(I would just like to start out by saying that we don’t
really talk about justice on the mission field! I realized that as I sat down
to answer these questions – we don’t discuss how justice affects our work. I’m
not sure if it’s good, bad, or indifferent, but my life as a missionary tends
to be a lot more practical than theoretical or theological.)
What
role has justice played in your missions experience?
I’m
going to borrow Tim Keller’s definition as my working definition of justice
(from Generous Justice): “Rectifying
justice is mishpat. It means punishing wrongdoers and caring for the
victims of unjust treatment. Primary justice, or tzadeqah, is behavior
that, if it was prevalent in the world, would render rectifying justice
unnecessary, because everyone would be living in right relationship to everyone
else.”
I
would say that justice is the motivator of my missions work. I believe that God
calls us to practice mishpat, to take
care of those whom society has marginalized, those whose governments oppress
them, those who are struggling to meet their daily basic needs, the widow, the
orphan. Out of obedience to God, then, and out of love for God and for God’s
people, I work in the Dominican Republic. I have seen injustice and felt called
by God to serve and love in a way that works to rectify that injustice. We
throw around the word “justice” so lightly in the Christian sub-culture, but as
a missionary, I didn’t find myself engaged in many theological conversations
about justice with my fellow missionaries. We are more concerned with the
practical, day-to-day living out of both mishpat
and tzadeqah, and for me that
requires thinking more about love than justice. After all, we seek justice for
all people because God loves all people. And I think tzadeqah ultimately means living in a way that honors and loves my
neighbor as myself.
What
are some challenges you have had around justice issues?
The
biggest challenge overall that I see in missions around justice is the
challenge of sustainability. As a foreigner in the Dominican Republic, the
challenge is essentially for me to work myself out of a job – to practice mishpat until the Dominicans as a
nation, especially their government, practices tzadeqah. Maybe this will never happen; maybe tzadeqah comes only with Christ’s second coming. Creating
sustainable missions requires equipping nationals, working with local
infrastructure, and more. It means avoiding handouts – yes, there are occasions
when I give money or food to meet someone’s immediate physical need, but not in
isolation. Some of the best models I’ve seen are when missions organizations
partner with local churches so that the churches are the actual givers,
remaining in contact with the recipients and helping them to become
self-sufficient. Creating a community that is thriving but relies on donations
is not true justice.
As
a missionary, another challenge I face is in making decisions about my own
lifestyle. I have to come to grips with what it means that I was born in the
United States, in a suburban middle class family, am a college graduate working
on a master’s degree – that I have plenty. So what does that mean for my life
on the mission field? How do I choose to live? It is sometimes difficult to
balance living among poverty, wanting to live the way my neighbors do, and
living in a way that is sustainable long-term for me emotionally and psychologically.
There are some things that I don’t need, but they make my life and my work much
easier – internet in my home, an inverter for consistent electricity, screens
on my windows. If I choose to have those, is that against tzadeqah because my neighbors can’t afford them? Or is it ok
because it enables me to serve as well as I can?
Another
huge challenge around justice issues is the overwhelming need. How can we
strive for justice and fairness when the task seems so daunting? Even where I
work, I can only do such a little bit. Around the world, in the Dominican
Republic, in the United States – such inequality exists that it can be
discouraging to put what seems like is one drop of water into the ocean.
How
has justice aided the mission work you do?
Justice,
and having a Biblical view of justice, helps me to be more compassionate. It
requires me to look at those around me through God’s eyes and seek out those
who are cast aside. Sometimes it’s hard for me to disentangle justice and
compassion, but I think they go hand-in-hand. I see injustice, I respond with
compassion, in a way that promotes justice. I think justice also helps unite
missionaries. We have a common goal, which usually makes it easier to negotiate
our differences. Even if we disagree on how to conduct a particular aspect of
ministry, we can respect the other’s work in faith that that person is obeying
God’s particular call to an injustice.
What
do you see as the goal of your mission work?
As
cliché as it might sound, the goal of my mission work is to glorify God and
make his name known. My second goal, which often seems more accessible or
measurable to me, is to love others well. I want every child I work with each
day to leave school knowing that God loves her. I want to live in a way that
shows God’s love to my neighbors, my coworkers, and my fellow missionaries.
As
it pertains to justice, my goal is to equip Dominicans and Haitians to teach to
their fullest potential so that I am no longer needed. (Not that I am needed
now – I am blessed to work for an organization that is largely nationally run
and self-sufficient.)
