 Missionaries Rely on Faith Amid Dangers |
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by Steve Smith |
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(This article, originally printed on January 31, 2003 in the United Methodist Reporter, is reprinted here with permission from the author). In 19 years as a United Methodist missionary and religion journalist, Paul Jeffrey said he’s been trapped among warring factions in Central America, shot at, imprisoned, tear gassed. And that’s just the minor stuff. U.S.-backed Contra rebels killed eight of his Nicaraguan coworkers in the 1980s. At the beginning of the 1990s before he moved to Guatemala to work with the country’s Methodist Church, military gunmen shot and killed several Methodist pastors. “Yet, none of their deaths made me more afraid,” said Mr. Jeffrey, who teaches at the Honduran Theological Community in Tegucigalpa and travels around the world for Action by Churches Together, a relief organization. “All of them made me more angry and more motivated than ever to continue working for life in the face of so much death. So if the objective of terrorism is to make people more afraid, it failed with me. That’s not machismo, it’s faith.” United Methodist missionaries say they are relying heavily on their faith as they minister for Christ in some of the world’s most dangerous spots – the Holy Land, the Philippines, Zimbabwe, the Congo, northern Ireland, Nigeria, Korea and throughout Central America. These days, the mission field is an uneasy place. On Dec. 31, three Baptist missionaries from the United States were slain, and a fourth was seriously wounded at a charity hospital in Yemen by a suspected Islamic militant. In October, a United Methodist peace activist, James Delaplain of River Falls, Wisc., was one of five people severely beaten by Israeli settlers while helping Palestinian olive growers. Mr. Delaplain is recovering at his Wisconsin home. In early January, Hindu nationalists in India with swords and iron bars beat an American Bible church missionary and several other Christians. Late last year, an American missionary held hostage for more than a year by Muslim rebels in the Philippines was killed and his wife wounded during a rescue attempt. Their captors were linked to Osama bin Laden’s al-Quada network. The last United Methodist missionary killed in the line of duty was Nancy Lightfoot, who died in 2001 from injuries she suffered in a car wreck in Liberia. Periodically, the State Department warns U.S. missionaries that it cannot guarantee their safety in remote and dangerous parts – warnings that have increased sharply since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Most missionary groups, including the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, train workers how to live in dangerous places and have emergency evacuation plans. Despite the dangers, United Methodist missionaries say they are staying put in troubled regions, doing the work they believe they were called to do but being extra vigilant in keeping themselves safe. “We place our lives in the hands of the almighty God and trust Him to protect us, but if we must be sacrificed on the altar of service for Jesus Christ, that will be an honor,” said the Rev. Alex Awad, a missionary in the volatile West Bank. “Not that we do not appreciate life or have death wishes, but rather we take the position that Paul took years ago: ‘If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.’” The Rev. Sandra Olewine and Bob May, two other United Methodist missionaries stationed on the West Bank, said Israeli military invasions into Bethlehem and Palestinian suicide bombers cause them more fear than personal attacks from religious extremists, but they, along with Mr. Awad, fear being in the wrong place at the wrong time. “Hearing F-16 fighter planes screaming low and dropping bombs was truly terrifying,” Mr. May said. “When the invasions were most severe, I left my apartment and spent the nights in a cave near my building.” Ms. Olewine said she survives and protects herself in the Holy Land by sharing her experiences with others around the world. She wrote about F-16 fighter planes bombing late one night a police station a block away from her house: “No place to go, no place to run, nothing to do but crouch low on the floor waiting for the shock wave of the explosion to pass, hoping and praying that everyone is safe who is nearer to the attack than you. “…I grew up in California when we had ‘duck-and-cover’ drills in school for earthquake preparedness. Last night, I felt like I was 10 years old again, dropping to my knees, bending over and covering my head with my arms.” Jeff and Ellen Hoover, two missionaries in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said their area isn’t as dangerous as other parts of Africa and even other parts of the Congo, where tribal wars, political corruption and economic breakdown have thrown the areas into chaos. African countries are ill-prepared to deal with attacks by international terrorists, such as the one that occurred in Yemen, they added. But they were evacuated from the Congo on at least one occasion to a “safe haven” in Zambia, only to find armed bandits attacking a school across the street and a local missionary losing his car at gunpoint. “There are times when it has simply made sense to get out,” Mr. Hoover said. “We don’t want to be a burden on our church to protect us, because anything that happened to us as missionaries would get so much more attention than the routine tragedies that Congolese live with.” Stephanie Crutchfield, a United Methodist missionary in the Philippines, said many developing countries where missionaries serve are politically unstable, thus increasing the risks of violence. Since she came to the Philippines four years ago, public places frequented by her and her missionary husband, Kim, have been bombed. She is concerned for their children’s safety. They keep close tabs on local news and embassy reports and rely upon neighbors and friends who advise them on safe places to go and when to ride public transportation. Ms. Crutchfield works in the area of the Philippines where the U.S. Embassy has recommended Americans not go because of activity of insurgent groups; she goes anyway but cautiously. “It is critical then for me to listen and be cautious as I move and travel in the villages,” she said. “I pass through Army check points, and if local sources tell me I should not go, I do not question them. We understand the call to mission involves risk and trusting God to be with us through many dangers, toils and snares.” Nan McCurdy and her husband, Miguel Mairena, both missionaries in Nicaragua, said dangers in the central American country have increased during the past decade as the gap has widened between the small number of wealthy and the millions barely surviving without adequate food, clean water, education, and health care. If they go out in the evening, they return home early, but they also become integrated into their community to increase their safety to ensure “people watch out for you,” Ms. McCurdy said. “Most missionaries are sent to a place and a people to share their lives, share Christ’s love and example, learn and teach,” she said. “Most of the violence we face is the same violence our neighbors and colleagues live with and something that comes with the calling.”
Date posted: May 22, 2003 |
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