Dancing with God : 
Global Mission on the Edge

[10-31-05]

The Rev. Jean-Marie Peacock, who was elected Vice Moderator of the PC(USA) by the 216^thGeneral Assembly, was a very special participant at the Witherspoon conference on global mission, not only for who she is, but for where she came from. She and her husband live in New Orleans, where she is Associate Pastor of Lakeview Presbyterian Church.  By the second week of September they were staying with family in Illinois, since their home in New Orleans had been destroyed, and her congregation was scattered to places mostly unknown.

She was asked to talk with the conferees about the church’s mission, out of her first year of experience as vice moderator, visiting congregations around the US, and churches in many other parts of the world.

She began by giving voice to her own situation, as "a jumping off point for my dance with God into global mission on the edge."

Noting all the people and churches wanting to "do mission" in her home of New Orleans, she said "it does bring a new perspective to mission, when you suddenly find yourself on the receiving end — the area where you live and the entire Gulf Coast having been decimated, lives lost, the scope of human suffering so deep and so wide — our communities and churches now a widely recognized ‘mission field’ — at least for now."

With all the attention focused on New Orleans in those days right after Katrina, she said "It is my hope that when the spotlights fade and the media turn their attention elsewhere, we as a nation and as a church will not forget what became so visible at the Superdome and Convention Center of New Orleans, that it is the poorest of the poor who are always — always — left behind —hidden, invisible, ignored. Left behind in the global economy — left to struggle to make ends meet, whether it be in the minimum wage jobs of a hospitality industry that focuses on tourism, as in New Orleans - or left behind in the sweat shops or fields of a labor market in the global economy where the race for greatest profit translates into competition for the cheapest labor."

So from her very special perspective she asked what "global mission on the edge" might look like today, wherever in the world "the poor struggle daily to survive."

Global mission on the edge — what does it look like? What does it look like in a place such as New Orleans — or any part of the world, where the poor struggle daily to survive? I don't pretend to have the answers, but what I'd like to do is to share some reflections tonight on what "new things" God is calling the church to be and do as we consider mission on the edge and then to open things up for conversation.

She started by reading from Isaiah 43:18-25, which speaks of God doing a new thing in our midst.

So, she asked, "What are some new things that are springing forth in the life of the PCUSA that have implications for our mission and ministry: the new things that God is doing, the signs we see of God making a way even in the midst of wilderness and desert of so much brokenness in our world. What are some signs of the changing context of mission and ministry we are seeing in the world today?"

She began by telling of her recent visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), along with Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase. At the old mission station of Bulape, surrounded by missionary homes, a hospital, school and church, they met with a few mission workers, staff from the Worldwide Ministries Division, and representatives from the Presbyterian Community of the Congo, one of our church partners in that nation. They discussed the changing terms of our partnership today, as the church in the Congo faces many challenges, and the PC(USA) has to deal with the reality that "mission giving is increasingly designated by donors who wish to fund specific projects and missionaries. The locus of mission is shifting away from the General Assembly level, as more and more churches and presbyteries develop sister partnerships in other parts of the world and build direct relationships." This raises the need for developing new and healthy relationships in those partnerships.

The challenge is the same around the world, she said – with many Americans wanting to "become involved in mission efforts in poverty-stricken areas, where the desire to create a quick fix, by dumping money and resources into the mix, has done more harm than good. We know the history that continues to repeat itself of well-intended Presbyterians who are eager to help — who want to fix things. But we tend to do it in a way that makes us feel good about ourselves — often creating power dynamics that are not healthy and that do lift le to address the structural injustices that perpetuate the problems we seek to address."

Instead, she said, "I'd like our churches to understand that mission on the edge is about relationships, about building trust and understanding and solidarity with partners — before material resources are even brought into the scene. I'd like our churches to consider the ‘new things’ that are springing up in the life of partner churches — projects for self-development, that build self-sufficiency and are self-sustaining."

As examples she mentioned the way the hospital in Bulape, faced with shrinking support from the US, is developing a project to produce palm oil which will help to sustain it for the future. And in the Presbyterian Community of Kinshasa the group met with 6 women who have received a micro-loan of $100, which has enabled them to buy the ingredients to make beignets (donuts). As they make and sell donuts, they give part of their profits back to pay off the loan, keep part to buy new supplies, while the rest provides income for each of the women – about $1 a day for each of them. This has meant one woman could buy new flip-flops, and others could pay school fees for their children and help meet their basic needs.

Peacock returned to Isaiah’s words: "Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth.., for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise."

Then she went on: "God's way is one that brings healing and wholeness, filling the deserts of our souls with hope and the wastelands of our world with streams of life. In the midst of a broken world, God is at work, opening new paths toward deliverance – toward healing and wholeness. God is making a way in the desert. Mission initiatives that promote self-sufficiency, that break cycles of dependency and promote interdependency and mutuality in mission – God has set this path before the global church — that we in partnership with Christians in various parts of the world, may find a way in the wilderness that creates new life and new possibilities for being Christ's body in the midst of a broken world."

Peacock then turned her attention to the reality that "Mission ... is also right here in the United States. There are many who are unchurched or who have little involvement in the church in our communities and neighborhoods, no matter where we live. In addition, sisters and brothers in Christ from many parts of the world are arriving at the doorsteps of our churches, seeking Christian fellowship and nurture as new immigrants in the United States. One of the greatest challenges we face these days is the challenge of engaging in evangelism in the changing context of today's world."

Noting that the percentage of racial-ethnic Presbyterians is growing, particularly through the "growing number of new immigrant fellowships that are enriching the lives of our congregations across the country." One way to encourage this, she urged, would be to approved the proposed amendment to the Book of Order that would give vote and voice in presbytery to leaders of immigrant fellowships. "If we are to grow as a multicultural church and fully embrace God's diversity of people in the life of the Presbyterian Church (USA), then persons of all racial/ethnic and cultural backgrounds must be fully included in the structures of power and decision-making at all levels of governance in the church."

She also suggested that we could prepare our ministers for the new possibilities of a multicultural church by requiring some cross-cultural experience as part of every seminarian’s education. We should also shift our thinking about "mission trips" from the self-satisfying "doing for others," to making them an experience in learning from the people whom we visit – engaging in "accompaniment" rather than "helping." She recalled someone telling her when she was a young adult on the border, "Jean Marie, you are not here to be a savior, but to be a witness to the injustice."

She illustrated this needed shift by recalling New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Many groups were there in September providing urgently needed relief aid – food and clothing and shelter. But in the long term, she said, our efforts "must include advocacy and policy initiatives that address the moral issues related to where our nation invests its money — have we learned anything from this? Will we invest in the infrastructure of communities and the welfare of God's children, or will we continue to invest in war and destruction? Even as we work to provide shelter and to resettle the poor and destitute who have been hardest struck by the hurricane, will we also advocate on an ongoing basis for fair, living wages for those who are being left behind to fend for themselves in the global economy?"

And then, she added, there is the huge new challenge of the global economy and American empire. So "in solidarity with sisters and brothers who are laborers in the sweat shops of the global economy, the church must become involved in education about the realities of globalization and offer workshops that encourage scriptural reflection on the impact of the global economy on the poor. The Enough for Everyone campaign of the Presbyterian Hunger program is a good start for such education. It is an excellent resource to share with churches to raise awareness about buying sweat free clothing, fairly traded coffee, energy conservation and socially responsible investing. But it is just a small starting point."

Our Vice Moderator concluded with this challenge – and invitation:

As the Church, how we respond to economic empire building in the midst of globalization is going to be one of the defining moral challenges of our time. Will we be the voice of moral values, reason and conscience — standing firm for equity and dignity for all God's people, insisting on trade agreements that are fair, just, and environmentally sound? Will we stand for fair wages that provide for the basic needs of each and every one of the world's citizens? Will we hold corporations accountable to act with social responsibility? Most importantly, will we do the hard work of educating ourselves — of teaching and preaching and living — the biblical mandate for justice and Jesus' radical notions of inclusion, nonviolence, love and compassion? Will we be about the evangelical work of making disciples and equipping disciples who love Christ, rejoice in his resurrecting power — in his love and grace — and who serve him with gratitude in all the world?

As the church, we face new challenges of responding in mission to the realities of a changing context — the context of changing demographics, increasing pluralism, and the realities of a global economy. God is calling us to be the church in new ways — reaching out to the diversity of God's people throughout the world and in our own communities.

‘Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it? For I will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert...’

I give thanks to God for each one of you — your willingness to engage in the dance of mission on the edge is essential to who we are as Christ's church. God is making a way and calling us to be rivers in the desert, already - in you and through you -new life is springing forth. New possibilities for ministry and mission lie ahead. So, too, do the challenges. And so I thank God for each of you, for your commitment to social justice and peacemaking, to your advocacy efforts and education efforts that raise before the denomination the issues of globalization and our role as the church in response. Thank you for not falling into the trap of divorcing evangelism from social justice — of recognizing that the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to which we witness — is a social gospel.

The dance begins with God's grace, moving through us and in us into the world, as we proclaim Christ risen — the light of the world, in ministries of empowerment, advocacy, inclusion, justice, and peace. May God continue to bless us all as we dance to the edge in mission and in partnership, in love and in service seek to follow Christ more fully, even to the ends of the earth.

Amen.