Note: There has been some interest in starting a discussion about traditional missionaries sent from the “Christianized” West to the “unreached heathens.” Here’s a first attempt at a post to start looking at the subject.
On my first day back in Mozambique, I’ve been plumber, carpenter and electrician. One thing I had to do was get all my 110 volt gadgets to run on 220 volts. Not only is the voltage different, but the plugs and outlets are all different. At this Bible college it’s especially confusing because it was a Mozambican Bible college built by South Africans using Malawian hardware. The result is that any new appliance needs to have its plug snipped off and rewired for the new system. Portuguese plugs fit into Malawian plugs if you stick a screwdriver in the ground hole so that the safety covers open. Thankfully, I’ve only been shocked once by 220V. It really hurt, though.
So here is the system that I finally patched together so that I could run all of my American gadgets in a South African/Malawian/Mozambican house.
So here are some things this makes me think about:
- Do American missionaries bring so much baggage that they spend all their time maintaining it rather than doing their job?
- Is this photo somehow symbolic of the conversion that the Gospel undergoes when brought in by an outsider? Here it’s Jesus’ words > Greek > American > Portuguese > Chichewa. That’s not just language but culture that is continually translated with varying degrees of accuracy.
- The direction of conversion here is adapting the local to match the foreign. Should that be our goal as missionaries?
- What ideas does this call to mind for you?
I’d write more but I have to rewire our South African kettle with a Portuguese plug so I can plug it in to a Malawian outlet and have a cup of tea.
Looking at that lash up, I have to ask: do you have marshmallows for the eventual fire?
I was born in a Christian family, went to church my whole life, but came to know the Lord through a work relation with a electrician and a car mechanic. Not because they were preaching to me, but by doing their work in a God centered way. I do not know a lot about missiology but I have committed myself to run a profitable business in Africa. I pray to God daily for his blessing on this work so that I might be a tool in his hands to reduce the spiritual and physical poverty and to build his Kingdom!
Hi there, I’ve never commented before but thought you might like to know that the wall sockets in that picture are standard UK sockets. You could cut out most of that set-up with a standard US-UK adaptor.
David, your post neatly captures the major problems with much “traditional” missions. Wilf’s approach is one great response, which “fixes” some of the issues.
There is another side to the story – an alien, if they ever get accepted and listened to, can see things differently and introduce a new perspective. One of the problems with the churches in the West is they have become so culturally powerful that they are no longer accessible to such an apostolic voice. If we had ears to hear our crass synchretism of materialism and Christianity would have been unmasked long ago…
Tim, a few years ago an alien, from Great Britian, came to our church as an evangelist, and told us we were a “bunch of dry bones”. We probably deserved it then, and even now it may be true. Needless to say he was never invited back. The western churches, immerced in all their worldly ways doesn’t like to be repremanded, so just refuses to listen. Some continue to pray that we will turn from our wicked ways, confess our sins, and follow Christ, instead of the ways of the world that seem so inviting.
Steve, to be fair to my compatriot, he probably had plenty of experience of recognising bunches of dry bones, as they are all over England in the guise of churches.
That’s great to hear, Wilf. My Dad is one of the greatest evangelists I know because he has faithfully served the Lord while working in a secular workplace. Keep in touch about your story. I’m sure we’d all like to hear more.