A CHRISTIAN STRATEGY FOR EL SALVADOR
THE BEGINNING: A CHRISTIAN CONCERN FOR THE POOR
The American made helicopter hung lazily in the sky like a hesitating dragon fly, its whirling propeller barely visible to the naked eye. Suddenly, it began to descend. When it reached an altitude of approximately three thousand feet, it released two powerful rockets that zoomed across the valley and struck their target halfway up a mountain, less than a kilometer from where we were working. The explosions of those rockets and their reverberations caused the physician and me to rush from our workstation, on the steps of city hall, to the town plaza. As soon as we had positioned ourselves in the shade of a group of date palms several more copters whirled overhead. They headed toward the smoke rising from the place on the side of the mountain where the rockets had exploded. Suddenly, their sixty caliber machine guns began to blaze. They did not sound like the ratatattat of G3s and M16s that I had often heard in the city, but rather, the helicopter machine guns sounded like well-balanced engines. These helicopters had just attacked a mountain camp of the FMLN (Frente Militar Farabundo Marti) guerrillas, near the village of Jutiapa in the little Central American country of El Salvador.
The people of Jutiapa were scared citizens. Their faces reflected the years of struggle. Though the hot war had only begun in 1979, these people had endured previous years of Marxist activists organizing rural workers and the reaction of the government sponsored organization, ORDEN (Organizacion Democratica National). These organizations reportedly were responsible for the disappearance and murder of hundreds of rural organizational leaders. The people of Jutiapa had heard stories of the tragedies that had occurred at the hands of both ORDEN and the FMLN guerrillas. Their faces reflected their experiences and their losses. As the planes flew overhead, the people in the plaza appeared dazed for a moment, then to my surprise, went on with their daily activity as though nothing important was happening. As early as October 1982, they had already become accustomed to the sounds and fury of war. Since this action was outside their city, they were not involved; therefore, they went on with their buying and selling, their conversations, and their journeys.
However, for this North American gringo, this was not an ordinary day. I had often heard the sound of battle during the previous year that I had lived in San Salvador, but this was the first time to watch the machinery of war in action. This was also the first time to be so far from the Capitol, so far into territory supposedly controlled by the guerrillas. This would also be the first day that I would feel frightened in El Salvador. But it was also another first; this was the first day that God would speak to me about the needs and the plight of the Salvadoran poor. It was a day of beginning.
Jutiapa is a mountain village, lost in the deep mountain greenery that so beautifully landscapes the Salvadoran countryside. A Salvadoran relief agency medical doctor had invited me to travel with him to this remote mountain village where he was to attend the city’s sick and malnourished children. As Dr. Carlos and I topped the ridge overlooking the picturesque red tiled roofs of Jutiapa, my heart and spirit jumped within my breast. I had often read stories of famous missionaries who traveled to remote cities and villages to carry the gospel message. These missioners told of God’s guiding hand that led them to special people who would be unique keys that opened doors, allowing the missionary to carry out his ministry. Often, these special nationals aided the missionary in his called assignment and were vital to the success of the missionary’s mission. On that October day, God was leading me to an encounter which for me was a burning bush experience. Though this was my first encounter of this type, it would not be the last. God would use this experience to direct my path into a ministry that I had never anticipated.
Since 1971, I had served as a Latin American missionary and missions’ consultant. In 1981, God redirected my path to San Salvador to serve as pastor of the Union Church of San Salvador. Exactly how I had arrived in San Salvador to pastor this prestigeous congregation was peculiar. Though not a large congregation, the church was a very visible body in the international community. Maybe it was due to the church’s visibility that I had been asked to serve as an advisor to one of the many relief and development agencies that worked in this tiny Central American nation. Or maybe it was also the dedication of this young Salvadoran medical doctor that piqued my interest in his work. Most likely, it was God who had used Union church and this young doctor to redirect my Christian trajectory. Indeed, Union Church was the reason that I was in El Salvador, and it was Dr. Carlos who that day invited me to go with him to Jutiapa. It was this day in Jutiapa that changed my life and my Christian commitment.
Including the time we watched the air strike against the guerrilla camp, Carlos and I worked less than five hours and attended one hundred and twenty-six patients, all children and infants. I worked as a pharmacist that day; Carlos would write down on his prescription pad the medicines that he wanted each patient to receive, and I simply gave to each patient the medicine prescribed and explained the dosages. A little after noon we finished with the last patient and began repacking all the remaining medicines for the two-hour return trip to the Capitol. As we were putting all these items back in the old jeep vehicle, a little boy, maybe ten or eleven years of age, pulled on my guayabera shirt. He looked hesitatingly into my face, and asked, “Doctor, do you have anything for the pains in my stomach?” I looked at Carlos, and he looked helplessly back at me and then to the malnourished boy as he replied, “Hijo, lamento, pero, no tenemos nada para la enfermedad que tu tienes.” (Son, I am sorry, but we do not have anything for the sickness that you have.) The boy dropped his head and humbly walked off. Later, Carlos explained that the boy only had stomach parasites like most of the one hundred twenty-six patients that he had seen that day; it was something so simple, yet so very deadly without proper and corrective medicines. It was unfortunate, but, according to Dr. Carlos, neither his organization nor, for that matter, any other organization had Mebendazole, Thiabendazole, Diethylcarbamazine or similar antiparasitic medicines.
Certainly, it was not my fault that we did not have any antiparasitic medicines, yet the look that boy gave me, the look of passive acceptance was an expression that I would see repeatedly. I would see that expression on the faces of other children, a resignation to their fate. They accepted death as though it were an everyday occurrence. But I would also see that boy’s expression in the midnight hours. I would see it in dreams. Without doubt the boy would die a painful death without proper medical attention. Nightly I would see that passive acceptance of my answer time and time again. And I would think, why did I not pray for him; I could have at least offered prayer. Finally, after days of this expression and a face that would not go away, God said, “I’ll give you another chance; I’ll give you the nation and its children.”
The Jutiapa experience was extremely meaningful to me. Not just the experience of working with the poor, but rather, it was through this event that God let me see into His heart and His concern for the poor. God let me see through just a very small crack in His heart’s door that He did have a special concern for the world’s poor and their miserable plight. Liberation theologians would have us believe that God is only concerned about the poor. Many teach that only the poor are the inheritors of God’s salvation and that the rich are oppressors and deserve God’s wrath. These teachers proclaim that this punishment will be applied by liberating guerrilla forces who would free the oppressed from the clutches of the rich. However, God receives all, the poor and the rich, based on His grace and not on the merit of our richness or our poverty. Jesus’ message to Nicodemus is His message to the rich and the poor, “You must be born again.”
God’s Preparation
For the following year God began teaching me something within my spirit that only He and the Holy Spirit could accomplish. He began to awaken me as early as three o’clock in the morning. For the following eighteen months, I would start my day at 4:00 A.M. I would pray, meditate, and read the Scripture until seven each day. It was a time of becoming aware who God really is. God wanted me to develop a relationship with Him so that He could confide in me.
There were several issues that God wanted me to learn. First, He wanted me to understand that prayer is the power of His church. The Holy Spirit wanted to teach me that it was not the amount of time that I spent in prayer, nor all that I could say in prayer that was important to Him. The point that God wanted me to learn was simply that prayer was the means through which God could speak. He wanted me to express my needs and my thoughts to Him. More important, He also wanted me to get quiet and listen to Him, not in my intellect, but rather, in my spirit. God is a Spirit, and at creation He gave a spirit to man. God, the creator, speaks to man, the created, in spirit, that is, Spirit to spirit. “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). “I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind” (I Corinthians 14:15). The result of this type of prayer is “The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them” (Psalm 25:14). The Lord was simply teaching me to be quiet so He could speak to me. I could not tell Him anything that He did not already know; therefore, He wanted me to learn to be still and quiet and let His Spirit speak to my spirit.
A second issue that God wanted me to realize was that His vision, although shared with me, was His vision and not mine. It was a very hard learning experience to face the fact that when He confided to me something from His heart, that it was not my job nor responsibility to proclaim that vision to the world. My task was simply to submit to the vision only as far as it affected my life.
God wanted me to know that as Christians, our responsibility is to hear His voice and obey while He effects His purpose in our life. Christians administer His vision, but we are generally not responsible for fulfilling His vision. God will fulfill His vision. The purpose of sharing heavenly secrets, or vision, with His earthly church is because He wants that we discern what actions on earth are in accord with His will. This was important, for it saved me from spending countless hours in projects that were good but were not in God’s plan for my life. God taught me in that year to be patient and wait for His timing.
A third issue that God took up with me during those months of prayer was the church. The Lord gave me insight, through His Salvadoran church body, which allowed me to see that His church was not an organization, but rather, a true koinonia of Christians; the church was a fellowship of loving Christians who acted as preservative salt in a decaying world. He began showing me that His Church was a dwelling place in which He lived by His Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22). His church was the realization of the tabernacle and Solomon’s temple. As Paul expressed, these were but shadows, models, and examples, of the church that Christ would build. Christ wanted His church to manifest His Spirit and by that, act as salt on a world ready to decay. He wanted the church to share His principles with the world, even to the rulers of this world. In this way, He began to show me that His Word was good for all men, not just for Christians in the church, but His principles were appropriate for all men in all positions. God’s principles applied by worldly men to worldly situations will bring success and positive resolution. Non-Christian, government rulers who apply God’s principles can expect to see success from their tenure of office, not because of their goodness, but because of God’s faithfulness to his Word.
There was still another issue that God wanted me to address in my own life; God wanted me to recognize that His creation, all of His creation, was wonderfully made and precious in His sight. God helped me recognize that His creation, animals and plants, law (what we know as spiritual and natural), earth and its fullness, including humankind were all wonderfully made. He was proud of them at creation and called them “good.” The earth and its fullness are not bad, rather they are good. God made the earth and all that is in it; therefore, it is good. We humans, however, pollute even God’s goodness. As an example, man has taken the products of the coca plant and made an intoxicating drug known as coke. God intended that man use this plant as a medicinal healer and not as a drug to bend and destroy man’s mind. Other examples are some industries that produce many consumable items on which North Americans depend. Household appliances, paper, medicine, and electricity are items that we use and consider essential to our way of life. Many industries, while producing items that Americans use, also produce waste products that contaminate the earth and air around us. Yet many companies that produce these needed products also produce smog filled air that often causes cancer and other sicknesses.
Evangelical Protestants generally miss this real concern of God; He created the world and if He created it, then of course, He is interested in it. However, we have often been guilty of subscribing to the idea that God is only interested in “spiritual” matters, like salvation and church growth. These are concerns with which God is indeed vitally concerned; however, these do not negate His concern about the planet earth, about the arts, education, history, health, poverty, science, and all events that touch man’s life. God is concerned about our spiritual relationship with Him, but He is also concerned about our relationship with all His creation. Too often, Evangelicals have emphasized only a vertical and pious relationship with God while excluding the spiritual, horizontal relationship between man and his God created environment.
God brought me to this reality through two very important lessons. In January of 1983, I invited several pastors, an attorney, a couple of medical doctors, a professor, and several other friends to a mountain top retreat for a week of prayer and fasting. As the days passed, God impressed me to reread the historical books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, and the Chronicles. This time something new began to come into sharp focus. I noticed that many Old Testament heros had come from the smallest or weakest families, or smallest tribes, or smallest clans. Saul, David, and Gideon are examples. This was not new to me, rather, the Holy Spirit’s application was quite revealing. He wanted me to see that El Salvador’s future strength would come from the ranks of the poor and needy. This was absolutely against all that I had been taught and had believed.
History reveals that the Salvadoran wealthy gave up its position of leadership in 1932 when General Maximiliano Hernández Martinez came to power. Behind the scenes, the wealthy continued to exercise control in most government levels, in land ownership, and in the financial institutions. In 1948, young middle grade officers overthrew the oligarchy supported government and inaugurated a new era in El Salvador. The new government gave space for an industrial community to develop. Manufacturing and commerce needed lawyers, accountants, professional managers, medical doctors, and the like. These professions were filled by students from poor families who devoted their time to study. These new professionals became the basis of a Salvadoran middle class. From the 1950s through the 1970s, it was this new middle class that ruled El Salvador, making rules and laws that protected themselves and their new positions. These new rulers emulated the rich and generally found favor in the eyes of the wealthy and powerful.
Though the middle class had its roots in the poorer classes, it was not this middle sector about whom God was speaking. God wanted me to see that He was concerned about the present poor and powerless of El Salvador. The Holy Spirit wanted me to see that He was concerned about their salvation, their poverty and their health, but deep in my heart, I knew that He was interested in much more. God was interested in His church providing a step on which the poor could stand and see hope in their future. Although the Evangelical church had traditionally only provided spiritual care for the poor, God impressed me deeply that He wanted the church to provide that step for the poor. God placed in my heart a declaration that the poor would truly arise again in political power, and that the involvement of the Evangelical church in their lives would decide the political future of these masses. They would arise from the dust of humiliation and the captivity of poverty seeing a mighty God as provider and example. Or, if the Evangelical church chose not to be involved, they would arise from abuse and oppression seeing man and Marxism as their liberator. This was a powerful scene that God put before my eyes early one morning.
There was another specific lesson that God wanted me to learn; God had placed me in El Salvador to give vision, not to lead a revolution of poor people. What God wanted accomplished in El Salvador would be done by Salvadorans, not by foreigners. The Lord made this perfectly clear to me through the Scripture found in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “if my people, who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray…. I will…heal their land.” God wanted to use me to give vision, not to be the leader of revolution nor of a new church. Simply, God wanted to give the Salvadorans a vision of their possibilities in Him. But first, God wanted me to understand something about the problems of the Salvadoran poor:
* Two percent of the population controls sixty percent of the land.
* Ninety-six percent of the rural population has twelve acres of land or less.
* In 1975, fifty-eight percent of the population earned $10 per month or less.
* Seventy percent of the children under five years of age are malnourished.
* The per capita calorie consumption rate is the lowest in the western hemisphere.
* Illiteracy affects forty-three percent of the population.
* The infant mortality rate is sixty per thousand births.
* Sixty-four percent of the urban population lacks sewage facilities.
* Forty-five percent of the population has no potable drinking water on a regular basis.
* The per capita income in El Salvador is the lowest in Central America.
* Eight percent of the population receives fifty percent of the national income.
* Most of the rural population has work for only one-third of the year.
* Unemployment and under-employment in the rural areas are a permanent forty-five percent.
* In some displaced persons camps, it has been reported that fifty percent of all children die before the age of five years.
* In most rural areas, one out of ten infants die by the age of six months due to dysentery.
These statistics helped focus my thoughts on some difficulties with which the Salvadoran poor lived. The conditions that these horrible statistics represented indicated the conditions of life for much of the country’s poor, especially those who had been displaced by the acts of war.
These conditions begged for an answer. However, the answer to the poor’s dilemma is not Marxism, nor is it socialism. The answer to their problem is twofold. First, they must receive the gospel of Jesus Christ and obey and comply with the principles of the Scripture. Secondly, they must be taught that in Christ, they have value as human beings; their dignity must be reestablished, and their humanity reaffirmed. The Marxists and Socialists want us to think that the answer to the problems of poverty is a redistribution of wealth. That simply means taking from the rich and giving it to the poor. They believe that the world has a limited amount of wealth that can be exchanged between inhabitants. This is not the answer to the poor and needy’s problems.
The answer to the poor’s dilemma is understanding that it is God who creates wealth, and it is He who gives man the ability to produce wealth. God creates through His laws of creation; man produces through his labor. Corn seeds planted in the ground give the planter a return of 100 seeds for each seed planted. Man, plants and waters (this is production); God brings forth the increase through His principles of creation (this is creation). Money and labor wisely invested in an economic enterprise produce a return on the investment. This is capitalism at work and is an example of man’s productive capacity using God’s principles of creation. Therefore, it is not necessary to rob or steal, for when man obeys God’s principles, production is possible from God’s principles of limitless creation. (Deuteronomy 8:18; Matthew 25: 14-30)
But also, the church needs to understand that it has a responsibility for the community in which it exists. The Salvadoran Evangelical church, besides the North American church that supports its sister churches in El Salvador, must understand that first there is the need for the message of salvation. Yet, this is not enough. The church needs to show a kind of Biblical love that moves beyond words. In the book of John, Jesus spoke to Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman of their spiritual needs, but immediately afterwards he healed a royal official’s son and a poor invalid. Then he fed five thousand people. Jesus had a love and compassion that the church needs to imitate. The major issue that needs to be addressed by churches is one of priority. Which of the following alternatives should have higher priority: faith for God to heal the sick, give food to the hungry, and cloth the naked; or faith that teaches people how to avoid sickness, how to provide food and clothing for one’s family? (Later books will more completely describe the church’s responsibility.)
A Vision
After what I might call a “burning bush experience” in Jutiapa, God began speaking to my heart about doing something for the poor of El Salvador. God began putting into my heart a vision for a Christian organization that would operate from Christian principles to develop people rather than simply relieve human suffering. This organization would be evangelistic, yet simultaneously, it had to display to the poor a church with a human face, that is, a church that had a genuine concern for the poor who lived in miserable conditions. This organization would show its concern for the Salvadoran needy, but also it had to establish itself as a professional organization that understood the causes of poverty, sickness, and ignorance as well as their solution.
During these days I began to see that the average Evangelical church (in El Salvador and in the United States) was primarily interested in its Sunday morning or Sunday evening attendance. Its primary concern was the number of members, and the number of conversions per annum. Few of these churches were interested in the miserable social and environmental conditions in which the poor of its neighborhood lived. Often Christians and their churches were so involved building their church that they forgot that God put Christians in the world to be salt, to be a preservative acting upon the world. I saw the Scriptures speaking more frequently about the economically poor and Christianity’s responsibilities to this segment of society than it does about the Christian’s responsibility to win the unsaved. Yet with this Biblical model, many churches spend hundreds of dollars on church growth seminars, while spending relatively little to reach out to the poor in their own neighborhoods.
Often when Evangelical churches attempt to reach out to the poor, they are unequipped to handle the responsibility. As a rule, North Americans think that helping the poor means supplying food and clothing. However, these efforts are mostly evangelistic programs aimed at enlarging church membership. Many of these poor people see through these mercy acts and consider them evangelistic efforts by the church rather than a genuine concern for the poor.
I do not want to belittle evangelism, but I do have to speak to the point. The church has more than just the responsibility of winning the lost. Evangelism should be a prime responsibility of the church, but the Scripture also gives the church responsibilities for the poor of its environment. For instance, read Deuteronomy 15: 7-11; Proverbs 19:17; 21:13; Luke 4:18; James 2. These verses condemn Christian egotistical selfishness, promote Christian charity, affirm church ministries to the poor, and advocate actions of faith that provide for the needy. Actions that benefit the poor are not optional, rather, they are imperative responsibilities of the church. These responsibilities mean more than just a handout of food or a little money. (In later books I will deal with various programs that adequately help the poor.)
God began showing me that the church has a responsibility of being His hand extended, reaching out to those in spiritual and material need. This act of reaching out to the poor and sick is a slow process that may take years to complete. Generally, North Americans want to give money and expect that the problems of the poor will just go away. God wants to teach the church how to give of itself just as Christ gave of Himself for us. This is a slow, sometimes painful experience.
God began revealing to me an organization that would reach out to the immediate needs of the sick and hungry, but at the same time, would help in the human development of the poor. This meant reaching out with medical attention, food, and with programs of development that would train the Salvadoran needy and those displaced by acts of war while also demonstrating ways to care and provide for themselves. This meant doctors, nurses, feeding programs, teachers, schools, and development and preventive health programs that instruct. It also meant pastors, evangelists, and teachers who share the gospel message of God’s principles for productive living. The vision that I could see developing in my heart was a microcosm of God’s kingdom planted as a Christian community development organization among the needy of El Salvador.
THE PURPOSE OF PARALIFE INTERNATIONAL
Paralife International was legally founded in April of 1983. Believing that God’s ultimate purpose for man includes the earth and its redeemed residents, Paralife took its compound name from the Greek word “para,” which means “called alongside of,” and the common English word “life.” This is the only inalienable gift given to humanity. Paralife has been called alongside of life to give vision, hope, and love to those persons in the world whose gift of life has been threatened by sin, oppression, injustice, and by earthly disasters.
The purpose of Paralife International is to bring glory to God by manifesting His sovereignty on earth through a homogeneous balance of Worship, Community, and Witness. The original idea was that a balance of these three elements in Christ’s universal body would result in local church evangelism and a process of community social reconciliation. Paralife International’s development was the direct result of a vision to demonstrate a spiritual balance in the church while socially reconciling the earth to the sovereignty of Christ’s kingdom. But this process of reconciliation challenges most major world systems.
Most of the world’s systems, such as the legal, educational, religious, social, health care, art, and the sciences, are presently being guided by a determined humanistic design. From the Renaissance and the Reformation, through the Age of Reasoning and including modern times, man has cleverly devised ways to promote himself as the originator, provider, and caretaker of the world as well as his own standard of excellence. This flow of history and philosophy puts man at the top of the pinnacle of glory. That position of glory belongs only to God.
The only institution on earth that has the power to interdict this flow of history is the Church of Jesus Christ. God gave to His Church all power and dominion and its commission to win the lost. As this crucible of God’s power on earth, the Church, manifests His kingdom on earth, Christ’s influence over earthly systems will be displayed. This demonstration of power will be manifested only through prayer and practice of kingdom principles by the local church. This will result in the reconciliation of man to God and then man to man. The hope of the earth is that the Sons of God will be revealed with power reconciling all creation to the creator. The process of reconciliation can and will halt the flow of history and philosophy by which Christ will be proclaimed Lord of heaven and earth.
God created Paralife International to be an instrument of reconciliation on earth. Each year, Paralife ministers to thousands of people through its highly trained staff of physicians, technicians and Christian workers. Christian workers, pastors, and evangelists share the gospel with those who come to the central clinic and in the rural communities where Paralife has ongoing projects. An average of 150 people is seen daily at the downtown clinic in San Salvador. Besides this facility are other rural health facilities that aid the poor and needy of El Salvador, not only with curative healing, but also with preventive health education. These classes are offered weekly to help mothers with childcare information, pre and post birth care of mother and infant, nutritional aid for the severely malnourished, as well as gardening and other complimentary feeding programs. This is in addition to the pastoral training program, construction of church buildings and the Christian school programs that Paralife provides to several communities. These are the remedies that Paralife provides for the unfortunately displaced and poor of this tiny Central American nation.
The past years have left El Salvador with approximately 500,000 homeless and displaced people. To save their own lives, these people fled their original homesites to the safety of the city or to the many displaced persons camps located throughout the country. This forced mobility left thousands of people destitute, unemployed, sick, homeless, and without much hope for the future. The church that preaches and practices kingdom principles must take the initiative and manifest God’s love to these needy people. Communists, Marxists, Socialists, and others are spending great amounts of time, energy, and money to convince these unfortunate people that help is just around the political corner, just beyond the present government. The poor must be trained to face the future and not be left to become hopeless dependents of the state or whoever would take advantage of their plight. The commission of Jesus to the church was to “make disciples of all nations.” The Church of Jesus Christ should be at the side of the hurting and helpless, evangelizing and saving their souls while preparing them to live on the earth that the Lord prepared. This is true discipleship that follows the examples of Jesus and those of His disciples. Paralife has made this commitment of helping the Salvadoran poor become productive people.
Paralife has developed a compassionate program that encourages production and discourages dependency. This is done by understanding the idea of compassion. Compassion is a result of love where the only action that is taken is for the ultimate benefit of the needy. “Samaritan Compassion,” as exampled by the story of the Good Samaritan, is shown only in relief and emergencies where life and death are uncertain. This is humanitarian action that demands nothing of the beneficiary nor any continuing help by the donor. This kind of compassion is shown to humanity as the extended hand of God. “Developmental Compassion,” on the other hand, is exampled by the Old Testament law of gleaning. People were given the opportunity to provide for the needs of their family by working. This type of compassion-built dignity and encouraged work habits. The result of this type of compassion is a work ethic that appreciates private property, builds families, and provides protection for the community. It also encourages individual responsibility while allowing the community the opportunity to serve the poor. Consequently, Paralife makes a token charge for medical and educational services given to the displaced. Paying for these services, although it is a token payment, gives the family dignity; for instance, parents are given the opportunity to provide needed services for their family. This is an example of contemporary “gleaning.”
The educational system that Paralife developed in El Salvador is another example of its commitment to the rebuilding of Central America. The major resource of El Salvador and Central America is its youth. These young minds need training in schools that are administered by Biblical principled people. They must understand the principles that will lead their country to economic self-sufficiency. These young people need to be taught morality based on absolute principles rather than arbitrary relativism. They need examples of social development founded on Biblical truth and not sociological statistics. They need a Christianity that is more concerned about man and his environment than theological systems. The integral educational system that Paralife International is developing attempts to face these developmental issues.
Philosophical Precepts of Paralife:
In order to reach the desired objectives and goals for Paralife International, Biblical and philosophical precepts were established that would guide the organization. It was felt that only these Biblical principles would have sufficient durability to lead the organization during difficult times. These precepts are Biblically based and will stand the test of time.
1. Paralife International affirms the ultimate authority of God’s throne.
God is sovereign, and He controls the nations and powers of the earth. Though He may allow His adversary, the Devil, certain liberties, it is God who ultimately has total power. God placed all authority in Christ who then placed His authority in the church. It must be understood that the church has the authority that God gave it, but that authority is exercised only through prayer and the local church’s influence upon the world’s systems. The church possesses sufficient spiritual power necessary to fulfill its mission. An example of that power is “Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance.” It is God who raises men to power, and it is God who sets men down from power.
Spiritual warfare and spiritual victory can never be successful only with human weapons and human concepts. Power and authority gained by human weapons and ideas produce only war and misery. On the other hand, Jesus will one day return to the earth to establish a theocratic governing system. Until that time, the church has a responsibility of influencing governmental and political affairs. This influence should not be construed to mean “control,” rather, Christian influence should be persuading and inspiring legislation that reflects Christian values and beliefs. Although God has given the church His authority on earth, the exercise of that power must be with humility and wisdom. Only with God’s resources will Biblical principles and values ever be demonstrated.
2. Paralife International affirms the Bible as God’s unbreachable covenant with man and that spiritual blessings are conditional upon obedience.
The principles of the Scripture are God’s promises to humanity. They are His covenants with the earth. These Biblical principles will function in any nation where they are applied. They will be effective in any culture and traditions where they are tried. These principles also work despite the spiritual condition of the one applying them. God’s principles are for all men of all times. Methodology and strategy may change depending upon factors such as culture, technology, wealth, or the lack of it, but God’s principles are applicable to any time of history, culture, or tradition.
Biblical principles are God’s ineradicable and unbreakable covenant with man. Faith is knowing that God spoke these laws into existence and that their purpose will be fulfilled. With an unbreakable covenant, Biblical values can be determined for any society, culture, or tradition. Biblical values such as honesty, humility, quietness, individuality, and community when practiced by Christ’s church, produce individual, community, and national blessings. As Christ’s representative authority on earth, the church must produce these Christian values within its own body. One means to show Biblical principles while practicing Christian values is to attend the needs of the poor and impoverished.
3. Paralife International affirms the unity of humankind.
Man in his desire to experience God’s creative powers divided and subdivided all things into smaller and smaller units. By deconstructing all things to their most basic elements, man gained sufficient knowledge to duplicate the original. For instance, man has been able, in certain types of life, to manipulate DNA molecules to produce specific types of life. These experiments were attempts by man to create life. This was done so that man could gain knowledge and feel in control. Knowledge, man felt, enabled him to be in charge and, therefore, attempt to reduce life and society to their most elemental parts.
God’s interest, however, is not only in the smallest element of life or society, but in the total universe. God wants His church to see His worldwide vision and how each tiny particular fits into His total scheme of the universe. God created the entire universe and all that is in the world. He did not create little islands to stand apart from the rest of the world. The islands of the oceans have purpose, and their unity is displayed through their land connections under the depths of the water. Like the islands of the sea, all humankind is connected to the rest of creation. Man does not stand alone. For he too is connected to the rest of God’s creation by many unseen links. The Scripture suggests this: “For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone” Romans 14:7.
Humanity is an integral part of the universe. God created the plants and animals and gave humankind dominion over these creations. The world’s ecosystem, composed of all God’s creation, is largely at the mercy of humanity’s actions. The delicate balance between plant and animal life is mediated by human actions. Polluted rivers and unclean air, mostly products of the industrial age, demonstrate humankind’s dominion and its insensitive concern for interdependent linkages in the world’s ecosystem. Humanity is an essential part of the earth’s ecosystem, and it is the one element that independently can destroy the rest of God’s creation. Humankind is linked inseparably to the rest of creation.
Mankind was created from the earth and upon death the jewel of God’s creation will return to the earth. Humankind, in the same manner as plants and animals, will decay and become one with the earth, just as we were at creation. Humankind, plants, and animals were all created from the same earthly elements and to these origins all creation will return. This is just another proof of the unity of the universe.
All humans are linked together through common genesis. “God breathed into man and man became a living soul.” Since humankind has this common beginning, all people are related to each other. This is one reason people should work in harmony and produce unity on earth. Although political, social, and religious differences undermine world unity, the church must work to reconcile these elements to Christ.
4. Paralife International affirms that this is a world of purpose and that a purpose of Jesus Christ and His church is ultimate reconciliation of all creation.
The purpose of Christ and His church is to replace Satan’s usurped dominion and authority with Christ’s own legitimate dominion and authority. Real authority and power were wrested from Satan by Jesus while He hung on the cross. Jesus gave this power and authority to his newly created church. The church is Christ’s own body and His only true and legal representative on earth. Therefore, the church is the only legitimate heir of God’s creative power and authority. The purpose of this authority and power is to maintain victory over Satan and demonstrate to the world the saving and reconciliatory work of Jesus.
God’s power is not demanded, rather, it is commanded. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you…” “Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth.” These are not just good sayings. They are the words of God spoken for man’s edification. The Holy Spirit gives power to evangelize the world so that the converted can escape the world’s system through meekness. Jesus wants to reconcile all people to our Father. As the Church increases in number, accordingly, its influence over worldly systems will command diminutive power. The Church, by its redemptive nature, will influence the world’s systems, bringing them under God’s rule. This does not mean that the church will rule the earth, but rather, men with Biblical principled talents will be influencing the world system. No person can change history, but a covenanted and committed community can influence the future.
I must emphasize one important point. Man acting through his own talents and intelligence cannot reclaim the world for God. The Church, acting through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, can influence the world’s systems and by that affect the future of humankind.
5. Paralife International affirms the prophetic significance of the redeemed and covenanted community, as proclaimed and demonstrated by its ministry of reconciliation.
The local church should be a microcosm of God’s future kingdom. When the heart of the local church is ruled by God, God’s kingdom rule has come to that church and that church should expect miracles and wonders to confirm it. When spiritual power is demonstrated, then the kingdom has come to that place in that time. The local church, in its prophetic ministry, should be working to display God’s kingdom on earth through its ministry of reconciling the world to God. Evangelism is one means of beginning, but also, community involvement is essential. If the local church is a model of God’s kingdom, then churches should be influencing the world systems. This can be accomplished as Christians become active in community affairs. Christians must become active in local school districts, city and county councils as well as state and national politics. The world systems that operate in and upon the local church should be influenced by the redemptive nature of local church bodies.
A definition of the local church is a community (koinonia) of covenanted and committed people who are to be a corporate expression of Jesus Christ. The church is that process by which Christian people, on common ground (Christ), produce righteousness (Light and Salt), before a lost world.
6. Paralife International affirms an eschatology of victory in which the world systems are overcome by King Jesus and primal unity is achieved.
The end of this age will be when Jesus returns to the earth and receives His waiting bride. Until that time, the Church will continue its ministry of reconciliation. Eventually, all things will be reconciled to Christ. Death is the last enemy of Christ to be brought under Christ’s authority. Death will still be the enemy of the Church, but Christ will deal a final blow to even the death angel. This is victory, ultimate victory.
The Church has been so very deceived by Satan. Nothing is wrong with piety and perfection. However, while the church has been within its four walls becoming spiritually rich, Satan has reaped a windfall of victory. The local church wonders why there is evil in its own backyard. It wonders why Jesus has allowed technology to destroy earth right under its nose; it wonders why drugs are sold at the local elementary school; it wonders why the city council will not allow churches to deliver food the hungry; it wonders why churches cannot publicly promote and teach for or against a moral issue that has been raised to the level of a political issue; It may be that through these very phenomena that God will judge the nations and the church. But the church should not sit idly by and watch helplessly. The redeemed Church has the promise of victory, and it has the power in Christ to influence all segments of its environment. If the church does not act to influence these segments with the authority that Christ gave it, then judgment will fall, and it will begin at the house of the Lord. When the Church, with power, comes against the enemy of the kingdom, the enemy must flee.
Often the local church has historically been willing to escape these battles through the rapture. It is time that the church faces this fact; that with a rapture or without a rapture, the local church cannot escape its responsibility that Jesus entrusted to it. In Jesus’ opening salvo at Satan, He declared that the Church is the salt, that is, the preservative agent of God in the world. Paul also gave encouragement to the aware church when he said that “Greater is he that is within you than he that is in the world.” So why would the local church withdraw from this obligation? The church has been willing to withdraw from the battle and escape to heaven for, by and large, the local church has lost its power and influence in the community. All that it has left is the hope of heaven. Indeed, heaven is our final hope and ultimate reward, but we are told by Jesus in Luke 19, to “occupy until I come.” (KJV) The word “occupy” is defined in part as “to seize or take,” “to take possession,” or “to keep in possession.” Christ is telling us to battle for this earth until He returns to claim final and complete victory.
As local churches takes on the devil’s challenges, victory is guaranteed. As victory is gained, then the primal unity of creation will begin to be seen within the systems of the world. When the local church wins some of its battles, it will begin to see the interdependence of one Christian with another. It will also see the interdependence of each created world system upon another. God is one God, and His creation is also one.
7. Paralife International affirms that the family is the basic unit of society.
The family is the basic unit of society. The children of the family will be the future society. It is necessary to produce strong families to produce strong future societies. The family is important for several reasons. First, it should be a microcosm of God’s kingdom. The family, under the authority of the father, works for the benefit of one another. This benefit accrues to the community. It was through the family that God promised to bless the whole world. Second, it is through the family that God promised wealth, that is, the family, in God’s scheme, is the wealth producer of the world. This is in contrast to today’s idea of wealth production through either large corporations or state-controlled means of production.
The evangelistic community development program that Paralife has developed among the poor is for the purpose of strengthening the family through practicing good health habits and education.
OBJECTIVES AND GOALS OF PARALIFE
First, the objectives and goals that have been used to guide Paralife’s daily work will be briefly reviewed. These objectives are based around the ultimate objective of doing everything for the glory of Almighty God. They are divided into three major areas of local church life that Howard Snyder outlined in his book, Liberating the Church. Those three areas are Worship, Witness, and Community. The objectives and goals were developed from these three areas of local church life. Again, it might be helpful to say that Paralife believes that the local church should be a microcosm of God’s kingdom.
One might ask if the Bible would not serve as a guide for daily activity. As one reads the next few lines, one will see that Paralife’s objectives are firmly based in Scripture. From the beginning it was accepted that the Holy Spirit would be the guide for Paralife’s development. Consequently, the following objectives are the results of seeking Biblical principles on which to establish them.
The first objective is to see WORSHIP as a continuing activity of the local church body and community. Worship will arise from within the church as the body learns the necessity of individual and corporate repentance. Each individual needs to be forgiven for his misdeeds and sins, but also, the corporate body makes mistakes, and “we” need forgiveness. Where sin remains unforgiven, no true worship will be possible.
A second element in worship is praise. Praise is a multifaceted part of worship. It includes singing, glorifying God in silence or in audible voice, corporate and individual Bible study, and testimonies. But praise is also more than this. If the members of the church live holy lives, then that life is a praise unto God. This is seen easily when someone practices the Christian disciplines of joy, love, service, prayer, meditation, peace, etc.
A third element in worship is teaching and being taught. A purpose of the local church is to reveal Christ in all its activities. But Christ’s character as well as the activities that reveal His character need to be taught. The Scripture needs to be taught exegetically and for inspiration. The principles of God’s kingdom need to be taught so that even the children understand what God’s principles are and what they mean. World and local community events need to be discussed regarding their impact upon the local church and God’s work. Often, local church leaders are afraid to get involved with local issues fearing that they will offend someone in the community. The church needs to discuss the issues and what principles are involved. The congregation or community then can act according to the Biblical principles involved despite the offense created. This type of activity is redemptive in nature and will bring Christ to the forefront of the local community. This is also worship.
The second area of church life is COMMUNITY. By this term and in this usage, it is not to be understood in a geopolitical concept. Rather, it is to be understood as the household of God who meets and worships together. A purpose of community is to encourage discipline in community and individual lives through covenanted relationships based on Biblical principles. Commitment to each other is important, but there needs to be an understanding of the basis on which the covenant is based. In the Old Testament, the basis of covenant was the “Blood Covenant.” Even today, some people attempt to covenant on that basis. Others have written their own charter of covenant. And still others attempt to see the relational principles of the Bible and use these as a basis of covenant. Whatever basis that one chooses, all members of the community need to be informed of the criteria for covenant. If this is not done, then no covenant can exist.
The second purpose of community is to serve one another. The nature of Satan and of unregenerated man is to serve self. Jesus, on the other hand, gave us an example of serving others. He was a king and worthy to be served, yet He came to serve, not to be served. Learning to serve with joy is one of the graces that God gives to His community. Serving one another builds confidence in oneself and in the community. Serving one another is protection for the community. When the community is serving as it should be, there are no breaches in the wall allowing Satan an entrance.
The third purpose of community is to maintain an atmosphere in which the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit can constantly be manifested. Love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, patience, goodness, and self-control, what an environment to live in! Then added to this environment are the gifts of the Spirit that teach, guide, and correct. This is the microcosm of God’s universal kingdom.
The third area of church life is WITNESS. The local church, by its very character, should be a witness of God’s grace to the locality where it serves. When there is balance in the church, evangelism will not be a special event, but rather, it will be the normal expression of the church. Evangelization of nations and their people is one of the most understood purposes of the church. The commission of Jesus was to make disciples in every nation and teach them all that he had commanded. As the church grows through evangelization, then more and more influence will be applied to the world system. The world systems will not come under the influence of the Church simply because the local church exists. The Church will influence the systems of the world as new Christians take their places of redemptive influence within those very systems. Therefore, there is a need for more new Christians.
The second purpose of Witness is to serve the locality and fellow man. Saint Paul writing to the Ephesians made it clear that the purpose of the fivefold ministry was to prepare people for the works of service. Then Peter made the point that when the church served, the ungodly would see the good deeds and worship God. Serving the locality of the church manifests God’s love to His creation. The church has often forgotten who is to serve and who is to be served. For the kingdom to advance on earth, Biblical principles must be applied. Serving the community is not an option that the church may or may not choose to comply with. “Love your neighbor as yourself…” is a command of Jesus for He knew that serving was loving.
The third purpose of Witness is to reveal the church as a prophetic witness to the character of God’s kingdom on earth. The world will know of God’s character and His power only as it is shown through an example. The world will not listen any longer to talk, it wants action. During the past ten years, the local church has grown in number. There are more large churches and Christian T.V. programing than ever thought possible. Yet, during the same time humanistic laws that take away family responsibilities have increased. Why??? The answer is that local churches are not the microcosms of God’s kingdom that He intended. Many are organizations that function on humanistic principles. Where there is a local body functioning in God’s power and principle, it will influence the locality, it will influence the local school board, the city council, the state government and even the Federal government. This is the redemptive nature that God intended for His church.
Paralife International is not a church nor does the institution desire to replace any local church body. Paralife, through its ministry to churches, wants to influence local church bodies through application of Biblical principles as directed by the Holy Spirit. This is one reason Paralife intends to construct a church building, a clinic, and a school in each project where feasible. The goal of Paralife is to work through a local church body, teaching that local body by word and deed. When the local church learns how to meet the community’s spiritual and material needs, it will then begin to influence the local community.
Paralife’s Initial Operational Priorities
The purpose of the “Operational Priorities” was to give direction to daily administration during the initial period of operations. A first objective was to obtain legal status as a religious beneficent organization. This was accomplished by writing a constitution and bylaws and then electing a board of directors who would guide the organization. When these steps had been taken, application was made to the Salvadoran government for status as an incorporated organization within the country. Upon completion of this step, a permanent tax exemption status was requested and obtained.
The second objective was to choose a staff from a variety of church traditions. This would give a truly interdenominational character to the organization. In addition to and as a part of this objective was a lesser goal of organizing and participating in pastoral seminars and evangelistic campaigns.
The third objective was to develop a Social Reconciliation program through local church participation. This was done by the following steps:
Step 1: Develop a central clinic.
Step 2: Develop a community medical program.
Goal 1. Create an organization accepted by government, society, and local churches.
Goal 2. Manifest church concern for local misery.
Step 3: Develop a relationship with the national government.
Goal 1. Gain recognition of Paralife’s mission and personnel working for national benefit.
Goal 2. Facilitate movement of goods and services to those in need.
Step 4: Develop a program of community renewal through local churches or under local church general oversight.
Goal 1. Generate a general community diagnosis.
Goal 2. Create a health consciousness by emphasizing:
a. Community sanitation.
b. Nutritional problems.
c. Lack of individual and community hygiene.
d. Adequate clothing.
Goal 3. Create feeding and nutrition programs.
Goal 4. Create educational programs.
a. Develop an academic program for rural communities.
b. Develop a vocational program.
Goal 5. Create individual and family dignity.
a. Build housing facilities where possible.
b. Teach family responsibility.
c. Teach the dignity of man through Christ.
Goal 6. Create economic independence.
a. Develop small business enterprises.
b. Assimilation to local community.
c. Teach appropriate gardening techniques.
The fourth objective was to evaluate the above outlined program. The fifth objective was to seek and develop qualified local people who could permanently direct Corporacion Ministerios Para Vida (Paralife’s official name in El Salvador).
Step 1: Seek potential leaders.
Step 2: Hire and involve them in Para Vida operations.
Step 3: Generate local funding for:
a. Executive salaries.
b. General office rent.
c. Operations cost of transportation.
At the time of this writing, all of the above operational priorities have been met. Some priorities have been fulfilled more completely than others, but all to some extent. It needs to be recognized that this has not been the work of a man, but rather, it has been the work of the Holy Spirit.
CONCLUSION: The original purpose for Paralife International was to proclaim God’s message of spiritual and social reconciliation and demonstrate it to El Salvador. God clearly spoke to Paralife and showed that our deeds and words should be for “discipling the nation of El Salvador.” It was never intended that Paralife have perpetual life, rather, that only as long as God gave the organization life to fulfil its purpose would the organization continue to exist. The goal was for local churches to accept the challenge of preaching and practicing Biblical principles of spiritual and social reconciliation to El Salvador’s poor and needy.
God will use the poor and the needy to build His church. This does not exclude the wealthy and powerful. Instead, as each person begins to see his or her place in the kingdom of God, then each will begin to fulfill the role that God has intended for that person. It is important to remember that God’s kingdom includes all people of all races and all social levels. God has simply called Paralife to minister among the poor and needy, and we are attempting to fulfill that responsible vision.
God gives vision to all who will be quiet and patient enough to hear. To some, the message may not be clear, to others it may be misunderstood, and yet, to those who hear the music of God’s trumpet, it is precise. The vision may come through the face of a young child whose stomach is full of parasites, or it may come through a small inner voice of intuition, or it may come through insight and inspiration gained through God’s word. To those who have a heart for God’s kingdom, the vision will come.
August 10, 1992
CubieSphere 