Is This What We Should Be Doing?
We were joined by Doug Harrison of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) for a recent episode of our Mission Minded Podcast. In this clip, Jim, Jon, and Doug discuss the dangers of "do" culture and forgetting to ask the big questions such as, "Is this what we should be doing?"
As the Gospel spreads across the globe, the role of the Western church is changing from pioneering to partnering. During this transition, it has become increasingly important to evaluate the effectiveness of our missions strategies. Doug gives an example of the Western church's understanding of needs being different than the felt needs of the indigenous church.
In the field of missions aviation, expediency is a major benefit that the West has to offer indigenous believers. With our technology, we are able to transport people farther, faster, and in a safer way than traditional methods. While we may view this as an advancement necessary to the fulfillment of the Great Commission, a non-Western church may not. Often times, leaders of local churches see longer journeys as opportunities for discipleship. It is imperative that we develop our missions strategies in conversation with our indigenous brothers and sisters in Christ and begin to imagine what a shared future could look like.