The longer I spend time in Africa, the more my perspective seems to
shift. I think before there was a lot of guilt in me that, at least in
part, drove me to want to make a difference here. But I am realizing
now that I have been many places and seen rich and poor everywhere that
I cannot feel guilty about what the Lord has freely given me as a
blessing. I am responsible to use it wisely, yes, but not guilty. I
also have noticed a shift in my passion for Africa. I used to desire
aid first and Jesus as a side note, but aid has seemed to do very
little for this continent. It is known as “the black hole” because aid
enters and disappears with a seemingly insignificant difference made.
As far as this inexperienced mind can conceive, a “renewal of mind” is
what is necessary for any change to happen.
The hard part is Americans do not want to do this. This takes hard
work, time and effort. It also fails to allow the guilt massage we
give to ourselves by coddling Africans to happen. In no way is this
easy especially considering Africa is a continent destroyed by white
influence. First with the slave trade, next with colonialism and
finally through the NGO hand-out movement that single handedly explains
to Africans that they cannot provide for themselves. In every
instance, white people have communicated to Africans that they are not
smart but inferior and unable to do anything for themselves.
Therefore, we have (along with the help of the Father of Lies) created
a fatalistic mentality that is so innate children here yell at us,
“Give me money!” wherever we go.
The fatalism is so potent it is extremely disheartening. Since white
people (often Christian white people) feel guilty and throw 
money at
the situation, missionaries get reduced to some sort of sad piggy bank
taking requests and building things that do not last and are not
necessary. To illustrate, we visited a fishing village where
prostitution and infidelity are commonplace and at the top of the hill
rest seven churches of different denominations. They are literally lined up next to one another with only a few
people attending each, causing denominational division between the
fifty Christians in the area. But luckily each denomination that built
churches there met their quota for churches planted in Africa for that
year so that people in air conditioned churches can cheer for a job
well done. Unfortunately, no disciples are made, only buildings for disunity and American petty rivalries to be carried out in an Africa who never knew of them before.
I join the voices of missionaries I have encountered here in asking
Americans to stop building churches and throwing money at people or
situations. Africans are capable, but they do not believe it. A man
will not attempt to fix his roof here unless someone declares him an
“expert”. He will not attempt to do it!! This man needs to know that
even if he is not trained, he can try. The Africans I have met are
some of the most inventive and creative people, but this has been
terminated by the mentality of “I cannot do this,” which is simply not
true.
I think this is why I love Mission: Moving Mountains so much (now a
part of Navigators). They do not provide hand outs, but a renewal of
mind centered on thankfulness to God and confidence in His provision
and the identity He declares we have in Christ. If you want to support
a mission organization, this is who you should support. For more
information regarding MMM, please visit
http://www.navigators.org/us/ministries/movingmountains.
