Missionaries' master plan for Himalayas

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See this article from The Nepal News:

 

Missionaries' master plan for Himalayas

 

http://www.nepalnews.com/

10 January 2003

 

Missionaries giving finishing touches to master plan

in Himalayas

 

By Surendra Phuyal

 

KATHMANDU, Jan 9 : Christian missionaries have

congregated at a quiet resort, on the outskirts of the

capital city, where they are discussing the pros and

cons of a strategic plan, which aims to multiply

churches across the length and breadth of the

Himalayas. They plan to achieve this by exploiting the

marginalised conditions of religious communities in

the face of the worsening conflict.

 

The missionaries will work in the Himalayan region,

which includes "any area from the high Himalayan peaks

south to the Terai region, extending into northern

India". The region includes Nepal, India (Sikkim) and

Bhutan.

 

More than three dozen senior Christian missionaries,

fluent in Nepali and mainly from the Western

countries, are partaking in what they assert is an

`INGO Business Meeting' that kicked off on Janaury 4.

The low-profile gathering will conclude on Saturday,

chalking out and finalising what they call

"overarching strategies for the Himalayan region".

 

"We will work to establish churches in the Himalayan

region, and sending churches and like-minded

organisations in bi-vocational holistic ministry" is

the vision statement of the Himalayan Partners, an

INGO which is organising the meet.

 

The Himalayan Partners' strategic plan, which is being

discussed at length during the weeklong meeting, has a

clear roadmap for the Christian missionaries'.

Basically, it underlines three strategies: targeting

not yet reached people groups; targeting the neediest

geographic area; and empowering the national church

for missions.

 

The Kathmandu Post has obtained a copy of the

strategic plan.

 

As part of the strategies, the document says that the

Himalayan Partners has selected what it feels is the

most pressing people group to be reached in the

Himalayan region. "A key part of reaching a people is

to have the church geographically available," the

second strategy reads. "Currently we have large tracts

of land in Nepal, up to whole districts, without a

single church."

 

"These are in geographical areas including the

northern districts (all Tibetan Buddhists), the far

west, and a few areas in the Terai. We have chosen the

far west to continue to work."

 

As part of its third strategy to empower what they

call the National Church for Missions, the document

says, "the Himalayan Partners will work with the

National Church to empower, encourage and promote an

indigenous Nepali missions movement in the church.

 

"There are a variety of fronts where indigenous

missions need to be promoted within Nepal. One area of

growth that we will promote are induction of Nepalis

in cross-cultural missions, both within and outside

Nepal."

 

And key concepts of what they call "Himalayan Partners

Ministry Philosophy", according to the document, are:

working in the Himalayan region; working in

partnership; working in diverse platforms; working in

Holistic Ministry; working to strengthen national

capacity; and working for sustainability.

 

Besides forging partnerships with "local churches and

like-minded organisations", the missionaries have also

emphasised the need to push forward what they call

"bi-vocational missionary approach", meaning

"performing a task or job that gives credible presence

in the country, in addition to our church planting

vocation."

 

"We believe that to be a proper witness for Christ,"

the document says, "we must maintain excellency in

both professions. We encourage the use of non-tourist

visas as a long-term method for maintaining residency,

as we believe that it is easier to live and work in

the Himalayan region as a resident expatriate. We will

use any of the visa options below as means to

establish residency."

 

The missionaries' strategic plan also encourages such

institutional projects as hospitals which - something

the document says has been the historical methodology

of TEAM Nepal, a partner of the Himalayan Partners.

 

"We believe this methodology is valid and effective

and will continue to support this as one of the

platforms we use in church establishment," the

document says. "In keeping with TEAM's philosophy of

Health Care Ministry, our health care initiatives are

to facilitate the growth of the body of Christ by

restoring physical, emotional and spiritual wholeness

to individuals, families and community through

preventive and curative medical services while

demonstrating the love and compassion of Jesus

Christ."

 

The missionaries also plan to place personnel in

national organizations or in government-sponsored

positions, which is "another platform that can make an

impact in church establishment". "A particular

placement in a national organization should fit into

the overall strategic initiative being pursued," it

says.

 

Another major strategy of the missionaries is to make

use of student visas. "Initially, access through a

student visa is a valuable way to learn language and

culture," the document says. "We encourage new

personnel that are coming for specific initiatives to

consider this option in the beginning as a temporary

way to maintain access until other options become

available."

 

And the missionaries plan to establish churches at a

variety of levels. The levels include primary

evangelism, discipleship, leadership development,

consultation and finally withdrawal. "We believe that

it is vital for the establishment of an active and

growing indigenous church, to encourage and promote

missions as part of the church establishing effort."

 

For sustainability, the missionaries "believe in

ultimately establishing indigenous reproducing

churches". "We believe that missionaries are most

effective when we teach and train nationals rather

than doing the work ourselves," the document says. "In

order to foster independence and sustainability, we

must focus on efforts in developing, training and

finally turning over our projects."

 

When contacted for comments, the organizers refused to

divulge details. "This is purely a business meeting,

it's organized by an INGO," Steve Novel of the

Himalayan Partners said in Nepali, when this reporter,

posing as a Kathmandu churchman, queried about the

outcomes of the meeting. "We build hospitals around

the country, you know." Interestingly, the

missionaries' 11-page action plan has used the

conclusions or results of a recent workshop - on

implementation of rural infrastructure projects - such

as drinking water facilities - in conflict situation -

which, the document says, was jointly organized by the

HMG/ADB, PPTA and DFID.

 

The Christian Strategic Plan comes hot on the heels of

Pope John Paul II's recent call for greater

evalgelisation in Asia, which has irked many religious

leaders across the Asia Pacific region. During his

historic visit to India in November 1999, the Pontiff

of the Vatican Church emphasized that Christianity

should spread in Asia in the third millennium.

 

He had recommended "aggressive conversion" in Asia to

make that happen - a move Hindu and Buddhist religious

leaders, gathered in Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord

Buddha, shortly after the Pontiff's India visit,

described as "crime against humanity".