In the Name of “Mission Work” book about CAM/Mast

[Josh]

On the other half of the island is the Dominican Republic, where things look very different. Why is the exact same place so different once you go a few miles west?

The actual disparate political histories of Haiti and the Dominican Republic provide some informative answers to your question.

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2021 ... -for-freed

No, it doesn't. Billions of dollars have flowed into Haiti. (Are you asserting that the Dominican Republic didn't have huge amounts of wealth extracted when it was a Spanish colony?) It's the exact same type of climate and island and soil as Dominican Republic.

Why is Haiti so impoverished now, in 2022? In the 1970s and 1980s, Haiti and Dominican were much closer in terms of wealth and economic development. But today, there is hardly even a comparison to be made.

[GaryK]

In response to Mike's questions about preparing for missions, I would suggest it is very, very, very hard for a missionary from a powerful civilization to humble themselves enough to effectively minister to a weak civilization. You don't even know enough to know what you are proud of.

In my 20's I served in a maintenance position in a para church mission organization in the Canadian north designed to assist the Native American church. Soon after I arrived I was on a four hour ride with a native chief from a fly-in community. I was intrigued and asked many questions. At some point he grew strangely quiet and I realized I had said something that offended him, so I waited quietly for him to respond.

After some thinking he started carefully explaining in great detail the struggles and challenges northern communities face, how the economic tax structure and provincial reimbursements are designed to favor resource extraction, not promote stable communities, how the educational system is designed by people thousands of miles away to suit their needs, not the local people ect... He went on for quite a while, maybe an hour, and I was truly humbled but also grateful because I could sense he was investing in me and I didn't want to disappoint him. This kind of training can only be arranged by God but it is vital.

My advice to organizations like CAM would be get local, on the ground people on your board and in the managerial structure. I turned down the offer to sit on a board for a mission organization working in a tiny, extremely remote village in Haiti because I don't know what I am doing there. This board even included Haitians (a real advantage) but I didn't feel I knew enough to serve.

I couldn't agree more! I'm guessing most on the ground personnel in foreign missions have struggled with Stateside decisions that did not reflect realities on the ground and didn't give much considerations to how it would affect the nationals involved.

[Neto]

On the other half of the island is the Dominican Republic, where things look very different. Why is the exact same place so different once you go a few miles west?

The actual disparate political histories of Haiti and the Dominican Republic provide some informative answers to your question.

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2021 ... -for-freed

No, it doesn't. Billions of dollars have flowed into Haiti. (Are you asserting that the Dominican Republic didn't have huge amounts of wealth extracted when it was a Spanish colony?) It's the exact same type of climate and island and soil as Dominican Republic.

Why is Haiti so impoverished now, in 2022? In the 1970s and 1980s, Haiti and Dominican were much closer in terms of wealth and economic development. But today, there is hardly even a comparison to be made.

I have hesitated to say this earlier, but I'm going to go ahead & "stick my neck out". I have heard from more than one source, including from some Brazilians who actually worked in Haiti, that at some point they dedicated their country to Satan. But if this is not true, then I'll just say that once a country is as poor as Haiti, it's very difficult to get out of it. I have never been there. But people who have worked in DR have told me that when you cross the border, there is a stark difference. Suddenly there are no trees. The poor have not had the fuel they need, so all (nearly all?) of the trees have been used for cooking. I cannot verify any of this - either of the things I've said here.

[Neto]

In response to Mike's questions about preparing for missions, I would suggest it is very, very, very hard for a missionary from a powerful civilization to humble themselves enough to effectively minister to a weak civilization. You don't even know enough to know what you are proud of.

In my 20's I served in a maintenance position in a para church mission organization in the Canadian north designed to assist the Native American church. Soon after I arrived I was on a four hour ride with a native chief from a fly-in community. I was intrigued and asked many questions. At some point he grew strangely quiet and I realized I had said something that offended him, so I waited quietly for him to respond.

After some thinking he started carefully explaining in great detail the struggles and challenges northern communities face, how the economic tax structure and provincial reimbursements are designed to favor resource extraction, not promote stable communities, how the educational system is designed by people thousands of miles away to suit their needs, not the local people ect... He went on for quite a while, maybe an hour, and I was truly humbled but also grateful because I could sense he was investing in me and I didn't want to disappoint him. This kind of training can only be arranged by God but it is vital.

My advice to organizations like CAM would be get local, on the ground people on your board and in the managerial structure. I turned down the offer to sit on a board for a mission organization working in a tiny, extremely remote village in Haiti because I don't know what I am doing there. This board even included Haitians (a real advantage) but I didn't feel I knew enough to serve.

I couldn't agree more! I'm guessing most on the ground personnel in foreign missions have struggled with Stateside decisions that did not reflect realities on the ground and didn't give much considerations to how it would affect the nationals involved.

This is perhaps a major difference in my experience in WBT, and how the Mennonite missions in Haiti (I'm not talking about just CAM) operate. The WBT operation (actually it was not WBT, but rather Sociedade Internacional de Linguistica, a Brazilian entity) was locally administered, and there were three different SIL mission centers, each with local administration. (At first there were 4, then one was closed during the time we were there.)
Aside from this, each translation team basically managed their own operations, reporting to the tribal field office monthly. (The only time the Brazil branch made decisions regarding our activities was when the translation dept told me that I could not continue to work in OT materials. Well, there was also the time when the Anthropology Dept was upset with me because I helped build a church house for the people. It was specifically at the people's request. First they asked me to plan the building, then they asked me to deal with the local Brazilian who had a chain saw to cut the necessary timber, then finally they asked me to supervise the actual construction. I didn't really think about it, that this was a violation of the mission rules, but they were somewhat consoled after I said that I did it on my vacation. One comment about working on that with the Banawa men. One day while we were working up on the roof, one of the younger men asked if they would be paid. I didn't have to say anything - one of the other men told him: No, this is for us, and might have made some joking remark about paying ME.)

A question for those who have worked in any Mennonite mission: Are you "allowed" to just spend time with the people during "work hours"? Like over the years there I went out in the jungle with different ones and helped carry house poles and other materials back to the village. Helped carry meat back after a tapir was killed far from the village, more than once.
I'm curious now, because if I had not been allowed to do those things, I do not think I would have been accepted by the people. Going back to the training/school period, I studied two different American Indian languages in my linguistics courses. The native teachers were first and foremost people to me. I'll just say that some other students didn't have that attitude, and treated them more like a machine, just a way to get the language data they needed. In later years I and some others were invited to a 50th wedding anniversary celebration for one of the couples, and I kept in contact with my main Cheyenne teacher until she passed away many years later. (And she is one I'm looking forward to seeing again "on the other side". Minnie Primoux, my Cheyenne grandma.)
Are you free to have a family in your home? Oh, and when we had a family out at the mission center, the "support workers" also interacted with them. (The only exceptions would be the 1 or 2 year short-termers who did not even speak Portuguese.)

[RZehr]

I think that if a person skips the training phase because they "just cannot wait to start", then they do not have the tenacity to stick with it once they get there.

Great point.

[randalm]

Some wise words of wisdom for us to consider from Diane Langberg.

“Both systems and individuals can be perpetrators. An allegation of sexual abuse threatens the system. Unfortunately, that system often marshals its considerable power to silence, lie, and cover-up or protect the perpetrator so that the ‘godly’ works can continue. When this occurs, godly words may be used to cover ungodly deeds; victims are crushed and we add ourselves to the list of their betrayers. An institution meant to serve others in the name of God clings to darkness rather than light and fails to defend the rights of the afflicted. In doing so, we ignore the potentially malignant lump, because to face it will disrupt the system we call “good.” Thus, the cancer spreads and ultimately destroys the victims, the perpetrator, and the system. In our denial, we become complicit with evil in the name of God."

[Ken]

A question for those who have worked in any Mennonite mission: Are you "allowed" to just spend time with the people during "work hours"?

My only experience is with the MCC mission in Recife Brazil. But if you count that as a Mennonite mission then yes, you would not only be allowed but also encouraged to associate with people outside your work hours. They want you to integrate and be a part of the community and that is what that means.

[TruthSeeker]

Some wise words of wisdom for us to consider from Diane Langberg.

“Both systems and individuals can be perpetrators. An allegation of sexual abuse threatens the system. Unfortunately, that system often marshals its considerable power to silence, lie, and cover-up or protect the perpetrator so that the ‘godly’ works can continue. When this occurs, godly words may be used to cover ungodly deeds; victims are crushed and we add ourselves to the list of their betrayers. An institution meant to serve others in the name of God clings to darkness rather than light and fails to defend the rights of the afflicted. In doing so, we ignore the potentially malignant lump, because to face it will disrupt the system we call “good.” Thus, the cancer spreads and ultimately destroys the victims, the perpetrator, and the system. In our denial, we become complicit with evil in the name of God."

Langberg's wisdom reminds me of another MennoNet post from the past:

Re: The CAM scandal links and assorted other topics thread

Post by flyingnorm » Thu Apr 30, 2020 12:10 am
I agree with Ernies comments that there are contrasting cultures with anabaptism, and an organization like CAM is wonderfully positioned to build on the strengths of both the Amish tradition and the Mennonite tradition, or on the Old Order and the moderate conservative streams. The two value systems are not exclusive but can be complimentary or conflictual depending how well people listen to each other.

However when an organization enters crisis mode, it primary leaders default style will likely show through pretty clearly. In this case, the Amish / Beachy style that is built around being a part of “our people” rather than being built around the concept of adherence to written mission, values, policies and practices like much of the rest of society.

Tribal instinct runs very high in groups of people that perceive themselves to be different from the world around themselves. This instinct means you need to protect the tribe at all costs, even when the tribe hurts you or does things you disagree with. After all, betrayal of the tribe means you just lost your identity, home, safety, etc. In fact, lose the tribe, the tribe lost you, nothing worse than being lost.

CAM protects its tribe, the tribe protects CAM, simple as that. Jeriah was a part of CAM, CAM protected him as long as they could. When they were unable, the tribe went into a crisis of conscience as it realized what it was protecting.

Now the tribe’s only option is to do what all tribes do everywhere when they are in crisis, they focus on survival as a tribe, not just as individuals. They deepen their commitment to each other, their leaders become more protective of the tribe, and the financiers / food gatherers / spiritual leaders of the tribe become more controlling as money /food / spirituality are essential to survival of the tribe.

As I see it, Anabaptists are facing a much bigger institutional crisis than CAM or Jeriah Mast. Its a crisis of faith, who do we depend on? What are we committed to? Merely maintaining our favourite tribal allegiance or following God and His word with a sincere heart of love for others doing the same. It seems to me this crisis of faith has left many Anabaptist people struggling with unmanageable depravity. The tribe can always protect you from the world around you, but only Christ can save your soul, and only Gods word can direct your faith.

[Neto]

A question for those who have worked in any Mennonite mission: Are you "allowed" to just spend time with the people during "work hours"?

My only experience is with the MCC mission in Recife Brazil. But if you count that as a Mennonite mission then yes, you would not only be allowed but also encouraged to associate with people outside your work hours. They want you to integrate and be a part of the community and that is what that means.

But not DURING work hours?
Sure, if the project was to aid in technological advancement (I am not referring to 'technology' in the sense it is commonly used now, i.e., computerized technology, but in the sense of things like developing pure water sources, storing water for use during the dry season, use of track animals in societies that are traditionally horticulturalists, etc) then it would be essential that the foreign worker would be interacting with the individuals of the target culture. But I'm asking about spending time with them in ways that are not directly related to the official project. Interaction on the personal level, as friends.

[Josh]

In this case, the Amish / Beachy style that is built around being a part of “our people” rather than being built around the concept of adherence to written mission, values, policies and practices like much of the rest of society.

And why should Amish / Beachys conform to the rest of society? The rest of society’s track record is much worse in these areas.

It’s also laughable to claim the rest of society actually adheres to written policies and practices. Most the rest of society pays lip service to written policies whilst flagrantly violating them. A case in point is rolling stop signs and speeding.