Am I a missionary?

From Zimbabwe Rochelle McAlister cracks open the stereotype

We got our first “missionary Christmas card” of the year, from a Salvation Army home league group in our native Canada. It felt weird. It was very kind, and thoughtful, but it felt strange to be on the receiving end. A friend e-mailed me recently and told me that I am her favourite missionary. The e-mail made me uncomfortable. I don’t refer to myself as a missionary, and I don’t think of myself as a missionary either. What is it about the missionary label that makes me uneasy?

Missions is as old as the Church. Countless people have been challenged by the apostle Paul’s example of living out the Great Commission. Followers of Jesus shared the Gospel despite being mocked, hated and persecuted. However, when Constantine converted to Christianity, our religion moved from being a group of persecuted followers of Jesus to an imperial religion necessitating ambassadors. Thousands upon thousands of Christians have gone from their lands, preaching the Gospel of Good News to other “God-less” lands; bringing God and the Empire with them. Perhaps it is this connection with arrogance and imperialism (the “white Messiah”, “conquering Africa”) that makes me most hesitant about the missionary label. (Having said this, international missionary trends are changing, with more missionaries from Africa, Asia, South America, etc. moving north to Europe and North America.)

When I think of missionaries, several images come to mind. I think of single, white women teaching children under trees or giving injections to dying people in crowded clinics. I think of conservative and yet adventuresome couples going into the jungles to tell aboriginal people about Jesus for the first time. I think of people writing letters home by candlelight. I think of pioneers telling people they could only be saved from the fires of Hell if they gave up their culture, their traditions and started wearing pants and uncomfortable dresses to church. These images come from a mix of stories I was told, books I have read and movies I have seen. They are the stereotypes I have about missionaries.

So, do we fit the stereotype? Well, we do like adventure! John has taught students under trees, and I was asked to give an injection in a crowded clinic, although I didn’t feel my political science degree had prepared me for it. We tend to use e-mail and blogs rather than letters by candle-light. If we have operating electricity and phone lines, it is much quicker.

When I was about to finish my first degree at university, I went to see a career counselor. She asked me what I felt I should do with my life. My response was, “I feel like I should go to Africa and apologize to every person I meet.” She laughed, but I was serious. Of course, I realize that missionaries have done a lot of good. They have studied and transcribed languages, they have documented much about culture, they have built roads and schools and hospitals, and they have given many people hope through letting them know about a good, loving God. In university, however, I also learned a lot about how missionaries - well-intentioned people like me – had caused harm to people. Missionaries caused the extinction of some languages. They created or re-enforced ethnic conflict. They destroyed people’s self-esteem by calling their culture and identity sinful. They stole resources. I felt like someone needed to take ownership and apologize. A few months ago, a group of church leaders from Europe actually came to Zimbabwe to make an official apology from the Church to Africa. People here were suspicious though, wondering if they just wanted to clear their consciences or whether there was another trick up their sleeves. I don’t blame them.

People often ask me what I am doing in Zimbabwe. Officially, we are here to support the local Salvation Army at the national office (territorial headquarters), but basically, we share with people. Our sharing is unbalanced, in that we are learning and receiving much more than we are teaching and giving, but maybe part of the problem with missionaries in the past was their unbalance in the opposite direction. We don’t really sense the “white man’s burden” to “elevate the more degraded portions of the human family” (Livingstone). We don’t see our friends as more degraded. It actually seems racist and condescending to me to view members of your family as less than you – in need of your saving.

We share life with people. It’s as un-glamourous and un-heroic, and wonderful and incredible as that. Zimbabwe is currently going through some grave challenges, and it is a true honour to share life with people here at this time. To share life, we visit with our neighbours, we share and receive vegetables from one another’s gardens, we eat in each other’s homes. When a new school term starts, we help parents with fees; when it is someone’s birthday, we go to their party and dance and bring them a gift. We hold new babies, we laugh at funny stories, we visit people in hospital, we grieve with people at funerals, and we pray with people. We are loved by our friends here, and we have a deep love for our big, new Zimbabwean family.

We also share God with people. Of course, there are still many places in the world where people do not know about Jesus, but we are not in one of them. It has actually been quite a cultural shock to move from post-modern, secular Canada to the Christian country of Zimbabwe. It still surprises me to hear gospel music blaring in shops. Children pray openly in schools. Churches are full on Sunday. Conversations about God occur naturally in every day conversations with almost everyone. The Salvation Army is even known as a church here. Ordinary people give us the Salvation Army salute when we’re walking down the street, and the uniform is not a curiosity because everyone recognizes it. So, we don’t really have to let people know that God exists. Zimbabweans are teaching us what it means to truly trust God – for your next meal, for school fees, for strength in times of mourning, for wisdom in raising your sister’s children when she passes away. And we are sharing too – sharing our experiences of God’s grace and unconditional love into a culture where there are so many malevolent forces out to harm people.

Sometimes people ask me how they can support our work here. They want to help. We want to help too – it’s a natural instinct, and there are obviously ways to help. But one must always be careful in helping; because when helping, it automatically lifts you to a position of power over those needing to be helped. We prefer the image of sharing. Yes, God has (through mysterious grace) given us resources and skills to contribute and share with our neighbours. But He has also given each of our neighbours resources and skills as well. Being part of the Body means sharing together.

We will not go down in the history books as great heroes who contributed significantly to the Church in Zimbabwe. Hopefully, however, we will be remembered as friends – a brother and sister in Christ – who shared and encouraged. Hopefully we will leave marks on people’s lives – reminders of God’s desire to share life and love with us.

So, what do you think? Are we missionaries?

Writer: Rochelle and her husband John are sharing life with people and working for The Salvation Army in Harare, Zimbabwe. They are learning a completely new way of life, and miss the snow… but not too much. Follow their adventures on their blog.

1 Comment to Am I a missionary?

1. My wife and I often ask the same question about our own overseas work. We’ve been here in Latvia for over 5 years now, although will be returning back to the UK later this year.

   Are we missionaries? I hope so, but that’s because I suspect that all Jesus’ disciples are called to missionary work. In reality missionaries are simply people working to fulfil Christ’s Commission!

   It’s about sharing our lives with friends and through the love that we show, reflecting more and more of Jesus into their lives. It’s about being there to support people, when they are struggling, and accepting their help in return.

   So are you a missionary? Yes, because that what all Christian’s should be!
Graeme on January 13th, 2007

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