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In fact, the vast majority of World Vision's workers in the field are local people and have no Christian background or faith. However, World Vision's work is founded on Christian principles. Its website states, “inspired by Christ, we are empowered to love our neighbors. Generous love is the best witness to the God in whom we believe.”
One website, commenting on World Vision's work in India, accuses the organization of “consciously [infusing] Christian religiosity as part of the help they provide to socially and economically marginalized communities” and funding such efforts as Bible camps and supporting local pastors. This goes well beyond its branding as an aid and development organization.
“All of our work is contextually appropriate,” Cummings explains. “So, for example, Uganda is a country which maintains an 80% (or thereabouts) Christian identity. Christianity is woven into the fabric of the culture, and spirituality and development are often linked quite closely.”
World Vision never denies that its desire to tackle the plight of the world's poor stems from a Christian response to God's love. “Whenever we begin work in a new country, we don't seek to hide our Christian identity,” says Cummings. “We clearly identify ourselves, in all formal agreements and in normal communication with governments, international, multilateral, non-governmental and civil society organizations, as a Christian humanitarian organization concerned for the physical, social, and spiritual needs of people.”
So, at what point does branding a humanitarian organization and promoting religious beliefs intersect? Or should efforts to brand an organization steer clear of religious convictions, similar to the separation of church and state?
Officially, many countries won't let missionaries in, but they do let in foreigners for work purposes. For many Christian missionaries, evangelism works in foreign countries much the same way as it would in their home countries: building relationships, talking with friends and leading an attractive life. “If you take your family out to a country like Bangladesh it is reasonable to assume that after six months maybe the people you are working and living with will turn round and ask, 'Why are you doing this for us?'” says Alastair McIver, director of communications at Interserve International's England and Wales office. “You can then respond with the gospel message, but the impetus comes from the local people.”
Interserve is like a job agency that specializes in placing Christians (partners) into professional roles overseas. “Partners use their professional skills, such as in medicine or teaching, to share the love of Christ with the people they live and work with,” its website states.
Although McIver would not confirm whether Interserve has placed people in countries closed to Christianity (so-called creative access countries), its is reasonable to presume that the organization—and many others—have placed Christians in these countries. “Assuming they are there, they would effectively be under cover,” acknowledges McIver. “The authorities wouldn't know there's a link between them and us. They would be given a visa for professional purposes.”
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Organizations with “creatively” placed workers usually refuse to disclose their identities or whereabouts, fearing for their security. And this is where the positioning of such organizations begins to look less than honest. Are they pulling the wool over the eyes of the authorities? And if they are being open and honest about the activities of workers, why the tight security? The key question, however, is best put in business-speak: What is the brand promise and is it fulfilled?
From the perspective of people in the field, you have to do what you said you would. “If you put down on your visa or work permit application form that you are going to be doing something then it is my strong belief that you need to be doing that,” says Dave West, who recently left the UK with his family to live in a boys orphanage and teach in Mozambique. “So, for example, the majority of our time at Kedesh is spent bringing up kids which is what we put in our application forms for immigration. The majority of my time at school is spent teaching English—which is also what went on my form.”
But West acknowledges that his life in Mozambique cannot be divorced from his Christian faith: “As part of my job here, situations arise where I share my faith directly—far more so than in the UK—with the kids and students at school.”
Perhaps it is the past lack of a people-first-converts-later attitude that makes some countries so anti-Christian. West's experience in Mozambique certainly shows what happens when people don't live up to their brand promise. “Here, the man in charge of Religious Affairs went through a stage of refusing many missionaries visas because he was fed up with exactly these issues. He was also fed up with missionaries coming here and ‘telling people what to do’ and putting one thing on their form and doing another. There were others who were here and building their own little empire with a feeling that they had a God given right to do what they wanted because they were missionaries and he was fed up with that.
“For me, then it is a question of trust, honesty, and integrity. Are you going to do what you say you will? How much time do you spend doing what you say on your application form?”
If the missionaries meet their professional duties to the full, the brand promise holds true. The local people benefit from the foreigner's skills—with some bonus Christianity on the side.
Given the widespread resistance and skepticism towards Christianity in many Western nations, any Christian-based organization working overseas—whether an aid agency or more evangelistic—must ensure they are open and honest in their communications. They have to clearly show that it is Christian faith and love for one's neighbor that motivates people to reach out to those in need. “Why would a doctor and his family go and work in a hospital in Bangladesh or even a country where Christianity is outlawed?” asks Alastair McIver. “Their Christian faith gives them a servant heart.”
Does it make sense to drop the Jesus bits on official communications if such mentions would deny people the opportunity to serve overseas? Dave West wonders. "Is hedging our bets wisdom,” he asks, “or a consequence of a lack of faith and confidence in God to bring the right people to the right places and situations?" [5-Nov-2007]
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Edwin Colyer is a science and technology writer based in Manchester, UK.
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I think Christian missionaries have always brought with them a little extra with the message of Christ they preach.
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