THE MISSIONS COMMITTEE of a Presbyterian church in the Midwest which has supported my ministry for more than 50 years wrote us an interesting letter. "We have determined," they said, "to end our support of Christian Aid." The reason they gave was due to our "statements about supporting native missionaries instead of supporting American missionaries. We are doing both," they said, "and do not want to support a ministry that seems to be against doing both."

FROM the very beginning, God's people have been persecuted. Our Lord Jesus, speaking to the scribes and Pharisees, refers to this reality when He said to them, "That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias . . ." Matthew 23:35

Yes, it’s true that native missionaries speak the language and understand the culture, but can this be the only reason they have been able to accomplish so much with so little? I believe the answer may also be in their methods of training, and particularly of discipleship.

During the past 30 years there has been an explosion of missionary activity by churches in Latin America. This movement began as Latin American leaders studied materials from American and Canadian missiologists translated into Spanish and Portuguese. Soon the idea of "sending missionaries" to other continents spread throughout the region.

The books of Ezra and Nehemiah contain poignant examples of the power of collaboration among God’s people. These books begin with God moving upon the hearts of unbelieving kings, Cyrus and Artaxerxes, to release a Jewish remnant from captivity and allow them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple and wall.

A few months ago, Slavik Radchuk (our field director for the former USSR), a Christian Aid board member and I were in Uzbekistan visiting some of the ministries that Christian Aid supports....

The latest crisis in the Middle East between Israel and Hezbollah has been one of the many conflicts affecting this volatile area of the world. Other international crises include Sudan, North Korea, the war in Iraq, Iran’s uranium enrichment program, etc.

For half a century Christian Aid has provided financial support for indigenous missionary ministries in strategic "mission field" areas of the world. Altogether, over 1000 different works of God have been assisted....

What’s happening in China these days has astounded missiologists in their academic cloisters from coast to coast. It has demonstrated the need for a complete reformation of our concepts and practices in foreign missionary operations....