MISSIONARY KIDS MATTER

Sophia, Caleb, Ethan, Ruth, and Timothy Jenkins

All parents dream of their children doing better than themselves.   Can they run faster than me?   Get better grades than me?    Provide more leadership than me?   Make more friends than me?   Have more influence me?   Be more Christ like than me?

For missionary families these concerns are very prevalent.   Will taking our children overseas for years have lasting negative effects?   (However, much research shows just the opposite.)

Yet, another fear is what if my children suffer in a way I can only imagine?  And what if they suffer due to misunderstanding and prejudice?   Yet in their suffering can they find a way to preserve their dignity?

I have five different children with two basic skin colors - what the world calls black and white.

One of the most enraging moments for a parent is when I discover my children with black skin are unfairly judged.  A few times it has happened in such an ambiguous way that I can’t find a clear and reasonable way to address the offense so I just walk away.

A few times my children with black skin have been the subjects of prejudice when I was not near them.   They would keep the offense inside them for years, and only much later share the pain.   I would be enraged, but time and physical distance made addressing the offense impossible.

Yet there are even more subtle forms of prejudice that all my children face.    God in His infinite wisdom spoke against this more subtle but just as destructive form of prejudice.   This is the prejudice of group think against those who seem to have more economic resources (Exodus 23:2, 3; Leviticus 19:14.)

The marketing photos of poor African children by nonprofit organizations strip many of their dignity.    They strip the poor of their dignity because it subtly communicates perpetual victimhood.   They also strip the middle class of their dignity because these photos subtly label Africa’s middle class as exploiters of the poor.   Lastly, I’ve seen these marketing tools strip missionary kids of their dignity by subtly telling missionary kids they don’t matter.

I disagree with these prejudices.

Allow me to tell several stories.   My family are “faith missionaries” which means we have no guaranteed salary.   We live on the free will donations of churches, friends, and family.   We trust God for our daily bread.    We’ve seen God do the miraculous.   Yet, we’ve also seen why in the Old Testament law the Year of Jubilee was instituted (Leviticus 25.)   Sometimes God’s people don’t display the mercy and justice of God.   The community suffers until the out of the ordinary happens.  

We ministered for 19 years in nations that some would define as the economically poorest countries of the world.    While at times we’ve been struggling to pay our bills we’ve ran scholarship programs for vulnerable children.    

A multiple of times when my children were too young to understand what was happening I would be on furlough speaking in a local church.    Someone would ask about our kid’s education.   I’d explain the choices we were making and the costs of educating missionary children.   Another would ask a question about our sponsorship programs.   I would hope that donations would be given to both.   Instead, people would say, “We want our donation designated for the sponsorship program.   You will have to look somewhere else for your needs.”  Then they would write a designated check.   I would drive away from the meeting with checks, but not enough flexibility in the donations to pay for my travel expenses.    

Sophia and Doreen Rwigamba at Rugezi Wetland, Rwanda

Three years ago our family was in a situation much like the needs of Israel for a Jubilee.    We were in a hole due to medical expenses and a drop in funding.    We were doing a ROC reception to hopefully discover the financial resources to start afresh.     We were discussing Kigali International Community School (KICS).   In the discussion the conversation moved to the need for missionary children education.   My oldest daughter, Sophia was in the reception.

A wealthy donor began to ask critical questions.   We attempted to answer.   His tone moved from critical to a recycling of the issues God addressed in Exodus 23:2, 3; and Leviticus 19:14.   He used sophisticated language, but he was encouraging group think against Africa’s middle class and missionary kids.    His arguments focused on what percentage of the gifts went to the poorest of the poor, and that he did not want to see his gifts go to “administrative fees, nor expatriate life styles.”   My blood boiled.   I doubt his children ever suffered with malaria.   I doubt his children were ever bit by dogs or monkeys.   I doubt he ever carried his children on his shoulders and ran away from gunfire.    Sophia cried.   Then Sophia spoke.

Joseph, Mary, and Jesus going in refuge in Egypt

She offered no defense of our family.   Instead, she did what second generation missionaries do best.   She told the story of Rwanda’s returning Diaspora and their children.    She told the stories of her people.

She said, “Yes, I go to school with missionary kids and Rwandan middle class kids.   The Rwandan kids sleep in homes with running water and electricity.   Their parents drive cars.   They look wealthy.   What you don’t know is their parents grew up in refugee camps.   Then they in their own words, “Got lucky.”   They received an education.   They developed professional skill.   Rwanda became peaceful.   They came home.    Their parents work very long hours.   An entire nation’s future rides on their shoulders.    They did not have to come home.   In fact, many complain about brain drain.   If you want to stop brain drain don’t argue with the middle class.   Their kids need a good school.   Should that school not be one where the class sizes are small?    Should that school not be one where God is honored?  Why do we want schools like this in America, but argue against them in Africa?”

She hit the nail on the head.   The donor was conditioned by photos of the poor to be prejudiced.   The prejudice was more subtle than simply race.   It was the prejudice against professional skill and an economic class.

Alexis and Grace Hixson, Ruth, Imfra Mwunvaneza, and Kassidy and Natalie Shreck

The donor realized his offense and thankfully apologized.  He realized missionary kids matter.     They deserve good schools.   They’ve missed out on many things.     Yet, God has done remarkable things in their lives.    In fact, their parents and their host nation know this well – Missionary kids will do far more good than their parents.   God is preparing them.

So this Christmas season as you prepare to make a year end gift I request that you look at the options, and simply say, “Missionary kids matter.”

GIVE A LITTE EXTRA TO A MISSIONARY THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON

12 year old Jesus with the teachers

Have you received a letter by post or email this season with a photo of an African child in need of sponsorship?   Yet, when you look at the state of Christianity in America do you feel like we need to do something at home?   Then when you read the news from Africa does something just not add up?

You are not alone in your hesitancy and concerns.

Dambisa Moyo

A couple of weeks ago, John Uwimana, a Rwanda Presidential Scholar in a master’s degree program at DePaul University and I attended a lecture by Dambisa Moyo at the University of Chicago.   If you have not read Dambisa’s writing (Dead Aid; How the West was Lost; and Winner Take All), and the above questions resonate, you should.   She’s one of the sharpest economic thinkers in the world.   She has well documented how the Aid industry is actually doing more harm than good in Africa.    After her lecture she fielded questions.     She discussed a conversation with Rwanda’s President Kagame in which he told her the greatest pitfall of Aid as we know it is that it strips the recipient of their dignity.   She then told us she would write letters of complaint to the nonprofit organizations that send her fund raising letters with photos of poor African children.   She pointed out a principle Jesus repeatedly stated.   We should treat others the way we want to be treated.    If photos of poor American children were being distributed around the world many of us in America would write letters of complaint.   Africa should be treated with the same dignity.

March, 1993 - The last time until now we were USA residents

It’s been 20 years since our family has put down roots in the United States.   Many things have changed.   One thing we are reading and observing is that the evangelical church is losing influence (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/opinion/sunday/the-decline-of-evangelical-america.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.)    The American church needs a reboot.    I think the American church needs a new generation of missionaries in her midst.   My thoughts have been influenced by old missionaries.   They defined missionaries as those sent by the Holy Spirit to make disciples and develop churches.   The definition goes beyond nation, race, and sending mechanism.   A friend of mine in Chicago, Emmanuel Tahear with Service in Missions is praying for a new revival in America.   He thinks it will likely come from the influence of immigrants to North America.   He has a point.    America’s historic revivals were frequently led by first and second generation immigrants (I.e. George Whitefield, and Thomas and Alexander Campbell.)    Currently, immigrant churches are growing.   Currently, international students are strengthening the American academic landscape.  Also their presence adds vitality to American churches.    A couple of the churches that are now starting to make very significant inroads in America’s major cities are led by the children of immigrants.

Rwanda Presidential Scholar at Milsaps College, Fabio Pie Ntagwabira

Every culture needs missionaries to come from the outside with a new found entrepreneurial impulse triggered by the Holy Spirit.    Without these newcomers who master culture and then find a new possibility our faith becomes both stagnate to our spirits and irrelevant to our culture.

This Christmas season I ask that you do something practical that will build both the church in North America and the church abroad.

If you are near a university meet some international students.   Have them over for dinner.   Ask them some questions.   Listen.    Invite them to church.   Encourage them to use their spiritual gifts in your local church.   Your church will rediscover old disciplines like hospitality, vibrant worship, and practical Bible teaching when these missionaries are in your midst.

Next, consider writing a check to support a good missionary abroad.    There are many.   In fact, I know many in many different organizations and in many different nations.

ROC Missionaries - Jamie Boiles, Hixsons, Jenkins, Lindens, and Shrecks

Yet, God has given me four missionary families who are my colleagues – Jamie Boiles, Bryan and Holly Hixson, Rusty and Onawa Linden, and Brett and Kelli Shreck with ROC (Rwanda Outreach and Community) Partners.   Of the many missionaries I know these are the ones I know best.   God’s done the remarkable through them.

A Rwandan entrepreneur friend, Clarisse Irabagiza once read a blog of mine on missionaries ( http://jenkinsinrwanda.blogspot.com/2010/07/are-missionaries-most-controversial.html)  and remarked most missionaries she’s know are irrelevant.   Yet, she singled out ROC missionaries as ones making a very significant impact.   Why?

Clarisse Irabagiza

Just lay the ROC missionaries labor next to the words of Jesus.

He told His disciples to focus on the receptive (Matthew 10.)   They’ve gone to a place God is moving, joined God’s activity in Rwanda, and the ministry has gone boom.    Who else do you know who’ve taken a local church from an idea to 350 to 400 in attendance among a nation’s thought leaders in such a short time?   Who else has been able to start and get an international school accredited in such a short time?    Who else has found so many scholarships, taught so many classes and seminars, equipped so many, and participated in so much national dialogue?

Second, Jesus taught to treat others as we want to be treated.   That means those we minister with are friends.   They are not photo opportunities, contacts, nor marketing tools.    Look at the Facebook photos of ROC missionaries.   They don’t market themselves as saviors.   They tell the stories of Jesus as the savior of humanity.    Yes, on occasion ROC missionaries do help individuals in desperate situations.   Those of you in healthy churches in America do the same thing.    ROC missionaries simply embrace the teaching of Jesus.   Children belong in families.    All humanity deserves dignity.   When one is in a difficult situation God’s people respond in ways where joy and hope triumph.   Their photos are stories of God’s triumph and even come with silly laughter.

Third, Jesus’ mission was preceded by two historical events.   One was the Jews who returned form Babylonian exile as builders.   Two, was the Roman Empire which created peace, shared language, transportation infra-structure, and economic markets.   Jesus’ followers were at times persecuted, but overall the systems were in place that allowed the Gospel to quickly spread and put down roots.    Our American predecessors did the same thing.    They built churches, schools, roads, railroads, and businesses on the American frontier.   After the Second World War they ushered America into a new found place of prosperity and influence.    The best African minds will point out that the best missionaries in Africa do the same things.   My friend, Andrew Mwenda summarizes this institutional initiative needed for Africa with the words, “Leaders make things happen.   Institutions make them last.” ROC missionaries are part of this tradition.     They not only care for individuals with the love of Christ, they address foundational issues that build prosperity.   They preach old Gospel messages of adoption.   They teach sound ethics.   They strengthen Rwanda’s business climate.   They build schools.   They help others build educational systems.

Thus I request that this Christmas season you give a little extra to a missionary.   First, give some extra care to the missionaries God has brought to the United States.   Second, give a little extra donation to the missionaries God has called to leave the United States.   Both are building the dignity of man and making lasting changes for generations.

PASTORAL REFLECTIONS ON THE PASSING OF MINISTER ALOYSIA INYUMBA

I woke this morning to startling news from a friend in Rwanda.   Honorable Minister of Gender and Family Promotion, Aloysia Inyumba has passed from this life to another.    She leaves behind a husband and two children.    Our region’s newspapers quickly began coverage of a remarkable woman.     Social media told the more personal details.   It is astounding to quickly observe on Twitter and Facebook how the titles we gave her moved from “Honorable Minister” to “Mother,”  “Auntie,” “Mentor,” and “Friend.”     She was a woman who quickly could bring us into places of great warmth and hospitality.     In the end she believed in many of us more than we believed in ourselves.     I wonder if there are any in Rwanda who have not in some way been touched by Minister Inyumba.    Many of our best efforts and accomplishments were nurtured by her faith in God moving through the people of Rwanda.

As with the transitions that come to those who in the eyes of humanity seem “too young” our hearts grief.    How does one explain the loss of a mother to children?   And who amongst us does not consider her to be one of our aunties?

We return to the oldest stories of mankind’s sojourn with God.   Israel’s Shepherd King, David wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in Psalm 23 (New King James Version):

“The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.”

As David reflected on the loss of his own son, he said, “I will go to him, but he will not return to me (2 Samuel 12:23, New International Version.)”

By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Job 19:25, 26 tells us, 

“I know that my redeemer lives,
    and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
    yet in my flesh I will see God.”

Jesus Christ was God in the flesh among men.   He showed us the heart of the Father.   When His friend Lazarus had passed from this life two simple words tell us all, “Jesus wept (John 11:35.)”   In the midst of our overwhelming loss God himself is in our midst providing hope and comfort.   Then Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.    

Within a week of Lazarus resurrection, Jesus himself is brutally killed and then rises from the dead.

Our grief and loss is real.   Yet, our hope in a final Resurrection where all will return to God’s intent is the final reality for which we hunger.

As we grief in hope it is appropriate to remember the enduring characteristics of Minister Inyumba.    

We quickly remember her humility.   As she rose to places of influence she still listened.   She had time to ask questions.   In between hurried meetings she was available.    

In those humble meetings her questions moved to wise guidance.   She could master complexities with grace.  Then find a way forward.   

We know her tireless work ethics.   This was driven by her deep compassion for women and children.    Her compassion spurred on her incredible courage.   

The place Minister Inyumba occupies in our hearts can never be replaced.   Yet by the grace of our Lord the loss and grief we now feel will heal.     After all, Minister Inyumba believed in the hope of our common future.   This hope cannot be contained by a created body of flesh and blood.

The dialogue I read and heard today was one of memories.  I noticed three enduring legacies of Minister Inyumba.

The first was her faithfulness.    Her name follows the history of her people.   She is found in a multiple of historic roles.   In each role that was given her she was faithful.   We were blessed.    I can say with great confidence yesterday, she was met by the Lord with the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant (Matthew 25:21, 23; Luke 19:17.)”

The second enduring legacy was her advocacy for women.   She healed our wounds.   She served widows.   She mentored ceaselessly.    She elevated the status of women by her profound moral authority.    I observed that her very presence caused us to stop, reflect, and change.   Her voice spoke with consistent faithfulness.    Her belief in women’s dignity reflected her faith in God who made all humanity in God’s image.   She saw that God had created women with unique gifts that must be nurtured.   Her advocacy brought us peace and healing.

The last legacy was her compassion for Rwanda’s children.   Her compassion was the authentic compassion of the Lord.   It moved from deep within her being.  It was full of the passion of humanity.   Then it sprang forth in behavior that simply got things done.    

One her most enduring quotes is "We're committed to seeing all Rwanda's children grow up in loving, caring families and not in institutions"

A friend today called her a champion of Rwanda’s children.

Many of us have personal stories to tell of Minister Inyumba.

My family shared a similar conviction with Minister Inyumba that every child has a right to a family.    I once had a 10 minute conversation with Minister Inyumba that I could never forget.   She made time for me in busy day in which she was meeting many important people.   We spoke of the de-institutionalization of orphans and vulnerable children in Rwanda.  She let me see a bit of her humanity.   Why was she facing so much opposition?   Why were there so many untruthful and unjust accusations?    

I shared the nature of institutions.   They are self-protective.   It is their nature.   Governments protect their tax payers.   Churches protect their members.   Schools protect their students.   Businesses protect their customers.    This is good.   In fact such institutions will endure with generations of good fruit.   

However, sometimes an institution arises that in its self-protection loses sight of the common good.   Orphanages easily become these types of institutions.   In order to appeal to donors they must have children.  Keeping children in institutions is necessary for their survival.

I apologized.   My race, nation, and Balokole clan mates have been some of the worst offenders in institutionalizing vulnerable children.

I shared a conviction that took the Lord working on me for 18 years.   The most Biblical way to approach the care of vulnerable children is adoption.   In fact, adoption is a metaphor of the Gospel.  Churches that don’t teach and live adoption are negotiating the Good News of Jesus.

I shared a hope that Rwanda’s churches and families would arise to meet the challenge.   It was my hope that whenever a child fell into a vulnerable situation a network of families would be prepared by churches to immediately take that child into their home as a foster child.   Hopefully, the child would be reunited with his extended family.   However, if that did not happen then that child should be adopted and have the full legal and relationship rights of a biological child.

Minister Inyumba looked directly into my eyes, accepted my apologies, and then said, “Pastor that is exactly what I hope also.”

Gabriel Mugisha Jacobs with the nurses who cared for him in Rwamagana

God never allows leaders to simply make proposals and write policy.   We must practice what we preach.   A few months later, my foster son Gabriel Mugisha Jacobs was having 3 clusters of seizures per day.   We had spent 2 weeks at King Faisal Hospital.  It was time to go to Nairobi.   MIGEPROF and emigration quickly got us the required travel documents.    Our family was broke.   Then God’s providence happened.  Friends in Kenya, Uganda, America, and Rwanda rallied.   Minister Inyumba was one of the friends who placed a little money in our pockets for Mugisha.   Her contribution was one of those first fruits from which God begin doing the astounding.     Mugisha has now not had a seizure in 11 months and is loved by a forever family.   I’m confident Minister Inyumba’s acts of faith are one of the reasons Mugisha is well.

A year ago a friend of mine, Major Eustache Nsinga passed from this life.    I had the profound responsibility to perform his funeral.   In it I summarized his life as being irreplaceable.   I believe all of us are created in God’s image and with God’s eternal purpose given unique gifts.   Thus each of us is irreplaceable.   

My sermon was followed by a speech by Rwanda’s Minister of Defense James Kabarebe who had the courage to point out a hole in my sermon.   We are all in an army for God.   When a soldier falls he must be replaced.  Without replacements our endeavors on this earth are doomed.   He was right.

God’s Word fills us with the wisdom of paradox.  Each of us is irreplaceable.   Yet, each of us must eventually be replaced.

As Minister Inyumba is now resting as a rewarded faithful servant it is our task to continue her legacy.

Who will be faithful in whatever roles one is given?

Who will advance the dignity of women?

Who will take vulnerable children into their families to adopt and raise with the full legal and relationship rights as biological children?

Minister Inyumba’s passing should cause us to like the men and women of old raise our hands and say, “Lord, here am I.  Send me.”