Decades ago, when the faithful were called to the mission field, they often packed their belongings in a coffin, expressing two realities: they were in this for a lifetime, and that lifetime might not be very long. Most missionaries to Africa, even in the early 20th Century, only survived for a few years. They succumbed to disease (often malaria), starvation, wild animals, or were killed by the very people they were trying to reach.
Today, international missions have changed. For one thing, other countries now sometimes send missionaries to the United States! And missionaries from the United States who go to Africa know a bit more about the culture and also about immunizations.
While there are still traditional “sending agencies” commissioning people to the mission field to preach the gospel, there are also many organizations that take a different approach. They provide training and resources that will ultimately allow local people to carry on, sharing information, insights and new discoveries with others in their culture.
Empower is one such non-traditional organization. Using a train-the-trainer model, Empower offers Bible-based seminars that can eventually be taught by participants, allowing the training to multiply and reach a broad audience rapidly.
At the recent Missions 21 Conference, hosted by Empower in Santa Ana, CA, leaders from a variety of mission organizations met to network, learn, and share insights on this new model for missions. Dr. Carrie Miles, founder and president of Empower, noted that “there is no category for our model of missions,” but the conference could be the first step in building a network of similar mission organizations.
The conference was aimed at those whose work focuses on gender issues, justice issues, orphan care, and mental health issues.
Frank Tweheyo, African program director for Empower, delivered a compelling keynote address to open the one-day conference. He spoke on missions from an African perspective in an engaging and instructive talk, “Missions from the Other Side: Understanding Cross-Cultural Issues.”
He pointed out that African nations have a “collectivist” culture, which is relational and focused on family and community. This is often difficult for Americans, coming from a culture that focuses on individual rights, to understand. They also have an “honor/shame” culture in which avoiding embarrassment is critical. Because of the group focus, one person’s dishonor brings shame on his or her whole family and community.
He pointed out that as we do missions in the African culture, “success in missions is not about results (numbers baptized, for instance). The primary indicator of success is obedience. The second indicator of success is how you are transformed.” He also noted that Africans highly value the Bible, and the best strategy for bringing change is to teach the Bible, rather than trying to impose our culture on another one.
“These are small things,” he said. “But small things matter.”
Ministries Represented
The morning session of the conference provided an opportunity for participants to present information about their work, and to learn from one another.
The ministries represented at the conference included Empower, as well as:
Global Women in Leadership Network:Represented at the conference by CEO Anastasia Hansel, Global Women helps create small business opportunities for under-resourced women in Majority World countries, helping them to become financially independent and self-sustaining.
Graceworks: Based in Anaheim, CA, Graceworks helps orphans and vulnerable children both in Kenya, and here in the United States. Graceworks was represented at the conference by Executive Director and Founder Susan Njemanze. Susan works in social services in Santa Ana, where she lives, but also operates Graceworks in her home village in Kenya.
His 2 Offer (H2O): Based in Santa Cruz, CA, H2O works with a variety of ministries in Malawi. Empower Minister Suzy Powers represented this ministry, alongside her husband Ron. They live and work in San Jose, CA, but are traveling this summer to Malawi to work with His 2 Offer. Ron, an engineer at Apple, also runs a ministry in Santa Cruz called Loads of Love, which is a mobile laundromat that serves the homeless by offering access to a washer and dryer in a van.
Kilgoris Project: This Los Altos, CA-based organization partners with a Maasai village in Kenya to educate and feed 1300 school-age children. They employ local teachers, and advocate for girls’ education. They were represented at the conference by Suzanne Thomas, who as been a part of the ministry for about nine years and currently serves as a consultant on development.
Royal Family Kids International. Represented at the conference by Joanne Feldmeth, Royal Family Kids International provides safe help and trauma recover abused, neglected or trafficked children through summer camp experiences and mentoring programs. They work not only in numerous locations in Africa, but also in Chile, Australia and Wales.
Sarah Nutter, board member, eloquently described the work of Empower (and many of the other ministries at the conference) when she said: “We go to help people teach themselves, and in so doing, help the world.” (Visit our Facebook page to see a short video of some of her remarks).
It was a wonderfully prepared conference and a great eye opener. Thanks Carrie for hosting and thanks to all who participated. Frank