Window on the World

This month’s Window on the World column is a compelling case study of a current mission situation.

It illustrates how Christian mission donations can easily be used inefficiently and lead to divisive problems among the very people the money is intended to help. Sometimes these situations go on unquestioned for decades.

WCG mission, by contrast, considers it a matter of stewardship to constantly monitor the inflow of funds to the mission field to be sure the funds are in fact producing the benefits intended at the outset of the plan.

In the following article, John Halford shows just how easy it is to fall into a trap of unintended consequences.

Suggested reading

Interested in the values that shape effective world mission? Read Missionary Methods: Saint Paul’s or Ours? by Roland Allen. Written in the 1920s, this book analyzes why Paul was such a successful missionary, and how modern mission often ignores vital principles, such as the ones John writes about in this month’s Window on the World.

In economics, the Law of Unintended Results says that a program or policy is capable of producing results totally different, and sometimes diametrically opposite to what was intended.

And nowhere, it seems, does this show up so often as in the well-intentioned efforts of rich people to help those who are poorer.

Churches and their mission outreach programs are especially vulnerable. So it is something we need to know about, because in our efforts to be generous and helpful, we can end up making things worse. Let me show you what I mean.

I was asked to go to a small and poor country to help them sort out a project. (Never mind which one—it could happen anywhere.)

The small congregation had decided to use its meeting hall during the week as a school to provide affordable education for the children of poor families. Several congregations in the United States had agreed to help, and were sending generous donations to help with the expenses.

In theory, this should have been a dream project. Local people, supported by their brethren from the United States, could reach out and demonstrate the love of God in a practical and much-needed way. Poor children could be given a basic education and a chance to break out of the poverty cycle. This would be an opportunity to teach Christian values in a country where corruption is rife. The children’s parents, grateful for access to quality education at an affordable price, would see Christianity in a positive light. As I said, a dream project.

But it was all going wrong. The school was failing financially because parents were not paying fees. The teachers were becoming increasingly disgruntled and resentful because they were not paid regularly. The parents were becoming suspicious of the church and its motives, and the children were learning to be devious and deceptive.

The parents were supposed to pay a modest contribution toward the school’s expenses, or their children would not be allowed to attend. But the parents would sometimes sneak around the back of the school and literally put their children over the wall—an unusual variation of dropping the children off at school.

This little school had intended to be a Christian witness in a dark and pagan land. Everyone was working hard, trying to shine a light. But the results seemed to be exactly the opposite of what was intended. So we sat down together, and over the course of a few days, we tried to discover what was going wrong.

It is natural for Christian people who have been blessed, and who see that their brother has nothing, to want to help. So a lack of generosity was not the problem. It is also natural in our denomination to want to make facilities—especially educational facilities—as nice as possible.

So, confident of the school’s future, the local administration had embarked on a program to develop and improve the school buildings, which were pretty basic. That was understandable. The condition of some of the classrooms made me want to immediately organize a construction and painting crew. But that would only have made matters worse.

You see, as the parents saw the school’s ambitious building program developing, they assumed money was pouring in from abroad. They knew it was a church-supported school, so these poor people reasoned that since adequate money was available, they did not need to pay their share of the expenses. So they didn’t.

According to the rules, their children should not have been allowed to attend. But as I explained, they found creative ways around that. And after the children had been dropped off, what could the school do? They could not send them home alone through dangerous streets, and no staff could be spared for escorts. They had to be taken care of until the parents came to collect them. The school had the expense, but no income. Not surprisingly, it soon got into financial difficulties.

The available money had to go to pay the building contractor, and not enough was left to pay the teachers, who became resentful. They accused the church members of siphoning off the school’s money, and relationships deteriorated. Some of the teachers actually encouraged the parents to not pay their fees, telling them that the church was using the money sent from the United States for its own purposes. The parents then began to spread the word in the community that the local church was corrupt.

The building program ground to a halt, and the school was in danger of closing. This of course worried the U.S. supporters, who wondered what was happening to the money they were sending. Instead of feeling good about their contributions, it would be only a matter of time before the supporting congregations would wonder if they were pouring money down a rat hole.

Here was a classic case of the Law of Unintended Results. Everyone had acted with total integrity and from the best of motives—yet the result was exactly the opposite of what had been intended. What were we going to do?

A little understood aspect of listening is that you often discover the people with the problem also have the elements of the solution. They just need help sorting it out.

As we talked and listened to each other, the local members began to see what was going wrong. In the well-intentioned desire to improve the look of the school, they were in fact planting the seeds of its destruction. Although the existing facilities were pretty basic, they were adequate for the job. By putting money into the improvements, we were giving the impression that we were richer than we actually were. And by not adequately rewarding the teachers, we were turning potential allies into adversaries.

At first, the meeting was dominated by the men. But in an inspired moment, I asked the women for their input. And in five minutes we had doubled the leadership of that little church! Slowly and hesitantly at first, then with growing confidence, the women of the congregation gave us their two cents worth.

They said we had to be tough to be kind. Insist the parents pay their share. Set aside the building program until the school is more self-supporting. They needed less help from abroad—not more. And what they did get should be applied to projects that were vital to the school’s main purpose of providing a quality Christian education at a fair price.

Yes—it would be nice to have some cosmetic improvements, but they were not essential.

Everyone agreed, and we were able to reset the priorities. The little school still has some problems, but I think that they can be worked out. Their U.S. partners have pledged their continued support, but how that money is used is now carefully regulated. The physical facilities of the school may have to look a bit bedraggled for another year or so. But the important work of teaching and molding young minds has a better chance to succeed.

We can all learn from this. Our denomination has been blessed with the opportunity for a worldwide outreach. We have congregations meeting in the richest countries and some of the poorest. And because we are relatively small, we can partner together and work alongside each other in mutual respect.

Our truly worldwide church has many opportunities for rich and poor members to work together and really make a difference. But we do need to understand the rules, and educate ourselves about what works and what does not. Because even the most well-intentioned programs can backfire, and then the dream project can become a nightmare.