missions & aid

I recently heard a couple of lectures where the speakers pointed out that much of Christian giving is going to support large aid organizations such as World Vision and Tearfund and not to support mission organizations. As an example the speaker referred to one aid organization whose budget is around $75 million a year and growing. In contrast to this, the largest amount that any single mission organization received last year was only around a million dollars. (Sorry I can't give you the quotes on these figures, but it certainly is worth looking into!)

So I have wondered what the difference might be in people's minds between a Christian aid organization and a mission organization.

Aid agencies:
Socially driven
Vision and purpose cast in social terms
Share "the need" first
Have large funding available
compensate employees for all their work
usually require practical training and experience for a particular job
concerned for the image of God in society (assist the poor, restore dignity...)

Mission Agencies
Theologically driven
Vision and purpose cast in theological terms
Share "the gospel" first
Receive almost no outside funding
employees must raise their own compensation
usually require some kind of spiritual and theological preparation
Concerned for the mission of God in society (church planting, education, evangelism)

I think there is a huge gap between Christian aid and Christian mission agencies that shouldn't be there! I think the biggest question for Christian aid agencies is how to keep their theological foundation? And the question for mission agencies is how to connect their ideal theology -their doxology, eschatology, etc- with where people are on the ground. These are not questions just for the agencies to be asking, but especially for those who give the funding.

unconditional love

We heard a lecture this morning about the Christian response to Aids. Often Christians have shown the least compassion to victims of HIV. The speaker pointed out the inadequacy of a moralistic response which first finds a cause, assigns a failure and justifies punishment of some kind. Those involved end up in denial and no real help is given

I cannot imagine Jesus responding to a needy person in this kind of judgmental way, and it is the last kind of response that I would want to give. Yet, I am sobered with the possibility that a long story actually precedes me that both shapes how I respond as well as a how I come across to others.

There is a contradiction often between faith and action that this quote from Leadership Catalyst seems to capture well.

"When our theology gives us permission to label others
as 'sinners', we give ourselves permission to reject them."

How do we resolve the tension between the need to love our neighbor unconditionally on one hand with the role of our Christian value and ethic on the other? If we have a Christian moral that influences what we do, how do we reflect this in a christ-like manner?

Robberies

On each of these streets above, I have seen two robberies within 2 days. The first photo is the road in front of OCMS where I am studying. (The steeple behind the trees) I walked out and saw a man trying to pull a purse off of a womans shoulder. She was shouting, and he ran off without the purse!

The other photo shows where I heard a car screech to a halt behind me as I was walking along. I turned around and saw a plain clothes policeman jump out of the car, tackle a man on a bike, wrestle him to the ground and demand that he "let go" of what was in his hand!