As Alisha and I have been sharing about our call to ministry in Scotland, it’s not surprising how quickly some people dismiss the very idea as invalid. Most of the time, we find it has less to do with the work we are called to and more with the narrow framework many people carry as to what cross-cultural ministry (or missions) looks like.

And that’s understandable. For centuries, the majority of Christian missions took the form of conquest and colonialism — the exporting of one’s culture and beliefs to another culture and dominating it. However, as the Western church continues to move away from the central, empire-backed position it’s held in society in places like the United Kingdom and Europe, that “power-over” framework starts to fall apart.

From our experience serving in these types of contexts — and a commitment to decolonization — here are five ways we’ve learned to think differently about missions.

1. Missions should start with beautiful inefficiency

In missions, colonization can look like arriving in a new culture with a rigid job description and a sense that one’s arrival marks the beginning of God’s work — as though wherever we go, the Holy Spirit wasn’t already moving in the people long before we arrived.

Decolonization in missions, on the other hand, is oriented around seeking partnership with local folks who are already tapped into what God is doing and finding out the best way to join in. Importantly, that’s an invitational process, where the mission workers’ sense of call is affirmed by the local partners.

The next step is entering into a season of “missional listening.” Rather than hitting the ground running, it’s a time of building trust, relationships and resources, while keeping alert for where the Holy Spirit is already at work. Taking initiative comes in time.

2. Missions as a form of mutual aid

Missions should be seen as a form of mutual aid. Colonialism says, “We have what you need, and we will bring it.” Mutual aid says, “We bring what we have, we receive what you have, and together we build something neither of us could build alone.”

For example, our call to Scotland is built on two ideas: 1) that we have much to learn from Mosaic Church, our local partners, about building a faith community in places where the church has come and gone; and 2) our skills and time can help our partners build their capacity to receive and shepherd folks who won’t set foot in a conventional church service. Through this partnership, what emerges will be up to God.

3. Missions can focus on different outcomes

In some contexts, missionaries may be able to articulate a successful ministry by sharing statistics about how many people have “come to Jesus” and have been baptized. In places where people associate the church with decaying buildings and empire, ministry victories typically look like people moving towards Jesus and experiencing the liberation that comes through that relationship and finding community.

These are not insignificant wins, but accompanying people on their journey towards Christ and wholeness isn’t easy to quantify.

I by no means will speak poorly of these other contexts and the ministry being done there. How do we compare what God is doing in one place with another? What I can say is that any salvation stories we’ve been a part of exist because we are just two voices of many in a dialogue that God is inviting others to join.

4. Missions are more like gardening (and less like an emergency room)

Two of the terms people tend to use to describe the spiritual climate in the Western world are post-Christian and post-Christendom. Often used interchangeably, they speak to two very different perspectives on what missions should look like.

Post-Christian missions look like an emergency room and are about trying to save something from dying. The implication is that Christianity has run its course and is all but gone in a society that is hostile towards it, inherently connecting Christianity’s well-being to the power and influence held by the institutional church.

Missions in post-Christendom are like gardening, growing something new on land that has become barren due to neglect. The implication here is that the church is in a moment of opportunity, a season of rediscovering what it needs to look like to fulfill its purpose, and finally shedding some of the baggage brought on by Christianity’s adoption as the religion of empire under Constantine.

As Anabaptist cross-cultural church workers, we’re excited to start tending the garden in Scotland.

5. Missions can be both local and global

We often hear a disparagement of global missions – especially regarding places like Europe – because there’s work to be done “at home,” unnecessarily placing local and global missions at odds. Consider that missions are a “both/and” situation rather than an “either/or.”

It’s true that Jesus’ followers are all called to love and serve those around us. It’s also true that some of those followers are called and equipped to serve outside their native context. Early church history consistently models rhythms of faith communities doing both: being salt and light where they’re planted, and sending workers into the world to serve the broader church. 

As much as it may feel like the church in the United States is struggling, the need in places like Scotland is on a different level. Like much of Europe, according to Andrew Strutzenberg, a colleague with the Scottish Network Churches, church attendance in Scotland has been shrinking steadily for decades. In the aftermath of COVID-19, some leaders have questioned whether the country has tipped below the two percent engagement threshold indicating an unreached people group.

In this case, loving our neighbors can look like offering support through cross-cultural workers.