What Makes a Missionary?
A testimony by Miss Bai Eun Young, a missionary of True Life BPC to Kenya, East Africa, received on 25 May 2010
It was the Sunday Service before my trip to Maasai land that the message from the pulpit struck my heart. The preacher was preaching on godly Christian living. He said that a person’s name does not make his life but his life makes his name. What he meant was that a name like “Gloria” does not prove a glorious life, but a godly life might cause one to be named “a man of God”, or “a prayer warrior,” etc by God’s people. Then I asked myself, “What makes a missionary?” What would make a person “a missionary” in the eyes of the people?
Recently in April, the Bible College of East Africa (BCEA) organised a Vacation Bible School (VBS) for children. Both the teachers and children seemed to have enjoyed the VBS. Then, the door to Maasai land was opened to reach out to the children there. I headed towards the land with the burden to be called a missionary.
Appropriate Methods
Sometime ago I asked my BCEA students about VBS in their home churches. They said that VBS normally covers all ages from children to adults and it is more like an intensive Bible study for a period of one week. Tests on the Bible lessons learned during the VBS are also conducted. As for me, I had experienced VBS in a slightly different way. All my VBS classes were for children. In those VBS classes, Bible lessons with textbooks, group activities, action songs, instructive games, art and craft were essential items. That was the reason why I tried some of those methods in my first VBS for children in the BCEA Campus Church. Soon I realised that they were something new or strange to both teachers and children. Finally, I came up with three days of VBS for children. Worksheets were prepared for Bible lessons everyday. Instead of expensive colour papers, locally dried flowers and leaves were used for art and craft, and rice or maize flour sacks for outdoor games. My task as a missionary has been to find appropriate teaching methods to teach the Bible with materials available in the local environment. I can say that those methods worked pretty well for the VBS in April 2010.
Maasai Children
BCEA Campus Church has two sister churches in Maasai land. One is Kiluani Church and the other is Lenkijape Church. Monday morning, April 26th, I left BCEA at 5 am and arrived at Kiluani at about 9.30 am. It took me about four hours by the college van. I was with seven teachers. We started the first Kiluani VBS right upon arrival. We used the same BCEA VBS programme for this Kiluani VBS. The number of children was about 70 on the first day. Soon we realised that young children of ages five and six spoke only the Maasai language. So we needed the help of interpreters. Again we noticed that Kiswahili spoken by the children had a slightly different intonation from that of my teachers. Most of the children were in worn clothes. Some were barefooted. At the beginning, they stared silently at us, these new people. They gazed at me with big eyes and called me “Mjungu” (European), but I am Asian (the word “Mjungu” is widely used to describe people with light skin colour).
As the VBS went on, the initial gap between teachers and children lessened with mutual respect. On the 2nd day, the number of the children reached 140. After three days in Kiluani, we moved to Lenkijape Church for the VBS there. All the teachers had just one comment on the Maasai children—that they were organised and disciplined children. In comparison with those in the Campus Church, these Maasai children were slower to follow instructions. But once they understood, they performed at a higher level in their activities. They were slow maybe because of little exposure to city life and to education. Yet they respect highly the teachers and their rules. This is probably because of the strict discipline exercised by their families and community. Well, this might also explain how they could have preserved their unique tradition and culture from generation to generation up to this point in the 21st century. In this regard, I see the potential for Christianity to influence the Maasai tribe. This is because Christian education begins at home, and if the Maasai home is a Christian home, then the parents will be the ones primarily responsible to teach Christian values and practices to their children.
Chance to Widen Views
When the VBS was on, my teachers and I took the afternoon off to visit the Maasai villages nearby. We saw the famous Manyatta houses, ladies with necklaces of beads, their dances with songs, men in dark clothes leaning on long sticks, and so on. Hierarchy and discipline in the community were observable because they were singing or sitting orderly according to rank, age and gender. It was interesting to learn about the unique culture of the Maasai.
We also went to see the church and school buildings completed by senior missionaries. We were amazed at God’s working for His Kingdom in this remote area. The pastors of the churches were not from the Maasai tribe. But they devoted themselves to the people. They learned the language and coped with the culture and environment. This made us think what commitment for the Lord was all about. All my Sunday school teachers were BCEA students. They came from different tribes of Kenya. They had different mother tongues and traditions. This VBS trip to Maasai land provided a chance for them to appreciate the progress of Christianity in another tribe and culture within their own country Kenya.
I used to think that cross-cultural missions involved only missions with political borders to cross. On this trip, I saw how cross-cultural missions can include crossing tribal boundaries within a country. This trip deepened my view of the ministry entrusted to me. I am supposed to reach out to children as I train the teachers called to ministry in this country.
As I share my VBS experience with you, I can say I have worked hard and learned much. Now I would like to go back to the question, “What makes a missionary?” Are they the works of a missionary? Yes, but I would like to say that works are only a part of it. What about the attitude of a missionary? We should frown on wrong attitudes of our own as well as of others. Right attitude is not less demanding than the works that need to be done. Language, culture, gender, age, transportation, safety and even our appearance are obstacles in the life of a missionary in a foreign country. Sometimes, I find myself too disappointed at the reality. When this happens it becomes hard to maintain a good attitude towards work, people and life. Many times, I have to remind myself of the invisible hand of God beyond the reality that is seen. This helps me to make good choices and decisions. All in all, I am saying, when I do missionary tasks, I also struggle in how to do them. I am reminded that no Christian is perfect on earth, and that there are many obstacles to overcome. My comfort is from the Word of God. These days I hold on to the Word, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). Let the glory of the Lord be first in my life, then I shall be helped for His name’s sake.
