Mythbuster #6: The Myth of the Primitive Life
February 25, 2009 – 3:27 pm“God forbid that we should base our missionary appeal to modern youth on creature comforts; but truthfulness demands that we tell it like it is.“
PLAUSIBLE - The Myth of the Primitive Life
There are people who believe that missionaries live in primitive conditions with barely enough to keep body and soul together. They still think of them as hacking their way through snake-infested jungles and living in thatched houses with furniture made from packing cases.
There are, of course, some missionaries who live that way. Wycliffe Bible Translators and the New Tribes Mission, because of the nature of their work, have most of their missionaries living and working in primitive conditions. In fact, part of their training takes place in a jungle camp where they are required to survive for several weeks in the jungle equipped only with a sleeping bag, a machete, a compass, a few simple medicines, and a box of matches.
But they are the exception. The great majority of present-day missionaries enjoy a standard of living considerably higher than they ever anticipated. They are located in modern cities where they drive their own cars, shop in department stores and supermarkets, and have access to four-lane highways, air[ports, public libraries, golf courses, and tennis courts. Even the missionaries living in bush country usually congregate in central stations built for the purpose, where they have the basic amenities of Western civilization - simple but adequate housing, running water, and indoor plumbing. Most of them have electricity even if they have to generate it themselves. This enables them to make use of various kinds of electrical appliances brought from home. Food, mail, medicine, gasoline, and other supplies are flown in periodically by Mission Aviation Fellowship planes.
A young missionary couple that went to Ethiopia last summer wrote in their first prayer letter:
The S.I.M. station is beautiful. Gardens abound with all the familiar fruits and vegetables plus such things as bananas, pineapples, and papayas. Flowers are abundant. One can view Jimma five km. away with several mountain ranges in the background. The homes have electricity, running water, flush toilets, and refrigerators. Carey and Livingstone should have seen this day!1
In former days the missions acquired land and built homes for their missionaries which were rent free. These were invariably Western in architectural style and interior decoration. They were large, airy, and comfortable. IN fact some of these homes were better than some parsonages here in the United States.
In more recent years it has become a practice for missionaries to live in rented premises. These are usually located in the more attractive part of town and would compare favorably with middle-class housing in urban America.
God forbid that we should base our missionary appeal to modern youth on creature comforts; but truthfulness demands that we tell it like it is. When most missionaries first leave for the field they are prepared to live and work under any circumstances; but when they get there they are pleasantly surprised to find conditions much better than they had ever dreamed.2
Kane presents a qualifying statement in the last paragraph that I would have placed at the beginning - “God forbid that we should base our missionary appeal to modern youth on creature comforts; but truthfulness demands that we tell it like it is.” He obviously intends to debunk false supposition that there are no missionaries in urban settings that are comparable to the “average American’s lifestyle.” This he accomplishes well. But I fear that he does more damage by this approach than good.
By stating that “the great majority of present-day missionaries enjoys a standard of living considerably higher than they ever anticipated” is a bit broad. Asserting that most missionaries drive their own cars on 4-lane highways, often driving by golf courses and tennis courts just isn’t accurate. A missionary dwelling in almost any country who lives near its biggest city(s) would probably enjoy these amenities. But why not just say that “missionaries living near big population centers enjoy many amenities that Americans enjoy.”
Thankfully the days of the “missionary compound,” which Kane refers to at the end of the third paragraph, are nearly over. Most missions agencies and individual missionaries have realized that the compound often produced an “us vs. them” mindset that had a devastating effect on ministry.
In light of these critiques, we ought to be thankful for God’s common grace in allowing such technological advances that we enjoy and that many of these are available to those who minister overseas. It is an amazing thought that missionaries in the heart of the Amazon or the middle of the Siberian tundra can send and receive emails via a satellite modem, with a laptop powered by solar power. What an opportunity we have been given!
In conclusion, I appreciate Kane’s care to present the complete picture of missionary service. His previous attempts to defend the intelligence and qualifications of missionaries, the need to faithfully support and pray for our missionaries, and the need for church planters (the supposed “general missionaries”) are helpful and necessary. However, this 6th “mythbuster” should be more specific.
It would be helpful, as well, if he would have elaborated upon the final qualifying statement to demonstrate that we ought not mobilize the next generation based on the “good conditions” (e.g. 4-lane highways, golf courses, etc.) they can enjoy on the field. So as to properly balance Kane’s list of “standard of living details some of the most difficult cultural adjustments that missionaries face are worthy of mention, such as language acquisition, raising 3rd culture children, presenting gospel truths cross-culturally, etc. These elements could make a missionary feel hopelessly “primitive” as he sits in his high-rise apartment in Tokyo, Johannesburg, or Rio de Janeiro surrounded by all the amenities and more of his homeland.
1 Letter from Art and Sue Volkmann, September 1973.
2J. Herbert Kane, Understanding Christian Missions (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1978), pp. 23-24.
J. Herbert Kane in his missions classic Understanding Christian Missions, attempts to debunk 9 popular missions myths. We will post each of these “mythbusters” in a series entitled “Missions ‘Mythbusters’” and offer critique of and elaboration upon the issues that Kane surfaces.
Key: Busted = a claim proven to be false; Plausible = a claim that possesses some validity, but is not entirely true; Confirmed = a claim proven to be valid.
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