BAND BARNABAS: AN EVOLVING CASE STUDY OF HOW TO DO MISSIONS IN A CHANGING WORLD Chong H. Kim Band Barnabas was launched officially in January of 2004 after years of planning and seeking counsel from various leaders . Structurally, we are currently docked with the Frontier Mission Fellowship (which is the umbrella for two primary institutions: U.S. Center for World Mission and William Carey International University). At the same time, we have established a separate non-profit religious organization (called Interspectra) in order to process people who would not fit well with the FMF. My intention in this paper is to share the ethos and some of the evolving ways in which we would like to operate. As we have had no previous experience in being part of sending structures, we have been challenging all the assumptions that come our way. Why things are done this way or that way have been challenged by why not this way or another way. You might say that one of my basic assumptions is that we are in the midst of fierce change. Change forces us to adapt and to morph. Creating a healthy environment for change and reminding people that we are pioneers and not managers are top priorities for me as a leader. Below are some portions of one recent letter I wrote to communicate to our members. BASE TEAM¡¯S RESPONSIBILITIES MAIN FUNCTIONS There are two main functions: coaching and training. I believe coaching in the sense of vision and strategy setting is our primary role. While we may do some member care related coaching, it will not be our primary role and thus will be limited. We also actively encourage mutual member care related coaching amongst ourselves, and outsource when professional or more intentional help in member care coaching is necessary. There are times when base team leaders may not be the best people to provide objective counseling and member care. It is worth mentioning here that we are banded together for the vision first. Unlike the tasks in the popular movies, ours require long term, even going beyond our lifetime. And sometimes it is hard to know whether we are on the right track. Relationships are there to undergird and propel us forward as to what we are trying to accomplish. This is the distinguishing mark of the apostolic bands from local nurturing communities of faith. Training is our other main function. This includes development and coordination in the context of field (where it is appropriate and possible), in Pasadena during furloughs and/or pre field trainings, and some other venues around the world. Some modules of our training will also be outsourced if and when the objectives and vision of such training modules meet our vision and ethos, i.e. Catalyst training. Our kingpin ethos of lifelong learning fits well here. The posture of lifelong learning requires us to continue to get rid of our cultural lenses, prejudices, and even beliefs. It has more to do with shedding away our convictions that stem from our cultural assumptions than learning new ideas, concepts, or insight. Sure, we are cultural beings and so we hold onto who we are without apology but at the same time, having enough maturity to not force on others means a precarious balancing act. Before we start contextualizing the gospel, we need to learn to decontextualize (Dewesternization is what Dr. Ralph Winter calls it) the gospel from our culture. One of the greatest insight I¡¯ve gained going through World Christian Foundation program was to see that cultural forces act as an underlying power and hidden motive that control political, economical, social, and yes, theological differences. My expectation for us all is to cultivate desire and posture to learn. Since none of us is perfect, there is always room for learning and growth. John R. Wooden, legendary coach of UCLA basketball team that won 10 championships, said, ¡°When we are through learning, we are through¡±. MAIN CHARACTERISTICS There are two main characteristics that we want to see stemming from our functions: catalytic and transformational. Catalytic: We don¡¯t want to be doing things just for sake of doing things. We hope to play a catalytic role in that what we do eventually will set off other initiatives, projects, and even organizations. Our call is not to maintain. Our call is to plow new grounds. We are called to be pioneers. But we do pioneering work in such a way we empower others to either join us in the process or start their own work. Let me explain. I have become more convinced lately that how we train is more important than what we train. In other words, how we deliver is more crucial than delivering the right content. Modern day evangelical workers have focused too much on having the right content (mainly right theological content derived from the western form of Christianity) and assumed heavily that we know how to deliver best. The main method of delivery was done through one way preaching and teaching. We assumed that they don¡¯t know any better, thus we needed to teach them the right content, our way. This assumption begot the ill fruits of dependency all around the world. The ways that we deliver forced dependency from the very people we have been trying to empower. Speaking of the right content, we didn¡¯t even have the right content because the answers we brought with us derived from our cultural context. Going with the questions and not with answers is how we at BB need to train ourselves. This is a set of skill that requires counter cultural intuition, actions and convictions. One of my struggles during the conference was to accept the tension that existed between my desire to facilitate sessions with questions (which is a process oriented learning) and the need for directive leadership. On one hand, I wanted to model what it means to be catalytic and empower you so that you would go back to your context and engage in a similar fashion. On the other hand, I am a leader of BB and had to make decisions (not that I didn¡¯t want to) on certain issues. This facilitative guiding versus directive leading ties directly with the concept of flat structure model that Gus talked about (during the conference) and the need for biblical authoritative model I later alluded. The flat structure model in a sense portrays and guides us to an organic nature of who we are and want to become—relational and thus messy in nature while the authoritative model reflects the organizational nature of who we are. As a layer of accountability (legal in this sense), we are accountable to the government of U.S. as a non-profit organization. I think one tricky part is that unless you are one of the band leaders on the field, I don¡¯t see you doing directive and authoritative mode of leading. I believe that we can go from pioneering mode directly to partnership mode without going through parental stage if we know how to deliver sensitively, with patience, and with the leading of the Holy Spirit. It comes down to whether we are going to trust the work of the Holy Spirit. The other main characteristic we want to embody is transformational. This is tough for me to say because we have all kinds of different expectations when we hear the word. I think we can approach it by saying that we take seriously the need for our transformed lives (that is we need to experience what it means to be in transformation process). When we live a life that is being transformed, we attract broken people that want to be transformed. We experience the power of grace that sets us free and grants us a deeper desire to obey and please Him. We want to ¡°multiply¡± ourselves (catalytic and transformational) both in local indigenous communities as well as in training and sending mechanisms and contexts. Recently, I heard one prominent leader of an insider movement in Asia sharing that when workers from outside come and visit their work, their questions revolve around whether the believers have the right theology. He shared how nobody had asked them whether the believers are bearing the good fruits of Spirit. WHAT THIS MEANS As I have alluded above, the base team¡¯s main role will be to streamline and simplify as much as possible. What this may mean for you is to help us keep the administrative loads light. Instead we encourage you to find volunteers (or a team of volunteers) to help you with logistical support you may need to stay on the field. This is a radical departure from how other sending organizations usually do things. We want to keep this cutting edge sharp and you can help us. Whenever it is possible and appropriate, we will look to outsource much of our administrative and logistical works. We are all for whatever it takes. Creativity and innovation is sought after highly. We will continue to maintain the modern institutional lines blur (not just for the sake of blurring it), but if it helps to move and fit better, then we will consider them. This is an active tension between the fact that there is accountability and the desire to be innovative and creative. As you may know, we are already doing this in the case of connecting BB and Interspectra. There is no legal relationship between the two. But we are tying them as one under the umbrella of Oneband which is not a legal entity. I would like all of us (one per each person, not each unit) to take monthly reports seriously. We¡¯ve been encouraged to hear from you. This is the primary means of gauging how you are doing. Also as much as possible, do keep other members on the other fields in your communication and prayers. I am also thinking about asking each of the members to turn in a signed annual recommitment sheet in the beginning of the year. This is one tangible way to revisit our commitment to the vision and ethos and intentionally choosing to continue (or discontinue if necessary) membership. (For those of us who are members of FMF, we have one more layer of accountability to deal with.) In conclusion, let me share with you 1 Corinthians 15:57-58 (Message). But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, and death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God! With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don¡¯t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort. |