Today was a long and fustrating day as underlying it all was the clash of Mozambique culture with Western culture - and it's all about the subject of money.
We had a series of meetings at our seminary today that started early and ended late. Without exception, the topic of every meeting ended up with us being asked for money with the expectation that we should give or loan money to each person. These are people we know well and who we've worked with a long time and today, it just all hit at once. In the first case, a young man wants money for a his wedding in November so he can start preparing. He has no idea of how much he needs, has no job and isn't motivated to find one and yet wants to get married. The second case (same man) has a scheme that right away (it's urgent we should act - TODAY!) we should buy a small house in Xipamanine for a church (so he can use it for his November wedding and not the one adjacent to his house). Ahhhh, but the catch is that we don't buy the house but rather build a house, drill a well, and build a bathroom for the owner of the house on some other land in Intaka as a trade. AND, to clench the deal, the land in Intaka is some land that his Mother owns that she wants to be part of the trade. All of this is going on at a time when he needs to build a house in Intaka also for his bride. Is this a scheme to get materials for his house too? And, of course, then we will have land in Xipamanine for a church, which he knows is a desire of us as a mission.....and money, well we don't want to tell the government because that involves taxes so it is just a trade. Give me a break.....It's a crazy scheme, nothing more.
So next we move to discovery of how our CMED project in T-3 has gone belly-up for the second time. The group includes church leaders who took loans but didn't pay them back and the entire group had to cover the cost and so all lost money, and now they want to start a third group - it's a good deal - borrow money from your friends in the church and never pay it back. An somehow they have suckered new people into a new group. Our CMED guys have said "NO" and this group is completely without our blessing and we will have to take it up with denominational leadership, which will be tough because one of them is involved. Sigh.......But, we have many many groups operating quite succesfully - just this one that has been dodging and hiding for months and months - no wonder. It is a great program, make no mistake and we stand strongly behind it - this is one bad example among many many successes - many have been blessed by CMED but it must be monitored and accountability is very important.
From there, one of our seminary workers is upset because one of the other workers is pressing and pressing him for money and in the culture, they feel obligated to not say 'no'. So, he asks us for help as the story (there is always a story) is that it is for medical expenses, which our work contract covers so we're confused. Where are your receipts (tomorrow, always tomorrow!)?
Next, another worker comes to us with a desperate need for a loan to secure his house because of robbery problems. He wants to borrow a mere 10,000 mtn, which is about 360 dollars USD, which would take a very long time to pay back. Now this particular person probably is good for the money based unlike the other examples, but still... OMS has a policy to not loan money, which we have made clear previously, so he said that he wants a personal loan, not from OMS. Sigh.......
Plus, waiting in the wings is another person wanting to talk about his upcoming wedding, another who is about to lose his job, plus the hands out at every street corner, everytime you get out of the car.
One of the challenges in building the church here is to sort out when people are simply using the church, the mission, the charity of missionaries, visitors, etc., to advance themselves. It is a constant tension in this culture where entitlement thinking and not telling the truth is a cultural norm. And yet, to be too far the other way to the point of hedonism, materialism, and the self-focus of Western culture is the other extreme. Oh that I could have the wisdom to walk this road! I desire so intensely that people would look to God for provision and allow Him to work. I desire intensely to be a conduit of God's compassion and love but not at the expense of building dependancy and a false Christianity built on material expectation or gain (I'll try to write more about this in a few days relative to our recent trip). I have learned that it makes you feel really good to give away food, clothing, medical care, water - to have lots of people dependent upon you - what an ego trip (and we've seen people all puffed up about it). But, creating dependency will not make Mozambique successful for the future. Without cultural change through transforming power of Christ, the dependency or entitlement-thinking seems like it will just continue. May we become truly unified as brothers and sisters through Him, who loves all of us from all cultures...And who of us can really cast the first stone at any other culture?... (John 8:7)
In Christ there is no east or west.....
Reminds me of a great old hymn:
In Christ there is no East or West,
in him no South or North,
but one great fellowship of love
throughout the whole wide earth.
In him shall true hearts everywhere
their high communion find,
his service is the golden cord
close-binding all mankind.
Join hands, disciples of the faith,
whate'er your race may be!
Who serves my Father as a son
is surely kin to me.
In Christ now meet both East and West,
in him meet South and North,
all Christly souls are one in him,
throughout the whole wide earth.
Written by John Oxenham, 1908
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