Paradigm shift: Foreign Missions in my backyard

Just a few quick thoughts. I'm reading my professor's dissertation for my class in Advanced issues in Missions. He's going over a position in the International Mission Board (Southern Baptist) called a Strategy Coordinator, which used to be known as a non-residential missionary. Basically the Strategy Coordinator 'targets' a people group (doesn't that sound all official now!) and researches the absolute best way to reach that people group with the Gospel. The SC takes into account all resources, other ministries already in effect, most responsive areas or effective strategies in sharing the gospel with said people group, and then helps put the plan into action. Usually the SC partners with other mission agencies or organizations and has missionaries on the field working "under" him or her.
This summer I heard of some interesting situations involving Romanians and Gypsies in Spain and England. I did some research online and then came across a promotional video on the IMB website (www.imb.org) that told of the unique opportunity for sharing the Gospel with people from closed countries in London, England. For my Contemporary Youth Missions class I'm reading a book called "World at your door" which discusses the many unique opportunities to be a 'foreign missionary" right here in America. The 10/40 window often sends its top 30% in students abroad - namely America - for studying in College or High School Exchange programs. These countries are usually closed to the Gospel or foreign missionaries. The book outlines the unique opportunity so many Christians are passing up in sharing the Gospel with these foreign students who are far away from home, lonely, and open to a loving Christian family and their Message of Hope.
I work with a lady from India. She is about my mom's age, and likes to tell me off at work. I am hoping to do an internship in India, and my coworker has strictly forbidden me to go to India until she goes home so that she can 'take care' of me while I'm overseas.
The woman is amazing: she takes Hebrew, speaks 4 languages already, is a home maker, works 20 hours a week, and entertains the numerous guests her husband brings home or who pop in on her unexpectedly. I've often wanted to visit her but don't want to add to her already overwhelming schedule. Once I asked her if she wanted help cleaning or cooking at home and she looked at me like I'd lost my mind. "I can take care of my own home!" She sniffed. Woops.
Last week she was really tired after work and was walking slowly to the grill to make her dinner.
"Do you want me to make that for you?" I asked. She blinked and slowly handed me her bowl.
"This is the first time you've cooked for me." She commented. I usually pop into work between classes/work to get food, and she often makes my sandwhich (she calls it 'Rachel's Pesto Panini" because I usually order a Chicken Panini with extra pesto.)
So today I hopped into work again with my friend and low and behold, there was my indian friend working. We started teasing each other. Her new thing is joking about how I must really be an old woman, because all I eat is "Rabbit food" (salad/fruit stuffs) and ''such bland food" (I never put five tablespoons of red pepper on my mashed potatoes like she and the other Asian students do) that obviously my stomach is weak like an old lady.
So I started ranting about how Pesto was a VERY flavor-ful addition which meant I was NOT old. She sighed and said yes, us poor Americans don't know what we are missing in food. Luke, our shift-manager had apparently been over to her house the other day and she sighed about how she didn't know how to cook for such weak-stomached people.
"Well I'll tell you what, ma'am. Next semester I and some friends are probably going to get an apartment. So we'll just invite you over to MY house and I'll cook for you, and you can see how good American food can be if its done RIGHT."
She looked at me and blinked. "Yes, that might be good. I have only been told once that I will be invited to an American house, but they haven't had us over yet."
This woman has been in the States for several years! And is rarely invited over. She said she can't wait to go back to India, because America is the most lonely place in the world.

This afternoon I am meeting with my church planting team and some missionaries from overseas. There is a people group that we are going to try and start a church with, however we arne't too sure how to get into the community yet. Apparently when we went to their ethnic resturaunt last Sunday we went during Ramadan, which is why we were the only customers!! Woops. It was a really cute, hole-in-the-wall resturaunt with a grocery store that may be my new favorite place regaurdless if we get this church plant off the ground.
Anyhoo. Am hoping to get into the Gypsy community here as well, but THAT will be a whole 'nother ball game.

Speaking of ball games, I went to our school soccer game the other day. After watching Romania play Italy for the World Cup last year, I was pretty well disguisted. I can't blame it on American's playing soccer, because there was a hispanic guy and a guy from Ghana on our team, and lets just say our team was slaughtered.
*sigh* And I can't play 'cause the sports are guy-only. Pooh.
I would try to change that, but I am taking three 400 level classes this semester, and time is rather crunched.
Speaking of which, I need to get back to studying my professor's dissertation.

Ciao,

Princess Ouch.

Caste study in Missions

"In the year 1606 a young Italian Jesuit, Roberto de Nobili, was sent to the city of Madurai in southeast India (today this is in the state of Tamil Nadu). Within two years of arriving in Madurai, de Nobili was employing a strategy for evangelizing high caste Indians that was different than any previous strategy. His methods created a controversy within the Catholic Church, a controversy that finally had to be settled by the Pope. However, the issues raised by de Nobili's strategy continue to be debaithin missions' circles even to this day.

Roberto de Nobili began his career in 1604 as a Jesuit missionary in Goa, a Portuguese colony on the west coast of India. Early in 1606, his Superior Alberto Laerzio sent Roberto to work among the Parvas, a large tribe of outcastes whose occupation was fishing and pearl diving. The Parvas lived along the southeast coast of India. For the most part, the majority of Parvas claimed to be Christians, but many of them simply became Christian in exchange for Portuguese protection from the Muslims who were seeking to invade from the north of India. While among the Parvas, Roberto realized that many of the Parvas who had converted to Christianity had taken Portuguese names. Not only did they have Portuguese names, the converts were expected to adapt Portuguese customs and practices. Soon after beginning work among the Parvas, Roberto was reassigned once again to the city of Madurai.

By the time he arrived in Madurai, India had a total population of 140 million, but only a small number had become Christian. Most of those who had become Christian had come from the tribal peoples and outcaste groups. These peoples, who faced discriminations from the high caste Hindus, were attracted to Christianity. In the city of Madurai, there were only a few hundred Christians all of who had come from the Parva group or who were Portuguese.

Roberto wondered why all the Christian work had focused on the tribal peoples and outcastes. Roberto made friends with a Hindu schoolteacher who helped him understand Indian culture. Roberto discovered that the Tamil-speaking Indians called the Portuguese and those converted to Christianity as "Parangis." The missionaries thought that this word simply meant "Portuguese," however, the word was actually a word that meant unclean and uncultured. The Hindues despised the "Parangis," because they drank wine, ate meat, bathed irregularly, wore leather shoes, and ignored the Indian social customs. The missionaries, because they misunderstood the meaning of the term, were proud to refer to themselves and their converts as "Parangis," However, in doing this the missionaries had created a barrier between themselves and the caste Hindus. Roberto, learning more and more about the Indian caste system from his schoolteacher friend, became convinced that the missionaries would never be able to reach the caste Hindus with the gospel until there was a complete break from Parangi Christianity, that is, the caste Hindus had to see Christians as something other than unclean and polluted before they would be willing to accept the gospel message.

Roberto came up with a plan. He decided that he would deny that he was a "Parangi." He would learn to speak Tamil and onl speak it when among the Hindus. He would avoid touching or even associating with the Portuguese and the outcastes and tribal people who had converted to Christianity. He would bathe daily, learn to sit cross-legged, and call himself a 'sanyasi,' that is, someone who has given up everyting (Sanyasi was a Hindu word to denote someone who was at the last stage of life). Roberto would eat no meat and wear Indian clothing.

The leader of the Jesuit mission in Madurai was opposed to Roberto's ideas. He believed that if Roberto withdrew from contact with the believers who had come from an outcaste background, he would be turning his back on the people who had accepted the gospel. Furthermore, it would mean accepting the prohibitions of the Hindu caste system. Also, if Roberto refused to eat meat or wear leather sandals, while at the same time wearing Indian clothing and referring to himself as a 'sanyasi,' he would essentially be agreeing with superstitions and prejudices that opposed the gospel. There was disagreement between Roberto and this leader, so much so that an appeal was made to their Superior Laerzio to settle the dispute. Initially, Laerzio agreed that Roberto to stop using the name "Parangi" and use the title "sanyasi." However, Laerzio did not respond to the other issues.

Roberto was determined to move forward with his plans. He moved out of the mission compound into a small hut in the center of the Brahmin area of the city. He shaved his head like most of the other Brahmins. He spoke only the Tamil language, became a vegetarian and wore Indian clothes. He referred to himself as a 'sanyasi.' He bathed daily and ritually cleansed himself before saying the mass. In almost every way, Roberto had the appearance of a high caste Hindu. Slowly, a small number of converts were made. Roberto faced two issues. The first issue was whether to try to force the Brahmin converts to worship with the outcaste or lower caste converts. Should he segregate the believers according to caste? Second, should the Brahmin believers have to discard the triple thread and shave off the single braid of hair that marked them as Hindu Brahmins? Roberto decided to form a totally Brahmin church and did not insist on the removal of the thread and the braid of hair, as he insisted these were social issues not religious. By the end of 1609, there were now some sixty converts, none of who were obligated to violate their beliefs on caste or to discard any custom that was not clearly idolatrous. As word came back to Jesuit leaders as to what ROberto was doing, they strongly condemned his methods. The debate between Roberto and Jesuit leaders continued for a number of years. Finally in 1617, the Pope ordered that a conference be held in Goa the following February in which Roberto would be called to give an account of his missionary methods. Twenty theologians and two inquisitors appointed by the Pope were present at this meeting."

~Adapted from Alan Neely's "Christian Mission: A Case Study Approach."~

So as you can imagine, we read this in Intro to Missions class today. It sparked quite the debate. I thought it was interesting.
Two notes: Portuguese Jesuit Priests evangelized to mainly lower caste or peasant peoples and sort of 'ousted' the established higher classes, then forming very Portuguese resembling settlements.
Also, at that time Brahmans were not allowed to even associate with lower castes. So if it was known that Roberto had regular fellowship with the "Parangis" it would have made him 'unclean' and unable to have any contact with the Brahmans he was trying to reach.
So the class discussion was where do you draw the line, when is it Contextualization and when is it synchronizing, is it a Salvation issue or a Sanctification issue?

~Princess Ouch~