HELPING THE GOSPEL GO FORWARD IN A DIFFERENT CULTURAL SETTING
When we first began meeting with the seven local pastors of Kisalaya, our first question was what they thought we could do for them. Their first and unanimous response was to ask us if we would teach them how to share the Gospel as no one had ever taught them how to do that. We were incredulous at hearing this unexpected need. Evangelical Christians had been working in the area for around twenty years. How did that happen?
What we found was the typical western ways of doing “missions.” Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, an incredible discipleship course that includes the history of missions and the contemporary means of doing so today along with challenging participants to discover where God may be wanting to use them, taught us that there are four levels of “mission” activity.
The first level is that of “pioneering.” This is taking the Gospel to an area that has never heard the Gospel before. It is the process of building relationships with people who have no knowledge of Jesus and patiently looking for possibilities to share the Gospel when asked (I Peter 5:16). This level of interaction requires tremendous patience, perseverance and love for the people as it is a slow and arduous process. Sometimes it takes years for the first convert, but it’s more than people just making decisions for Christ; it’s also about discipling these new converts to a solid place of knowledge of the faith and strength in the faith.
The second level in that discipleship process is called “parenting.” It’s taking them by the hand like children and teaching them about Christ and what He would have us to know and modeling the life of Christ before them. At some point, like children who come to adulthood, it becomes time to let them “take over” and become teachers and trainers themselves. The problem we encountered is that those who went before us generally never moved past the parenting stage and never allowed them to become everything God intended. Instead, they continued to tell them what to do and often did it all for them to make certain it was done “right.”
The third level is that “taking over” aspect where the local people become the parents of new converts. Converts who have been discipled and can demonstrate their walk with Christ are called out to be Elder and pastors. This is called the “partnering” stage. This is where we work side-by-side with them but they now make all the decisions. We make no decisions for them. We can give our opinion if asked, but the goal is to not tell them what to do but to allow them to be responsible for themselves, even if they make the wrong decision at first and have to correct it later. It’s about giving them dignity and empowerment.
From the outset, our relationship with the villages we serve has been that of partnering. We learned well from Perspectives and the result was a swift ability for the locals to trust us to keep our word that we would never tell them what to do. This trust resulted in the people of Kisalaya building a house for our organization so we would have a place to live at no cost when we came to the village. We have now been partners for seven years and the relationship continues to be strong. The pastors have developed, as have the leaders, and the fact we treat each other as equals has resulted in an amazing growth of the people of Kisalaya and now Kururia who believe in themselves and that their God is with them every step of the way.
The final level is that of “participating.” This is where the people have become self-sufficient in Christ and are able to move forward in many ways – mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually – without our help or support. This is the point at which we become “cheerleaders,” continuing to encourage them to press on the become everything God intends. At this stage we have very little financial involvement; we are simply encouragers.
Having said all this, the previous “missionaries,” in their work with the pastors, never permitted the local pastors to become everything God intended. These local pastors are wonderful men of God who work under extremely adverse circumstances. Because the unemployment rate in the villages is nearly 100%, none of these pastors receive any pay or other forms of support from their denominations or congregations. They wonderfully serve their congregations but, like everyone in the villages, they must plant and harvest their own food crops and find other means to secure the basics the family needs.
We did teach the pastors how to develop their own one minute personal Christ story to use to reach out to others and how to share the Gospel relevant to Miskito understanding. It has been and remains a challenge at times as there are no Miskito words for such Christian concepts as forgiveness, grace, salvation, reconciliation and atonement. Imagine trying to explain the storm the disciples experienced on the Sea of Galilee when there is simply no body of water nearby that can be used to make a comparison. The only way we could get across the event was for them to remember when a category four hurricane came through a few years ago and how it churned up the waters of the Rio Coco – the large international boundary between Nicaragua and Honduras – so that anyone who would be on the water during that event would face drowning, just as the disciples thought was about to happen to them.
Every year we have fronted what they call “conferences,” which are similar to what we would call revival services. These events would be from Thursday evening through Sunday evening and would include morning, afternoon and evening services. Lunch and dinner would be provided for all in attendance. These would usually be held in September because it’s during the rainy season and no one can do anything with their crops so they readily gravitate to a conference. In the beginning, we were asked to provide the messages because the previous western “missionaries” had done most, if not all, the preaching. We agreed to do a couple of messages the first two times we held conferences, but that the rest would be done by the local pastors. Ultimately, they plan, prepare and execute the entire event; we have no part other than to attend.
An interesting note is that there are no altar calls in their culture. If someone feels like making a decision for Jesus or wants to know more, they are to go to the home of the pastor of their choice and talk about it. This is done after the evening service, which usually lasts from seven until ten in the evening. Many times, the pastors are still speaking with people in their homes until two in the morning or later.
During all this time, we have offered pastors’ conferences for the pastors in Kisalaya and Kururia. We teach relevant Biblical concepts and theology and they share the messages they have learned and adapted to Miskito culture with their congregants. Because of Mel’s training in Israel, he has been able to share so many things from the Bible, show them pictures of places and things that are part of the passage, and provide the historical context of the passage as well. One of the spiritual highlights was when Mel washed the feet of the pastors of Kisalaya as Jesus washed the feet of His disciples. We discussed what they had experienced and the impact was obvious. One of the interesting facts about teaching the pastors of Kururia is that the people of the village all want to attend that teaching with their pastors!
In conclusion, it’s important to share a mistake we made – breaking our promise to never tell them what to do. At a meeting with the leaders of Kisalaya, which included some of the pastors, we told them what to do regarding something. After the meeting was over, we realized what we had done. We had to call for another meeting of the leaders to apologize. While apologizing, they began to laugh. Our translator stated they were laughing because they knew we had broken our promise but they wondered how long it would take us to recognize it. We suddenly realized that they had forgiven us and given us grace. We are able to show them by their own behavior toward us that they had given us these favors. Even though there were not Miskito words to explain their actions, they had lived them out before us and it provided an incredible teaching moment.
Since the start of COVID-19 and the past and current travel restrictions to Nicaragua, it’s been impossible to do any training with the pastors. There’s no internet or Zoom meeting capability. It can only be done face-to-face. We look forward to returning soon to continue where we left off.