012 Finley, They Can Finish The Job

THEY CAN FINISH THE JOB Dr. Bob Finley, Chairman and CEO of Christian Aid Half a century ago, one outstanding advocate of foreign missions was the network broadcaster and eminent Bible expositor, Donald Grey Barnhouse. In 1952 he journeyed around the world to visit missionaries and mission stations. Upon his return he shocked evangelical audiences across the country with a startling prediction: "Within 20 years there will be no further need for American missionaries serving overseas as they have in the past."

Native missionaries are more effective After hearing him say these things I went to him privately to ask what had so radically altered his thinking. He told me that in every place he visited in Asia and Africa he saw that local Christian workers were much more effective than foreign missionaries in reaching their people for Christ. He was astounded by Donald Grey Barnhouse the sheer numbers of native missionaries which were being raised up by the Spirit of God, and told me that if the pace continued there would be no further need for us to send Americans overseas. Seven years later I was present when Bakht Singh of India spoke at the church of which Dr. Barnhouse was pastor, Tenth Presbyterian in Philadelphia. This great leader, from a Sikh family in Punjab, had come to Canada as an engineering student in the 1930’s and turned to Christ in Winnipeg. Since returning to India, he and his disciples planted over a thousand churches among Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims. When asked about American missionaries, Bakht Singh flatly stated, "They are no longer needed in India."

Bakht Singh

When I last visited Bakht Singhs home base in Hyderabad I saw over 100 native missionaries being trained for service, in addition to other hundreds who had already gone out. Few of them had regular financial support. The cost of sending one American missionary family overseas for language study would have provided full support for at least 50 of these Indian citizens. And any one of them, already knowing their This article was downloaded from

Missionsandmoney.eu

culture and languages, would be ten times more effective for the kingdom of God than any foreigner could ever be in that country.

Hundreds of thousands of new believers have been won to Christ by native missionaries since all foreign workers were put out of their countries.

But I fear that Dr. Barnhouse underestimated the possibility of changing our cherished church traditions. Now, half a century later, a billion dollars of God’s money is still being consumed each year on perpetuating the colonial tradition of sending Americans overseas as resident missionaries.

And all the while some 300,000 native missionaries in poorer countries are out on their respective fields with little or no support.

The poverty of native missionaries •

Thousands of them walk hundreds of miles under the broiling sun because they don’t have 50 cents to buy a ride on a bus or truck.

•

The work of tens of thousands of them could be greatly increased if they had $75 to buy a bicycle, or a motorbike for $850.

•

When they go out, many native missionaries leave their families in one or two room huts with no furniture, no glass or even screens in the windows, no refrigerators, no running water hence no bath rooms and with about a dollar a day to purchase food for the family.

The need for change in the way we do missionary work is long overdue. Failure to do so is a tragic misuse of God’s money. We must phase out the costly tradition (which has no Biblical basis) of sending Americans overseas and redirect our resources to helping the indigenous missionary ministries which our Lord has raised up in every country.

Most native missionaries live in mud huts like this one with dirt floors, thatch roofs and no windows.

This article was downloaded from

Missionsandmoney.eu

Appreciating missionaries of former centuries However, when we speak of the need for change, we must be careful to pay tribute to faithful servants of Christ in past centuries. Take India for example.

Native missionaries are much more effective than foreigners in reaching their people for Christ.

Thousands of foreign missionaries served on the India field during the days of British rule. Beginning with William Carey in 1792, they put the Word of God into 16 major languages of that country. Today, India believers are deeply grateful for the contributions made to the cause of Christ in their culture by those early pioneers.

Nevertheless, when Gandhi came with the independence movement, foreign missionaries were seen as part and parcel of colonial rule. While the average Indian family lived in one room and slept on a dirt floor with no furniture, missionary homes were generally two-story brick houses with six to eight rooms. Mission compounds were surrounded by concrete walls with iron spikes or broken glass bottles along the top. Most missionary families had five or six servants. Almost all had a car, and some had two. From the Indian point of view they were fabulously rich. So how could they teach, "Love your neighbor as yourself?" Or, "Deny yourself, take up your cross, and be crucified with Christ." We misrepresented our Lord, "who though He was rich yet for our sakes became poor." Mercifully, when independence came in 1947, all foreign missionaries were excluded from the largest conglomeration of unreached people groups (1600 tribes and nations within the sub-continent) on this planet. It took 30 years and the rise of a new missionaries supported by Christian Aid trek high generation for unpleasant memories to Native into the mountains, taking Christ to isolated tribes living in homes like this one in the Andes of Peru. fade. The "foreign invaders," identified with colonial rule and projecting an image diverse from the Christ they represented, cast a shadow that took many years to overcome.

This article was downloaded from

Missionsandmoney.eu

But healing came, as gifted Indian Christians like Bakht Singh, Sadhu Joseph, P.M. Samuel, K.E. Abraham, P.J. Thomas and a host of others lived simply and proclaimed the gospel without it being identified with Europeans.

Hundreds of thousands added to the Lord Crowds of 25,000 became commonplace at evangelistic meetings. Open air conventions began to draw 50,000 delegates to sleep on the ground, Indian style, at night. Hundreds of thousands were added to the Lord—often more in one month than in 100 years while the foreigners were there.

A church was planted in this village by native missionaries supported by Christian Aid. It is located at high altitude in the Himalaya mountains of Nepal.

Just as surely as God used the pioneers who went there a century ago, there came a time when the best thing for the cause of Christ was for all foreigners to leave. The same could be said regarding China, Burma, Cuba and many other places. The job can be finished by tens of thousands of native missionaries whom God has raised up all over the world.

One example of how God uses native missionaries can be seen in the isolated Himalayan mountain kingdom of Nepal. That country of 24 million Hindus and Buddhists has never openly admitted foreign missionaries. But many Nepalese found Christ while away from home through indigenous ministries such as that of Bakht Singh in India. With help from Christian Aid they went back to Nepal and planted churches among their own people. Since 1960 the number of believers there has grown to over 500,000 and includes some from each of more than 60 different tribes and nations in that country.

Foreign presence has negative impact About 1000 Americans are there as "tentmakers." In order to raise support, they call themselves "missionaries" here at home. But to the Nepalese government they deny it. In order to gain admittance, they sign a statement saying they will only do "social work" and won’t "propagate their religion" while in Nepal. Yet Nepalese missionaries have gone to prison, suffered beatings, and been put out of their homes because they openly witness for Christ.

This article was downloaded from

Missionsandmoney.eu

Christian leaders in Nepal have said that the presence of these "rich foreigners" is having a devastating effect on the Christian young people in their country. While their parents counted the cost and paid the price, young people are being tempted to compromise their faith in order to More than 50,000 new missionaries are being trained at escape persecution. And since one hundreds of Bible Institutes supported by Christian Aid. American receives more support than 100 Nepalese missionaries combined, the presence of foreigners breeds covetousness among Nepalese youth. Finally, a group of Nepali Christian leaders adopted a petition asking all foreign "tentmaker" missionaries to please leave their country. Can we blame them? So the question arises, is there any "mission field" country where it is better to spend a fortune sending Americans rather than to redirect God’s money toward the support of indigenous missions which are already there? The only excuse I can think of for sending Americans overseas might be a case like Bruce Olsen who went as a single man and lived with the Motilone tribe in South America. He didn’t even have a suitcase. In fact, he lay dying along the trail when the Motilones picked him up and nursed him back to life. It was a great discovery to them when, months later, they learned of salvation and eternal life in Christ from him. One misconception is that Americans should go out to teach or train God’s servants in poorer countries. It’s based on a colonial attitude: "We are superior, they are inferior." Look at Vietnamese refugee children in American schools. They are usually at the head of the class. Asians and Africans are not inferior to Europeans. They can do the training much more effectively than we can. The last thing they need is for some (comparatively) rich person to come over there and cast a shadow in their midst.

Better to send support than to send people American Christians who wish to further the cause of Christ in poorer countries should accept our God given responsibility to be stewards of the Lord’s treasury. Instead of consuming His resources on the costly tradition of sending Americans overseas, we should rather redirect those funds to the many thousands of indigenous ministries which He has raised up in every country, including those where American missionaries are not allowed.

This article was downloaded from

Missionsandmoney.eu

One outstanding leader, whose ministry Christian Aid began helping in 1960, was the great Zulu apostle, Nicholas Bhengu. His mission planted thousands of new churches among over 100 tribes and nations in southern Africa. While speaking at the missionary conference we sponsored in Washington 34 years ago he said, "Just give us the tools, and by God’s grace we will finish the job."

For more information, please visit the website of Christian Aid: http://www.christianaid.org

This article was downloaded from

Missionsandmoney.eu