A “ONE SIDED” CHURCH

The argument by many is that it’s cheaper and more effective to send local missionaries because they have “home field advantage.” Despite this logic, the church has proven to be most effective as a multicultural body harmoniously working together. I learned talking to international leaders and partners that some of the best-trained missionaries come from the West, while other nations offer various strengths of their own.

There are all kinds of historic and cultural animosities (i.e., Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs of India; the Sunni and Shiite Muslims of the Middle East; the Hutus and Tutsis of Rwanda, among others) that foreign missionaries have been able to transcend that local missionaries have not. Finally, there remain unreached peoples who don’t have local Christians to reach them. The key is multicultural partnership.

Dr. Jim Raymo – Doctorate in Global & Contextual Leadership from Bethel Seminary and over 20 years of experience working with global missional leaders.

AN OUT-NUMBERED WORLD

There shouldn’t be any debate over Western missionaries going overseas. Sometimes Christians argue that there are enough missionaries abroad and that the US needs to be evangelized. There is no denying that the US needs to be reached. However, the US contains about 300 million people compared to over 7 billion people globally. How can we justify just keeping all our own people at home when the need is so great overseas?

There are Western missionaries all over the world, including friends that we are supporting in Brazil, that are making a significant impact on the field. Why stop sending Western missionaries when God is clearly still working in and through them?

Dr. Ed Dudek – Doctorate of Ministry and Intercultural Studies from Bethany International University (Singapore) and 18 years of field experience in cross-cultural missions in Brazil.

A COLD HEART

The Bible says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart is also.” I would say further that your heart follows where your children go. If the West does not send their people they will lack understanding and lose a personal connection to God’s heart for the world and how He is working in missions. When we see our friends and family go on the mission field, it quickens our burden, passion, and urgency to be engaged in missions. I’ve heard it said, “We focus on the good and give up the best.” If we only give our money we will lose sight of the best – the people that are being impacted and changed.

Dr. Randy Dirks – Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies from Trinity International University and six years of field experience in cross-cultural missions.

 

This article is from the Fall 2018 Issue of coMission Magazine.