Welcome to my newsletter, “Global Witness, Globally Reimagined.”
I dream here about mission in a postcolonial world. Every week, I share one thought that has spoken to me, two resources I trust will be helpful to you, and three quotes about mission.
I pray one of these will energise you this week.
1. Thought I Can’t Shake Off
Over the past few weeks, I have been trying to explore, by means of an ubuntu-shaped missiology as an example, what non-western missiologies would look like. What would African, Asian, and Latin American Christians do differently if their missiologies were not shaped by Western thought? A lot. For instance, mission in the context of ubuntu will certainly be communal—happening through communities reaching out to and discipling other communities—and spirit-oriented—it will be grounded in prayer and powered by the Spirit of God that gives gifts, liberally, to all without preference of persons. The Spirit that calls Westerners to mission has been poured “upon all flesh” and is at work among Africans, Asians, and Latin Americans, calling them to the same mission. It is this second aspect that has been on my mind this week. A friend of mine, Reinhold Titus, recently wrote a dissertation on the subject of inclusion in mission organisations. (He talks about it below, and his book will be published pretty soon). In the dissertation (and in the presentation below), he tells of the struggles that non-Westerners often have to negotiate to belong in Western mission organisations. His findings do not surprise me at all; mission agencies have an inclusion problem. They are among the whitest of spaces. Generally speaking, they are unable or unwilling to accept non-Westerners among them. Their beloved thought systems and organisational structures (not to mention funding models) make it impossible for others to belong. Many say they want to change but do not understand that they cannot do this by themselves. As a result, the whole endeavour seems to many too exclusive. The very missiological gifts that are needed to help us include others in our mission, such as ubuntu, cannot be accessed because those who bring them are not at the table. Exclusion, as my father says, leads to the diminishing of life, both of the host and the guest. May God help us all.
2. Resources I am Enjoying
Podcast: Reinhold Titus, “Fostering Globally Inclusive Mission Organisations”
I mentioned Reinhold Titus above. He works as Chief Strategy and Inclusion Officer on OM Ships. He explored the topic of “Inclusion in Mission Organisations” as a research project for a master’s degree here in the UK. He is currently awaiting the thesis to be published as a book. This is a short-ish presentation that he did for us at Missio Africanus. Take some time to watch or listen, it will be time well spent.
Video: Re-Imagining Short-Term Missions: Short-term missions for mutual transformation, with Jay Matenga
In this episode, as described by the host, Forrest Inslee of the Reimagining Short-term Mission Podcast (and co-editor of the new book entitled Reimagining Short-term Mission), we have a conversation between Forrest himself and Dr Jay Matenga. Jay is a theologian of mission practice. He is of the Māori people of New Zealand. He serves as the Director of the World Evangelical Alliance Global Witness Department and Executive Director of its Mission Commission. He is also one of the contributors to the book, Re-Imagining Short-Term Missions. Here, they explore a wide range of issues, answering questions such as; What would happen if short-term mission trips were built around values of mutual transformation instead of the usual top-down, one-way dynamic of “service”? What if Christians in the global north really believed that their brothers and sisters in the global south could help them understand God and the world in new, liberating ways? Or that short-term trips could be opportunities for visitors and hosts alike to be changed and challenged by one another through mutually respectful, coequal exchange.
3. Quotes I am Pondering
I argue that, as a church, perhaps, we have dwelt too much on the mission that was carried by the disciples of Jesus, “going to the nations” and neglected the mission that was carried by our Lord Jesus, namely a mission to ones’ own nation – which is demanding, dangerous, deadly mission, for “a prophet has no honour in their own home …. — Musa W. Dube
Since much of the emerging Majority World church is embedded in a context of religious pluralism and public persecution, we have much to learn from our brothers and sisters around the world about how to be faithful to our public witness in the midst of an unbelieving and, at times, even hostile context. Western missionaries must not go out and reproduce privatized versions of Christianity. — Timothy Tennent
Theologians from the new (or younger) churches have made their pilgrimages to the theological learning of the older churches. We had no alternative. We have eaten theology with you; we have drunk theology with you; we have dreamed theology with you. But it has all been one-sided; it has all been in a sense your theology… We know you theologically. The question is do you know us theologically? Would you like to know us theologically? — John Mbiti
Thank you, I pray you have a missionally fruitful week.
Where is the Dube quote from? Interesting that she goes backward to Christ. I've been thinking about moving forward to the Spirit in Acts as the impetus for mission.
Thank you, Dr Harvey, for your availability to unfold the mysteries behind the concept of missions.
I love this quote from the above-mentioned submission as I access it; "The Spirit of the Lord which called Westerners to mission has been poured upon all flesh and is at work among Africans, Asians, and Latin Americans to do the mission work". How do we understand and perceived the spirit dimensions and strategies that are required for better mission fulfilment?
As a result, the idea of the mission henceforth must No longer be seen as one-mission mind-centeredness but has to be an all-around motive between both the global South and the North whereby self-mindedness will need to be stripped off and then lets us theologically accept one another whereby Westerners can be willing to know us(Africans) theologically as we have known westerners through the medium of their early root of missions.
Again going to the nation for missions as Jesus commanded must not lead to the neglect of our very homeland where salvation for mission is highly demanding. The Gospel of Mission must be a Life of encounter for our people(African soil) redeeming them from darkness to light with full substances for a great harvest of the mission agenda through systems and strategies for a sound doctrine of missiology
Finally, since "Exclusion leads to the diminishing of life, both the host and the guest" according to Dr Harvey's father then Westerners who were pioneers of the mission encountered first must be willing to stand with non-westerners so that both wouldn't lose their place of mission assignment as a "Divine Mandate".