Mission thinking focused on a ‘Christian West’ going to the ‘heathen rest’ is not only outdated, but fails to grasp the expanding mission movement from the majority world.
Awareness of this development was helped by a study at Fuller Theological Seminary, which found that 210 mission societies had sent 3,404 mission workers in 1972.1 Subsequent work showed that by 1988 the number had grown to 35,924 mission workers sent by 1,094 agencies.2
By 1990, research suggested that “the number of non-Western missionaries is growing more than five times faster than the number of Western missionaries.”3 There are at least two fundamental implications for Western-based mission agencies like UFM.
1. Dangers in our view of the Western church
The first relates to sending Western mission workers to majority world countries. There are two dangers here. There is the danger that we carry on as if nothing has changed – expecting to lead, call the shots and take centre stage. In short, to fail to honour Christ’s bride in the place where we’ve been called to serve.
But, equally, there’s a danger that we move to the other extreme. Eddie Arthur writes: “Many … missionaries who have compared the growth of the Church worldwide with their home situations have written off the contribution of the Western church. They see it as needy and moribund, with little to offer. This is as much of a mistake as seeing the West as the centre of things: in truth the body of Christ worldwide is interdependent and needs to learn how to function in this way.”4
What do the leaders of churches think about mission workers in their nation?
Part of this learning must involve listening. What do the leaders of churches think about mission workers in their nation? In a meeting with leaders from the Evangelical Church of Papua New Guinea, it was striking to hear them ask why the West has stopped sending so many workers to them: “We want you to come and work with us, under our leadership. You’ve helped us see churches planted, but we want your help and support as these churches grow in maturity – developing church leadership, establishing youth and children’s ministry.” Yes, there are times when the best thing a Western mission worker can do is step aside, but also wonderful opportunities to serve side by side.
2. Sending workers from the majority world
The second implication relates to sending mission workers from the majority world.
What is the place of a Western agency such as UFM in this? A number of partners across UFM are grappling with this question.5
It’s easy to work out how not to do it. Rolling out a Western structure, while planting the agency flag around the world, has often hindered the work it set out to do. Cultural, financial and linguistic challenges abound. A Western structure has made it hard for the voice of national sending churches to be heard.
But how can we move forward? Do pray for UFM workers in East Asia, Brazil and Romania thinking through these issues. Pray for the UFM staff team as we pursue relational rather than structural answers, and build mutually encouraging relationships. Pray for wisdom, faithfulness and humility as we live out the unchanging commission in an everchanging context.
Pray for the UFM staff team as we pursue relational rather than structural answers, and build mutually encouraging relationships.
Michael Prest, Director, UFM Worldwide
1. Steve (Heung Chan) Kim, “A Newer Missions Paradigm and the Growth of Missions from the Majority World,” in Missions from the Majority World: Progress, Challenges and Case Studies, ed. Enoch Wan and Michael Pocock (Pasadena: William Carey Library, 2009), 12-13.
2. Kim, “A Newer Missions Paradigm,” 13.
3. Larry D. Pate, “The Changing Balance in Global Mission,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 15, no. 2 (April 1991): 58-59.
4. Edwin David Arthur, “Issues in Mission: Elements of a New Paradigm,” https://www.kouya. net/?p=5477.
5. See, e.g. Michael Prest, https://theses. gla.ac.uk/82809/
Photo: Asso Myron, Unsplash