Thoughts about Missions

I’ve been thinking about the work of missionaries a lot lately and I remember not so long ago having a very different idea of their purpose. Maybe it was from films I’ve seen or novels I’ve read, but the general image was often negative. Especially for those who don’t attend church or even those who do, but aren’t blessed with a priest or pastor that has a heart for missions, the idea can be one of imposition on a culture where it may not even be welcome. Certainly, man has not always done it well. Historically, westerners often went to change a society – attempting to make it ¨better¨ or imposing their beliefs as the ‘right’ way. We’ve seen examples of missionaries who saw it as their task to stamp out local cultures, which they regarded as the work of the devil, and replace them with a religion in which Christianity and the cultural values of Western Europe were inextricably intertwined. I’m struck by the new perspective I have now.
When approached with a heart like Jesus, missionaries come alongside people of different countries appreciating their language, customs, and culture. We often refer to these places as the ‘developing world’ or ‘third world’ countries. It would be more aptly put to call them the ‘majority world’ and recognize that we have much to learn from them. Only after learning from the local people and establishing relationships with them do missionaries offer any services and later still any hope of a life forgiven by Jesus. But it is this idea of supporting and serving them that is predominantly the goal.
Our missionary here in Argentina, Martin Jacobson, said ‘’I believe the greatest need in missions today, whether for short-term or longer-term, is to approach any culture with Christ-like humility, affirming the fact that every person on this planet was created in God's image. That humility is reflected in respecting their language and culture while not imposing our "culturally-conditioned" Christianity on them and yet not compromising the essential truth of Christ's life, death, and resurrection.’’ He sees that as only being a possibility after ‘first listening to their life "story"’.

The work being done here at the Patagonia Bible Institute is a wonderful example of meeting the needs of the people and equipping them to accomplish their mission, ultimately without any help from the outside.

We have loved getting to know the Jacobsons and the Echevarrias (in photos). In effect, they are building generations by their efforts in Patagonia as part of the answer to the prayer of one of the first Protestant missionaries to South America, Commander Allen Gardiner. He and his team of six men died of thirst and starvation on the southernmost shores of the Patagonia in Tierra del Fuego. His diary was found near his body -- on July 4, 1851, he wrote:
“My prayer is, that the Lord my God may be glorified in me, whether it be by life or by death, and that He will, should we fall, vouchsafe to raise up and send forth other labourers into this harvest, that His name may be magnified, and His kingdom enlarged, in the salvation of multitudes.” I guess we're kinda part of that, too!