Why Missions?

Below are several quotes by prominent African leaders, both past and present, that have shaped the way in which I think about missions:

“You cannot develop people. You must allow people to develop themselves.” ~ Julius Nyerere, former President of Tanzania

“In Africa today, we recognize that trade and investment, and not aid, are pillars of development.” ~ Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda

  

“The notion that aid can alleviate systemic poverty, and has done so, is a myth.  Millions in Africa are poorer today because of aid; misery and poverty have not ended but increased.  Aid has been, and continues to be, an unmitigated political, economic, and humanitarian disaster for most parts of the developing world.” ~ Dambisa Moyo, Zambian Economist

“Many Africans succumb to the idea that they can’t do things because of what society says.  Images of Africa often promote a single story and are negative – war, corruption, poverty.  There is a growing desire amongst “Africans” to tell a different story of dignity and pride amongst its diverse nations and cultures.  To tell a story of innovation and determination, instead of a receiver of foreign aid and charity.”  ~ Dambisa Moyo

“The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete; they make one story become the only story” ~ Chimamanda Adichie, World-Renowned Nigerian Author

“If you followed the media you’d think that everybody in Africa was starving to death, and that’s not the case; so it’s important to engage with the other Africa” ~ Chimamanda Adichie

Don’t get me wrong, missions is broken, just like the rest of the world and it has its challenges, but there are a few realizations that I have come to regarding the huge opportunity we have through missions to change the narrative of "aid".  

Missions is about a desire to learn:

The West cannot develop Africa.  We, from the West, cannot go to Africa thinking that we will bring development, because trust me, you will be disappointed.  Rather, we have an opportunity through missions to change our mindset from a desire to help to a desire to learn.  God has given us the privilege to continually renew our mind and missions provides one avenue of doing that.  

When I was a part of the young adult group in Sierra Leone, we had an instance where one woman in our group, who sold in the market, was accused of stealing from the stall (the garage where they store their goods).  From my own Western worldview, I was of the opinion that we should take the woman to court, because she had no proof that our friend was guilty.  However, my Sierra Leonean friends didn’t buy my idea.  Instead, we kept going back to the woman who accused my friend of stealing to meet with her as a group.  We finally came to an agreement that we would give her money for half of the goods that she claimed went missing.  We were able to “save face” and prevent anyone from being put to shame.  

Our concepts of justice here in the West and in West Africa are quite different.  Here in the West, we tend to value guilt and innocence, while in West Africa, honor and shame is valued more.  Through missions, we have an opportunity to bridge vastly different cultures and contexts to learn from one another.  However, we do need to be careful that as we learn, we do not value Western knowledge above the knowledge of the “other”.   It is important to acknowledge that we, in the West, have a lot we can learn from other cultures, identities, countries and knowledge systems.  It is also an opportunity for individuals and churches to learn about the exciting work that God is doing through ACSI Nigeria.  

Missions is about mutual relationships:

Once we have developed a mindset of a learner, only then can genuine relationships be built and the Holy Spirit can move mountains.  Looking back to my time in Sierra Leone, it took more than a year, just to begin to scratch the surface of understanding the culture, context and the education system of where I was living and to begin building relationships.  You can’t develop mutual relationships doing short-term missions or contract hopping from NGO to NGO.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a common practice in Sierra Leone.  Observing FGM from the outside, I might assume that everything about it is bad.  But through my relationship with my friend Sarah, I learned to see it through a different lens.  The actual act of circumcision is only one piece of a valuable cultural practice called “Bondo”,  which is seen as a rite of passage into womanhood and to gain respect in society.  I was able to understand her own reasoning for encouraging her siblings to go through Bondo, but I was also able to respectfully challenge her belief regarding circumcision.  My argument for why the circumcision piece is wrong may have planted a seed in her mind to think more critically about it.  I also learned from her perspective regarding the value of Bondo as a way of entering into womanhood. 

Our relationship provided an opportunity to have this conversation, which would not have been possible otherwise.  Mutual relationships can develop when we (the West) recognize that the “other” has something to offer that is of equal value.   I didn’t realize how hard the mutual part was, until I went to Sierra Leone, where Colonialism, missions, and the NGO world have perpetuated the mindset that what the West has to offer is of greater value than what Sierra Leone has to offer.  My friend in Sierra Leone put it in this way: the United States is closer to heaven than Sierra Leone. When money continues to flow from the West to “developing” countries as aid, it continues to create barriers in building mutual relationships. 

Michael Stroope, in his book called Transcending Mission says “while much good has been accomplished and generosity extended, “the missionary movement of the past two centuries, has been profoundly infected by cultural and economic domination, by paternalism, by all the elements which have brought colonialism into disrepute in so many parts of the world.” What excites me about this opportunity to work with ACSI Nigeria is the opportunity to learn from each other, to build mutual relationships with my Nigerian coworkers, and to strive towards recognizing the value in the different skills, knowledge systems, and ideas that we bring to the table.  It is an opportunity to explore best practices in education together, so that our students reflect Christ in every square inch of their life. 

Missions is about accountability:

Missions is an opportunity to work under national leadership to encourage greater accountability.  So often, we continue to perpetuate a colonial mindset when individuals from the West assume positions of authority.  When I was doing my Masters degree in the UK, I nannied for a Nigerian family in London.  When we were leaving church on Sunday, Tise’s friend asked who I was.  Tise responded by saying that I was his aunty (He called me Aunty Sarah).  His friend promptly responded by saying that aunties can't be White.  Tise told him that aunties can be whatever color they want to be.  I hate to say it, but it is quite uncommon to see a White person working under a Black person.  Missions provides an opportunity to challenge the assumption that the White man is always in a position of authority.    

What excites me about working with ACSI Nigeria, is the opportunity to work under the national director, Mrs. Akinyemiju and to learn from her vast experience in Christian Education.  Coming into a foreign country, I think it is important to be accountable to Nigerian leaders so that missions does not encourage a paternalistic and colonialist mindset.  It is easy to assume that the way we do education in the West will work everywhere else in the world.  National accountability provides opportunities to discern which best practices are applicable for a Nigerian context and in understanding how the Gospel is reflected in the classroom.


Missions is about integrating a Biblical worldview into the classroom:
A recent news article published in Kaduna State, Nigeria, shared discouraging news regarding plans to sack over 20,000 teachers who failed a competency test at a primary 4 grade level that was set by the government of Nigeria.  These results, even though they were government school teachers, suggests the tremendous opportunity and urgency of the work that ACSI Nigeria is doing to raise the standard of Christian Education in Nigeria.  It is an opportunity to learn together how our faith impacts the way in which we teach, how we treat our students, how we market to parents, how we integrate faith into the different subject areas, how we encourage a healthy lifestyle, how we discipline our students, etc.  It is an opportunity to see teaching as a calling and an opportunity to reflect our faith in our actions as teachers.  

Someone once told me that in Nigeria, the two most common places for people to come to know Christ is in the hospital and in school.  The goal of missions through ACSI Nigeria is reflected in their mission and vision. "It is our vision to be an association speaking with a viable and authoritative voice in education and consisting of effective Christian schools recognized as essential and contributing to the public good, so that Christian school students worldwide acquire wisdom, knowledge, and a Biblical worldview as evidenced by a lifestyle of character, leadership, service, stewardship, and worship."  The mission of ACSI Nigeria is to "enable Christian educators and schools worldwide to effectively prepare students for life."