This summer, many of us will head out on short-term mission trips, spending anywhere from a week to a couple of months serving in a developing country with members of our church or para-church group. This summer, I plan to help lead a group from InterVarsity to a village where our organization Mayan Partners works in Guatemala.
For many of us, this will be one of the great highlights of the year, despite the challenges of working in difficult circumstances. Many will experience culture shock, argue with teammates about what we should be doing, and/or spend one or more days lying in bed with diarrhea. Missions work in a foreign country opens the door to a variety of trials and temptations that exceed those in the relative comfort of everyday life.
No one more famously wrote about temptation than C. S. Lewis in his classic novel The Screwtape Letters. This past November marked 50 years since the passing of Lewis and has been accompanied by numerous commemorations, including the present one.
I began to write a short piece on tips for mission trips from the perspective of a development economist. But upon settling in to write, I was interrupted by a series of cryptic e-mail messages that appeared in my Gmail inbox. Initially perceiving them to be an annoying barrage of spam, I nearly deleted them. Upon a closer investigation, I found them to be written in an ominous red font, indeed appearing to be a list of tips for mission trips—from the Other Side…
from: sr_diablo@hell.net to: lucifrito@sector6.mex date: March 15 subject: Alert and Re-deployment
My Dearest Lucifrito,
Word has reached our office from the North American command that a despicable little team of pimpled teenagers—and the adult buffoons who lead them—are headed into one of our sectors in northern Mexico. Their sojourn will occur during what the Christian humans call "Holy Week" (yes, a time of seasonal depression for us). I am therefore requesting you temporarily to redirect your efforts. Put on hold fomenting reprisal executions among drug traffickers and focus on the work of this group. It should prove a welcome respite from your ordinary labors, and indeed I have decided to count it against your vacation time.
Jerry seems to genuinely believe that churches are things created from building materials. Of course, you must deepen this shallow view.
These missioners originate from the Glad Tidings Bible Church of Tuscaloosa. They want to build a church near one of the sectors you patrol. The construction is to be led by a middle-aged civil engineer named Jerry, who despite years of time logged in the Enemy's camp, seems to genuinely believe that churches are things created from building materials, and that the more resistant walls are to seismic tremor (I speak in the physical sense here), the sounder the church. Of course, you must deepen this shallow view. The "church-as-building" view has proven notoriously effective over the centuries at distracting these people from real church—the community of "love" and "service" (horrid thoughts)—the Enemy wants them to build.
Encourage Jerry to hold his convictions to the point of dispute with the other adult leaders. They unfortunately may attempt to refocus the efforts of the group to the nurture of individuals. Indeed as Jerry slams bullheadedly into the project and barks out commands from his scaffold, lead him to feel two things: (1) convinced that the project must be completed and with excellence above all else (even if relationships must temporarily suffer), and (2) a profound sense of pride in the project. Nurture the thought in him that none of the locals could have ever been capable of such an engineering marvel. The desire to be indispensable has lured many a missioner into the field, and we have frequently been able to exploit such bent motivations for our Eternal Purposes.
What is even more fortunate (as relayed to me by the North American command) is that the idea to build the church was Jerry's. Indeed, real change—at least of any kind we might be concerned about—nearly always germinates from ideas the Enemy reveals directly to people in the villages themselves. Whatever you do, do not allow the missioners to nurture any of the villagers' own dreams that the Enemy might have given them. Indeed it is essential that the group forcefully articulate its ideas while gently, but patronizingly, disregarding any ideas from the villagers themselves. Get them to reason, After all, isn't that why they are poor?
P.S. Inform Nuñez in the Tijuana sector that I must speak with him immediately about his failure to forestall the implementation of pollution-control infrastructure on the border factories. Is there no greater joy than witnessing the birth of a disfigured human child?
Encouragingly,
Diablo
from: sr_diablo@hell.net to: lucifrito@sector6.mex date: April 13 subject: "Honest Communication"
Dearest Lucifrito,
Now that the group has arrived, it is time to act. More than ever, help the missioners feel pleased with themselves about devoting an entire week of their lives to helping the poor. Moreover, focus their thoughts entirely around feeling good about what they are doing, rather than on any effect their work may be having on the villagers.
We must continue to convince the humans that happiness originates from securing their rights and following their impulses.
Also keep the focus of each participant on him- or herself rather than the well-being of his companions and those they came to serve. This plays upon the spirit of the age in the missioner's country, where the feelings and rights of the individual so often trump the general welfare, or even what the Enemy says is good.
Sadly, when one of these little creatures forgets about himself and focuses on the needs of others, the Enemy often rewards them with what he calls joy. Instead, we must continue to convince the humans that happiness originates from securing their rights and following their impulses. In the end the happiness yielded by these pleasures continually disappoints as the humans are naturally ignorant of the fact that they were designed to love and be loved by others in their midst, and that this is where what the Enemy calls joy originates. In short, keep the focus of each individual on his or her self, and you scarcely can go wrong.
This can often best play out by suggesting they employ "honest communication." Let each member of the team frankly express disappointment whenever the trip fails to meet his or her expectations, whether it's about food, sleeping arrangements, team leadership, or the quality of the devotions. "Honest communication" is particularly important when team members are tired, hungry, and annoyed with one another, and is best expressed in front of the entire group if possible. In this context and with a little luck, "honest communication" will lead to arguments and divisions that can inflict permanent damage to these little idealists, and be extremely profitable for us.
In fact, it is useful to encourage each member of the team to be "true to himself" in every way. For example, the weather will be hot, and many of the teenage girls will lobby to wear shorts and tank tops while outside, despite what this attire suggests to the more conservative local culture. This appears to be true particularly among two strong-willed girls named Amber and Kelly. Their requests to the team leaders must be unrelenting so that if all goes well, the local teenage boys, unaccustomed to such dress, will scarcely be able to control themselves.
Eagerly awaiting your next report,
Diablo
from: sr_diablo@hell.net to: lucifrito@sector6.mex date: April 15 subject: Fear
Dear Lucifrito,
You mention that your are happy that some missioners are afraid because one of their countrymen was murdered in a drug deal. Remember: instilling fear is no victory in itself. It is what we do with fear that counts. In the worst case, it can drive them to dependence on the Enemy. The best outcome is that fear manifests itself in condescending remarks about the weakness of local institutions and culture, contrasting those of their home country. Let each of them ignore the fact that they themselves played virtually no role in the creation of the relative prosperity and stability they enjoy at home. But even so, let them gloat with the pride of founding fathers.
Further, create in them a sense of cultural superiority about these differences. Help them to ignore any positive differences. It is through positive aspects of the local culture that the Enemy may be trying to teach a missioner about his or her own sins and weaknesses: materialism, narcissism, disrespect for family, and over-indulgence in media entertainment.
You mention glowingly in your recent letter that Jerry has been afflicted with a case of what the North Americans call "Montezuma's Revenge." I am disappointed, Lucifrito, you gullible fool! You fail to see that this malady has been sent by the Enemy, who is seeking to humble and quiet Jerry so he does not become so domineering and insensitive to others. See to it that Jerry is able to obtain all of the medicine he needs for a speedy recovery.
Con mucho cariño,
Diablo
from: sr_diablo@hell.net to: lucifrito@sector6.mex date: April 20 subject: Language
Lucifrito,
Subtly convince the missioners that villagers would be better off if they are forced to speak in English anyway, since it's practically a universal language today. This way they can rationalize their own laziness and fear of appearing awkward.
You mention that some missioners can't communicate with the villagers in the local language, principally because they failed to learn even two words of it before they left. This is good. We know the barriers and mistrust that can be erected (and amplified) between humans of different cultures because of a language barrier. It is critical that the North American missioners fail to understand that even the smallest attempt to communicate warmth and respect to the villagers in their local language can quickly lead to growing bonds of trust and friendship. This is a development we want to discourage at all costs.
To this end, subtly convince the missioners that villagers would be better off if they are forced to speak in English anyway, since it's practically a universal language today. This way they can rationalize their own laziness and fear of appearing awkward. And it only enhances their sense of superiority.
I see from your recent message that Jerry has made a full recovery and that he is at work on the building again. This is good. Now see to it that he avoids the salad and uncooked vegetables for the remainder of the trip.
P.S. I see that you have been moonlighting. I've been told of the summary execution of three policemen in the northern zone by the drug traffickers. Lucifrito, you have foolishly failed on two accounts. For one, two of the policemen confessed their sins to the Enemy just before their execution, when they previously had been on safe passage to Our Father's House. Second, the shocking nature of the crime has unified the town against the drug traffickers, filling many with a courage they had not previously possessed. Have you not yet learned the art of subtlety?
Awaiting a more auspicious future correspondence,
Diablo
from: sr_diablo@hell.net to: lucifrito@sector6.mex date: April 20 subject: Failure
Lucifrito,
You incompetent fool. Not only have you allowed the villagers to join the missioners in the construction of the church, you have also allowed Jerry to learn enough of the local language that he has been able to work side-by-side with the villagers. Even worse, in the course of the budding relationship with a local carpenter, he appears to have even stopped hammering long enough to listen to some of the villagers' own hopes and dreams. How could you have allowed the villagers to actually come to have a degree of ownership over this ill-conceived construction project? How, once again, have you allowed the Enemy to turn something that we should so easily have been able to exploit for our good, or at least happily neutralize, for His own Purposes?
Let this group travel year after year to different sites in the name of "gaining new experiences" rather than committing themselves in any kind of significant partnership with the villagers over years or (Our Father forbid) decades.
Furthermore I see Amber and Kelly have spent the week developing a genuine friendship with some of the local teenage boys, one built around their mutual (though fortunately nascent) love for the Enemy, rather than the skin under their clothes (I have noted your failure regarding the tank-top and cut-off suggestion). I get heartburn thinking of the innocent joy these teenagers experienced when leading a game of "duck-duck-goose" with the littlest humans in the village. All of this on the most depressing of all days in the year, when that wretched Son of the Enemy somehow . . . never mind.
At this point, the best you must do is to ensure that this relationship is one-off. Let this group travel year after year to different sites in the name of "gaining new experiences" rather than committing themselves in any kind of significant partnership with the villagers over years or (Our Father forbid) decades. This will keep any future experiences pleasantly superficial and relatively harmless. Obviously, the worst case scenario would be for a long-term commitment in which both parties struggle side-by-side through a close partnership with one another and the Enemy.
I will monitor the situation, and if such eventualities come to pass, I will see to it that the patrol of Sector 6 is entrusted to a spirit with higher levels of temptoral competence, and that you are re-assigned to inciting food-fights in a pre-school cafeteria.
Disappointed in the Extreme,
Diablo
Bruce Wydick is Professor of Economics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco. His novel about coffee growers in Guatemala, The Taste of Many Mountains, is forthcoming from Thomas Nelson (HarperCollins Christian) in early August 2014. Follow him on Twitter @brucewydick and on his new blog, AcrossTwoWorlds.net, a site dedicated to an exploration of development and globalization issues through the lens of faith and economics.
