Asking locals to be self-supporting - where possible

I really appreciated this article asking whether it is hypocrisy to ask locals to be self-supporting. The author makes some excellent points and is completely right to say, "dependency upon Western dollars is a major problem, undercutting the emergence of healthy churches in many places overseas and stunting local believers in their growth."

He is spot on in identifying that local aspiring leaders can sometimes be found on the look out for Western patrons and that when there is a weak (or non-existent) culture of giving among local believers, it becomes self-perpetuating. 

The author says, "Foreign financial support, if attempted, must be done very carefully and wisely, always with an explicit vision toward self-supporting local churches." Agreed. Self-supporting local churches are the best way forward. He goes on to say, though, that while proven, mature workers are worthy of their wages but that their salary should either be locally-raised or part of a plan where it decreases over time, similar to church plants in the West. If Western money is to be invested, training local leaders to either start a business or find work can be a better use of resources.

Foreign financial support must be done with thought and care and with an aim of moving towards self-support. But I'd add one more important part.

Self-supporting local churches are the best way forward - where this is possible. 

I know that there are some Western churches whose demographics make it nigh on impossible for them to become self-supporting. Stephen Kneale has written about how their church situation in northern England means that they need long term external partners. He lists four reasons why that is the case for them: who they're reaching; transient population; great physical need; and nobody else is there.

If I hope and expect that most churches and church plants in Western countries would become self-supporting at some point but understand that there are situations where that might not be the case, I should accept that similar situations may arise in other countries too. 

Looking at the Bible, there is clearly a principle of teaching and encouraging sacrificial giving. But, as with many Biblical commands, we have freedom to use Spirit-given wisdom to determine how exactly to apply that. 

While acknowledging that self-supporting local churches is the ideal, can we find room for an understanding that some churches in every country will need financial support from long term external partners? The key here has to be that they should be long term and partners. I'm not advocating pulling out the cheque book to give whatever is requested, no questions asked. Neither should money flow in with strict strings attached, where the givers decide how the money they give should be spent. 

It should be a relationship, a true partnership in the Gospel where there is healthy sharing and accountability. 

Let's imagine a situation. (You can decide how rooted in reality it may or may not be!). A local pastor is not locally supported. And looking around at his church, even if everyone was giving sacrificially, that would still not be enough. Every single one of the reasons Stephen Kneale lists in his article linked above would apply to that local fellowship. It's not primarily comprised of refugees and asylum seekers, but there are certainly some. Others do not have well-paying jobs or are students. The church membership is fairly transient too - many of those who come to faith and are baptised end up moving to other cities. This is usually for work but sometimes to gain greater freedom to be involved in church due to local family pressures. There's great physical need too. And there are no other churches in the city, or even remotely near to the city. 

Yes, this pastor could go back to secular work. But after 5.5 days of secular work a week, and with a wife and family, would it be healthy and sustainable to ask him to pastor on top of that? He already has more work as a full-time pastor than he can handle alone, particularly as there are a large number of 'seekers' in both his city and neighbouring cities who come to him and want to investigate Christianity, and not a lot of people in the church practically and theologically able to help in this. He's been doing this role for a number of years too - long enough that he'd have moved out of any gradual step-down support plan by any Western timescales.

This local pastor's church have not got everything sorted perfectly in their fellowship. Like many other churches, there is more to be done in developing a sacrificial giving culture. There is also more to be done in establishing a healthy understanding that Western churches are not just a source of money to be tapped. 

But a critical element of his external support is that it comes with in-country accountability. Twice a year, a small group of men meet with him and his wife. They are a mixture of fellow pastors from other cities and foreign workers who live and work in the country and who know him well. They have an honest conversation about what he's doing and how he's spending his time, how the church is doing, and a holistic look at how he and his family are doing. This type of on-the-ground accountability by people who know and care for him, as well as knowing the church and the culture, is a vital component of healthy, long-term external partnerships. The group act as a bridge between the external supporters and the local pastor. Working together in this way builds trust and provides reassurance that Western money is not being invested unwisely. This partnership model has worked well for a number of years and has provided this pastor with the spiritual, emotional and financial support to continue in ministry through some difficult periods. And there is Gospel fruit evident.

It's not hypocrisy to ask locals to be self-supporting. But if that's really not possible, might healthy long term partnerships be an alternative?

Our best kingdom work

 "Jesus will build his church... but it's also frustrating to be so limited."

That was my message to a friend the other day. Life here continues but it is hemmed in by necessary coronavirus precautions. 

As a family, we have less than a year remaining to live full-time in our city, due to visas. Yet (in part because of those self-same visas) this period also provides my husband and I with greater time, flexibility and freedom to serve the local church here. We thought we might have had to leave sooner; we didn't anticipate getting this extra time here. And we're carrying mental lists of good, useful things we could be doing in these bonus months. Meeting up with people interested in the Gospel. Preparing food for everyone to eat together after a church service. Visiting isolated believers in other cities. Sharing dinner, conversation and life with church family. Getting on with baptism lessons with a brand new believer. 

These lists and plans involve a lot of doing. And as Christians, we are meant to be doing. We're to be doers of the word, devoting ourselves to doing what is good (James 1:22; Titus 3:14). We are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works (Ephesians 2:10).

But right now we can't get on with most of the things on our lists. And the things we can do are often having to be done in a less-than-ideal way. 

I've been praying recently, "Lord, I don't know how but use coronavirus for your glory. Use us here for your glory." When I'm being honest though, I recognise that beneath my prayer there's an undercurrent that says, "Why God? You seem to have shut the door on us remaining here long-term but you've given us these additional months to stay. Aren't we meant to be stewarding them well, working through the Spirit's power for the growth of your church here? Aren't we meant to be doing more than we can right now?". 

I don't think it's wrong to humbly ask God why. However there's a temptation interwoven into my questions and prayers, to believe that my plan, full of things to do, would be better than God's plan. But what if God's plan is also full of things for me to do, but my idea of what I should be focusing on this year is different from God's idea of what I should be doing?

In his book, 'The Disciple-Making Parent', Chap Bettis quotes Paul Miller as saying "It didn't take me long to realize that I did my best parenting by prayer. I began to speak less to the kids and more to God." Bettis goes on to ask "Might you do your best parenting by prayer?"

Prayer as our best parenting doesn't mean that the other aspects of parenting are unimportant. As parents, we still have to love and teach our children. We still have to do the repetitive  tasks of parenting - feeding, clothing, clearing up messes. We nurture them as we listen, encourage, discipline, read, explore and play. We actively point them to Jesus as we teach them, pray with them, bring them to church and weave the gospel into our everyday lives. But prayer as our best parenting recognises that we cannot change our children's hearts. It shows that we cannot parent by our own strength but must go about our parenting consciously relying on God's power. It might not change the core of what we do, but it will most definitely change how we do it.

Might I do my best kingdom work by prayer? Might I have no other choice but to do my best kingdom work this year by prayer? Could it be that this year I will talk less with my brothers and sisters in Christ, more to God and be more effective in ministry?

I dare not make presumptions as to what the Almighty God can and will achieve through coronavirus. I do not know how he will use these strange times for his glory. But I wonder if God is using the limitations of my circumstances to bring me to my knees in prayer.

When what we can do seems so inadequate, the delusion that we can change people falls away. When our ability to 'do' is reduced, we expose the lie that our efforts are sufficient to build Christ's church. When we are constrained and limited, we uncover the truth that was there all along: we are meant to do good works but we're meant to do them with a prayerful dependence on God. 

Prayer as our best kingdom work doesn't mean that our other work here is useless or insignificant. Less time to spend with church family doesn't mean that we won't talk to them at all. We'll still be taking all the opportunities that we reasonably can to help build up the body of Christ here. At the same time, we're acknowledging that maybe this year, God is going to visibly show us that we'll do our best discipling, encouraging, teaching by prayer.

2000 years on, history repeats itself

 Imagine the scene. You're walking down the streets of Ephesus one day in the 1st century AD. You see a group of people gathered in the street. The group is growing larger by the minute. They're muttering and talking to each other, some are shaking their heads and others look surprised. You can't quite work out what all the fuss is about but as you approach you see smoke rising from the centre of the group.

Getting closer, you see what is happening. There are some Followers of the Way, the people who claim a crucified man from a backwater of the Roman empire came back to life and worship him as God, in the middle, standing next to a fire. The fire is being fuelled by - no it can't be - scrolls, of all things. Valuable scrolls! The whispered incredulity of the onlookers is clearly audible.

"They're crazy! Do they know how much those are worth?"

"That's a fortune going up in flames! Couldn't they have sold them at least?"

"Do they have to make such a public spectacle of themselves?"

Fast forward 2000 years and there's no need to imagine the scene. Another group of onlookers have gathered on a packed beach, only a few miles away from the ruins of Ephesus. It's not fire that's drawn them this time but water. Next to the families sitting on the sand, a small collection of people are watching three people wade out into the sea, one by one. They stop when the water reaches to their waists. Two others are already in the sea waiting for them. And each of the three stands in the sea and declares that they follow that same crucified, resurrected man-God. Such a public display is only possible in a few places in this country - attempting the same thing elsewhere is too risky. 

I'm a visitor accustomed to life in a much more conservative city and am delighted to be able to witness this but also feel uncomfortable and exposed in such a public setting. But as I stand on the hot sand, I can see and hear those wandering past, who stop and stare at this strange sight.

These onlookers, like their predecessors centuries before likely did, watch with surprise and provide their own commentary to others joining them.

"They're Turks getting baptised."

"Muslims becoming Christians."

The actions of the believers seem just as incomprehensible to bystanders as they must have done in early church times. 

And we pray that just like in Acts, the Word of the Lord would spread widely and in power.

Western Christian - the world is watching you

This is a joint post from my husband and I.

We know that these are strange and difficult times right now. We've prayed for wisdom for church leaders globally as they seek the best solution to the principles of rightly wanting to meet together, loving each other, loving neighbours, protecting individual freedoms and obeying governments. We've prayed for grace and unity in churches.

But when Western churches and believers balance all of these up, there is another factor to consider too. You may not be aware but your actions are visible to the rest of the world. Your choices can have consequences for your brothers and sisters in countries around the world where it is much more difficult to be a Christian.

In Turkey, our media is very often filled with stories of disasters, scandals and problems of every kind that are happening across the world, especially in more Western and richer countries. (You can speculate about why that might be the case, but it is). This also combines with a nationalism that is tied up with an Muslim identity. For some people, this manifests as an anti-Christian identity.

So, surprising as it may seem, the actions of churches in countries such as the USA, UK, Canada, Europe and elsewhere can actually be newsworthy here, even more so if it involves civil disobedience or results in a COVID-19 outbreak. 

As Christians we follow the Lord Jesus, first and foremost. It is also clear from the Bible that it matters what outsiders think. We want to honour Christ's name and create opportunities to share the Gospel. Western churches have cultural capital to draw on, the result of decades and centuries as generally being seen as a force for good in society. The situation in many other countries is rather different. 

One American church has started meeting in defiance of local government edicts. The reaction from the congregation was cheers and applause. If the believers here were similarly to come to the conclusion that, having exhausted other options, publicly defying government regulations was the only path of faithfulness that remained, the atmosphere would be better described as 'fear and trembling' rather than celebratory. If for some reason this intention was announced to the state beforehand, the meeting would be characterized by solemn joy, knowing that it would be our last. In addition to the inevitable church closure, believers would be shunned in society and risk dismissal from work. Some of the younger believers would likely be banned from meeting with any other believers. Preconceptions of Christians would be reinforced and it would be harder to share the Gospel.

This is no exaggeration. 350,000 people and the country's top political leaders came to the first Friday prayers following the conversion of the historic Hagia Sophia (originally a church building) back into a mosque a few weeks ago. It's not difficult to imagine how people here might feel about living churches. And there are many countries where believers face much more serious opposition. 

When ideas circulate that Christians are agents of the West and plotting the downfall of Middle Eastern countries, believers in those countries must work hard to show that while they may be Christians, they still love their country and want the best for it. The concept of a Christian as a moral, good person is (mainly thanks to Hollywood and 11th-13th century history) not widespread at all. So Christians here know that our reputation with outsiders matters for the Gospel and seek to do good, so silencing ignorant talk (1 Pet 2:15). 

And the actions of Western churches reflect on Christians and churches here. 

Local believers are taking tiny steps forward in dismantling those deeply ingrained prejudices, but years of work can be undone in moments. Negative stereotypes of Christians can be reinforced so easily by a news report of a Western church.

Christian brothers and sisters in the West, please know that your choices have consequences for how the name of Christ is viewed in other countries. Please be aware of the position of influence — for good or bad — that you enjoy. When you consider your rights and freedoms to meet together, do not forget the rights and freedoms of your brothers and sisters in Christ across the world. They may bear the greater cost of your actions.

Don't just learn from church history - look to the global church too

In all the discussion about how to navigate the consequences and implications of COVID-19 for churches and believers meeting together, historical events have often been alluded to. From the efforts of Christians to care for the sick in Roman times, Martin Luther's refusal to leave Wittenburg when bubonic plague came, to the Great Ejection of the Puritans in 1662, people have drawn analogies with what Christians have done in past centuries.

This is right and good. The Bible is of course our authority but we have a lot to learn from those who have gone before us in how they interpreted and applied Biblical principles to real life. We sometimes talk about being in uncharted waters now, but there are those who have navigated similar waters in the past and we do well to carefully consider their examples and decisions.

But wouldn't it be better if instead of reading their words and about their situations, we could talk to them? Wouldn't you like to hear the voices of those early Church believers who lived through such difficult times and yet still rejoice in Christ? Wouldn't it be good to have a conversation with the brothers and sisters in Christ who have had to weigh up the hard decisions about whether or not to meet in person and the dangers of hymn singing? Wouldn't it be great to be able to talk with the Puritans about when and how civil disobedience is required?

Those believers are in heaven now and we'll have to wait until we get there for the in-person conversations. But the global church is full of people who have either wrestled with analogous issues in the last fifty years or are still experiencing them today. Christians in the West would do well to remember that they can draw on the breadth and depth of experience within the global church - and then actually do so.

Limits on attendance? In many countries, for either legal or practical reasons, believers often need to meet in homes. That's an attendance cap.

Unable to sing? There are countries today where either it is within living memory that Christians were unable to sing aloud or they are currently still unable to do so.

Submission to civil government in a Biblically appropriate way? Take your pick of countries where believers have been working through these issues for many years. 

In our city in Turkey, we've been thinking through the implications of COVID-19 for public worship and the meeting of believers. Our Turkish pastor has been leading that - but he does so from the perspective of someone who may not have lived through a pandemic before but has certainly dealt with some similar issues. Our church may meet in a building now, but it started off as a house church. Our pastor has thought through when and how to submit to civil government for years. For example, the law here prohibits under-18s from attending church without parental permission and we fairly frequently have teenagers who want to come to our meetings. He hasn't personal experience of believers being afraid to come to church for fear of catching a virus - but, after three Christians were martyred in a city not too far away from us 13 years ago, he does have experience of believers being afraid to come to church for fear of being killed or persecuted. 

Practically, if a church already has links with cross-cultural workers in countries where there is likely to be experience to learn from, it may be as simple as asking them to help facilitate some links and information sharing from their local leaders and believers. Books, articles and videos also give insight into how churches across the world have adapted in the face of difficulties, but a bit more digging might be necessary to find helpful analogous situations.

Clearly a course of action should not be automatically approved solely because it originates from an African, Asian or Middle Eastern church. Suffering and difficulty does not always result in practices in line with an orthodox understanding of Scripture. There are issues of right Biblical interpretation and appropriate cultural application too. And these are not clear cut issues - two different people from the same cultural background, never mind different cultures, can take the same Biblical principles and after prayer and deliberation come to different conclusions. There is a good chance you might disagree with the approach that a pastor from a persecuted church (as well as the pastor from the church down the road) has taken.

But if you're going to look to history for examples of how Christians have dealt with similar issues, you might also remember that there is wisdom and value in looking to the current global church as well.

Sharing the Gospel with Muslims

I met up with a friend the other morning. Our children played in the park together and we chatted between rocking pushchairs and doling out snacks. She'd forgotten her mask so borrowed her daughter's Frozen-themed mask.

She has a Masters degree and worked in finance before having children. She speaks four languages and even while speaking in English - her third language - she made me laugh out loud with some of her stories.

My family have just returned from holiday with another British family and as we were chatting about that, my friend asked if my family had had opportunity for worship times together with the other family while away together. We talked a bit about how God reveals himself in nature too.

As we walked back, our conversation veered towards parenting and discipline. We were both agreed on the importance of children learning to obey authority while they were young and the need for consequences when they disobey. I mentioned my belief that learning to obey authority is particularly important because we want them to know that God is the ultimate authority. She wasn't quite convinced because, in her words, "I want my children to first know that God loves them and as they get a bit bigger to introduce the idea of God's authority, I don't want them to be scared of or dislike God."

My friend is a committed Muslim. She covers her hair and prays five times a day.

I don't know how many Muslim friends you have. But if you don't have the opportunity for many interactions with Muslims, here's a few things I'd love for you to know.

Muslims are individuals

Like everyone else, Muslims are individuals. Forget any assumptions or stereotypes and get to know the person in front of you. They are not an evangelism project, they are individuals with their own life story, hopes, dreams and fears. They may also have their own understanding and interpretation of Islam. I was surprised that my friend sees Allah as a God of love as that's not typically an emphasis in Islam. Circumstances (also known as corralling small children while walking down a street) prevented me from asking more about that, but I'm intrigued to know more of her thoughts on God's love and I've made a mental note that it's something to follow up on when I get chance.

God-talk isn't sharing the Gospel

Talking about God usually comes up fairly naturally in conversation when you're talking with Muslims. But just talking about God isn't sharing the Gospel. When our conversation has a smattering of God-talk sprinkled through it, it it sometimes difficult to know if you're talking to a Christian or a Muslim. My friend has been at my house before and picked up a toddler book called 'God made me'. She agreed with every word in it. If we haven't mentioned our sin and need of a Saviour, Jesus and his death on the cross and resurrection, and that it is only the free gift of grace that gets us right with God again, then we haven't shared the Gospel. 

Relationships need time

I didn't talk about Jesus that morning. Nor did I share the Gospel. But as God comes up in conversation and my friend sees that my faith is real and active, I'm earning credibility. And because my friend and I see each other fairly regularly, it's an ongoing conversation. I've talked a little about Jesus before. I'm asking her questions and listening to her. I'm praying that I'll have an opportunity to share the Gospel and that her ears and heart would be open to it.

The Gospel is powerful

The good news that we have to share is the best news there is. It is "the power of God that brings salvation" (Rom 1:16). It makes spiritually dead people alive again. And we have the privilege of proclaiming it. That means we do actually have to proclaim it! When you're talking to someone who has been taught their entire life that the Bible has been changed and Jesus didn't actually claim to be God and he didn't really die on the cross, it's tempting to think that nothing will change their mind. But the Gospel comes with the power to transform people and we should be bold and confident in speaking it.

Prayer changes things

We won't accomplish anything without prayer. Prayer changes things. My friend gets up in the early hours to complete her prayers despite already being up in the night to nurse a baby. But as Christians, we are invited into the throne room of the one true and living God to talk to him as our Father and he is always ready to listen to us. We must pray.

And will you pray for my friend and I? I'm almost certainly the only Christian she knows and possibly has ever met. Pray that she will be thirsty for living water and searching for truth. Pray that she'd be dissatisfied with any idea of being able to earn her way to God. Pray that I'd have the opportunity to share the Gospel clearly with her. Pray that the Gospel would powerfully impact her and bring her to Christ. Pray that God's Spirit will be at work.

Brought not called

The concept of 'being called' comes up, either implicitly or explicitly, rather frequently when you're in cross-cultural work. It's a reflection of the hearts of people who want to serve God well but it's also a phrase that can be easily misused or misunderstood.

While there can be a lot of confusion over what 'being called' and the idea of 'calling' means, Kevin DeYoung hit the nail on the head a couple of years ago in this blog post:

We have an upward call in Christ to be with Jesus and to be like Jesus (Phil. 3:14). We have been called to freedom, not bondage (Gal. 5:13). God has saved us and called us to a holy calling (2 Tim. 1:9). He has called us to his own glory and excellence (2 Peter 1:3). Not many of us were called to noble things (in the world’s eyes), but, amazingly, we have been called to Christ (1 Cor. 1:26). And if called, then justified, and if justified, then glorified (Rom. 8:30).

In other words, I do not see in Scripture where we are told to expect or look for a specific call to a specific task in life.

He goes on to say that we do not need to necessarily abandon the language of 'calling' but we do need to be very careful in how we use the terms 'call' or 'calling'. We want to be making sensible decisions and thinking through whether something is a wise and appropriate route to follow rather than looking for a special word from God about a specific job, place or career. DeYoung highlights that ministry books typically talk about the three components of a 'call' - an internal call, an external call and a formal call - and that these can be a useful frame to use in decision-making.

In the circles we're from, and in our agency, we typically talk about the 'call' to overseas Christian service in a similar way. I often hear it as 'desire, opportunity, affirmation'. That is the desire to go (the inward call), the affirmation of a sending church of the gifting and maturity of the one(s) being sent (the external call) and the opportunity of being free to go and with an appropriate place, people and need to go to (the formal call).

DeYoung goes on to issue a warning at the end of his blog post though:

In short, if this is what is meant by “calling”—know yourself, listen to others, find where you are needed—then, by all means, let’s try to discern our callings. But if “calling” involves waiting for promptings, listening for still small voices, and attaching divine authority to our vocational decisions, then we’d be better off dropping the language altogether (except as its used in the Bible) and labor less mysteriously to help each other grow in wisdom.

And this is where the problem comes in for us. I use the term 'called' as a shorthand to mean exactly what DeYoung says - know yourself, listen to others, find out where you are needed. When I say 'God called us to Turkey', I mean 'God gave my husband and I the desire to serve the church in Turkey, and our family and life situation made our going possible; our sending church affirmed our suitability for that role and, with the support of our agency, sent us; we were sent to help in the work of making and growing disciples within the context of a local church; and with the help of local partners, we found a church and city where the local pastor wanted us to come and where there was a clear need.' It's just that most of the time that's a bit of a mouthful and if we're all on the same page with what being 'called' means, it's easier just to say 'called'.

But the nature of overseas Christian service means mixing and working with other believers, both national and foreign, who are from different Christian circles to us. And so when I say 'called' they may have the same understanding as I do or they may be thinking about promptings, still small voices, etc. 

As a result, while I may still use the term 'calling' with certain groups of people, for most of my conversations here I've taken DeYoung's advice and dropped the word 'called'. I found I still needed some kind of term to describe succinctly how we ended up here though. So I use the word 'brought'.

God brought us to Turkey. God brought us to our current city.

Using this language has several advantages. Firstly, it is not the word 'called'. It is the terms 'called', 'call' and 'calling' that seem particularly associated with still small voices. By using a different word, those immediate associations are avoided. And as a more concrete term, it removes the possibility of talking about 'calling' as an abstract or unrealised feeling. Secondly, it opens the way to talk about how God brought us here. It feels more natural and less intrusive to ask someone 'so how did God bring you here?' than it does to ask 'so how exactly were you called?'. 

Most importantly, it puts God, not us, centre stage. There is sometimes a tendency when talking about being 'called' to make it more about us than it should be; we heard the voice, waited for the sign, went through the open door. Others may say, "this is our calling". And when we feel the weight of being 'called', we want to see the fruit of our work, the evidence that we really were called. Returning to our home country can feel like failure and lead to questioning God - "but I thought I was called to this? Was there a mistake? Am I no longer called?".

But this is God's work and it's our privilege to play just a tiny part in it. God brought us here, therefore we can be faithful to the work and leave the results in God's hands. God brought us here and so he will sustain us when we'd be ready to give up and say it's just too hard. God brought us here and he'll keep us here for as long as he wants. God brought us here, so he can also bring us back to our home country if he desires.

God brought us here and we can trust in his goodness and sovereignty.