By Wayne Allen, Contributor
Allen
TRAVELLING BY train through central Java in July 2002 with three Jamaican friends, I was amazed to hear reggae music coming from the train's sound system. When my Jamaican friend scrambled to the aisle to shake a leg, everyone in the coach knew that Jamaica had come to Java! If she had been fluent in Indonesian, we could have had a revival meeting right there in the coach. I was able to do some good by translating, but the power of the moment was in Jamaican hands. They wanted to hear Jamaicans, not an American translator.
OPENNESS
Similar openness to gospel presentations have been documented in the Gambia. In one instance, a Muslim village that had long refused the approaches of a Canadian missionary invited a group of Christian young people to visit the village. The invitation was extended because the village had learned that some members of the group were Jamaicans. As the group was leaving the village, a village elder explained that they had invited the Jamaicans to come because of the remorse the villagers felt that their ancestors had sold the Jamaicans' ancestors into slavery. Since that first visit, the Canadian missionary has initiated relief and development ministries in the village, as well as spiritual ministry.
These seemingly innocuous episodes perhaps unwittingly demonstrates somewhat the suitability of Jamaicans and other Caribbean Christians to be missionaries in Indonesia, Gambia and other nations referred to as the 10/40 Window.
The 10/40 Window is an imaginary rectangular shaped area that extends from West Africa to Asia between 10 degrees and 40 degrees North of the Equator. It contains the territories of the least evangelised peoples on earth. The area is particularly sacred to Christians. It includes Mesopotamia and other Bible lands.
Several ethnic groups in living within the Window have not had the Bible translated into their own tongue nor are being effectively evangelised by a Christian church. Two-thirds of the world's population is to be found within this Window, but so too are the poorest of the poor; non-democratic governments and the most oppressive regimes.
DOMINANT
The major non-Christian religions of the world are dominant in this Window, namely, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Many governments within the Window are increasingly suspicious of white missionaries from the Developed World, especially the United States. Some governments within the Window believe some missionaries are really spies belonging to the United States and other developed countries. Accordingly, many First World missionaries are being expelled. But the expulsion of missionaries from the North, have effectively opened the door for missionaries from the South, including Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean.
There are financial advantages for Jamaican and Caribbean missionaries. Personal experience has taught me that life in Kingston, Jamaica, is as challenging as life in any Third World metropolis. In many ways, Kingston is far better than Jakarta where I was a missionary for 12 years; but the challenges of finding employment, the daily commute, educating the children and other aspects Kingston life inculcate survival skills that are readily transferable to Cairo, Calcutta, and Shanghai. Jamaicans can prosper in situations that would overwhelm many North Americans and Europeans, and do it on far less financial resources than their First World counterparts.
ADVANTAGE
The typical Jamaican Christian has also the advantage of race. While working in Indonesia I often heard the charge that Christianity is the religion of the European or the white man. I was encouraged to use the response of a respected Indonesian evangelist, Yusup Roni, who commonly replied that Christianity was rooted in the East (i.e. Jesus and the disciples were Palestinian Hebrews, not white Europeans), but that "white men, too, could become Christian." While this response was helpful, for many Indonesians, who were aware of their national history of 350 years of colonial oppression, it was not enough to overcome the stigma of a white face. Jamaicans, and other Caribbean people, are free of that stigma.
Furthermore, the Caribbean colonial experience provides a sense of commonality with territories in the 10/40 Window. For example, like the Caribbean, Indonesia (which was once controlled by the Dutch) has struggled to establish its own identity and institutions. This colonial experience provides a cultural nexus for the exchange of ideas, and opportunities for evangelism. Jamaicans also enjoy organisational advantages for service in the 10/40 Window. North American and European mission agencies are highly organised and structured. All activities are subject to organisational control. Often, golden opportunities for ministry are missed because of bureaucratic red tape.
CONVERTED MUSLIM
For example, one US-based mission agency recently received an application for service from a converted Muslim. This man fled from his Middle East homeland because Muslims wanted to murder him. His conversion to Christianity brought a fatwa against him, which means that any Muslims who kills him is doing a service to Allah. While seeking asylum in a European refugee camp, he began working with a mission outreach to Muslims and studied Christian theology at an evangelical seminary. He proved an effective evangelist and discipler. The situation in Iraq demands immediate action. Tremendous opportunities exist for Muslim evangelism in Europe and the Mideast. Trained evangelists who are fluent in Arabic are desperately needed. Yet, the US mission agency will not be able to place this man in Iraq for at least 18 months, if at all, because of organisational restrictions. The entrepreneurial skills and independent thinking of Jamaicans chaff at such organisational ineptitude. If there is a way to get something done, the Jamaicans will find it! A skilled, trained, experienced evangelist who is fluent in the local language should be in Cairo or Baghdad sharing his faith with Muslims, not on the deputation trail begging for money from Christians. Jamaican, and Caribbean churches have an ability to act that is not organisationally possible with many North American or European mission agencies.
In 2002 I was privileged to speak at a mission conference in rural St. Mary, Jamaica. At the conference I presented a Jamaican youth who had completed her preparatory training for service on the foreign missions field. She studied at excellent institutions in Jamaica and the United States. God had opened the door for her to serve in Ethiopia. This was achieved by the initiative of Jamaican laity founding a Jamaican mission agency and developing co-operative links with a US-based mission agency. All that prevented her departure for Ethiopia was the funding. Before she left the church to return to Kingston that Sunday afternoon, her entire financial need was met. Today, she is learning the local language and culture, and building relationships with needy women and orphans in Ethiopia. This is a vivid picture of the entrepreneurial skills, independent thinking, sacrificial attitude and financial resources available in the Caribbean.
SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGES
Jamaican and Caribbean Christians have significant advantages over North Americans and Europeans for ministry is large portions of the globe. Wisdom dictates that these advantages be put to good use.
The Rev. Dr. Wayne W. Allen, worked in West Kalimantan, Indonesia among the Dayaks, an indigenous people group, from 1978 to 1990. Between 1996-2002 he held the David Ho Chair of World Missions at Caribbean Graduate School of Theology, Kingston, Jamaica. He is presently Regional Director for Asia with World Partners USA, the Christian Missions arm of the Missionary Church in the United States.
