more thoughts

There's an American mission project in Ukraine that American churches donate millions of dollars to. The local people, for the most part, despise them. We went and talked to them while we were in Kyiv. On the cover, they look really great. Feed widows, establish churches, visit orphanages, etc. However, I can understand why the locals hate them. Their policy is to, for example, visit an orphanage, give out candy and clothes, put on some evangelistic program, and leave. Meanwhile, the building can have a leaky bathroom or whatever, but you just can't put money into the hands of locals because you can't trust them. I get the feeling that they'll give you a plate of soup and watch you eat it. I'm sorry, but you aren't going to reach the people by treating them like "You don't know any better, so I'll teach you how to do everything." Very arrogant. Living in an upscale apartment in the center of the city doesn't help either, or obviously spending lots of money on advertising, youth choruses and orchestras, and the like. (These are the same people who founded Holy Trinity Presbyterian in Kyiv, although the board of directors also has Lutherans and Baptists on it.)

On the other hand, the person who struck me as a true evangelist was the somewhat annoying Pentecostalish local minister who could have emigrated to Germany, and almost did, but chose instead to stay in a dying village taking care of the people who hate him and his Christianity, and living off of providence. He was practically begging for outside help though...he told us that he can talk about Jesus all he can, but until the old widow with 6 kids gets her roof fixed, or some means to support herself, the Gospel will mean nothing to her.