Home Again

We arrived back in Florida safely on Friday.  Thank you, Lord, for safety in travel, and for what you have done in us, to us, for us, and with us on this trip.

Giving Charity Without Destroying Dignity

There has been a reawakening in American churches to the command of Jesus to help the poor. Best-selling books have shined the light of truth on the darkness of our materialism and self-indulgence. We have been reminded that God's heart hurts for the poor. We have been reminded that we have a responsibility to share the good news of redemption in Jesus with all the world.  For that I am grateful.

In our eagerness to be obedient to Jesus, we have not always acted with wisdom. Throughout Africa, as in most third world countries, western Christians and aid groups have responded to poverty and its debilitating consequences with open-hearted generosity. But because of the way we have often responded, there have been very serious unintended consequences. For decades now we have conditioned people in the third world to expect handouts from missionaries and aid groups. The popularity of short term mission trips has created a revolving door of reinforcement of these unintended negative consequences.

Unintended Consequences

1. When aid is constantly handed out free, initiative is stifled. We recognize that with our own children and in our own society. It's also true of people in third world countries. We make it very difficult for them to take initiative to meet their own needs or better their own situations when we keep handing them free goods.
2. Local economies are weakened. Local merchants, manufacturers and farmers are put out of business when free aid is made available in a local area. There are many stories that need to be told from Haiti, Africa and other places of small family businesses being ruined because they cannot compete with free goods.
3. Christians cannot be taught to trust God to meet their needs and at the same time to know that the “rich” American missionaries will meet their needs. It is too common in the churches here, that when asked what their needs are, to be told they need bicycles, grinding mills, Bibles, preachers' salaries, motorcycles, and other material things. They have been trained by experience to expect American missionaries to pay for those things. In the meantime, they have the money (many times) for cell phones and other things that have a high priority to them.
4. Dignity is destroyed. Over the past 40 years, the west has replaced colonialism with patronage. The result is the same. The dignity and self-respect of local people are weakened. We often talk about “partnering” with a third world church or community. Partnership is a good thing, but true partnership is not possible between two vastly unequal parties. It will always be a partnership of patronage.
5. A relationship of dependency is created. Once created, dependency is hard to stop. But it can be done through God's help with sensitivity, wisdom and patience.
6. Emotional ownership is stifled. This message has been conveyed many times - “your church (or school) has a leak in the roof. When are you going to come fix it?” Emotional ownership belongs to the one who plans, builds, finances and controls a project. Emotional ownership is a large part of the answer to restoring dignity and ending dependency. We must take the slow, messy road of allowing local people to assess their own needs, inventory their assets, plan their own solutions, and finance and control the operations. They will then “own” the undertaking emotionally, and that's essential for long term advancement.

Thoughts on Poverty

1. Poverty is relative. Our American (western) mindset informs us that if they do not live on our standard, they are poor. Many times they do not know they are poor, until we start giving them things.
2. Poverty does not mean they are ignorant or inferior. Our unspoken assumption is often that if they were as smart as we are they wouldn't be so poor.
3. Poverty is not the root of the problem. Spiritual darkness is the problem. Witchcraft, ancestor worship, and idolatry of all sorts plunge people into spiritual darkness and lead to physical suffering and poverty. In reality, the dichotomy of earth-life into spiritual and physical is a western notion – not a Biblical distinction. The promise of God is that if we live lives focused on Him and His kingdom, He will supply our needs.

There are times when we in the west need to respond. Natural disasters and wars often create crisis situations that need our immediate and generous help. But even then, we need to tread carefully, working as a support resource behind local leadership.

There is also a place for subsidizing Bibles and such. But even Bibles should not be given away free, as a rule. In all cultures, things that are free have no value. It feels wonderful to give Bibles away free to poor people, but in the long term we do them a favor by teaching them to place value on owning a Bible. Our dollars are better spent subsidizing the cost of the Bibles so that the price is within reach.

I am not proposing that it is never appropriate to help the poor in third world countries. I am not saying that Americans should just stay home and not try to help. I am saying that we need to look hard at proposed projects and mission trips to try to avoid unintended consequences. We need to learn better how to do short term missions without doing long term damage. We need to take the time to read good books that explore the problems and solutions in detail.

Further Reading

There are many books on the subjects of charity and missions and the problems of dignity and dependency.   Below are a few good ones:  

When Charity Destroys Dignity - Overcoming Unhealthy Dependency in the Christian Movement by Glenn J Schwartz, World Mission Associates, 600-C Eden Road, Lancaster, PA 17601, ISBN: 978-0-9669735- 4-9. www.wmausa.org

Roots and Remedies of the Dependency Syndrome in World Missions by Dr. Robert Reese, William Carey Library, ISBN 9780878080137


When helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor...and Yourself, by Brian Fikkert, Steve Corbett and John Perkins, Moody Publishers, ISBN 978-0802457059


End of the Spear, by Steve Saint, SaltRiver, ISBN 978-0842384889

For a good example of a project that fights poverty while building dignity and self-reliance, see my blog post for November 3, Hope in Struggle Against Dependency.

Pray for wisdom in how to be generous, and God will direct you. Does any man lack wisdom? Let him ask God, who gives to all men generously.

Trip to Visit Rural Churches, Part 4

Thursday October 27, 2011


Up before daylight. We were served boiled sweet potatoes for breakfast, with hot sugar water to drink. Walked down the hill to see the Zambezi River. It is a very large river, beginning in Congo, down through Zambia and thenturning east and forming the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Finally it cuts across Mozambique and and continues east into the Indian Ocean. Just before we drove off, we called together those who were there (mostly women) and read Joshua 1:8-9.

Drove to the next river and crossed over by ferry. On to Caia, arriving about 1 PM. They were waiting for us. We were supposed to be with them all day Wednesday, but Pedro kept adding churches to our schedule earlier in the week. They sang a couple of songs, I spoke for about 10 minutes using 1 Corinthians 15:58, then Dionisio apologized profusely for the brevity of the stop – told them that Pedro had stolen their time, and we would be back another time to see them. As we were pulling out, they came running after us and said to please wait, they wanted to give us a gift. A man disappeared, and came back a minute later with a chicken (live). So we made the trip home with an extra passenger in the car!

Left about 2 PM, and 300km later we arrived home, about 7:30 PM, after seven days, seven churches, two leadership conferences, and eleven sermons each.

Trip to Visit Rural Churches, Part 3

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Up at first light to sound of children, men and women. Bathed, broke camp, then drove to the Shire (She Ree) River to see canoes that act as taxies on the river. The canoes are made from a single hollowed log, about 25' long, with walls about 30” high when standing inside. We thought we had come down to the river to cross over to visit the church, but not so. They just pointed out to us the direction of the church across the river. Back to the church for breakfast of rice porridge with sugar, a short parting meeting, then down the “road” about 25 km to another church. Greeted with children and women singing “you have arrived.”

First stop today was Kangazira. It began as a Reformed Church, but the preacher stopped preaching one year when there was a food shortage. Pedro visited the area and encouraged him (the preacher) to keep preaching, to no avail. Pedro encouraged another man (from Church of Christ) to preach there, along with his (Pedro's) visits. It is now, by Pedro's account, a strong church of about 50.

We all 3 preached. By the time I spoke (3^rd) it was incredibly hot, people were tired, and maybe I wasn't connecting too well. Pedro told me to wrap it up, so I did. They served us lunch of Coke and cookies, then down the road 5 km to the next church at Cherembwe.

Cherembwe - Had about 30+ present. HOT! HOT! Always greeted with singing. When we arrived, they seemed listless (I was too, in that heat!). Service began about 11:30 am. The Senna people sing with clapping, tin-can shakers, a drum, dancing, and occasional trilling. (These are churches started by preachers trained by acappela church of Christ missionaries.) Most songs are 4-40 songs – 4 words repeated 40 times (or more). When they like something you say, they shout out “amen, amen, amen, amen.”

Once they started singing they got very animated and listened to the lessons very attentively. There are always lots of children. This church had very few men; maybe because they were working. Children follow you everywhere and watch every move. In this church (we didn't see this anywhere else) when they prayed, one man started the prayer, then everybody began praying together out loud, then quieted down and the leader finished the prayer.

I spoke 1^st this time. 1 Corinthians 12, one body, then Ephesians 5, one flesh in marriage. Dionisio went 2^nd and followed up on my lesson with lots of applications of love your spouse, don't let Satan come into your house; pray; obey.

We were served another lunch of Coke and cookies, then they brought rice and chicken. It was the toughest chicken I have ever had, I think (until the next time we had chicken).

This area has lots of coconut palms, palmettos, bananas, lots of mangoes, papaya, neem, kapok, and other types of palms. They use the palmetto bark for rope and the stems for construction. They use palm trunks for rafters.

Problems in the Cherembwe church – no Bibles, no transportation, frequent floods, and often no food (because of the floods). They asked for our prayers. (They live in the flood plain of a large river. The government has repeatedly asked them to move and offered to give them new lands. When it does flood - every few years, the government evacuates them by helicopter, puts them into camps and gives them food. Why would they want to move?)

Pedro translates 3 times at every stop. He is very energetic and animated. He has a strong, commanding preaching voice. There was a missionary in this area before Jacob who paid Pedro a salary and helped him with purchasing things like a bicycle. Jacob will not do those things. He (Pedro) can be manipulative and can't always be taken at his word. Jacob started a cattle project at the Cherembwe church, which was progressing pretty well. One day Pedro called (the church is in his area) and said the cattle had been stolen. Dionisio (who works closely with Jacob) called the local police and inquired. They looked into it and reported back that the cattle were not stolen and were just fine, and that Pedro had intended to sell the cattle to buy himself a motorcycle.

Dionisio is very personable. When he preaches he stands straight as an arrow and goes right to the point. He is animated, authoritative, uses lots of illustrations and examples(necessary for Africans). His delivery is excellent, and his content is very Biblical and relevant. He is an evangelist who has attended Bible college, started a number of new churches, and is now Jacob & Jaynie's farm manager. In addition to having started a new church on the farm, for which he preaches, he also travels with Jacob when he visits rural churches, functioning as liason and fellow preacher.

Jacob speaks softly and invitingly. He is a good teacher, and knows how to make it very relevant to the Africans. He has been in Mozambique for 21 years now, after spending 16 in Zimbabwe. He preaches in Portuguese.

3^rd Stop – Kasana. 25 – 30 people. Jacob spoke on David and Goliath. He asked them what their giants were, and got no response (that's common). He asked them about AIDS, malaria, poverty and transportation and they responded to each one with a resounding Yes. I spoke on Elisha and his servant when Elisha prayed that God would open his eyes to see the horses and chariots of fire all around – He that is in you is stronger than he that is in the world.

Treated to more Coke and cookies. They always bring unopened bottles of Coke, but seldom have a bottle opener. They generally use their teeth. Jacob carries one with him.

4^th stop – arrived after dark at Chapepa. I spoke about 10 minutes on our hope for eternal life when there will be no disease, death or problems. Dionisio then spoke on Job 2 and encouraged them to build latrines. Jacob did not speak. Set up the Jesus Film. About 9:30, when the film was finished the first time, they fed us dinner of cheema and stewed chicken with tomato and onion. Washed off and to bed about 10:30 while they watched the Jesus Film a second time.

They told us their problems are no Bibles, and no money to buy zinc panels for the roof of the church building. Jacob responded that they have money to buy cell phones and bicycles, and that zinc is much hotter than thatch, and that some very large, expensive buildings have thatched roofs. That's not what they wanted to hear.


I mentioned above that there are always lots of children. There is no birth control for the general population, and women have no voice in the home. AIDS is rampant here, as are malaria and other diseases. The life expectancy in Mozambique is no more than 45. Consequently, one sees lots of young children (many of whom die before adulthood) and a lot of young/ mid-life adults, but very few older people.
Life is hard here. Pray for your brothers and sisters in Mozambique.

Hope in Struggle Against Dependency

Wednesday November 2, 2011

Got up to leave the house by 6:45, but had to change a flat tire first – one of the ones that went flat on our trip to Tete. Still got away before 7:00. Went to Lars' house in Chimoio, picked up 4 high school students visiting from Sweden along with a local brother, and then 50km to Msika to visit a Savings Club. (The local brother promotes, organizes and trains Savings Clubs over a wide part of central Mozambique. He is an employee of Alfalit, (http://english.alfalit.org/) an international ministry working to eliminate human suffering caused by illiteracy. Lars is also a part of Alfalit.) 

The Savings Clubs are locally promoted, organized and operated. They promote self-reliance and independence within the cultural context of community life. They are usually composed of women, many of whom are widows, although some groups allow men to participate. The men usually do not want to participate – they are not focused or disciplined enough to stay with it. 

When the group is formed, the women each deposit with the group whatever money they can afford to put into savings. They elect a president, a secretary, a treasurer and two controllers. They money goes into a metal box with three padlocks. The treasurer and controllers each have a key to one lock. The treasurer keeps the box. The secretary keeps the records. The controllers and treasurer together add or remove money from the box at the weekly meetings. 

The group meets each week and each person adds money to her account as able. Anyone in the group who needs a loan can borrow from the saved money. (The loan can be for any reason – business, death in family, sickness, to repair the house, or anything else.) The loan comes due in six months, with 10% interest. If they cannot repay when due, they have one month grace. Because of social pressure, there is virtually no chance of default. After one year one can take her money out and leave the group, but seldom would someone want to leave.

Each group is community based. To be admitted to the group a person must be voted on and accepted by the group as being of good repute, diligent and honorable. Some groups require that a person be recommended by her church; some do not have that requirement. 

When the groups meet each week, they also have literacy class, with teachers provided by the government. With literacy among Mozambiquan women at about 35%, this is a welcomed opportunity for the women. The group teaches money management skills, literacy, provides peer support, and opens opportunities (especially for the widows) that they would never have otherwise. (Literacy alone opens new worlds for these women.)

The group we visited has been in operation for two years. These women were among the poorest in their community when each of them joined the group, but this year, from their savings, they bought building materials, hired masons and carpenters, and built themselves a nice building to meet in (about 20' x 40'). They share the building with the community as a community center. 

Perhaps the most valuable lesson they learn is self-reliance (within the African context of community – American individualism is frowned upon). They come to the group with only pennies to their names and no hope of a better life, and within a couple of years have learned that by putting their resources together they can better themselves and the lives of their families. They gain confidence and hope, and give the glory to God.

Trip to Visit Rural Churches, Part 2

Sunday October 23, 2011
Bathed, broke camp and left at 6:30 am. Six and a half hours of bad road (210 km of dirt). Got to church in Tete as they were taking the Lord's Supper. On the way Mica (the regular preacher) asked me to preach, on the subject of giving. Started the lesson with God as giver because of his love, with application to us imitating God.

Tete is HOT! (It sits in a river valley shaped like a bowl.) Ate lunch at a Lebanese cafe – roasted chicken and french fries. 300 km to Mutarara. 200 of it on really bad dirt road (some dirt roads are not that bad). We had two flat tires – at the same time, and only one spare. We changed one tire, and Dionisio took off running down the road – we were in the middle of nowhere. A couple of kilometers down the road he found some people, and about 45 minutes later here he came on the back of a bicycle, with a bicycle pump. We pumped up the 2^nd tire and prayed we would make it to the next town (35 km away). We arrived there about dark, roused the local tire repairman (he had a hammer and a couple of crowbars, and some patching material) and 3 hours later we were on our way.

Arrived 11 pm in Mutarara (supposed to have arrived for evening service), to about 100 children and adults singing in Senna “Welcome missionary friends, you have arrived.” They escorted us the last mile to the preachers house, showering us with bougainvillea flower petals and singing all the while. Jacob set up the Jesus Film, which finished about 1:30 am. They served us dinner (around midnight) of rice, millet and fish. The only light in the house was one small flashlight mounted on the ceiling rafters.



Monday October 24, 2011
Woke up to sound of kids. Bathed, broke camp and packed car. They served us breakfast of bread (rolls), scrambled eggs and tea. Sweating like a pig! 8:30 am.

Drove 26 km from Mutarara to Bompoma (not a town – just the name of the rural area where the church is located. Same with all the stops today. In each place, the church building is located on the property of either the preacher or one of the members, who served as our hosts.) Greeted with singing. Preached on 1 Cor 12 – one body, many members, then Matthew 20 and Philippians 2 on serving one another. Jacob translated into Portuguese then Pedro into Senna. Jacob interpreted my intent as needed while he translated, then Pedro elaborated as he felt led, so I don't know what they really heard! Seemed to be well received. About 60 people present, with 3 pastors from other churches. The evening service had about 200 in attendance.

After a long lunch break, we had another session (from about 4 – 5:30 pm). Jacob and Dionisio preached. One of the things Jacob talked about was how to study the Bible. (My question is, how do you study the Bible when very few people have Bibles, and most cannot read? My suggestion was that they spend time in their assemblies letting the congregation memorize passages as they are read.) After dark, they watched the Jesus Film – two times. To bed about 10:30. The wind had been blowing hard all afternoon and evening. There is no grass around here – just plowed fields and dirt. It was like being in a dust storm until sometime during the night, when the wind died down.

Lunch was rice and goat parts (organs). I ate the liver, because I could identify it. Dinner – cheema (she ma) and goat parts. Because it was dark I figured what I couldn't see wouldn't hurt me, so I don't know what I ate.

Story of the Bompoma church – a preacher in the Union of the Harvest Church in another area had a strong disagreement with his church leaders, who began to persecute him. He left the area, went to Mutarara, and met Pedro, who encouraged him to go to Bompoma and start a church. Began with two people a couple of years ago. Now they have 60+ members.

One thing I have observed is that people are the same everywhere. We have the same needs, the same underlying problems, the same fears, and the good news of Jesus meets the deepest needs of us all.

Trip to Visit Rural Churches, Part 1

Friday October 21, 2011

Left early with Jacob and Dionisio for a trip to Tete Province to visit churches and leaders conferences. 350 km to Tete. About 10 hrs of driving, with a stop in Tete city to pick up 3 more people. Drove another 200km into the bush to Furankungo, Makanga district, where about 30 people from the churches were waiting for us. Arrived just before dark. We set up our tents, then walked about a mile into town to present ourselves with some of the leaders to the police, to let them know who we are and what we are up to. Then dinner of cheema (corn meal mush), and Jacob set up his 12” TV on top of the car and showed the Jesus Film in Chechewa to about 100 people gathered. Before it was over I was asleep. 2 hour film – done about 11 pm.


Saturday Oct 22, 2011

Before daylight was even a thought I began to hear people talking outside the tent. As soon as it was light, before the sun was up, the sounds of women, children, pots being scrapped made staying in the sleeping bag useless and made me curious about what was going on outside.
Jacob reminded me that when greeting someone, one's proximity to the ground is an indication of respect. When I was seated and a man introduced himself, I should have remained seated, letting him be higher than me. This morning the same man (who speaks English) called his wife over to introduce her to me. She came over and quickly fell to her knees in front of me to greet me.
Languages here – Chechewa and Portuguese, and lots of English, because of the proximity to Malawi. Greeting in Chechewa - “ma de banja.”
Breakfast of bread and tea. They did a roll call of the churches and each came to get their breakfast as called.
This conference was for the leaders of 38 churches of Christ (acapella because of influence and evangelization from Malawi) in this district. Evangelists, who plant churches, evangelize and train up churches until elders are appointed (by the churches). Sometimes there are problems with an evangelist who does the appointing and tries to keep control of the churches in his sphere of influence. One such evangelist was at the conference, and because of his dominant personality is a real problem to the churches around Tete (city) and to the other evangelists.
Breakfast started about 7 am. Singing at 8 am. The schedule was for 2 speakers in the morning, 2 in the afternoon, two at night, then Q&A beginning at 10 pm. Being the visitor, I spoke first in the AM . Spoke from Matthew 20 – the greatest is the servant, and Philippians 2 – Jesus as our example of servanthood. Then Q&A – how do you deal with pastors who lord it over the churches? Are they really pastors? I referenced David and Saul, and also 3 John.
The program got pushed back in the afternoon, with dinner at about 7 pm, (cheema, peas, greens and stewed dried fish (whole little fish). Watched the Jesus Film again, and started teaching again about 10 pm. I preached first again.
I had planned to talk about elders from 1 Peter 5, but they asked me to talk about family. Started with Genesis 1, then Ephesians 5, with references to servanthood (from my morning lesson). The only thing I could see was the flashlight in my eyes. Asked for questions at the end and got a lot of questions about divorce, adultery and polygamy, and how to deal with these things in the church and among pastors. (Such as, if a woman comes to church who is wife in a polygamist marriage, do we receive her? If a man and woman divorce because of ones unfaithfulness, both remarry, then both new couples want to come to church, do we receive them?
After speaking, I went to bed. They had Q&A till about 1 am, with the main topic being the role of women (the question was asked by one of the women). Women have been taught to be quiet in church (but it's ok for them to sing). After much discussion, the consensus was that women could speak, but not exercise authority. Another topic discussed was whether a polygamist pastor is really a pastor. Another – if a person is arrested (presumably for no good reason), how should he respond.
Jacob will ask questions during these discussions, but is careful not to give answers. It is important for them to reach their own conclusions. If the missionary gives his answer, they would accept it and not think it through for themselves.
When I preached here, it was translated from English to Chechewa. When Jacob and Dionisio preached, they preached in Portuguese, with translation to Chechewa. When Dionisio preached, Jacob translated that to English for me. Jacob uses simple language (in Portuguese) and goes slow, so I could generally understand what he was saying.
The leaders expressed their problems to us. They were:

1. Lack of trained teachers and study materials.
   
2. Economics – the Church of Christ (meaning – the missionaries) does not provide money (US $) for them to build church buildings, and no salaries for preachers.
   
3. Poverty of the people (reference #2).
   
4. From 1994 – 2000 there were not many churches, and growth was limited by the talent of the preachers. Preachers did not encourage others to grow and learn to preach. (Reference #1)
   
5. Division over singing during the Lord's Supper.
   
6. In Malawi we had one preacher per district who was appointed by and supported by the missionaries. We need support from the missionaries.
   
7. The long distances preachers must travel to meet together. (Most came by bicycle, some 30 or more miles.)
   
8. Disagreements over doctrine. We need more missionary help to train more preachers (meaning – to tell us the answers).
   
9. Too large an area to evangelize. Preachers cannot get around to all the churches. They have to choose between farming to feed their families and preaching. (Meaning – we want the missionaries to support us and buy us motorcycles.)
   
10. (Women's input) Lack of women's teachers and leaders. Distance between villages.
    
    Sadly, they see many (most?) of their problems as being rooted in the need for more US dollars and more missionary intervention.  With all good intentions, the missionaries have been building dependency upon American missionaries rather than on God for over 100 years now.  Breaking dependencies is very difficult for any of us, but it can be done, with wisdom and patience.  But there are still many mission groups and aid organizations feeding the dependencies in the third world, which makes the job all the more difficult.  No one has evil intentions, and the problem is complex.  There will be more on this in coming posts.
    
    Pray for your brothers and sisters in Mozambique.  Life is hard for them, and Satan is very active.