Here's the conclusion to the attached article on dependency:
Our world is very uneven. The old colonial powers enjoy deeply ingrained advantages in almost everything they do. This slant does not disappear when one engages in charitable work or in discipleship or evangelism.
Cultural differences between Western nations and others are very real. Their mutual incompatibility resembles that of different sports. Training for and the language of one sport is of relatively little advantage in the practice of another sport, i.e. lifestyle or worldview. That is to say that foreign education can be of limited advantage in helping people to develop their own economies and societies, without creating enormous dependency. Forcing people to appropriate training in the language of one sport (i.e. culture or worldview) for the purposes of another can be severely debilitating. In so far as they accept it, it creates dependency.
There aren't better or worse traditions or cultures outside of God's will. The authority we have to go to others and to advocate change for them is entirely rooted in our understanding of who God is and what he wants of us. God has not commanded us to use our money to force other people to share in our supposedly superior ways of life. Biblically speaking he has called us to reach people where they are with his Word using their language and their resources. Such process avoids creating unhealthy dependency.
Replies
Thank you for a well thought out article. There is no doubt that dependencies are a huge challenge in many Christian settings.
The main problem as I see it is on whom we depend and in your article you deal with dependencies on foreign funding and methods/cultures. For some Christians the refusal to be part of a local accountability structure (sometimes because these structures are corrupt) is facilitated by foreign donor money.
The people who seek and find foreign donors outside the established structures often do so because they feel God is providing for their needs in that way, and they find vindication for their independence from the established churches and structures in these provisions. This is matched by the patron-tourists who feel God is leading them to places where people of genuine faith are doing God's work.
While some of these people may be less dependent on the patron than on themselves and their ability to secure donor money. I have a suspicion that many may be truly seeking God, not because the established churches aren't doing God's work, but because God is more creative than what any of our structures (or cultures) can contain.
For these and for all of us, the challenge is to remain dependent on God rather than on ourselves or patrons whether they come as tourists or through the established structures.
Another helpful book I've read on the topic that not only discourages dependency but gives some strategies for helpful ways to give funds in such a way as to facilitate partnership is: Cross-cultural Partnerships: Navigating the Complexities of Money and Mission by Mary T. Lederleitner (available on Kindle or in paperback).
Hi Belinda. Good recommendation!
I would also recommend the following books on this issue:
Harries, Jim. 2011. Vulnerable Mission: Insights into Christian Mission to Africa from a Position of Vulnerability. Pasadena: William Carey Library.
Harries, Jim. 2012. From Theory to Practice in Vulnerable Mission: an academic appraisal. Oregon: Wipf and Stock.
Harries, Jim. 2013. Communication in Mission and Development; relating to the church in Africa. Oregon: Wipf and Stock.
C also this book by Jean Johnson: http://www.wearenotthehero.com/