The Plight of Dependency

A rural school in Sierra Leone

I know sustainability is a buzzword right now and you are probably sick of hearing it but despite the word's overuse, it feels like nothing is changing.  Over the past few years, I have learned that in missions there is still a lot of progress that needs to be made.  North American Churches are still going on short term missions trips with suitcases packed full of North American resources, we continue to fund church buildings and school buildings in countries that we claim have few resources and in many cases we build the buildings ourselves.  We pay school fees for students and send a one-way stream of outdated, used books, we donate pencils and toothbrushes that probably cost three times as much to buy here, we ship hundreds of containers of used clothes to Sierra Leone, all with good intentions.  Our White savior complex is still on point.  Many of these good intentions continue to create a perpetual attitude of dependency.

I came across an old document that I received when I first went to Sierra Leone written by the former Director of International Ministries with Resonate Global Mission.  He argues the results of unhealthy dependency in ministry harms people's theology.  Dependency looks different depending on the context, but when we shift our dependence away from God, we forget that God is our sovereign provider.  Dependency often harms relationships with donors.  Decisions will be made to please the donors, not based on what the national leaders believe is the best decision for the church/school.  Mutual and reciprocal relationships are extremely hard to form when money is on the line.  Dependency often damages the dignity of the receiver, creating feelings helplessness and hopelessness.  It harms our understanding of being created in the image of God.

Often, dependency on outside resources does damage to the identity and the future capacity of an organization leading towards ministry that may not be contextually appropriate and might not reproduce itself.  Dependency can also distort the Gospel message as it can quickly become more about hope in someone else's resources instead of hope in God.  Dependency kills creativity and initiative.  It does not drive the local community and leaders to think of creative and innovative solutions to their own challenges.  This idea that there are few resources in so called "developing" countries is a misconception that we have been taught in the West.  We need to learn to recognize the resources that God has provided within each nation and we also need to be careful to not place greater value on Western resources than non-Western resources.

Creative way to make banana bread

The former director states that "God has supplied to every people of the world all that they need to live as a community of faith and to spread the gospel to others."  When I went back to Sierra Leone this summer for a six week contract with the World Bank, it was incredible to hear stories of Sierra Leoneans who went back to their villages to start schools.  Schools that began as Bafas (grass huts) where students sat on mats eventually blossomed into school buildings with benches.  Schools that began by using Cassava as chalk shared that they are now using chalk.  Using cement bags and rice bags to make teaching aids is one example of unleashed creativity.  The creativity and initiative in these rural villages to provide education to the young children were remarkable.  They involved the parents and the local community in building structures using local resources.  There was local ownership and investment in the initiative.  They used the blessings in which God had given them to invest in the education of the future generation.  

This very concept of sustainability is what excites me about working with the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) in Nigeria.  Their model to develop a sustainable organization encourages schools to invest financially in the services that ACSI offers and in turn, ACSI invests in the schools.  The organization is able to sustain itself through school membership, annual dues, and charging fees for conferences and professional development.  The Nigerian director for ACSI has pulled abundantly from her own resources to help kick-start the organization.  There is national initiative, investment, and creativity in ensuring that ACSI continues to move forward and grow.  We in North America have the privilege to add value to what God is already doing through ACSI Nigeria.  We need to recognize that God is already present and working in Christian education all across Nigeria but he has invited me and you to partner with Him through ACSI.  

A trap for fish built in a river

One way in which we can work towards sustainability both here in North America and throughout the world is to "do a thoughtful assessment of the assets, or blessings, with which God has already blessed you.  When you identify the blessings of God, then you decide how to maximize them for His glory and for the extension of His Kingdom.  Unhealthy dependency makes people blind to these resources, but sustainability helps us to open our eyes to all the ways God has blessed us." 

The author encourages churches, organizations and even individuals to do an inventory of blessings: 

1. Physical blessings

2. economic blessings

3. intellectual blessings

4. spiritual blessings

5. environmental blessings

6. social blessings

When you look at the pictures in this blog, we have been taught to see poverty, to see hopelessness, to see despair.  We need to shift away from seeing poverty to seeing ingenuity, creativity, dignity and initiative.  We need to recognize how people around the world are using the blessings that God has given them and how we can add value to what is already being done.  As you think about your own role in fulfilling God's kingdom here on this earth, maybe it is time to reevaluate the blessings in which God has given you and how are you utilizing them to His glory.  God has created us in His image and he has called each of us to use the resources and blessings that He has given us for the work of the Kingdom and for His glory.