lexander the Great once said, “I came, I saw, I conquered.” The goal of a warlord is to conquer, to destroy any in his path. He has one goal in mind—to be the next authority. Some conquerors rule through viceroys, local leaders who represent the conquering monarch.

Modern Christian missions was birthed at a time when colonialism was growing around the world. It is no surprise then that it often imitated the colonial approach. However, a far better approach soon began to take hold, characterized by the concept of the three selfs—self sustaining, self-governing and self-propagating. The goal of this approach is to ensure that daughter churches can operate without direct outside assistance.

Really, the goal is to have a church that operates not independently of the mother church nor dependently on it but interdependently with it. An interdependent church suggests that mother and daughter churches have a relationship of respect. They recognize their need for each other. They each understand the role of the others. There is no spirit of competition. Each complements the others and fulfills functions that build up the others.

The three-selfs philosophy has governed mission administration for more than a century. However, a spirit of colonialism still sometimes creeps in. Mission organizations often fear that new converts do not have the capacity to run programs nor the ability to lead congregations. They might believe young converts must receive years of schooling before they can assume leadership. The apostle Paul left local leaders in charge after only a few months of teaching and didn’t prescribe how they should run their churches. He gave basic guidelines, but the churches had the freedom to apply those guidelines according to the Holy Spirit’s leading.

A mission leader about 90 years ago said, “If I were an Indian or a Chinese or an African I should resent most bitterly the attempt to establish faith in my country by men who took it for granted that they must control and direct our spiritual life and progress.” After a century of work in Africa, the church is still largely led by foreigners. The same mission leader also stated, “If the church is to be indigenous it must spring up in the soil from the very first seeds planted.” From the outset, interdependence needs to be the focus. If this is not the goal, dependency and a feeling of inadequacy are created. Whom God calls, He equips. If God has called a people to Himself, He will equip those individuals with the ability to accomplish the task.

We have wrestled long with this dependency issue. As we place Bible stories into the hands of the people without interpretation we believe the converts will have an opportunity to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit. To the best of our ability, we want to remain faithful to the text of scripture yet use modes of communication familiar to the Himba. The Himba are an oral society, so written texts do not appeal to them. We are currently engaged in recording Bible stories that will give our Himba friends the opportunity to hear God’s voice speaking to them. They will be able to take these stories with them wherever they travel. Second, we do not envision weekly church services as this would be impossible with the nomadic Himba lifestyle.

The challenge we face is trying to think outside the box of traditional Christian disciplines so our Himba friends can remain connected to God and the Church. As members of the body of Christ, they will have responsibilities. We desire to develop a sense of interdependence where the body of Christ meets their needs for orality and nomadism and they develop a sense of belonging and mission.

The God we serve is not a conqueror. Neither is He a colonialist. Jesus defines the kingdom of God as a mustard seed. Once in the soil, the seed takes a natural course of maturity. The Himba need the Holy Spirit to help them mature as Christians. We do not want to get in the way of the work of the Holy Spirit. We want to ensure that the soil in which the seed is planted is cultivated, and we look forward to a great harvest. Pray that we can work alongside the Holy Spirit rather than wanting to control His work.