The Art of Networking

Eugene Scott, an African American journalist and missionary, recently traveled to Fiji to serve at a parachurch organization committed to rescuing victims of sex trafficking. While there, he found himself partnering with locals, helping them raise funds to support 300 Fijian missionaries around the world.

This approach to missionary work was unique to Scott. Growing up in predominantly black urban churches in Washington, DC, Scott was involved in missions work but the missions philosophy of these black churches is “very local.” These communities “are less likely to be consistently involved in international missions than predominantly white and/or suburban churches–and when they are, that involvement rarely includes actually sending missionaries abroad from their local congregations.”

He first concluded that a localized missions philosophy made the most sense for black churches. “It just seemed ethically wrong to step over a neighbor in need to get on a plane to go help someone else.” But Fijians he encountered told him he was the first African American missionary they had met and wondered why more missionaries of color hadn’t come to their homeland. His explanation was met with confusion: Why did there have to be an either/or?

David Goatley, who coordinates the African American Baptist Mission Collaboration, an initiative of five major African American Baptist organizations united to pledge $50 million to Haiti relief, believes to “be involved globally, to do it most effectively, you need to do it in collaboration, because local congregations often don’t have the scale, the resources to make a major impact alone. And even some of the larger membership churches can benefit from collaborations.”

Goatley said he understands and supports local missions, yet he encourages urban and ethnic churches to expand their missions philosophy: “If we’re going to be relevant today as you should be, you have to be global….[A] gospel that doesn’t go everywhere doesn’t go anywhere. It’s not enough to be exclusively localized.”

However, Goatley does reject a “one-size-fits-all” philosophy to missions work: “Ministry priorities should be based on the context they serve….As long as we continue…to place stress upon churches about where they ought to be and what they ought to be doing, we deny the idea that churches have to determine what they are called to be and to do based on the context and challenges they face.”

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Filed under: Global collaboration on June 21st, 2010