Current Events and Updates of the Ministry

Thanksgiving with the Freys

pa·ter·nal·ism (p-tûrn-lzm) noun; – A policy or practice of treating or governing people in a fatherly manner, especially by providing for their needs without giving them rights or responsibilities;

Telling people what is best: a style of government or management, or an approach to personal relationships, in which the desire to help, advise, and protect may neglect individual choice and personal responsibility

Hmmm… Doesn’t sound good does it!

Let me take a couple of minutes of your time to share a bit of what has been on my heart of late.

I am not a theologian, nor a missiologist, but I have been around the block a couple of times, and I do have an opinion on a couple of things. Indeed, some who know me would be very quick to say that I have too many opinions on too many things – but be that as it may…

We all know that in an incorrect handling of parenting, paternalism is sometimes evident in dealing with one’s children – the child is treated in a fatherly manner, having all of their needs provided for. But in the parent’s desperate desire to help and protect, the child can be stripped of personal choice and their personal responsibilities negated.

I am of the strong conviction that one of the often occurring failures in missions is that of falling either intentionally, or unintentionally into paternalism as well. It is a very difficult thing to hand over a work to others, especially when we feel that we know best, and that someone else cannot, or will not do it as well as I want it done.

Where the double whammy comes in missions is that too often we still have a feeling that we would never, ever verbalize, but which is lying just under the surface nonetheless – the feeling of superiority that says that the “uneducated savages can never do it on their own, but need our help”. Secondly, we like the feeling of paternalism. It makes us feel needed, and that others rely on us for their daily sustenance. Then finally, we, in mission circles, face the added stress of the responsibility of stewardship for God’s resources. We are charged with the care of money and other assets which have most often been donated for the advancement of Kingdom work. We legitimately feel the need to discharge this responsibility with care and in a trustworthy manner, and not in a willy-nilly fashion. This makes transference even more difficult because we have to wrestle with our consciences in the area of stewardship as well.

While I was growing up, my parents worked under a mission in northern Canada. Over the years that I observed the work that my parents were involved with, I saw examples of both good and bad missions techniques. Unfortunately some of the handover of the work from the “great white missionary” to national leadership did not go as smoothly as it should have, and there were some obvious hiccups along the way.

I believe that the work of in Cd. Valles has arrived at the place where we must make a definite and purposeful handover to national leadership, and a drawing back on our part. I pray that we can learn from the past, and not have to repeat the negative things that happened then.

In some ways the work in Cd. Valles has a great strength in that Voice in the Wilderness Ministries and its precursors – Earthen Vessels and CornerStone International, under which the work was developed, has always placed itself under the cover of the national church, and specifically under that of Ezequiel and Veronica. We have always seen ourselves as serving as an evangelistic arm of the national church, and never as any sort of great white leader who is seeking recognition. That was/is a good thing. However, we do need to recognize the danger of inadvertently, and very unintentionally slipping into paternalism. Surely no one would ever seek to intentionally do so…still, the heart is desperately wicked, who can truly know it!

We need to be very, very careful now as the vision of the Bible School / Training Center moves closer from dream to reality. We must hold lightly all ownership and control. This issue is made even more difficult for the Canadian work than for its U.S. counterpart because of legal issues as stipulated by Canadian charity laws. Revenue Canada demands control of tax-receipted funds which go through Canadian non-profits. This can bring fear into the hearts of those who legitimately do want to be faithful in handing a work over to national leaders, and themselves taking a back seat in the direction of the work.

The one area in which we as leadership in VitW Ministries (and probably specifically me, Steven Frey), has felt that we need to make changes is with the staff housing above the church building in Cd. Valles. Any of you who have been here will know that over the past twelve or so years very usable and comfortable apartments have been built above the church building. This building process began when Dr. Heinlein and I arrived back in 1998 (as chronicled in the May 10^th blog “Reflections: Past and Future”, as well as that of May 27^th entitled “What Do These Stones Mean”. I encourage you to go back and take a peak at these so that the past will help you to understand the present and future).

Today, after much hard work, sacrifice on the part of many people, and perseverance, there are beautiful facilities above the church which have served the ministry well. The easiest thing now would be to sit back with folded arms and enjoy the status quo. However, for a variety of reasons we have been feeling an urgency to make a handover of all of the property to the national church as of the end of 2010.

Our logic is several-fold. First of all, I think that the time is ripe for the handover, and the end of any type of paternalism which may have unwittingly been established. Secondly, Theresa and I do need (at least would like) a bit more privacy. Thirdly, and I think very importantly, we need a place where we can have people over to visit in a more “normal” way. At present, we live in Grand Central and there are many, many who flow up and down the stairs and by our rooms. The problem is, though, that it is really very difficult to simply have someone over just to visit or for any sort of a purposeful private time. Theresa and I look forward to having a home which is available to have friends in for a visit or a cup of coffee – a place where we can host a Christian movie, or simply have an informal group of people over to visit and talk.

This all sounds simple except for the underlying element of paternalism with which I began this blog – if we hand it over will it be maintained as we would desire it to be? Is this the best use of God’s money? Are we being good stewards? Will the place be comfortably prepared when guests arrive to work or teach here? etc., etc.

The answer is “yes”- we must not act as paternalistic parents. So, we have made the hand over. As of the end of the year Theresa and I will no longer be living in the apartments above the church building. These apartments will no longer be VitW Ministries staff housing, but rather, will be owned and controlled by Iglesia Esfuerzo Magdiel (the national church onto which they are attached). We have asked to continue to be able to have them available to visitors and work teams if possible. All visitors will now need to expect to pay a nominal fee for staying in the church-owned apartments. This fee will go toward a fund which will be used by the church to pay for the ongoing maintenance of the apartments as well as towards the extra expenses incurred by them towards utilities when visitors are staying there.

A leap of faith? Sure. Uncomfortable and inconvenient? Without a doubt. This now means that Theresa and I must rent a place. We must now go out and look for a fridge and stove, a washing machine, as well as other basic necessities. We will take some – a bare minimum of things, with us to the new place. However, the status quo is always more comfortable – after all, we have been there for years and it is comfortable. Now we need to start over again, and that is never comfortable.

Still, as I mentioned above, there are some very big benefits that can begin to happen in the area of relationships when we live within a “normal” community setting rather than in the unnatural setting above the church building. Also, a strong advantage is that it will make impossible the tendency of developing an “American enclave” where we all speak English, think American, and live an American lifestyle bubble within Mexico.

However, the status quo is always more comfortable…remember us in your prayers as we transition.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 15th, 2010 at 12:00 pm and is filed under VitW Blog.