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Tune into CNN these days and you have a decent chance of hearing Pentagon brass explaining to a mildly surprised American public why air power alone cannot win the war in Afghanistan. People not savvy about military affairs assume that the stunning superiority and Star Wars technology of America’s air militia should do the trick. But some things can only happen on the ground.

Sure, we’d like a remote control war. Since Desert Storm, we suppose that we can zoom into battle, establish utter air superiority unscathed, and then bomb our way to complete victory.

Those unmanned spy planes are the ultimate in security. Fly one around and get great reconnaissance with no more worry than losing a x million dollar piece of equipment. But it doesn’t work that way. The Taliban tide turned only after some American soldiers put their feet on the Afghan desert. Even in the 21st century, nobody wins a war without getting up close and personal.

The parallels to missionary service are clear. Afghanistan’s war reminds us that we can’t expect to see the church of Jesus Christ advance while we merely hover over the territory with our finest distance ministries. Mind you, we very much need the contribution of short-termers, researchers, pray-ers, facilitators and mobilizers. But eventually, somebody has to get on the ground. Somebody has to move into the culture and do the in-your-face work of incarnational ministry.

That doesn’t play so well in too many North American congregations. We like the security of zooming in and back out. Short-term trips, like laser-guided bombing runs, are high on adrenaline and adventure. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, lots of good comes from distance ministries, including short-term trips. But we mustn’t entertain the misguided notion that long-distance alone will do the job.

Trouble is, we may be. For the four-year period between 1992 and 1996, short-term missionary trips of two weeks to four years grew by 63 percent, those of one to four years increased 28 percent, while in the same period, long-term missionary efforts gained one percent.

On-the-ground, long-haul missionary service hasn’t always been a radical idea. There was a time when it wasn’t considered a big deal for a missionary family to move-permanently, more or less, to some foreign locale. Somehow we seemed to understand that security and missionary service are opposite ends of a spectrum. We need to rediscover that truth.

A church I know recently sent a young couple and baby to a remote tribal village in the Arctic for a church-planting ministry. Some people in their church regarded such an assignment unworthy of their Hollywood good looks, winsome personalities and obvious gifts. The mission pastor endured some angry questioning at the audacity of it.

To their credit, the same congregation enthusiastically sends almost 200 short-termers all over the world every summer. But this young family wasn’t coming right back, and somehow that didn’t compute. Now that the deed is done, were they to suffer any serious difficulty, I wonder if any answer by church and mission leaders would stem the torrent of blame.

That’s Star Wars thinking. People in unreached communities need someone to live out the Truth in their world, speaking their language, sharing their angst . . . in short, demonstrating the gospel as a function of their context.

The Word who became flesh and dwelt among us still calls some to the same model. Only from such stout obedience will the task be completed.

Gary Brumbelow is general director of InterAct Ministries, Boring, Ore.

January 11, 2002 – Vol. 37, No. 1