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Waldron Mission Fund |
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Under the oversight of the elders of the Crossville church of Christ, PO Box 211, Crossville, TN 38557 |
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BULLETIN BRIEFS |
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Vol. 9 February 2006 No. 2 |
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STRATEGIC SOUL WINNING Jim E. Waldron It is well known to all who make any real profession of being a disciple of Jesus that His foremost order of work was and is “preach the gospel to every creature,” yet there is a principle in the New Testament that is rarely noted. By that I mean the apostles preached the gospel where the soil was receptive. For example, Paul told the Jews at Antioch of Pisidia, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold we turn to the Gentiles” (Acts 13:46). Such would indicate that we need to be selective about where we send evangelists and where we spend our mission dollars. Without doubt the countries of India and Nigeria have over the last fifty years been the most fruitful and continue to be, while the Islamic countries and those of Europe are stony ground for the gospel. One fact that is seldom brought out is that only 4.6 percent of the world’s population lives in the U.S., while about ninety-five percent of our preaching and mission efforts are spent here. Often churches will fund a mission point year after year in the States, but it doesn’t grow. Jesus said, “By this is My father glorified that you bear much fruit, so you will be My disciples” (John 15:8). Since “mission dollars” are scarce, elders should examine the work they are being asked to fund or are funding as to whether or not it is a fruitful work or field. Many times such mission points would be better off using a “tent making” preacher (Acts 18:3), who would have more contact with the community. When I was growing up in Nashville in the fifties there were said to be 120 churches of Christ in the county, but only ten percent of them had fulltime preachers. Souls were being won right and left on the job by the “tent making” preaching brethren who were carpenters, school teachers, mail carriers, factory workers, etc. Now many churches – not just in Nashville – have a whole staff of paid professional preachers, youth ministers, ministers of music, educational directors, etc., and they rarely win a dozen souls from the community a year. |
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The country of India, particularly the state of Andhra Pradesh, is in many ways the most productive field in the world and the article below from the Willette congregation in Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee well illustrates that. These brethren have an expectation of godliness and effectiveness of the Indian brethren with whom they work and they have a faithful brother, Jack Honeycutt, who knows the field, visits there and checks on that work regularly. Yet, there are some serious considerations that need to be kept in mind about supporting any work in India: 1) In the thirty-five years since brother J. C. Bailey first went there hundreds of thousands of people have been exposed to the message of the church – some very honest and some not. 2) Concerning the latter type, Peter wrote, “by covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words” (II Peter 2:3). The internet has opened up a wide door for charlatans to write knowledgeable and pitiful letters to unsuspecting brethren in the U.S. Often the writers are careful not to ask for money directly as they have learned that such turns Americans off. Instead they tell of the enormous opportunities for the gospel and the need for widows and orphans, then say pray for us or come to see us. Not too long ago I received such an email. The person who wrote it did not ask for support, but instead told of the great need to train preachers in Andhra Pradesh (the language is Telugu) and said he wanted to send a group of brethren to our schools in Tamil Nadu. I wrote back and said that our schools were conducted in the Tamil language and that we did not put preachers on support after they completed the training. I got back a two word email. “You fool.” Any American church seeking to support a work in India should be extremely cautious and get the advice of those who have worked that field for years. For a description of some horror stories that are taking place in parts of India read the report below by brother Mickey Harrison. 3) The vast majority of the work by American churches in India is taking place in two southern states, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu; yet there are other states that need evangelists and schools of preaching – one state with 82,000,000 does not have one American preacher working for it, or church that has sought to evangelize in it. ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA A Brief History
The Rampachodavaram-Tuni area of the Lord’s work encompasses a 400 miles square area in southeast India. Located in Andhra Pradesh State between the coastal cities of Kakinada and Visakhapadnam, it extends inland into the Ghat Mountains. This region covers nine state districts and is home to thousands of villages and millions of people. The majority of this region is very rugged, mountainous and forested with some of the most precious trees on earth today (Teak, Rosewood, etc.). It also has extensive reserves of Bamboo and is infested with wild animals. The Bengal tiger still roams in its natural habitat throughout this region. Much of this region is interior and can be reached only on foot. The church of Christ began in the Rampachodavaram/Tuni region of India in 1972 when brother J.C. Baily, a Canadian missionary, converted B. Ratnam of Rampachodavaram. Brother Ratnam, an educator by profession, began converting his contemporaries and many educators were brought into the church in the beginning. Most of all these men became gospel preachers and their teaching abilities provided unusual church growth in the early years. The church there has experienced phenomenal growth since 1985 under the able guidance of brother William F. Dudney and under the oversight of the Center Grove church of Christ in Gainesboro, TN. Now the elders of the Willette church of Christ have taken up the work to oversee it while brother Jack Honeycutt coordinates the work in India. Presently there are over 1400 gospel preachers, 3400 congregations with approximately 350,000 members. For the past five years the church growth has been about 30,000 conversions each year. There are many reasons for this growth; mainly, increased financial support, a printing press, a two-year Bible College, Christian Hospitals and a zealous evangelistic effort by the local congregations. Submitted by Jack Honeycutt , Gainesboro, TN
BEWARE OF CORRUPTION IN MISSIONS Mickey Harrison
About one year ago, I had the privilege of traveling to the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, to help with the Tsunami relief effort and to evangelize as many as possible. It was my first experience of working with Indian brethren. The region of Andhra Pradesh (AP) for all practical purposes includes the great city of Chennai which lies just south of Andhra’s state line in Tamil Nadu. It serves as a launching city for many missionaries who travel into the State. I had an excellent, knowledgeable and experienced brother to guide me. He knew the problems of working in Andhra through years of experience. Most of the problems were revealed to me before I made the trip. While there I read a book entitled, God, Man and Money by Russell Bell whom I met in Chennai. That book needs to be read by all who work in India. It reveals the problems exactly as I had been forewarned. Yet my personal experience while in Andhra would make everything I knew a reality. The major problem in Andhra is money, American money that has corrupted many Indian preachers throughout the region. Certain Indian preachers, who would normally live the same standard as others of their communities, like preachers do in the US, have for decades been simply handed large amounts of cash to use at their discretion. Preachers like these have set themselves up like kings. I met and worked with one such preacher in Chennai that exemplifies the problem well. He lives up to Western standards while his flock lives like India’s poorest class. He even took me to a luxury hotel to eat lunch when we met and paid the bill. He has many underling preachers who work for him in other congregations. Such king preachers control the movements of preachers under them. They disperse their pay which comes from America. They often baptize all the converts that the other preachers make, thus becoming like a godfather of sorts among all the churches he controls. They assume the authority in the local churches of their underling preachers. They are financially compensated by American funds intended for use in all the churches under their control. This system of a hierarchy among prominent preachers who are well supplied with money, donated by well meaning brethren, is duplicated over and over in many parts of Andhra. Basically, too many preachers who can get American mission money waste it on expensive homes, expensive church buildings and the control of underlings who come to them for pay and promotion. The caste system that they live by socially is practiced in the church by the big preachers. These king preachers cut out their own “turf” and set themselves up as the boss and it is all financed by brethren in the U.S. It has almost become part of the goal of many preachers in this system of living off American support to go out and raise as much money as possible through any means. To become a boss preacher with authority and money, they use the poor orphans, the homeless, the sick and the overall poverty of India as means to get more and more money from sympathetic brethren. They use the internet, send pictures, tell of urgent needs and often get money sent to them from several sources for the same work they claim they are doing. They are polished and well versed. They will stage large crowds, and large Lord’s Day meetings to boost their church membership and even pre-arrange baptisms, all to impress the U.S. brethren who come over to observe. On one occasion I was taken by a boss preacher to distribute Tsunami relief to a fishing village, where there was a church under his control. I asked him in private, with tears in my eyes, before we distributed any money if all those who received money would be able to keep it and use it for their personal needs without anyone skimming off the top. He looked me in the eyes and said no one else would get the individual’s money. I asked him because I was afraid he was dishonest. After I distributed money to some 20 or so fishermen I went outside only to see all those who had received money assembled in the distance. The money had been given to an individual who was then doling it back out in small amounts. The whole thing was a setup. I confronted the preacher who said they just wanted the money to be dispersed to others in their family and community. But, I knew better. I challenged him on the point and he went so far as to assemble all the recipients before me again to say everything was ok. This happened to me with my eyes open, can you imagine what is happening to the money brethren send who have not put in checks and balances to prevent this kind of corruption. We are warned of this in 2 Peter 2:3 “And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you...” The Lord’s church in Chennai and Andhra to the north has had more American missionaries and more money spent than probably any mission field on earth, yet many churches are weak spiritually and numerically. The problem is not manpower, its money that corrupts. I intend to continue to work in India. They are a great people and the fields are ripe, but only rarely should anyone be put on support. It is far better to train them to be tent making preachers in order that they may work in some local job as the membership does and not be set up like kings on an American salary. 105 Apache St., Morenci, AZ 85540
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2006 WORLD POPULATION 6,477,000,000
THE BIG TEN
2006 (mils) 2050 (mils) China 1,304 India 1,628 India 1,104 China 1,437 USA 296 USA 420 Indonesia 229 Indonesia 308 Brazil 184 Pakistan 295 Pakistan 162 Brazil 260 Bangladesh 144 Nigeria 258 Russia 143 Bangladesh 231 Nigeria 132 Congo 183 Japan 128 Ethiopia 170 |