WHAT DO WE MEAN?
In our Horizons’ formation we try to use clear language that is commonly used and understood. We do this for several reasons. First, Jesus used plain language in order to include as many listeners as possible. Second, the ministry God has called us to is global and we are operating in multiple languages. Clear and simple communication in whatever first language we are using, for example, English, Spanish, or Cambodian, makes translation easier and more precise. In this way, less meaning is lost in translation. Third, when we take the time to carefully examine our word choices in order to communicate simply and cross-culturally, we are less likely to use words or expressions that are unique to only one culture.
However, our Horizons Team will also try to speak and write as visually as possible, and that is not always simple. Jesus constantly exhorted people to have “eyes to see and ears to hear” in order to receive expressions of good news. He knew that tired eyes and bored ears rarely appreciate true meaning and seldom lead to change. Jesus told stories in powerful visual language and used phrases like “born again” in order to awaken the imagination and open the heart. We hope to communicate as deeply and visually as possible while keeping it as simple and inclusive as possible. There will be times when we don’t succeed, and we invite you to use this material in a way that is most helpful to your context and formation needs. We also invite your feedback in this learning process that is mutual.
Occasionally, we will break from the pattern of using words or phrases commonly understood because new wine deserves new wineskins. So, expect to see a few words that are not commonly understood beyond Christian ministry communities—indeed we may occasionally use terms, like “Kingdom eyes,” that are not even used beyond the InnerCHANGE family. For this reason, we include a glossary on this formation website that defines key terms.
The terms, Remainers, Returners, and Relocators are so important to our understanding of forming good news agents among the poor that we will define and discuss them here, up front. These three words that Dr. John Perkins calls the 3 R’s, are helpful words he created to describe important categories of mission workers that he identified over years and years of doing Christian community development in the margins. Although Dr. Perkins coined these terms in the English language, the meanings he gives them are so specific to incarnational ministry in the margins that his definitions do not currently appear in English dictionaries. These three terms are extremely useful to us in understanding the perspectives of InnerCHANGE members who come from very different backgrounds. A good understanding of these three perspectives can build a climate of mutual appreciation on a dynamic new team.
It has been wisely noted that a point of view is also a view from a point. Points of view are limited. All three of these perspectives have advantages and disadvantages, and the more self-aware we are, the better. It can be helpful to create teams that combine more than one perspective, or “views from a point.” However, good self-awareness is really the key. Ministering together in community as listeners and learners provides many opportunities to grow in self-awareness in an “iron-sharpening-iron” way.
Remainers
Remainers are people born and raised in a community, or at least have lived so long in a community it has become home and the place they feel most like they are their true selves. In slums and barrios that are relatively new, Remainers are the people who have lived there for a long time. Remainers have the most at stake in seeing transformation in their community, for themselves and for their children. They are insiders who can communicate in the “heart language.” Usually, they know the most about a community, its people and its history, so their knowledge, instincts, and intuitions are extremely valuable. Furthermore, the Spirit of God usually chooses to use the broad relationship networks of Remainers to multiply disciples and grow a movement of Good News. The fact is, that most people come to Christ through the efforts of people they love and trust, not through the efforts of an outside evangelist, no matter how gifted. Remainers are absolutely key in unlocking the potential of people networks built on love and trust.
However, Remainers can grow blind to aspects of the community simply because they have become so familiar, or because their sights are set on moving out. Furthermore, Remainers can sometimes get stuck in a point of view, especially a negative one that can be summed up in the phrase from the Bible: “Nothing good can come out of Nazareth.” Likewise, Remainers can grow cynical in their viewpoints of one another and this can limit belief in God’s ability to use other residents. Jesus warned against this condition when he pointed out that prophets are often not appreciated in their hometowns. Similarly, Remainers as individuals can be perceived unfavorably and unfairly by neighbors simply because there was “negative family history” in the past.
Returners
Returners are people who started in the community but have left to pursue other opportunities and to gain other perspectives or have been forced to leave their homeland through little or no choice of their own. Returners bring many advantages to a mission team working for transformation. Having lived in more than one context, they are able to compare and contrast creatively in a way that they can identify “the best of both worlds.” If they left the community to study or work in another language, culture, or even another country, they return with the wisdom and experience of being bicultural and bilingual. Thus, they can be connectors or bridges for the community to people and resources beyond the neighborhood. On mission teams, specifically, they can help Remainers and Relocators better understand one another. If they have enjoyed success beyond the neighborhood, Returners can be a source of pride for communities in the margins and a model of someone who has “made it.” Furthermore, someone returning to the community can be an inspiring sign of hope to a slum or barrio where people are accustomed to watching their children leave in order to gain opportunities or to simply survive.
On the other hand, Returners, often through no fault of their own, can be resented by community members who believe Returners think they are better than those who have always remained in the community. Moses faced this when two Hebrews accused him: “Who made you a prince and judge over us?” They can be perceived by fellow community members as a threat to the norm, or status quo, which may be built on a systemic trauma that powerful people in the community perpetuate. Returners can be under-appreciated for the energy it takes to act as a bridge between people of different backgrounds. The bridge role can also present challenges to a Returner’s sense of identity. Finally, Returners can lose patience with slow change or lack of change in the community if they have experienced rapid mobility in other contexts.
Relocators
Relocators are people that come from outside the community. Missiologists Steve Bevans and Roger Schroeder describe relocating as ‘entering someone else’s garden.’ In the beginning of a transformation process in a community, Relocators have the most to learn and perhaps the least to offer. This is particularly true if they are not just coming from outside the neighborhood but are coming from a completely different cultural background and must learn language and culture. Additionally, Relocators coming from outside the country/continent often face problems of securing long-term visas.
Setting up for basic life in the new location can be very challenging. If Relocators come to the host communities as families, the degree of difficulty in adjusting cross-culturally is usually considerably magnified. Deciding on educational pathways for children is especially important. Helping children adjust culturally and make friendships, especially if they “look different” and are singled out positively or negatively by other children, can be complex.
Relocators face the most daunting challenges of the Three R’s in incarnational mission. But when they turn their immediate disadvantages into assets, and humbly “grow up in the community,” they can be powerful pioneer members or even leaders of new teams. If they posture as learners and prioritize relationships in the community, residents who act as mentors gain a sense of pride in them. For some local leaders, the process of mentoring Relocators in language, culture and community dynamics may be the first time they have had opportunity to help develop someone from outside the community, and this can instill confidence. Furthermore, if Relocators come from middle-income or wealthy contexts to enter a slum, barrio, or inner-city community, this can be seen by residents as a sign of the Upside-down Kingdom of God. This “reverse flow” can also inspire hope.
InnerCHANGE has a rich history of examples of Relocators who have made the margins home, raised children there, and formed deep bonds of friendship.
However, Relocators who struggle continuously to sustain themselves in context can add burdens to local leaders as well as a team of Remainers and Returners. More importantly, Relocators who come from the dominant mainstream of society and are accustomed to privilege must guard against a sense of entitlement in the margins, particularly when it comes to assumptions about leadership. Relocators from the West who pursue calls to mission in the Global South must be vigilant against motivations that reflect “saviorism.” White Westerners, especially, should be alert to expressions of white supremacy that they may be blind to, growing up with white privilege. Furthermore, members of InnerCHANGE that come from countries with complex histories of colonial empires must be especially careful and prayerful.
On the other hand, Relocators who come from countries with deep missionary heritages should also be conscious of positive historic examples left by missionaries who lived sacrificially. We say in InnerCHANGE that “the future grows out of the past.” Appreciating and learning from historic missionaries can help us make better, more informed starts, and keep us from “starting all over” in arrogance or ignorance in every new generation of mission workers.
In light of the effort it takes for Relocators to adjust incarnationally, especially for those who come from a very different language and culture, we must ask ourselves: “Is it worth it?” Our experience in InnerCHANGE leads us to say, “Yes, it is worth it.” Relocators can create a very important bridge of mutual learning and understanding between poor communities and the mainstream that brings the Kingdom of God into truer focus for all. Sometimes their lack of familiarity in a culture combined with a humble eagerness to learn can provoke questions that open neighbors to fresh perspectives. God delights in the spontaneous way people of diverse cultures can come together and break patterns where people of the same culture may get stuck.
Finally, Relocators can experience joy and open pathways to gratitude in community relationships in ways neighbors perhaps have come to take for granted. A good example of special appreciation between cultures in Jesus’ ministry took place when ten people afflicted with leprosy were healed but only one, a Samaritan, returned to thanks Jesus. Gratitude and appreciation are significant forces that release power for good in marginal communities.
Blessed are the Feet of Those Who Bring Good News
Over many years in InnerCHANGE, we have found these terms, Remainers, Returners, and Relocators to be helpful in identifying the potential contributions and anticipating the needs of three broad categories of missionaries. However, we recognize that the “Three R’s” are not tight definitions. They are useful simplifications, but they do not capture the deep identities and full experience of everyone called to mission. For example, a Salvadoran immigrant who lives many years in the US and then relocates to Honduras with a call to mission will encounter some of the feelings and experiences of a Relocator. But he/she may also feel more like a Returner than a Relocator because Honduras represents a return to Central America and a culture that is familiar.
Whether you are a Remainer, Returner or Relocator, or are have a background that is a combination of two or more of these perspectives, you are a gift to us, and we appreciate your contribution. As the Horizons Team, we bless you in the power of the Spirit to pursue humbly the fulness of Micah 6:8: to love practically, live prophetically, and walk personally with Christ among people in poverty.
