Revolution in World Missions - KP Yohannan

I read a book recently which really shocked me and ever since, I've had all sorts of thoughts rattling around my head. The book is Revolution in World Missions by KP Yohannan, the founder of Gospel For Asia.

Gospel for Asia has more than 14,000 national missionaries in the heart of the 10/40 window, operates 54 Bible colleges with more than 8,000 students and heads up a church planting movement which pioneers an average of 12 new fellowships a day.

But before even reading this book I had concerns about cross-cultural missions. Years ago, we were in a church which took its responsibilities very seriously and sponsored many missionaries. I just took it for granted that missionaries were white westerners who 'went' into the 10/40 window to preach the Gospel, funded by western churches like ours. Then, we were asked to pay for a woman to go to work in the ghettos of Washington DC. It felt weird, but I couldn't put my finger on why. We had to pay a great deal of money to support her work. The same year, our church took on a woman from the US to be our Children's Worker. *Her* church paid for *her* to come. Okay, I officially didn't get it. Why were we paying for these women to swap countries? It would have been much cheaper and leave more money available for other evangelism , both here and abroad, to simply have them work in their own countries.

Later, we moved to a church which has several American missionaries working in youth outreach and doing a fine job. But, I can't help thinking that the vast quantities of money their supporting churches were spending would have been better spent in paying to train youth workers here, or just funding the pay of some of the already trained youth workers who are looking for employment.

I started to feel very uneasy about cross-cultural missions, but had not figured out if there was an alternative to the way we had seen things done. Surely, it was important for people to heed their individual callings and go where the Holy Spirit seemed to be sending them?

I have another personal interest in this subject. Jack has been telling us ever since he was five years old that God wants him to be a missionary doctor in Africa. Fine. But what if we could further God's Kingdom more effectively and with better stewardship if we used the money which would support him in that role to fund national doctors and evangelists.

Then I came across Revolution in World Missions and it blew my socks off. It makes very uncomfortable reading for westerners of any kind. It shocked me and made me feel ashamed of some of my own attitudes. It also made me determined to focus our giving better and start to offer Jack alternative interpretations for God's calling on his life, than a straightforward 'going to Africa to preach the Gospel.'

If you are at all interested in the subject of mission, then I do think you need to read this book, even if you don't end up agreeing with everything in it. Below are several excerpts I thought were worth posting in full.

"In few countries is the failure of christian humanism more apparent than in Thailand. There, after 150 years of missionaries showing marvelous social compassion, Christians still make up only 2 per cent of the entire population.

Self sacrificing missionaries probably have done more to modernize the country than any other single force. Thailand owes to missionaries its widespread literacy, first printing press, first university, first hospital, first doctor and almost every other benefit of education and science. In every area, including trade and diplomacy, christian missionaries have put the needs of the host nation first and helped usher in the 20th century. Meanwhile millions have slipped into eternity without the Lord. They died more educated, better governed and healthier- but they died without Christ and are bound for hell.

What went wrong?...
...While I was seeking answers to these questions, I met poor, often minimally educated, native brothers involved in Gospel work in pioneer areas. They had nothing material to offer the people to whom they preached- no agricultural training and no medical relief or school program. But hundreds of souls were saved, and in a few years, a number of churches were established. What were these brothers doing right to achieve such results, while others with many more advantages had failed."

"Native evangelists are prepared to meet the three big challenges we are now facing in the Orient.

One, they often understand the culture, customs and lifestyle as well as the language. They do not have to spend valuable time in lengthy preparations.

Two, the most effective communication is between peers. Although there may still be social barriers to overcome, they are much smaller and easily identified.

Three, it is a wise investment of our resources because the native missionary works more economically than foreigners can."

"During a recent consultation on world evangelism, Western missionary leaders called for 200,000 new missionaries by the year 2000 in order to keep pace with their estimates of population growth. The cost of even that missionary force would be a staggering $20 billion a year...

...In India, for only the cost of flying an American from New York to Bombay, a native missionary, already on the field, can minister for years!"

"Recently I met with a missionary executive of one of the major US denominations. He is a loving man whom I deeply respect as a brother in Christ, but he heads the colonial style extension of his denomination into Asia.

We talked about mutual friends and the exciting growth that is occurring in the national churches of India. We shared much in the Lord. I quickly found that he had as much respect as I did for the Indian brothers God is choosing to use in India today. Yet, he would not support these men who are so obviously anointed by God.

I asked him why. His denomination is spending millions of dollars annually to open up their churches in Asia- money I felt could be far better used supporting native missionaries in churches the Holy Spirit is spontaneously birthing.

His answer shocked and saddened me.
'Our policy,' he admitted without shame, 'is to use the nationals only to expand churches with our denominational distinctives.'

The words rolled around in my mind, 'use the nationals.' This is what colonialism was all about, and it is still what the neocolonialism of most Western missions is all about. With their money and technology, many organizations are simply buying people to perpetuate their foreign denominations, ways and beliefs."

"I remember an incident- one of many- that illustrates this sad fact. During my days of preaching in the northwest of India, I met a missionary from New Zealand who had been involved in Christian ministry in India for 25 years. During her final term, she was assigned to a Christian bookstore. One day as my team and I went to her shop to buy books, we found the bookshop closed. When we went to her missionary quarters- which were in a walled mansion- we asked what was happening. She replied,
'I am going home for good.'

I asked what would happen to the ministry of the bookstore. She answered, 'I have sold all the books at wholesale price and closed down everything.'

With deep hurt, I asked her if she could have handed the store over to someone else in order to continue the work.

'No, I couldn't find anyone,' she replied. I wondered why, after 25 years of being in India, she was leaving without one single person she had won to Christ, no disciple to continue her work. She, along with her missionary colleagues, lived in walled compounds with three or four servants to look after their lifestyle. She spent a lifetime and untold amounts of God's precious money, which could have been used to preach the Gospel. I could not help but think Jesus had called us to become servants- not masters. Had she done so, she would have fulfilled the call of God upon her life and fulfilled the Great Commission.

Unfortunately, this sad truth is being repeated all over the world in colonial-style foreign missions. Regrettably, seldom are traditional missionaries being held accountable for the current lack of results, nor is their failure being reported at home in the west.

At the same time, native evangelists are seeing thousands turn to Christ in revival movements on every continent. Hundreds of new churches are being formed every week by native missionaries in the Two-Thirds World!"