wfn.org | Africa Missionaries Gather in Retreat, Mull Over `Partnership'

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

24-February-2000 
00089 
 
    Africa Missionaries Gather in Retreat, Mull Over `Partnership' 
 
    WMD-sponsored event combines spiritual renewal, family fun 
 
    by John Filiatreau 
 
VICTORIA FALLS, Zimbabwe - Nearly 100 members of Presbyterian missionary 
families from throughout sub-Saharan Africa gathered here earlier this 
month, in a vacation resort fittingly named "The Kingdom," for four days of 
rest, recreation and spiritual renewal. 
 
    All-Africa Mission Personnel Retreat 2000, the first gathering of its 
kind since 1995, combined mornings devoted to work, worship and Bible study 
with afternoons of sightseeing and family fun. It was a welcome if 
too-brief respite for some of the men and women who have been struggling on 
the church's behalf to spread the good news of the gospel across a 
continent ravaged by war and decimated by AIDS. 
 
    The Feb. 7-10 retreat, whose theme was "Renewing the Vision: Mission in 
Christ's Way," included a hurried re-examination of the mission philosophy 
of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), as well as a review of a Worldwide 
Ministries Division (WMD) draft statement on"partnership," a concept that 
despite its imprecision has been at the heart of Presbyterian mission for 
30 years. The mission workers' feedback helped shape a "partnership" 
statement approved during the recent meeting of the General Assembly 
Council (GAC). 
 
    Retreat participants also got a chance to meet face-to-face with key 
staff members from the Presbyterian Center in Louisville, including the 
Rev. Marian McClure, director of the Worldwide Ministries Division (WMD); 
Doug Welch, coordinator for west and central Africa; the Rev. Jon Chapman, 
coordinator for east and southern Africa; and Michael De Arruda, 
coordinator for Mission Personnel Care. Also in attendance were Dwight 
White, a GAC member who serves as chairman of the Global Service and 
Witness committee, and the Rev. James Choomack, an executive presbyter from 
Cherokee Presbytery in Georgia, who served as chaplain and Bible-study 
leader. 
 
    Participants also took advantage of opportunities to observe African 
game, including lions and elephants; to take in majestic Victoria Falls and 
the rainbow it wears like a necklace; to go bungee jumping from a bridge 
high over the Zambesi River; and to sluice downstream on rubber rafts. 
 
    At the meeting's conclusion, some participants dispatched a "message to 
the Presbyterian Church (USA)" expressing outrage "that Africa's suffering 
and the vibrant gifts of her people are so frequently ignored." 
 
    "As a nation, we ... continue to plunder the natural and human 
resources of the continent," the statement said. "As a church, we have 
become increasingly absorbed in internal doctrinal disputes." 
 
    "Why talk about something as boring as Africa," one missionary asked, 
"when we could be talking about sex?" 
 
    That was a sarcastic reference to the PC(USA)'s 25-year-long internal 
debate over whether it should permit the ordination of homosexuals. 
 
    A more relevant sex-related conversation had to do with AIDS, which has 
become the leading cause of death in Africa and has reduced life expectancy 
in some countries of southern Africa by as much as 29. By the end of year 
2000 the disease will have orphaned 10 million children on the continent. 
 
    The missionaries agreed that the plague is out of control in nations 
all around the continent, but, like many other church groups, they were 
divided on the question of providing condoms to single people. Some argued 
that it is necessary, to save lives; others said giving condoms to 
unmarried people is tantamount to encouraging them to have sex, which the 
church would never do. 
 
    The people who drafted the statement hoped it would be passed 
unanimously. But even though the draft statement did not appear to contain 
anything controversial, only about one-half were willing to take advantage 
of the unplanned opportunity to call the church's attention to Africa. 
 
    The statement also noted that "Christ's church is growing more rapidly 
in Africa than in any other region of the world," which is true. But 
several missionaries pointed out that the church's growth is mostly due to 
the fact that the population is growing more rapidly in Africa than 
anywhere else on the globe. More than half of all Africans are under 18 
years of age. 
 
    The discussion of partnership was illuminating. It seems that what WMD 
officials in the United States think about partnership is very different 
from what the missionaries encounter in their host countries. 
 
    The missionaries were given a paper that explained: "Discussions by the 
WMD staff resulted in a proposal to the elected members of the steering 
committee that there was a need to define the term `partnership' as it 
applies to Christian mission. This had never been done despite the 30 years 
of functioning as if there was a common understanding of the word and all 
it implies." 
 
    The retreat organizers distributed a paper setting out the theological 
basis for partnership in mission that said, in part: "The model of a 
covenant, with conditions and with promises, is a Biblical guide for our 
relationships with other people, particularly so as we reach out to do 
mission. We do this by proclaiming the truth of God's love in Jesus Christ, 
and offering to others whatever will improve the quality of their lives." 
 
    Another document listed "what we seek to accomplish and to avoid": 
 
    "We seek opportunities for initiative in mission by any partner, not 
one-sided requests for help. We seek mutual respect, not paternalism. We 
seek independent (self-propagating, self-supporting, self-governing) church 
partners with a mission vision, not dependent churches focused on survival. 
We seek interdependent partnerships that are of benefit to all partners, 
not one-sidedly dependent relationships. We seek mutuality in mission, not 
one-way (or parent to child) mission. ..." 
 
    Retreat organizers eventually presented a working definition of 
partnership: "We understand Partnership in Mission to be that disciplined 
approach to any task in any location that assumes the goals can best be 
approached by joining hands with those who share a common vision." 
 
    A WMD task force on partnership said it "expects this definition of 
Partnership to be the genesis of something of a mini-reformation in how we 
do mission - a lens through which, in conjunction with our mission 
partners, all existing partnerships will be re-examined and re-evaluated." 
The task force added: "We call on the WMD to take action in love, where 
needed, to bring our mission endeavors in line with this new 
understanding." 
 
    One of the missionaries responded: "We've gone a long way down a road 
that isn't working that's called `partnership.' Saying it's not working is 
a step forward; this document is a step forward because it is honest enough 
to say that what we have today is not working; and there are churches with 
whom we are currently relating to whom we need to say: `We won't stop 
relating to you, but what we have it not a partnership, so let's not call 
it a partnership.'" 
 
    Actually, none of the documents asserted that partnership is "not 
working"; but several missionaries did. 
 
    Partly because of the missionaries' objections, the one-sentence 
definition has since been scrapped for one that McClure says is "a more 
Christological statement and a better explanation of the purpose of 
defining partnership." 
 
    "We understand `mission' to be God's work - centered in the gospel of 
Jesus Christ, and made real through the active and leading power of the 
Holy Spirit - for the world God loves," reads a policy statement approved 
Feb. 17 by the WMD committee. "... God's purpose for us in mission is 
fulfilled as different and differing communities - Christian, secular and 
of other faith communities - find common ground and are brought together in 
mutual submission and commitment to serve the people and the world God 
created." 
 
    A sampling of other missionaries' comments during the retreat: 
 
    "There are no African partner contributions to any dialogue on the 
continent." 
 
    "It is unrealistic to expect programs to become self-supporting when 
partner churches have no money." 
 
    "So many parts of Africa understand the `Body of Christ' message of the 
Bible as such: Because we are one family and because we are in need in 
Africa, the church in America has a familial obligation to send money." 
 
    "Partner churches work with many different international donors and 
often wear different masks to please the group that is currently visiting. 
How does the PC(USA) relate to the `adopt the present ideology' practice 
which rules in the dynamic cultures of Africa?" 
 
    "In oral cultures through Africa, the process of dialogue begins with a 
clean slate and two groups talk until a consensus is reached. The PC(USA) 
method seems to be to fly into an area, hand out some written materials, 
eat expensive food and fly away the next day. Are folk in the PC(USA) 
interested in true dialogue, or in document dissemination? Is this related 
to American imperialism?" 
 
    "Donor/partner relations are questionable. Do they really share a 
`common vision'? If partner churches choose a certain focus, and the donors 
do not share that focus, then they chance losing out on that money. ... 
Hence, partner churches are always trying to make sure that their foci are 
the same as their donor church." 
 
    "Some tools borrowed from the `corporate model' may not be appropriate 
for mission." 
 
    Many of the missionaries said that a partnership cannot be equal or 
fair when one party is providing all the money, as is usually the case in 
African missions. 
 
    The missionaries were also asked about the current trend of 
congregations and presbyteries becoming directly involved in mission 
projects. They said that is helpful only when: 
 
    * There has been sufficient opportunity for the national (partner) 
church to assess needs and set its own priorities; 
 
    * The U.S. congregation or presbytery is willing "to at least inform 
the national body of what they are intending to do"; 
 
    * There is relative political stability and personal security in the 
host nation; 
 
    * There is a mature and "strong" national church; 
 
    * Sufficient preliminary research and discussion has taken place. 
 
    One discussion group observed, "It is often not positive and most of 
the time, in our experience, not better to have direct involvement of 
inexperienced folk in mission." 
 
    McClure, the division director, said she appreciated the missionaries' 
forthrightness. 
 
    "I came here wanting to get their input because we've been working on a 
number of fronts, on strategic directions for the future, on the 
development of a kind of case for support of mission personnel, and working 
really hard on strategic issue of partnership. ... We got excellent 
feedback. I was very impressed with (the missionaries') thoughtfulness and 
how quickly, with very little notice, they were able to come up with real 
guidance and advice for us." 
 
    One message that came through loud and clear to McClure was the 
missionaries' warning about a worsening "generational devastation" in 
Africa, due mostly to warfare and disease, notably AIDS. 
 
    "The demographics of violence and illness and conflict are horrible to 
imagine," she said. "It's painful to think about country after country 
where children have not received the kind of family nurture that every 
human being needs. And not only that, but they could be recruited into 
armies, brutalized in the streets and in the bush. It's really horrible to 
imagine." 
 
    She added: "The missionaries strike me as people of prayer, who do 
really pour themselves out; and because they care so much, they tend to be 
perfectionists. I am impressed by their commitment of faith and their real 
passion for what Jesus intends in the world. ... I think they have a 
different perspective on partnership because they typically have direct 
contact with the grass-roots members of the churches where they serve, 
rather than with church officials." 
 
    McClure said this was her first mission personnel retreat, and she was 
meeting "more than half" of the participants for the first time. 
 
    "We need to get into a regular rhythm of doing these retreats," she 
said. "One of the advantages of this event was that some of the more 
seasoned and older missionary personnel were in fact beginning to ... take 
people under their wing." 
 
    Only two complaints were raised about the retreat: 
 
    A number of parents said child-care provisions were inadequate, forcing 
them to miss many activities; and a few participants said they didn't think 
it was appropriate to hold the meeting amid such luxury. 
 
    "In light of the cost of air fare for everyone, which you really 
couldn't reduce, it seemed penny wise and pound foolish to try to save 
money on lodging," said McClure, pointing out that one of WMD's aims was to 
enable the missionaries to relax, set aside their worries and feel a little 
bit pampered 
 
    "We'll learn from this," she said, "and try to do better the next 
time." 

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