doing harm to the cause of Christ."

In countries of the Third World, missions were exceptionally successful in their task of evangelism and church planting. The Third World church has been founded so well upon the Rock that I am able to say, without fear of contradiction, that in many of our countries today the work would continue to grow without the presence of foreign missionaries. Under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit the church of Jesus Christ has become indigenous in these areas where a few decades ago the light of the gospel was unknown.

Because of the apparent growth of national churches, some Christians in both the Third World and the sending countries are saying that the era of foreign missions is over. They say that the time has come for missionaries and missions to withdraw from many parts of the Third World so that the national churches may find their own identity without hindrance.

This kind of thinking, I feel, is in error. Until the Lord comes, missions and missionaries will be needed not only in the Third World but in the Western countries as well.

There is, however, a need now to see missions in a different light. Because the primary task of church planting has been accomplished, many mission organizations will need to restructure to meet the new needs of indigenous churches. Those which are not amenable to restructuring may have to disappear from the scene entirely.

Along with this restructuring they will also need to recruit missionaries with new tools who will be better equipped to assist the indigenous churches in their growth. The Third World needs a new breed of missionaries - men and women with unique spiritual, social and cultural qualifications.

Qualifications: Academic Training

In the past almost any committed Christian could go overseas as a missionary without undergoing specialized training. These saints gave of themselves in service to the Lord and the result is that today millions who lived in darkness are now in the light.

Even though the missionaries did such a superb job in church planting and education they also made some errors. There was a general failure to relate Christianity to the different cultures to which they ministered. In presenting the gospel they failed to extract its essence from their own culture. The task of making disciples for Jesus Christ was often confused with that of "civilizing the primitive and savage tribes." There was a tendency to regard all things traditional as pagan and most things Western as Christian.

Much of the missionary's negative attitude toward other cultures was a result of ethnocentrism. He looked on other cultures as aberrations and his own as the norm. A factor which contributed to this is that many Americans refer to their country as a "Christian nation" and the Third World as "heathen countries." The error in this kind of thinking is self-evident.

In most cases ethnocentrism is the result of a limited educational background. It is born of sheer ignorance of the nature, meaning and function of culture. After working closely with missionaries for over fifteen years, I have observed that the broader a person's educational background the more apt he or she is to accept and see values in other cultures. I, therefore, feel that we have reached the time when, except for special cases, a liberal arts degree and/or theological training at the same level should be the minimum requirement for going overseas as a missionary.

In his book Frontiers in Mission Strategy (Moody Press, 1971), Peter Wagner differs with this kind of thinking. He feels that missionaries with educational backgrounds similar to the nationals to whom they minister will be best able to communicate effectively. He says, "That a college degree measurably helps communicate with a semi-literate peasant is a questionable assumption" (p. 61).

I feel Wagner needs either to clarify his statement or to rethink this subject because a good liberal arts background is a must for anybody who is seriously going into cross-cultural and cross-racial communication. I must insist, both on the authority of experts on cross-cultural communications and biculturalism as well as on the overwhelming expressed opinion of national leaders, that this assertion is pitifully inadequate.

I feel that this kind of thinking has been responsible for the sense of almost pathological self-contentment that is evident in missions today. It can also discourage further preparation toward good and effective Christian leadership.

Much damage has been done to traditional social structures by ignorant missionaries who have come in and sometimes needlessly disrupted social systems, in introducing Christianity, without replacing them with appropriate functional equivalents. Today many Christian colleges have become sensitive to the need to articulate communication across cultures. They are offering courses in biculturalism, cross-cultural communications, social psychology, anthropology of religions and many others. People with a grasp of the behavioral sciences, coupled with deep compassion, are the kind of missionaries we need in the Third World today. Mission organizations should require these vital subjects as prerequisites for all missionary candidates.

Missionaries home on furlough should also be encouraged to take these courses before returning to their foreign fields. Missionaries thus trained not only are able to witness more effectively to people of other cultures, but are better able to assist them in thinking out their faith in reference to their own cultural environments, thus formulating biblical theologies which are expressed in indigenous thought-forms and familiar terminology.

It is a fact that the new generation in the Third World is very degree conscious. The words of one with a few letters after his name are paid much attention and his leadership is often respected without regard to his race. A college degree will, therefore, be an invaluable asset to the missionary's ministry. The years of discipline and preparation behind those few letters may also make the difference between a communication that gets across and one that is badly blocked despite good intentions.

Qualifications: Professional Training

In the Third World, life is changing rapidly from traditional rural patterns to highly complex urban and industrial ones. Many countries, therefore, view the Western missionary in terms of his potential contribution to the development of the country. Credentials are strictly scrutinized, and those without qualifications to make them assets to the young nations are often refused visas. Those who can offer services which enhance the material and physical well-being of the people often find open doors.

I feel that the idea of self-supporting missionaries (presented so well by J. Christy Wilson in his essay) is worthy of serious consideration. Many countries which will not accept Christian mission organizations will welcome Christian teachers, doctors, engineers, scientists and technological experts of all kinds without restricting them from sharing their faith as individuals.

Many of our churches are very poor even though we are sitting on vast amounts of untapped natural resources. We need men and women with experience in business, agriculture and the trades who will get next to our laymen and share these skills with them. The success of these laymen will mean more money in the churches. This will in turn give the church a much-needed sense of pride, independence and responsibility because it will not be depending entirely on Western gifts for its ministries and projects.

Involvement

The missionary life is a demanding life. It calls for total involvement. It is not a life of idyllic and exotic adventures, as some often imagine. It makes massive spiritual, mental, psychological and physical demands which can only be born by power from on high. This is why spiritual qualifications are most important.

In the light of the fact that a missionary's work calls for total involvement, experience in such involvement becomes a necessary qualification. One must have a background of being involved first of all in one's church, then in the social and cultural life of one's community, and finally with other cultures and subcultures. This experience is vital and will in many cases determine the success or failure of a missionary.

Involvement in the Church. After I had spoken in a church in this country, a lady came up to me and told me that she had always wanted to go to Africa as a missionary but had not been able to go because of family responsibilities. When I inquired
about what she was now doing she said, "Oh, nothing much." I hope she was only being modest. Otherwise I would thank the Lord for not opening the way for her to go to Africa, for she would have done "nothing much" there.

One does not become a missionary upon arriving in a foreign land. A true missionary is first of all a missionary at home. Before the Holy Spirit said to the church at Antioch "Set apart for me Barnabas and Paul" (Acts 13:2), they were already involved in missions. It is amazing how many people think that they will be able to win Africans, Indians or Japanese to Christ when at home they have not been able to lead any of their fellow countrymen to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, some have gone without this experience, and, after several years on the field, their fruit, in terms of winning people into the kingdom, is not very significant.

Involvement in personal witnessing and in the life of one's church is an indispensable qualification for missionary work overseas. It is an indication that one has the gift and essential qualities of a missionary. Such involvement will give a person experience in church work and also expose him to group dynamics, interpersonal relationships and problems that he will likely meet on the mission field.

Involvement in Culture. The most repeated accusation leveled at missionaries today is that they fail to appreciate the cultures of people to whom they minister. There is much validity in this accusation. Because of the ethnocentrism which I touched upon earlier and a sense of superiority, some missionaries denigrate the cultures among which they work.

However, not all lack of cultural appreciation on the part of missionaries can be attributed to ethnocentrism. Much of it is the result of ignorance of the foreign culture because they have not cared to be really involved in the social and cultural lives of the communities to which they minister. Because of this ignorance, they have in their minds a concept of non-Western cultures which is the popular and negative stereotype.

Lack of cultural appreciation can be traced to a missionary's own home background. As a child he grew up in a Christian family. All his friends and close associates were Christians. When he left home, he went to a Christian college or Bible institute. After graduation he left for a foreign country as a missionary.

There was nothing in this missionary's background to prepare him for ministry in a foreign culture. He was not even prepared to work at home because he did not understand or appreciate his own culture. He was raised in an exclusive evangelical subculture, which itself is often ignorantly critical of the mainstream. On the field this type of missionary usually is happy in the mission compound where he has built a kind of "cultural ghetto" which has nothing to do with the so-called pagan culture outside.

To ignore the cultural mainstream is obviously to retard one's ministry. One cannot witness to people outside of their own cultural context. The very nature of the gospel does not lend itself to this kind of narrowness because the gospel has to do with all aspects of life, as Brother Landero has so aptly demonstrated.

Because a lack of appreciation of foreign cultures comes from one's home background, a necessary qualification for missionary work is therefore a love and appreciation of one's own culture demonstrated by involvement in it. A Christian who has a lively interest in history, economics, politics, music, art and literature will appreciate the same things in other cultures. If he cherishes his own social values and institutions, he will be more likely to respect those of others.

The multicultural nature of the United States makes it an ideal training ground for the missionary who will be communicating across cultural barriers. It offers unlimited opportunities for involvement with different cultures and subcultures, which will give invaluable experience on the foreign field.

This kind of involvement is of itself necessary for the Christian because the Lord said, "Go ye into all the world." The concept of world here goes beyond geographical areas. It includes cultural areas, too. I have difficulty believing the sincerity of a man who has no concern at all for Afro-Americans, Chicanos, Indians and Chinese here in America but who will cross oceans to love these same people in other parts of the world. The English say, "Charity begins at home."

Attitudinal Qualifications

Of all the factors which have contributed to church-mission tension in the Third World, poor attitudes have played the most prominent part. If you talk to national church leaders and ask them to state things they feel missionaries have done wrong, you will discover that most of the things they point out will be those that stem directly from missionaries' attitudes. There are definite attitudinal qualifications a missionary needs to gain credibility among nationals. Many missionaries went out without many of the qualifications I mentioned earlier but achieved a great amount of success because they had attitudes which endeared them to the national people. From personal experience, I pick out two attitudes that need special attention. One is racial attitudes and the other is the superiority complex.

Racial Attitudes. It is unfortunate but true that many who are going overseas as missionaries do not have acceptable qualifications as far as their racial attitudes are concerned. I could tell you of several incidents of blatant racism by missionaries, but I will not belabor the point.

If you are seriously considering missions, it is important that you examine your own presuppositions regarding other races and ask the Lord to give you an attitude worthy of a child of God. Any mission organization which is still sending white-only teams to work in predominately non-white situations is doing harm to the cause of Christ. Christian teams going to proclaim Christ from this country should reflect the multiracial nature of the body of Christ.

Attitude of Superiority. I can work with missionaries who have all kinds of shortcomings insofar as understanding my culture is concerned because I realize that they were not born in it. I do not understand American culture even though I have lived in this country for three years. However, I find it hard to tolerate a missionary with a superior, condescending and overbearing attitude. I have to ask for special grace from the Lord. This is indeed true of most nationals.

In missions this spirit of superiority comes out in these ways:

A paternalistic attitude that views mature nationals as being like children who need to be constantly supervised.
A lack of faith in the ability of nationals to take responsibility, especially where money is involved.
Looking on national Christians as assisting missionaries and not as serving God in their own right. The majority of missionary presentations I have seen in this country only highlight the role of the missionary. The role of the national is always that of helper, recipient or assistant. It is rarely that of equal coworker in Christ.

Identification

The key social qualification for a missionary is a willingness and ability to identify with the people he will minister to. Without this identification effective communication will not take place. By identification I am not saying that the missionary must "go native." An attempt to be like the nationals in all things will only be superficial and will be rejected. They may even think that the missionary is making a caricature of their culture.

True identification comes from accepting the national culture as it is without putting a value judgment on it. Accepting the culture and respecting it will help you to learn it and then be in a position to work for the change of certain aspects of it which may not be in conformity with the teaching of Scripture. Nationals will consider your point of view seriously if they know that you respect and understand their ways.

There are two main areas through which a missionary can identify with nationals. The first is language. This may seem so obvious as not to deserve mention, but you would be surprised at how many missionaries stop studying the language seriously soon after the required language school. The result is that their communication is bad. At the same time there are many who should be commended. They become students of our languages and subsequently lay for us superb foundations for indigenous written literatures. Because of this command of language, they are able to communicate effectively and are also readily accepted by the people.

The second area of identification is that of human relationships. A missionary must cultivate genuine human relationships with the people among whom he lives and works. He and his family should promote informal social interaction with both Christian and non-Christian nationals on a personal level. He should constantly keep in mind the fact that one is accepted in proportion to his own acceptance of others.

In order to identify, the missionary must have a personality. He must project himself as a person and not his role as a missionary. He must be recognized as a fellow human rather than as the foreigner who carries a black book and is always asking people, "Are you saved?"

Identification often entails exposing one's weakness and vulnerability. Instead of always telling nationals, "I am praying for you," he should learn to ask, "Will you pray for me?" When people know you need them they are more apt to accept you. Real relationships are reciprocal.

A strong stomach is also a necessary qualification. I know of a missionary who gained many national friends because he really enjoyed the local delicacy of green caterpillars. On the other hand, the missionary lady who became hysterical because her children ate fried white ants in an African home did not have the proper social qualifications.

Conclusion

In conclusion I would like to point out that it is good to read biographies of great missionaries of the past for inspiration. I do that myself. However, we must keep in mind that demands of their world were very different from the demands of our world today.

My prayer is that many of you will leave this great convention with a new determination to go and meet the social and cultural qualifications of a missionary, as the Spirit guides and enables you, so that you will be able with power to communicate Jesus Christ - Lord of the Universe and Hope of the World.

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Cultural and Social Qualifications for Overseas Service (Urbana 73)

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December 27-31, 2009