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September 8, 2004
Philippines Video Not Intended to be
a Missiological How to Seminar
Dear Cathedral Pastors,
I know some, if not all, of you have received a copy of my video
The Philippines for Christ! I have received a lot of positive
feedback about this video, but also some criticism. First, let me
tell you that this video is not intended to make a missiological
statement. That is, it is not Mr. Koks (or Pastor Kok if you
prefer) intent to say that the way he (along with the others) did
mission in the Philippines is the best way, the only way, or the
preferred way. It is one way.
But let me also explain that when you sign up as a volunteer
for CRC short-term missions you make yourself vulnerable to
the CRC system and the CRC long-term missionaries. You are
at their beck-and-call for a few months in a new country, with
new customs, unfamiliar roads and language and currency,
and so on and so forth. They essentially tell you what they have
planned for you. They treat you like a performer so to speak,
even if some of the volunteers do not come from a charismatic
background (which I didnt). They tell you the skits you are
going to perform, the songs you will sing, etc. If you go with the
intention of showing them how to do mission you are in for a
clash.
Many of the long-term missionaries can be big-bellied know it
alls with not much respect for landlubbers so to speak (i.e.
kids who they think just came out of college who the
missionaries consider to be know-it-alls , but have had no or
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little experience)
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. In some cases you have a clashbecause
some of these missionaries cut short their educational process
saying they just wanted to serve Christ not become
enmeshed in academia, such as seminary, and so they end up
overseas learning mission as they go, getting street smarts
along the way. Well, this sounds passionate, and there may be
a good place for people without too much overly-academized
knowledge, but at the same time some of that unwillingness to
go through the educational process is sheer laziness.
While the video I made, The Philippines for Christ put a
positive shine on everything we did, there were some clashes
and some conflicts. And I was disappointed that we were not
made privy to a mailing list to communicate with the people we
reached during those months. And I regret not having the
foresight to make my own mailing list.
Nonetheless, a lot of good did come from this missionand I
gained a lot of knowledge and positive experience and believe
that God can work in ways beyond our comprehension even if
we dont have a perfect plan-of-action (poa). Sometimes we
just have to go.
Finally, the video is intended mostly to be inspirational not an
academic how to video. Its just one experience among many
that I have had. Ive also done mission work in Costa Rica,
and, of course a lot of what we are doing right here in the U.S.
is, or can be, mission if we are focusing on it as such. In fact
America may be one of the most challenging mission fields of
all.

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Ironically, in some cases their perception is flawed but their expectations of you being a whiny
privileged white kid often makes you, at least in their minds, live up to their preconceptions.