When Charity Destroys Dignity
May 24, 2008 by markhsmith
When Charity Destroys Dignity, by Glenn Schwartz
Can you understand what it is like to feel left out–to have your dignity destroyed? Do you know what it feels like to have to get out of the way of so-called “experts”? And how can anyone help overcome the negative effects of dependency around the world, if they don’t understand how complex the issues are?
If you are convinced that American or other outside funding is the key to planting churches cross-culturally, you will be disappointed with what this book contains. This book is actually a collection of articles by Glenn Schwartz, which you can find online. I will try to highlight the main points in this review.
The BIG Box – Glenn’s main point is that Western churches, NGO’s (non-government organizations), para-church ministries, etc. like to build BIG things in 3rd world countries, then hand them over to locals, only to be surprised when locals expect the Western organizations to continue to fund the BIG box creations because they are way beyond the financial or technical means of the locals to continue to run them. These BIG box creations include churches, schools, guesthouses, clinics, hospitals, bible institutes, farms, literature projects. dams, water pumps, electric generators, office buildings, translation projects, vehicles, stores, missionary houses, development projects, constitutions, by-laws, etc. Glenn believes it is immoral to create an unmanageable situation such THE BOX, turn it over to local leaders, and then blame them when they fail to manage it successfully.
Glenn states the BOX mentality has led to dependency and the local churches have not learned the joy of stewardship and of creating & sustaining their own institutions. He believes outside funding distorts reality in church or community finances. For example, many NGO’s and Church hierarchies pay local salaries that are significantly higher than the average community member can earn. The average church member thinks, “Why should I give to the church? My contribution is nothing compared to what our Western partner can do with pocket change. Besides, my (pastor, bible school director, local NGO leader, etc.) gets his salary from [fill in the blank Western organization]. He certainly doesn’t need my financial support.” Glenn believes this is a significant problem in places like India that nonbelievers assume that if one is even a Christian, they are being paid from overseas.
Many overseas churches & bible schools are looking for Western “partners.” However, if the resources flow in only one direction, then the better word might be “sponsorship” rather than “partnership.”
In contrast to unhealthy dependency, Glenn does give many examples of African churches that were self funded and how Pastors taught their local church members to support their local church. The Joy of Giving and Self-Sufficiency vs. the Dependency Syndrome is what Glenn wants the reader to see as the main point.
Glenn does acknowledge absolute poverty vs. just being poor. Those living on less than $1/day or ravaged by AIDS, war, famine, etc. could die without our help. We have a biblical obligation to help. At the same time, be careful not to create unhealthy dependency.
Part of the dependency syndrome has to do with the way westerners solve problems. We solve problems with money. We assume that the problems of the poor will be solved if we simply give them money or used clothing, etc. A second reality is that many westerners have discovered the joy of giving. The problem is that we as westerners are often unable to separate the joy we get from giving from the unhealthy dependency that can result on the receiving end.
So, where does Glenn suggest a person invest? Here’s a few suggestions:
- Invest in cross-cultural training for missionaries to increase effectiveness. In other words, invest in those people willing to learn how things really work overseas. MARK: I agree with this. Most people on short-term missions have no clue what they are doing in a foreign country and are not effective. On the other hand, those that have taken the time to do the research or are paired up with locals who can MULTIPLY the missionaries specific talents can be very effective.
- Invest in mobilizing efforts. Waking up Christians to find their Calling and to build the Kingdom of God, whatever their unique Calling may take them (global and/or local). MARK: Two examples of mobilization efforts are PEACE and Halftime.
- Invest in ministries that do not have a Natural Constituency. Glenn includes campus organizations, radio broadcasting, and bible translation.
- Help Refugees. We need to rapidly move communities up the Pyramid (see chart below), from the most basic Physiological needs, so that communities can work on becoming well developed and self-sustaining. A word of caution. If too much Disaster Relief shows up in a particular area, it can adversely affect local commodity pricing or do damage to the existing local infrastructure of those immediately outside the refugee area.
- Invest in Preventative Health programs. This is an area where the church can play a huge role. Overcoming tribal rituals is a spiritual matter. Many African tribal rituals are teaching that the only cure for aids is to sleep with 7 virgins. Obviously, this is leading to the rapid spread of Aids. This is a spiritual problem and will only be overcome with spiritual education. If we don’t overcome these deeply held tribal beliefs, all the Aids relief the world will be wasted. People won’t seek treatment or prevention for a problem they believe they don’t have or is something that they are powerless to do anything about (i.e. Fatalism).
- Invest in employment projects, job creation and micro-credit loan funds. These are the kinds of programs that help people stand on their own two feet. MARK: Micro-credit is growing rapidly as an option. Organizations like Opportunity International, World Vision, Hope International, and others have created micro-credit funds. Wall Street has recognized Micro-credit as a viable credit instrument and is now leveraging money so that more micro-credit loans can be made. However, development projects that help people become employed or start their own business should also include a spiritual emphasis on Christian stewardship.Today’’s micro economic development programs have 98% payback on loans made to micro-loan recipients.
- Focus on sustained community development projects that emphasize local creativity, local ownership, creating on local businesses, etc.
OTHER SUGGESTIONS:
- Never do for Others what They Can and Should do for themselves. If local believers suspect funds are coming from the outside, it can easily destroy local initiative for giving.
- Never accept an overseas position of responsibility that could be filled by a local person. If church leaders find they can get a “missionary” to do the job, they probably won’t have to pay the salary from local funds! Therefore, missionaries should excuse themselves from business meetings whenever possible.
- If you do assist in building or housing programs, create structures that are equal to the structures that the local people live in.
- When funds are given, insist on accountability and accurate reporting. One of the reasons for shortage of funds in local churches is that misuse or the undeclared use of local funds accounts for why people do not put money into the collection. Unfortunately, there is often inadequate training of treasurers. However, there is NO excuse for poor accounting of what the Lord provides.
- The best defense against encroaching radical Islam or other non-Christian movements is churches joyfully standing on their own two feet, not needing outside support.
NEW REALITIES
- The growth of the local church movement in China happened AFTER westerners were shut out of China after the communist takeover. The movement grew without outside help. Church planters can learn many lessons from this reality.
- Many westerners have a project-oriented and technology-oriented worldview. Many countries have a people-oriented worldview. The two approaches need to be reconciled, otherwise, it could result in broken relationships and a possibly fractured future. MARK: When designing technology-oriented projects, make sure they are sensitive to the local culture and are designed with the end user in mind. Be open to the fact that a local culture WILL teach you about how they want to work with projects/technology. This learning will lead to relationship-oriented social technology breakthroughs in User Interface, Program design, distance learning, mobile computing, social networking, and more.
- Be aware of worldview differences. Many non-westerners look at Christianity as a supplement to what they already believe, not a replacement. This means they can claim to believe in Christ, but practice pagan rituals with no seeming conflict.
MOBILIZING LOCAL BUSINESS PEOPLE
A successful transition requires a change in the mentality of both church leaders and business people if the change is to be successful. Business people and church leaders must recognize that they NEED each other. Together they can strategize to communicate the Good News. Both business people and church leaders need to promote spiritual renewal. Business people should not give up on the Church. They should help to steer it into a larger, living community of faith where it has a dynamic prophetic role to fulfill, not just the small community in which God has placed it. The Church should have a prophetic role in the wider community, even the nation or continent. However, in order for church leaders to have respect of the business community, they must demonstrate both spiritual dedication and hard work.
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