The Ugly American...Church Planter

Letter from Dr. Charles Davis, International Director

Joe and Jane were so excited. On Tuesday they were going with 15 other members of their church to Venezuela. The 3 minute power point presentation on Sunday morning showed so clearly the desperate need of the people they were going to serve. The pastor had prayed specially for the team. They had participated in some fund raising events at the church to raise the money. The tickets had been purchased, they had upgraded their camera, bought some new clothes, purchased new swim suits for the beach, and hadn’t forgotten the sun screen. Soon they would be boarding the airplane, starting on an exciting adventure for God. They didn’t know the language, and they could only stay for two weeks, but they were sure that God was going to do great things through them.

Homer was going to meet them at the airport. Homer had been working in Venezuela for 15 years. He had never married, partly because he was totally committed to living and working in a Venezuelan city, and partly because he wasn’t very good looking. The tropical sun had burned large sun spots on his arms and hands, he had little hair left, and several bouts of malaria had left his skin sallow with a yellow tint. He thought nothing of entering a Venezuelan home and helping in whatever way he could. He had learned to make and eat the Venezuelan food as well as anyone. But what Homer thought about often was how long it had taken him to understand how to really love Venezuelan people in ways that they felt and understood. And how deeply he had changed in the process.

Homer had trained well for his work in Venezuela as a missionary. He had gone to one of the best seminaries with a special emphasis on intercultural ministry. During his seminary training he took a two year assignment in the country to help out at a school for missionary children. His time in Venezuela made him even more attentive to the seminary classes on working across cultures.

Homer was convinced that he had what many Venezuelans needed, and he was determined to do whatever he needed to do to give them what he had. He had theological training, and he anticipated a long career teaching in a Venezuelan seminary. He had Bible knowledge which he was eager to pass on, helping to start a local church. He had access to books on the latest models and methods of church planting which he wanted to try out. And he had diligently studied books on how Latin Americans thought. He was ready and eager to share all of these advantages with Venezuelans, and he was sure they would be grateful.

Those first few years were enjoyable and exciting, but as time passed, when Homer returned to his apartment at night, he began to suspect that something was missing. His language was improving.    He would talk, share his knowledge and communicate the gospel, but he began to perceive that the eyes of others would just so slightly begin to glaze over. He had tried every model and method he had received in seminary, but something was missing. He began to suspect that maybe they had something that he needed; not the other way around. He began listening more, asking questions and probing behind thoughts and patterns. He began watching Venezuelan soap operas and wondering what were the key patterns that made them work.

One day Homer decided to go to see the movie Superman III that had recently been released in the United States. He laughed throughout the movie, but wondered why no one else was laughing. Superman had been exposed to a variant form of kryptonite, and instead of affecting him physically, it had affected him morally. He had developed two personas, one good and trustworthy with a red cape, and one with a maroon cape that began to go awry. The maroon caped Superman was evil, untrustworthy. Eventually the two supermen had a massive fight with themselves.

The following Sunday Homer mentioned how funny the movie was to Jose, one of the young men in the church, wondering aloud why he had been the only one laughing.

Jose said, “That wasn’t a funny movie. That was a cold war movie.”

Stunned, Homer asked, “What do you mean?” 

Jose responded, “Obviously Superman is the United States. When the United States does what is right, we are all relieved, because the United States can do anything it wants. But when the United States does what is wrong, who can stop them?”

Homer was shocked, but he had to admit that Jose was right, from a Venezuelan’s perspective. He had seen Superman as an individual; Jose had seen him as a group. Homer had seen Superman as a comic book character; Martin had seen him as a representative of the North American people. What if everything Venezuelans saw was through a group perspective? But even worse, he had never realized how people from the United States acted so often like Superman, doing whatever they decided to do. And hadn’t he done the same thing with all of his ideas, seminary notes, and church planting models?

Homer began to listen and learn more and more from Venezuelans themselves, probing how they thought about families, neighborhood, communities, the nation. He realized that his upbringing in the United States had never prepared him for understanding and communicating within a collective perspective. Relationships, time, space, self-identity, causality, all were different. He began to struggle, adapting his understanding of Scripture, trying to see the truth of Scripture through their eyes. His church was growing slowly. Some lives were being transformed. Gradually, the understandings he had gained began to develop into effective disciple making ministry.

As the years had gone by, Homer had realized something foundational. He had come with the idea that he had what the Venezuelans needed. After several years, he realized that the Venezuelans had what he needed. Now he was beginning to realize that both cultures had a rich store of understanding to share with the other, and that together they could demonstrate the unity of the Body of Christ. He began to be ashamed of those early years when he was so full of good ideas, and great church planting models. He was equally ashamed of how many years it had taken him to realize that in spite of his seminary training and all he had learned and studied and the work he had done in the church, he still had moved into the Venezuelan culture with a colonial perspective: “I have what you need.” 

Each culture had good things which were a result of man being created in the image of God. Each culture had evil things in it which reflected the fallen nature of man. And together with Venezuelan leaders they could work to sort it out and find the Biblical truths which Venezuelans needed to grow into the image of Christ.

But now, Homer had to host the short term team that was coming down. What was more, the short-term team was on a fact-finding mission to see if Homer would be willing to work with their American church to reproduce their model of the church and create a partnership. Homer was deeply troubled.

Joe and Jane’s church was big. Really big. They had thousands of members, and lots of money. They had a lot to give. But did they know they had a lot to learn? Were they willing to throw away their models and methods to just listen? Were they willing to learn about the cultural perspectives which would revolutionize their ministry? He suspected not. And besides, he remembered his last trip to Joe and Jane’s church in the States. Most of the people were too busy to talk to him. The pastor certainly didn’t have time to meet with him. He wondered what it would take for them to realize that what was needed to make disciples of North Americans was vastly different from what was needed to make disciples of Venezuelans.

What could Homer do to help Joe and Jane’s church have an effective ministry for the two weeks they were there? What could he do to help them see that the Venezuelans have something to offer them? How could he help them learn to see the Bible, theology, and church through Venezuelan eyes? How could he, Homer, an ugly American, help beautiful, rich, powerful Americans, realize that they were on a spiritual journey, and that they were being invited to share the journey with some Venezuelans for a couple of weeks?