As the Love
& Respect Ministry Team prepared for their service in Kenya, we discussed
the idea that many westerners (and western missionaries) have a god complex—we believe
that we know what is best, we will identify your problems, we will tell you how
to fix your problems, and our way is the right way. Our discussion was a means
to help the team understand and encourage the work of Surprised by Hope in East
Africa—that of strengthening and supporting pastors
in the way of Scripture and not necessarily in the way of our western ideologies.
Not only do many westerners have a god complex, but many
East Africans put us on a pedestal as well. East Africans recognize that they
have some problem and believe that the problem can only be solved with the
intervention of westerners, often with money. We all know that salvation from
any problem only comes from the Lord which is why Surprised by Hope strives to
break that old way of thinking and to equip and empower pastors and church
leaders by working together as mutual partners.
Breaking the mindset that westerners have all the answers is
essential to restoring each of our relationships (Africans and westerners) with the Lord, to restoring our understanding of
who we are as image bearers, and to restoring an understanding that work is a
form of worship. These broken relationships create chaos and contribute to the
perpetuation of poverty or at least of a poverty mentality. The team’s learning
in this area prepared them to serve the Lord outside their own ways of thinking
and enabled them to enter ministry in a more meaningful way.
Watch this short video from The
Chalmers Center about how short term missions can help without creating a god
complex.
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