An African Baptist Response to the IMB: Part 4

[Bruce Gourley]

An African Baptist Response to the IMB: Part 4
by Patrick Dube, Botswana

Missionary lifestyles – integrity, honesty
Baptist missionaries in our part of the world have not shown much sacrifice in terms of their lifestyles. They buy and rent houses in the most expensive suburbs, drive expensive cars and solicit money from churches and individuals, only to use that money to manipulate people and situations. They often use the money to buy loyalty from local people and in extreme situations they use money to cause locals to fight each other while they watch from the sidelines.

Individual immersion into ethnic cultures
Some missionaries do not immerse themselves into the culture of the people with whom they are working. This is evidenced by their ignorance of the cultural dynamics of the people and the lack of concern to learn the language of the people. If it is observed that missionaries are not concerned with the culture and language of the people, the missionaries must be sent back home, otherwise they are on holiday. Surely resources could be better utilized by more passionate people who have a heart for souls. One reason why this issue is never addressed by locals is that some leaders are beneficiaries of perks from missionaries and so they don’t want to lose out on those perks, so they turn a blind eye to such deficiencies.

Little or no involvement by the supporting churches
Churches which support mission agencies financially have little or no direct involvement with the actual mission work being done by missionaries. The churches receive glossy reports of what missionaries are supposedly doing and sometimes there is no acknowledgement of the nationals who are used to do the work. The fact that mission agencies within countries don’t even submit reports to the local Convention/Union that are partnering with, means there isn’t a meaningful accountability.

Control systems of oppression
Missionaries are known to use money from churches in the USA to manipulate people and force pastors and leaders to submit to their own missionary agendas. They deliberately do not sit with local leaders to discuss how best monies sent from their churches in the USA should be utilized for the growth of the Convention/Union. Because the money comes through their agency, they take the prerogative to dictate the terms of usage of the funds. Missionaries make decisions about work that is to be done and they don’t consult with local pastors and leaders. They draw up their goals and rope in the local leaders to help them accomplish them. That’s how they maintain control. They are even known to “steal” strategies and visions from locals and make them seem like they originated them and this has put a strain on their relationships with local leaders. The local are always the ones tagging on behind missionaries because the missionaries have the money and the cars to carry out their plans. Churches are made to be dependent on missionaries so the pastors are made to be submissive to them or else they withdraw their support. Any local leader that thinks independently is regarded as a reactionary and is subsequently ostracized by both missionaries and his own people. Missionaries use the “divide and rule” principle.