In the northern regions of Canada, several people groups have been isolated. Tribes of broken men, women, and children were hurt in unspeakable ways by the Catholic Church in the late 1900s which created a deep mistrust of Christians and foreign religions. A mission organization saw this and sent missionaries to these people. After years of getting to know the local chiefs and elders of the community, one missionary asked, “With the resources we have, how can we help your people?” A chief of the tribe spoke about the damage done by smart phones to their indigenous culture. The government sent phones to the young people of the tribe wanting them to test out the latest apps and features. Because of these experiments, the young children were not learning the language and culture of the people, further removing themselves from their families.
The missionaries went to work creating another app with pictures and phrases to teach these young teenagers and children the language of their ancestors. They used voice recordings done by elders and chiefs in the surrounding villages and brought this unique language back into the community. While the young people re-learned their culture, the leaders of this tribe felt purposeful and valued in their community. This creative thinking not only redeemed a broken culture but also made a way for the missionaries to share the Gospel as they built relationships of trust and respect.
This story was told to me three years ago by a missionary from the organization To Every Tribe. Feelings of inspiration and awe at the creativity the Lord has gifted us with bring me back to this memory quite frequently. This was my first introduction to business used as a way of reaching people for the Gospel. There is a place for church planting, but I think now more than ever we need business minded people out in the mission field building relationships and redeeming each unique culture. In this testimony, I am encouraged by how the love of Jesus was shared creatively through innovation and contextualization.
This is an amazing story! I see this as a wonderful example of culture-making. Christians being leaders in culture and helping to redeem it. Innovative minds are needed to develop creative ways of bridging the gap between culture and Christianity so that culture can honor God.
I loved reading about this initiative! I think it was a wonderful way to help the tribes and communities with more immediate problems, while also showing goodwill and genuine care from the missionaries, thus building important bridges of trust and acceptance. I love that they incorporated the elders into the app, making it really of and for this specific context.