Focusing on Returnees

While we may all agree that working and preparing returnees is a good idea, it sounds like we are not in agreement about how to go about it.  Currently, I don’t think there is enough preparation for the returnees and the overseas churches are beginning to see that and working towards it.  However, the question I originally raise was that why focus our energy solely or mostly on them?  They may be stratetic, may be the best bridge, but I think it is up to the local national churches to continue to grow them.  Let me give you an illlustration.

Say you are the parents of a child who’s learning a lot at school and the teachers are loving and everything.  But the teenager is coming home wiith all sorts of strange ideas – evolution is truth, homosexuality is ok, abortion is pro choice, etc.  Now, you are the parent, and it is up to you to raise the child.  Would you continue to like it when the teacher teaches all these new strange ideas to your child? 

I think Denise brings up a good point in a conversation earlier.  Perhaps we are focusing on the wrong part of the equation. Maybe if we want to reach the child, we need to first reach the parents, and not the other way around.  Ultimately, it is the parents’ responsibility to raise their child, just like it is the responsibility of the local church to minister to the flock.  We need to be careful to not usurp the authority of parents (local church) as we go forth in Kingdom building.  Many parents are not bringing up their children the way we like (I am not talking about neglect), do we go and raise their kids for them?   I hope not.  This is what some might call western paternalism – we don’t have all the answers.  

So I like what Denise has said, perhaps we need to bring the focus on the local churches rather then focusing on the returnees.  This can apply to China or Japan or Indonesia.  I also think that returning scholars are not the only ones with great potential to do cross-cultural work.  Most people who grew up in SE Asia are pretty cross cultural already.  There are many more people that God can use to build His church.  Through out history, He has used the most unlikely ones, starting with Apostle Paul – who we would never think is a great cross cultural worker.  But God used him mightily.  The awesome growth of the house churches from 1950 to 2000 are done by the people that we would never think that has great potential – uneducated peasants.  So be very very very very careful as to how we see things and focusing our energies on a group of people that we think humanly speaking, has great potential. Our Father is the one that determines who He will chose to use in His work.