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Humility: The Starting Point |
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During the month of November
members of the Word Made Flesh team share reflections on partnership and
challenge us to move beyond our current understanding of what it means to be
partners with one another to the glory of God and for the advancement of the
Gospel in word and deed.
 Sitting in a meeting in our hotel’s
conference room outside of Kathmandu,
Nepal, I found
myself distracted and disengaged. A wave of anxiety, the afterbirth of the
release of that odious phrase dominant
culture, had crept up and smothered me. These two words, uttered just
moments before, were reverberating like an obstinate pinball through the
alleyways of my mind. And though the air continued to buzz with discussion and
thought on the role of North Americans in the mission of Word Made Flesh, I
remained silent, held prisoner by my worry. This
is me. I am a white, North American
male. I come from a dominant culture.
I was at Word Made Flesh’s (WMF) 2009
International Field Forum, where our focus was on partnership, the so-called round
table where our international community might gather in mutual submission and
trust. I imagined how such a table has historically looked: tilted grossly to
the West, like a seesaw occupied by a lone child. Those on the weightless side,
teetering involuntarily in the air, were dutifully nodding their heads in
approval of any idea thrown at them. Acutely aware in that moment of my
identity as a white North American and my role in a society that is guilty of
injustices ranging from institutionalized racism to genocide, I became
overwhelmed by the thought of what it might take to right so many of the wrongs
that have been committed over time. After returning from the conference,
however, and after mulling these thoughts around in my mind, I have come to the
conclusion that the dream of re-directing and equalizing power among all of our
international partners can only be realized if we make humility our starting
point.
Humility
exists on two levels. On one, it can be simply defined as the absence of pride.
On another, it can be attributed to someone who is low in rank or status. As a
white male from North America, in order to be
truly humble, I must not only reject my pride, but must also throw my status away in submission to others who
do not come from dominant cultures. In their book Being White: Finding our Place in a Multiethnic World, Paul Harris
and Doug Schaupp call white people (and I might add anyone from a dominant
culture) to “ongoing repentance, humility, self-awareness and a learner’s
posture” (p. 128) and “to become comfortable with giving up power in
relationships, with having people call [them] on [their] sin” (p. 149).
As
a western Christian involved in mission, therefore, I can no longer continue to
hide my culture’s history of oppression, colonialism and racism. While
acknowledging these things, I must choose to renounce the power and dominance I
intrinsically possess. Through open and honest discussions, real listening and
the empowering of others to make decisions, we will find ourselves on the way
to partnership and the one new humanity described in Ephesians 2, reconciled
both to God and each other.
The phrase “dominant culture” no
longer has its life-threatening grip on me. While acknowledging the privilege
from which I have come, I choose to claim and confess the sin in which my
culture has been entrenched for too long. In denying my power and listening to
others, the dream of racial justice and equality is attainable. These days I am
finding that I am more and more grateful to be a part of this WMF community, a
group of people who are not settling for easy answers, but who are willing to
do whatever it takes to proclaim in its fullness a God’s reign of peace, love
and equality. As we continue to enter into more discussions like the one we had
in Kathmandu, I gladly anticipate our tilted
roundtable becoming a little more level.
While endlessly
dreaming of Moldovan hills and vineyards, John Koon spends his
time serving as an educator at the Valley House in Galaţi, Romania.
You might also find him playing the cello, water skiing or drinking warm milk
before bed.
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God’s Reign: An Invitation to Partnership |
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During the month of November members of the Word Made Flesh team share reflections on partnership and challenge us to move beyond our current understanding of what it means to be partners with one another to the glory of God and for the advancement of the Gospel in word and deed.
 It is good to talk about partnership, because I believe that without true
partnership we cannot participate in building the reign of God. In Sierra Leone, I
have seen the love Christians share when they come together supporting one
another. When they come and work together, they are able to build something
beautiful.
I have been wondering what partnership means. A partnership is a company or
firm with two or more members who share the risks and profits of the business. Partners
have equal rights and obligations in running the business. A partnership
creates ownership, because when you own something you put all your effort towards
its success. In Christian partnerships we need our friends to know that they
are an important part, and when they see their role in the partnership, they
will put all of their effort into it.
What can be of a Christian community when we come together as partners? There
are different scriptures in the Bible that talk about unity and equality. In
Acts, when the Christians came together in one place they shared things
together, they spoke with one voice and they did things equally to the point
that other people couldn't tell who was the least or the greatest, the strongest
or the weakest, the richest or the poorest. They were all one in heart and in
purpose. This should be our goal when we come together. Even with our different
Christian denominations, our gathered purpose should be to build the reign of
God. Jesus taught us what kind of life we would have to live in the God’s
reign. He taught us to love God and our neighbors. He emphasized that each
person should treat the other as he or she wished to be treated. (Matt. 5:39).
When we do that, people will know that we are Christians.
In partnerships there are some who are more confident, more educated,
financially well off, more eloquent in speech and more outgoing. It is easy for
the people with more to have a louder voice in the partnership. In true
partnerships however, respect and equality exist, and 1 Corinthians 12 points
this out in equating the eye with the rest of the body. Some are called to be
teachers, others apostles and still others are called to play different roles.
The reason God gives these different gifts is to build and expand His kingdom.
We cannot only pay attention to people who have a louder voice or more money; we
need to recognize that all the different roles are important.
If we are mindful, because when we gather together as Africans, Asians,
Americans, Middle Easterners, Australians and Europeans, we will not value only
the people who have the most education, wealth and charisma, but we will value
each other equally. Raniero Cantalamessa in his book Poverty says, “The
dignity of the poor must be respected above all in the church, in our
assemblies and institutions. There has to be a place in this world where they
can truly feel at home, welcomed and not just tolerated.” In true partnership
everyone needs to feel at home and welcome, not just tolerated. Their
contribution needs to be valued as much as anyone else's. It is only when we
bring all the gifts together that we witness the formation of the reign of God.
I belong to a small Christian community called Word Made Flesh. In my community, I
have seen how love, trust, and respect for each other and each individual's
gifts have helped our partnership work. Within our community we have people
from all walks of life. We have Germans, Americans, and Sierra Leoneans. In our
community, we encourage and strengthen each other acknowledging that each of
their ideas and experiences are an important part of realizing God’s reign here
in Freetown.
Noah Tullay grew up
in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where he created the Kroo Bay
Good News Club. He currently serves as field advisor for Word Made Flesh. He
has welcomed three young boys into his home, demonstrating deep faith, patience
and compassion. Noah enjoys traveling, computers, reading, talking theology and
watching his favorite soccer team – Bolton.
Read more about Noah in the Lausanne World Pulse article, The Echo of a Saint: Signs of Hope in a Slum Community.
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What Do We Mean By Partnership? |
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 At the very least the recorded history of modern missions
has been largely read as a colonializing white enterprise of the Western
(European and American) church. This version of mission has often under reported
the role of partnership in service. It also fails to acknowledge the trending
reality that Christianity in 2009 is no longer a Western religion, but one
based among the Majority World.
Of course we know that most mission takes place locally and
goes unnoticed and unreported. We also know that mission doesn't require
organizational backing, but is often found in the slow and humble work of
learning to love your own community.
The organization I am a part of, Word Made Flesh (WMF), falls into a
traditional missional community as it relates to the international communities
we've help nurtured all over South America, South and Southeast Asia, West
Africa and Eastern Europe. However, rather than framing the organizational
infrastructure after a franchise model where the USA office would control the
international projects, we've opted for a federation. A federation of similarly
named organizations that share vision, staff and sometimes funding. Each
international Word Made Flesh community has a locally registered board of
directors and a local Executive Director.
This model has been humanizing in its attempt to form a
partnership around a metaphoric "round table"—one where each
member of the federation has a voice that contributes to the
development of the global movement. This is also placed within the
recognition that in a globalized world, our realities may be flattening, but
they are still slanted in the favor of the so-called Developed or Western World.
Working to flatten this round table has been an
exercise in mutual submission and dependency upon one another. We have found
that mission actually unifies us and unites us around our shared vocation.
Within this affirmation we have begun to work out what we mean by partnership.
In February of this year, 36 Word Made Flesh staff and board
members from 11 countries representing 15 nationalities, met in Nepal for a
week long consultation on the issue of partnership. This month, as WMF “hosts”
the Towards 2010 blog, we have asked participants from these consultations to
reflect on partnership from their local context. Voices from India, Peru,
Brazil, Sierra Leone and Moldova will reflect on the practicalities of partnership
in mission for the blog.
This is only a starting point for conversation, one that we
hope will take place in your own communities and one that will continue to
unite all Christians hoping to bear witness to the hope that there is a good
God in a world that has reasons to question God's goodness.
An activist, author, visionary and
public speaker, Christopher
L. Heuertz has traveled with his wife, Phileena, through nearly 70
countries working with the most vulnerable of the world's poor—Roma (gypsies),
children with AIDS, prostituted women and girls, recovering drug addicts,
children on the streets and refugees.
Chris has led the Word Made Flesh
community as the International Executive Director since 1996. He and Phileena
reside in Omaha, Neb.
Simple Spirituality: Learning to See God in a Broken World is Chris Heuertz' first book. It shares
touching stories from Chris' life and working among the most vulnerable.
Also see Chris's response to October's Lausanne Global Conversation topic of "whole Church, whole gospel, whole world".
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 The
27 countries I visit as an International Deputy Director of The Lausanne Movement
are those I cover as Regional Secretary for the International Fellowship of Evangelical
Students (IFES) in English and Portuguese Speaking Africa. I'm happy to be corrected, but I think there
are about five Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa – Angola, Cape Verde
Islands, Guinea Bissau, The Island of Sao Tome and The Principe and Mozambique.
There is only one Spanish-speaking
country - Equatorial Guinea.
IFES
is an exciting campus-based student ministry which reaches out to students in
the Colleges and the Universities. The
vision is completely student-driven and I love young people. I have been working with this group since
graduating from College myself some 26 years ago. Why do I love young people? They are the leaders of tomorrow. They are the future church evangelists,
missionaries, pastors, bank managers, college professors, high school teachers,
governors, parliamentarians and presidents of companies and nations. They will be the high flyers of tomorrow. This means we must treat them with respect and
dignity today. We must do all it takes
to engage them effectively and productively for the future. Proverbs 20:29 says, “The glory of young men
[women] is their strength...” This is a
call for us to help them maximize those strengths to the glory of God and not
to the service of the evil one.
My
involvement with Lausanne as I work with IFES is two-fold:
Firstly,
IFES is very concerned about the future today, so also is Lausanne concerned
about the Church today and the Church tomorrow. Young people are the best medium through which
both Lausanne and IFES can effectively express this kingdom concern of
investing in young people today in order to guarantee a better tomorrow. I am very passionate about young people. In saying this, I also realize that we cannot
afford to ignore the children, for without the children, there can be no young
people and by implication there can be no future generation of believers to
guarantee the continued existence of the Church. Jesus is surely coming back and he expects to
meet his Church. So, we are all about
preparing the bride - the Church - for Christ.
The
second reason is, IFES is also all about mission and evangelism in its
wholistic implication, and this is at the heart of why The Lausanne Movement
came into being. I am very much at home
with both. They are both vehicles
through which the good news of the gospel is conveyed around the world.
In
early December 2008 my joy knew no bounds when young people from four West
African countries (Ghana, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Liberia) got together in
Abuja, Nigeria for a Lausanne Younger Leaders event. Two things touched me most: firstly, they paid
their way to and from the event, and secondly, they were as passionate about
securing the future of the Church and society today as some of us “older”
leaders are. This gives me hope and
courage to face the future. Ours will
neither be a wasted generation in the Church nor in society. Through our young people we will make a
difference both within the Church and society. We will keep the torch of the gospel of love
and peace, the banner of truth, and the flag of commitment to Kingdom goals,
unashamedly. I like the South African
Airways advert which states: “Proudly South African.” In this case, “Proudly Christian,” and very
happy with our Christian identity in the 21st century. It is very possible to be Christian in this
post-modern age and not be ashamed of it through our belief, the expressions of
those beliefs and our actions. Christ
modelled Christianity at its best, by his uncommon actions in real life.
Recently,
I have been enjoying some life lessons from the book of Proverbs as I have made
it a habit to read one chapter of the Bible everyday during my morning
devotions. I read and enjoyed Proverbs Chapter
20 and felt like sharing some of the verses with my 21-year- old son to learn
what his own perspective might be as a guy growing up in hip-hop youth culture.
What he emailed me back encouraged my
heart greatly. Let’s see what you think
of it and may be share yours to help us all in the journey of life from
Proverbs 20.
My
son Nomsey shares: “I think the general
theme from Proverbs 20 urges us to be patient to listen to the counsel of our
parents and God's wisdom, and then to act on it. I feel this definitely applies
to me as an individual. I am not sure
how exactly verse 3 relates to me. But I
think the fool who gets into an argument gets into one as a result of pride in
thinking he or she alone knows what is best. I can relate to that. I have claimed verse 7 for my life because I
know that both you and mumz have lived with integrity. I do know, however, that
I too need to live with the same values to inherit that happiness. Verse 10 I feel is the most serious, I feel
the differing weights and varying measures refer to an individual not living a
straight life straightened by God's counsel and commandments. In my life it means I need to choose do what
is right in God's eyes. Trying to please God on one hand yet refusing to let go
of other sinful desires on the other is detestable to God. I have likened it to the Bible passage that
says it is better to be hot or cold than to be lukewarm for I will spit you out
of my mouth. Verse 13 discourages laziness
and complacency "open your eyes and you will eat" for me means have a
vision/goal and you will be successful. Verse 18 encourages me not to be hasty
in making decisions but to prayerfully wait on counsel from God and from my
parents. Verse 20 is a direct reflection
of the commandment honour your father and your mother. The rest I was not too sure about so maybe you
can offer your thoughts on them.”
Cool.
What
do you think?
Rev. Gideon Para-Mallam of Nigeria serves as the Lausanne International Deputy Director for English, Spanish and Portuguese-speaking Africa.
Gideon is also the Regional Secretary for the International Fellowship
of Evangelical Students in English and Portuguese Speaking Africa
(IFES-EPSA).
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