From The
Mission Field

Throughout the years, different missionaries have tried various approaches to accomplish the task of evangelizing foreign fields. The question of how much American missionaries should do for local Christians and congregations has always been in the minds of thoughtful missionaries. Though I have not lived in a mission field, I have worked for short periods of time in about a dozen different mission fields and through many years of preaching and teaching I have gained further insight into missionary work and various approaches or methods of doing it.

As one with limited field experience, but at the same time a lot of preaching experience, I would like to share with you some of the advantages I see in using what is commonly called "the indigenous approach" to mission work.

The dictionary defines indigenous as "originating in the region or country where found; native." Basically, this approach says that from the beginning of our mission work, we teach, train, and expect the local people to be self-supporting, not only financially, but in carrying on the work of the Lord. The practical aspect of this philosophy says, "As an American missionary, I will preach and teach, and furnish you with materials with which you can preach and teach, but I will not use American dollars to build your church buildings or support your local preachers."

We Americans tend to think that the rest of the world operates just like we do, but this is not true. If they do not live like us, we think they should, and this philosophy carries over into our mission work. We have a tendency to think that foreign Christians need to be like us in terms of having a church building, a paid preacher, and the same schedule of services that we follow. Because of this mistaken concept, we have done a lot of "Americanizing" instead of "Christianizing." I am not speaking of matters of faith, for in this regard they must be just like us. I am speaking of matters of opinion. In matters of faith, we must all be the same, but not in matters of opinion. Some of our "Americanizing" is because of our compassionate spirit,

Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.
Mark 16:15

which sees people in Third World countries very poor in material goods. We want to bring our converts up to the living standards of the United States. We do not seem to understand that they do not have to live on our economic standard to be Christians. They need to learn to live on the level of other folks in their own nation.

We compound the problem when we put local preachers on the American payroll. Because they are poor, many want to become preachers simply because of the support they can get. When this happens, their fellow citizens will resent them. American support generally allows a native preacher to live on a much higher standard than his countrymen. This causes them to regard the preacher on American support as "being paid to be a Christian." This creates what are known as rice-Christians. Rice-Christians remain Christians as long as they are supported, but when the support stops, they stop going to church.

Another problem of American support is that the local church served by the native evangelist has no control over him. The preacher can do as he wishes, work as, and when, he wants to, and has to answer to no one. Even having an American missionary on the field who oversees native preachers on his payroll does not really eliminate the problem. This approach is called "the paternalistic method" for good reason. It makes the American missionary the "father." He provides everything. He controls everything ultimately, and this gives him far more power than he ought to have.

Christians in Third World nations do not have to have our kind of church buildings with their padded pews. They do not have to have a full-time paid "minister" to keep them happy. They should erect a building that suits their culture and economy. If they want a preacher, they should employ one and pay him according to their standard of income. They might even be

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