Andre Wright, Staff Reporter
SEEMINGLY ON every road, uptown or downtown, even in the remote hamlets, there is a little church declaring the Good News.
We all know what's coming when large tents shoot up at Maverley Park in North West St. Andrew. It's crusade time. It's the moment of the itinerant evangelists bellowing in the night air, hallelujahs ripping through thick crowds and frothing demoniacs getting spiritual deliverance. It's enriching, entrancing and entertaining.
This is the idea many believers have of going on missions for the Lord - going into familiar territory among familiar people with familiar strategies. A mere two weeks and the tents are removed and life goes back to normal. But missions involve much more than that.
It represents abandoning the comforts of home sweet home, the severing of dreams to be a first-class executive and uprooting all that is familiar and consoling. There are no popularity contests and non-stop television coverage, nor are people lining up for once-in-a-lifetime autographs.
This is a journey of solitude, sorrow and sacrifice. But this is not comforting to the ordinary Christian who wants to live a regular life without fame, fanfare or frustration. In fact, these persisting perceptions concerning missionary service could very well be the reason why the missionary lines are very short nowadays.
One hymn states:
"My house is full but my fields they are empty,
Who will go and work for me today?
It seems my children all want to stay around my table
But no one wants to work in my field."
We sing it all the time, get teary-eyed, and then return to our place of solace - safe and sound in church.
In a time of globalisation, the local church could be left behind if it does not play a more pro-active role in reaching beyond its shores. Administrations have often lacked the zeal to push the evangelical focus past the shacks and alleys here and contribute more forcefully to worldwide missions. The capacity of leadership to reinforce the greater mandate of international ministry is critical to the revolution needed to halt religious parochialism.
I conducted an interesting interview with a young missionary, Marshalee Brown, who is about to embark on full-time ministry in Ethiopia for the next four to five years.
She said: "We are not aware of our history as missionaries. There are Jamaicans in missions abroad but they do not have the support of their local churches; there is no partnership. Jamaicans tend to move into evangelism next door, but are not aware of world affairs. In reading the Bible and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20), we have not internalised the message."
She acknowledges the financial constraints of local denominations and the slow development of some entities, but knocks leadership for not thinking outside the box. "Some think it's such a big thing and feel so removed," she said. "We tend to focus on our little church and squabble, not realising that there are others who don't even have a church to squabble over. God wants the world to glorify him and if we don't carry the message we will always be stagnant and in turmoil. There is so much in store. We need to reach beyond our boundaries."
The bane of the West, perhaps, is that many Christian adherents do not know of the violent persecution in Malaysia, the lack of freedom in the Arab world, that thousands are killed in Africa because of their Christian beliefs and practices. They do not understand the jeers, rejection and murderous victimisation in the Indian sub-continent, the restraints in Russia and stiff anti-religious clampdowns in Communist China of Christians. Our handicap is an embarrassment of riches of religious freedom.
I remember a friend who, after listening keenly to a visiting missionary, was filled with fervour to go into the field. She went to the missionary school for a weekend but after a few nights of discontent, left for home never to return.
Ms. Brown, who has participated in short-term missions since 1996, has been to Cuba, Ethiopia, Mexico and India. What missionary service has done, she says, is provide her with the opportunity to share the gospel with others living in deprivation and helps one to become more culturally aware, sensitive and strategy-conscious, especially in her visit to India.
"It's rewarding," she asserts. "For one to feel fulfilled, one has to find that peace and joy that you are doing God's will for your life. In India, the main question is, 'Is the gospel relevant?' The culture is intertwined with the Hindu beliefs. Because of that internal tension, the challenge is for the church to be relevant."
She says that many of the churches there are westernised - western hymns, dress, etc. "One can't witness openly; even witnessing one to one can be dangerous, as people are often antagonistic. Even in ministry to upper caste people, you can't say we are all equal in the sight of God. It compels you to be culturally sensitive," she explains. "To become a Christian is like a step down for them. It's very hard. You're kinda breaking down the family. Many find it hard to go back to their family, so they hide their Christianity as they can be killed or their family thrown out of town."
But with all the words of encouragement and motivation, most Christians find the prospect of such a radical change burdensome.
According to the Rev. Peter Kirby, pastor of the St. Andrew Lutheran Church, "In Jamaica, we're weak. We have been largely a mission-receiving country; many have come to Jamaica but Jamaica is behind in sending. There is a lack of a missionary vision."
Rev. Kirby, who has been a missionary in Jamaica for seven years, said, "Our Lutheran church body is very mission-minded and evangelistic. We recently passed a resolution to share the gospel with 100 million people in 15 years. Our ministry is balanced, trying to be evangelistic while fulfilling human needs (such as a feeding programme, micro-credit programme), using it as a bridge."
Being behind, as Rev. Kirby said, is precisely right. Speaking with sources from various denominations locally, it was found that currently the Catholic Church has five missionaries worldwide; the United Church, one; the Baptists, one; the Moravian Church, (officially) three; and the United Pentecostal Church, none.
Staggering statistics, one might think, considering that so many people in the world have not yet heard the gospel of Christ.
In a telephone interview with Glenroy Lalor, director of the Jamaica Baptist Union's (JBU) Mission Agency, he said, "The JBU has been involved in international missions since about 1842. There has been Baptist witness in Cameroon; similarly there is a mission in Grenada for many years, Panama, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Nicaragua and Haiti."
The JBU director said, "At present, We have a minister in Colon, Panama, at the First Isthmian Baptist Church, and are currently sending another to the Turks and Caicos."
But these efforts, though commendable, are not enough. Jamaican denominations need to recognise that they cannot leave the missions to the Americans alone.
Sometimes I believe we concentrate too much on those who have already heard the gospel day in, day out, instead of grasping the opportunity to share with those who never had a chance. The church today has enough problems even keeping those of its faithful in the face of rising secularism.
When will the message of evangelism draw mass response to abandon our boundaries of comfort? Maybe never. But think carefully the next time the evangelist or pastor tells you to "go ye into all the world and preach the gospel", was the 'world' restricted to your next-door neighbour?
Andre Wright can be contacted at wrights@colis.com.
