What is so great about Christian missions?

By Reuben David

Among many parts of the world Christian missions and missionaries are hated and misunderstood as agents of neo-colonialism, moral imperialists or simply purveyors of western ethos. As someone from India I have often seen locals staging protests against Christian mission agencies and evangelistic outreaches. A recent report of violence against Christians in north India spotlighted the seething anger of local nationals against the growth of Christian missions in a developing country like India.

Deep in the forests of Orissa in north India the tribal population is big in number. These marginalized people were often seen as outcasts, unwanted and a menace to the society. The tribals never had access to proper food, clothing and shelter. They were oppressed by the rich landlords who rule with an iron-fist. Most of these tribals were often found to have the dreaded disease—leprosy. According to Hindu worldview the belief of karma states that some people are destined to be born as poor, low caste and leprous and there is nothing one can do about it. In other words if you are born into a particular background, let’s say, a low caste, you are pretty much imprisoned to your fate.  You are destined to your background and cannot come out of it. For the tribals this meant they were not allowed to come into the mainstream society. Most of this tribal population were degraded and hunted down.

The tribals never knew the meaning of human dignity because they lived under tyranny. They never understood the meaning of love because they have only seen hatred. They never knew that there could be people who could love them because they never knew of Christianity.

It was in this setting that the Christian missionaries boldly ventured out to proclaim the freedom and dignity that Christ brings to every individual. As soon as the tribals heard the good news of Jesus Christ they began turning to Christianity in droves.  For the first time in their lives they felt accepted, loved and welcomed into the family of God. This was powerful. This was life changing. This was transforming their outlook on life. All this was possible because of Christian missions. The most famous Australian missionary Graham Staines who lived and worked among the tribals of Orissa in India was targeted for his Christian charitable work. One day when he was asleep in his van with his two little boy, angry haters of Christianity doused him with gasoline and torched him to death. The missionary had to pay a great price for his missions. Yet the glorious work of the Christian missions did not stop. The widow of Graham Staines publicly forgave the killers of her husband and two children. This once again proved the power of Christian love.

The power of Christian missions in today’s word, especially in Asia and Middle East is mind-boggling. Only Christian missions have the answer to the questions of human dignity and salvation.

There are billions of peoples outside North America who desperately need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. It is time that western Christians shed their complacency and lukewarm Christianity and wake up to the great calling of the Christian missions.

Only Christ has the answer to the dying billions of the world. This is why I am very passionate about Christian missions and its eternal impact on human civilization.

 This article appeared in the Feb 2009 edition of Minnesota Christian Chronicle