Lausanne World Pulse – Themed Articles – Integrity and Accountability in Reporting Missions Statistics
August 2011
Case Study
Pastor Kusa was a great church planter. I’m not sure how many churches he planted, but there were many. Well known in the villages of our district, many called upon him for special occasions. Whether he conducted a Muslim or a Christian funeral, the man preached fearlessly that Jesus was the Son of God. One day, I stopped at Pastor Kusa’s house, greeted him, and told him that the main office wanted him to fill out his annual church report. I left him a copy of a form and told him I would soon collect it.
Within a week, I returned for the report and found that he had filled it out completely. I greeted his family and climbed back into my truck. Before taking off, I decided to have a look at it.
I must have had an odd look on my face because Pastor Kusa, waiting for me to drive away, came up to my window. In his language, he asked, “What has you?” I replied, “Oh, it’s nothing. You have done a good job with this. Did someone help you complete it?” He smiled broadly and told me that his friend Ibrahim, a Muslim, had helped him. Again, I told him he had done a good job.
However, “what had me” was Pastor Kusa’s response to one of the questions: “How many R.A.s1 are in your church?” His answer was 33.
I looked at the question; then, I looked back at Pastor Kusa. He was still smiling. I asked, “Pastor Kusa, can you tell me what an R.A. is?” He thought a bit and shrugged his shoulders. I continued, “But you have the number 33 here on the form where it asks that question.” Again, he smiled.
After a moment, he volunteered an answer: “I answered everything. Now, the people at the home office will be happy.” With that rationale, he assured himself that his annual report was adequate. I added a note to his report, and turned it over to the home office with my stack of similar reports.
Is there evidence of integrity and accountability here? Was Pastor Kusa telling the truth? No, he didn’t have 33 R.A.s in his church. Yes, he wanted his superiors to be happy with him. Even with my comments added, I dutifully moved the reports up-line. Others, receiving the reports from the four corners of the country, compiled and reported the results to others. It goes without saying that improvements to the process were needed. Let’s look closer at what we are after—integrity and accountability in reporting mission statistics.
Integrity
Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, defines integrity as an “uncompromising adherence to a code of . . . values: utter sincerity, honesty, and candor.” Concerning ethical management and organizational integrity, Robert D. Herman and Associates write that “integrity has to do with continuity between appearance and reality, between intention and action, between promise and performance, in every aspect of a person’s or an organization’s existence.”2
Accountability
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition, defines accountability as a furnishing or reckoning to “account for one’s acts.” That is, accountability implies that if challenged, one can provide some evidence of statements made to others, such as provided in a journal, book, or other set of materials. This evidence may support assumptions completely, or it may provide caveats that call for further analysis and interpretation.
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Jim R. Haney has been director of Global Research, IMB since 2005. IMB, formerly International Missions Board, is the international mission agency of the Southern Baptist Convention, USA. Before coming to Global Research, IMB in 1999, Haney served for eighteen years in Nigeria and Ghana as a student worker, church developer, and mission director. He holds a DMin from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. |