Hindsight Regarding International Ministries

 Hi Everyone!

We have all heard that hindsight is 20/20. At a decade of serving God in Africa, I have learned a thing or two. I started out bright-eyed, handsome, and optimistic. Now I'm baggy-eyed, older, and skeptical of every report. I have learned the hard way that the Western world has been gaslit by the continent of Africa.

Every subject you can think of, from slavery to poverty, has been a half-truth. Slaves have always been here and are still a practice, so is poverty. They are perpetuated by the tribal systems the West romanticizes. Ministry models have also fallen into this trap. 

I spent this morning talking with a friend who is a Somali Christian. We have known each other for a few years. He often talks about how the orgs have "Brokers" that coach the Somalis into telling sellable stories. To generate money for the organization. Usually, a picture is taken and shared across a network of organizations that have all fully funded a project. Still, they may not realize that many other organizations paid the same people to accomplish the same project. So, rather than the money being spent where it is supposed to be, it goes into the pockets of a few. Not all are bad, but many are. Typically, large relief ministries are involved in these efforts. Local churches with extensive international networks in the Horn of Africa, especially in Ethiopia, are notorious for this.

Why am I telling you? Because I serve a living God. Africa still needs help, but it needs to be provided carefully. Flooding rival tribes with money to minister to another tribe is often a money market and a political move. We need to draw the line at training. Let them support themselves from within themselves. We need to empower, and that requires us to start by encouraging locals to pursue self-sustainability instead of relying on the current codependency on foreign money. If we want to see the unreached reached, then the local body must be empowered and emancipated from Western influence so that they can develop their own resources. Local resources do exist, but are not stewarded well. Local education systems often fall short in terms of quality and standards.  If we hold them to real educational training standards and biblical integrity, we will see the unreached tribes, such as the Somalis, reached. If we fail to train and empower, then we will see the unreached remain unreached and billions of dollars will go to a few con artists throughout the world while betraying God and humanity in the process.