Was it time and money well spent?
Last week I wrote about the high cost of sending American missionaries to foreign countries to save the "Heathen".
This week I want to share an experience that I have thought a lot about over the years.
In the fall of 1993 Ruth and I flew out to the Marshall Islands. I was asked to do some building and as it turned out I taught high school math as well in a Christian high school on the island of Majuro.
Soon after we stepped off the plane Ruth was asked to teach high school English as a second language. After consenting she was given a black grade book and told to "go at it." No text books, no cirriculum, nada, just a black grade book. I don't know too many college trained teachers who would rise to that challenge, but the lady did it and did it well. Fortunately we had a laptop and a printer so she was able to make hand outs each day. She prepared five to six hours each day for her classes and her day started around 4 A.M. to put the finishing touches on the days lessons.
Now back to the subject.
I was asked to fly out to an outer island called Malolap during Christmas break to help the congregation build a new church building. The Marshalls are a string of atolls just a few degrees above the equator in the South Pacific. An atoll is a series of islands that have emerged from the rim of an extinct volcano. The highest elevation on any of them is no more than six or eight feet above sea level. Since they encircle the old volcano they are somewhat circular in shape and some of the large ones have many islands around them. Since Malolap has a lagoon about seventy miles across, there are lots of islands around it. These islands are covered with Coconut Palm trees and some other trees that have long thin leaves.
As we were flying out to Malolap I sat right behind the pilot and he pointed out lots of interesting sights. Before and during WWII the Japanese occupied most of these South Pacific islands and built airstrips and bases on lots of them. We were to deliver mail to one of the islands before we got to the one I was to work on and the pilot told me that on this island there were still several Japanese Zeros, WWII Japanese fighter planes, along side of the airstrip. The American fighter pilots used to love to sneak in and strafe these planes as they were lined up next to the runway. The Japanese pushed them off to the side and they are still there today, after 60 years. As we came in for a landing there was a sunken Japanese ship right off the end of the runway with parts of it sticking out of the water. I enjoyed walking around these old planes before taking off for our island.
As soon as we arrived on our home base for the nest few days I was shown around the project. They had a beautiful little church that was built out of poles and thatch made from the leaves of trees. The roof was thatch and the sidewalls were thatch as well. They had even built the windows of thatch covering a frame that worked like an awning so it could be open for light and ventilation and closed during rainy times. This island had about 60 people living on it and they all attended this church, it was part of the village, in fact all of the houses looked like the church, just smaller. The next day we started to build the new church around the old one. Somehow they had received some American money so they could build a "modern church building." They had shipped in concrete blocks, sacks of cement, treated lumber for roof trusses, and sheets of galvanized steel for the roof.
We built the footings around the old building and then started up the walls with concrete blocks. While the men were building up the walls around the old church others were tearing down the old church building. Meanwhile I was building the roof trusses.
As I watched the building going up and the old one coming down, something struck me. What was happening here? The congregation treated me royally, each night the pastor went snorkeling and in the morning I had a nice fresh lobster sitting next to the cook shack for my supper that evening. The young boys climbed the Coconut trees each day to collect fresh Coconuts so I had plenty of Coconut water to drink. They even took me Tuna fishing one day, but that is another story.
No, something spiritual was happening here and I didn't have a good feeling about it. I was thinking about Latin America and how the big, fancy cathedral sits in the center of town, the most beautiful building in town. The building and its icons are venerated much more than the God they are supposed to proclaim.
Here I am helping to build the fanciest building in the villiage at the expense of the old one that seemed to fit so perfectly. But there was another factor that I was thinking about. The Trade Winds blew in off the lagoon right across the villiage. Now that is nice for its cooling effect, but salt laden mist is not healthy for galvanized steel roofs. They only last ten years at best. Thatch on the other hands is not effected by salt and when it becomes a little tattered one can just walk out to a tree and strip off a few leaves for repairs. I was wondering what will happen when the salt destroys the roof on this buillding? Do they cry for more American money to replace it or is there a thatch roof on that building today?
Beyond the rustly roof and the concrete blocks, did we destroy more than a beautiful village church building that fit the culture, or did we destroy part of the culture itself and maybe even erode a perspective, such as "What is this whole thing of Christianity and worship all about as it fits into my Marshalese lifestyle?"
Does throwing American dolars at a project always help the spreading of the gospel or can in hinder or even set back the advancing of the Kingdom?
My mind goes back to those peaceful days of living right next to the lagoon eating fresh lobster every night for supper, sipping on Coconuts water when thirsty, where some would call "Paradise."
Last week I wrote about the high cost of sending American missionaries to foreign countries to save the "Heathen".
This week I want to share an experience that I have thought a lot about over the years.
In the fall of 1993 Ruth and I flew out to the Marshall Islands. I was asked to do some building and as it turned out I taught high school math as well in a Christian high school on the island of Majuro.
Soon after we stepped off the plane Ruth was asked to teach high school English as a second language. After consenting she was given a black grade book and told to "go at it." No text books, no cirriculum, nada, just a black grade book. I don't know too many college trained teachers who would rise to that challenge, but the lady did it and did it well. Fortunately we had a laptop and a printer so she was able to make hand outs each day. She prepared five to six hours each day for her classes and her day started around 4 A.M. to put the finishing touches on the days lessons.
Now back to the subject.
I was asked to fly out to an outer island called Malolap during Christmas break to help the congregation build a new church building. The Marshalls are a string of atolls just a few degrees above the equator in the South Pacific. An atoll is a series of islands that have emerged from the rim of an extinct volcano. The highest elevation on any of them is no more than six or eight feet above sea level. Since they encircle the old volcano they are somewhat circular in shape and some of the large ones have many islands around them. Since Malolap has a lagoon about seventy miles across, there are lots of islands around it. These islands are covered with Coconut Palm trees and some other trees that have long thin leaves.
As we were flying out to Malolap I sat right behind the pilot and he pointed out lots of interesting sights. Before and during WWII the Japanese occupied most of these South Pacific islands and built airstrips and bases on lots of them. We were to deliver mail to one of the islands before we got to the one I was to work on and the pilot told me that on this island there were still several Japanese Zeros, WWII Japanese fighter planes, along side of the airstrip. The American fighter pilots used to love to sneak in and strafe these planes as they were lined up next to the runway. The Japanese pushed them off to the side and they are still there today, after 60 years. As we came in for a landing there was a sunken Japanese ship right off the end of the runway with parts of it sticking out of the water. I enjoyed walking around these old planes before taking off for our island.
As soon as we arrived on our home base for the nest few days I was shown around the project. They had a beautiful little church that was built out of poles and thatch made from the leaves of trees. The roof was thatch and the sidewalls were thatch as well. They had even built the windows of thatch covering a frame that worked like an awning so it could be open for light and ventilation and closed during rainy times. This island had about 60 people living on it and they all attended this church, it was part of the village, in fact all of the houses looked like the church, just smaller. The next day we started to build the new church around the old one. Somehow they had received some American money so they could build a "modern church building." They had shipped in concrete blocks, sacks of cement, treated lumber for roof trusses, and sheets of galvanized steel for the roof.
We built the footings around the old building and then started up the walls with concrete blocks. While the men were building up the walls around the old church others were tearing down the old church building. Meanwhile I was building the roof trusses.
As I watched the building going up and the old one coming down, something struck me. What was happening here? The congregation treated me royally, each night the pastor went snorkeling and in the morning I had a nice fresh lobster sitting next to the cook shack for my supper that evening. The young boys climbed the Coconut trees each day to collect fresh Coconuts so I had plenty of Coconut water to drink. They even took me Tuna fishing one day, but that is another story.
No, something spiritual was happening here and I didn't have a good feeling about it. I was thinking about Latin America and how the big, fancy cathedral sits in the center of town, the most beautiful building in town. The building and its icons are venerated much more than the God they are supposed to proclaim.
Here I am helping to build the fanciest building in the villiage at the expense of the old one that seemed to fit so perfectly. But there was another factor that I was thinking about. The Trade Winds blew in off the lagoon right across the villiage. Now that is nice for its cooling effect, but salt laden mist is not healthy for galvanized steel roofs. They only last ten years at best. Thatch on the other hands is not effected by salt and when it becomes a little tattered one can just walk out to a tree and strip off a few leaves for repairs. I was wondering what will happen when the salt destroys the roof on this buillding? Do they cry for more American money to replace it or is there a thatch roof on that building today?
Beyond the rustly roof and the concrete blocks, did we destroy more than a beautiful village church building that fit the culture, or did we destroy part of the culture itself and maybe even erode a perspective, such as "What is this whole thing of Christianity and worship all about as it fits into my Marshalese lifestyle?"
Does throwing American dolars at a project always help the spreading of the gospel or can in hinder or even set back the advancing of the Kingdom?
My mind goes back to those peaceful days of living right next to the lagoon eating fresh lobster every night for supper, sipping on Coconuts water when thirsty, where some would call "Paradise."
posted by Jim Burton at 7:44 AM
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