My wife, Lori, and I spent a week in Bolivia, accompanied by Rocky and Joske. We spent a good bit of time speaking in schools, both city and rural, and observing teacher and parent training. In addition we spent a lot of time as we traveled and ate with Rocky, Joske and the team, discussing how the ministry works today and their vision going forward. We also spent a couple half days in the office of Mission Generation In Bolivia ( seeing the actual values curriculum & associated organization) discussing the implementation with its leaders. Since Lori did a better job than I could in summarizing the details of our trip and time with Rocky and Joske, and since I’ve already provided some in depth thoughts to Rocky about what he could include in a “dashboard” to help others keep track of Mission Generation in Bolivia(MG) status and progress, I will focus this report on my key observations. Many of these overlap much of what Lori had to say as well as current MG literature, but I haven’t tried to filter out the commonality. Hopefully restating things may provide additional insights or perspective.
What Stands out about Mission Generation
- Anyone that has spent any time with Rocky knows that he is driven and would run headfirst through a brick wall if that is what he believes God is telling him to do. I also found him to be refreshingly very open to new ideas and constructive feedback. It was great to get to know Joske and discover that she is just as dedicated, though in perhaps a softer way. Some days she translated for us all morning and afternoon as we spoke to the kids and then did a training session for the parents in the evening. While Lori and I got to trade off talking, Joske was always at it. Her energy level and passion for the message captured the audience and her heart shown through. Perhaps just as critically, we found that she provided a great balance to Rocky’s aggressive desire for action, with thoughtful consideration and confident assertiveness when needed. They seem to have great respect for each other and make a great team.
- Mission Generation has a tremendous reach in Bolivia in terms of the locales they cover, the number of children, parents & teachers they reach and the apparent impact of their program. This is particularly impressive in consideration of the small number of people in Mission Generation organization in Bolivia and the limited amount of funding they have for their operation. With just a double hand full of people in Bolivia they are attempting to reach somewhere between 1/3 and ½ of the country on a very slim budget compared to most international ministries.
- In general, the kids, parents and teachers seem to be much more receptive than what you would find in the U.S. They don’t seem to suffer from the pride of self sufficiency we have in much of our country and are hungry for a message of hope. In the classrooms where we spoke it was typical for the majority of students to raise their hands when asked if they’d like to ask Jesus into their hearts. In a few classes it was almost unanimous. It is impossible to tell in these situations the full sincerity of their response but even if it is due to peer pressure it is peer pressure in the right direction versus toward destructive behavior. At the very least a seed is planted and the on-going Mission Generation Bolivia’s lessons can reinforce the message on a daily basis.
- Many of the key recipients of Mission Generation Bolivian’s program have a huge desire to help & dedication to the kids. We met district directors, teachers and school principals that were extremely passionate about helping the kids in their schools and the potential for this program. One Principal, though she was within a few years of mandatory retirement, walked us around a school with broken windows, dirt blowing through the walk ways and open areas of the school and told us of her dreams of putting up a building to support vocational training on one end, a large play field on the other, and a solid wall around the school to reduce vandalism. A director for one of the rural districts proudly told us how, after getting his law degree, he returned to this locale and built the programs, how many of his students were going on to the University and how his son had followed in his footsteps. Mission Generation Bolivia is not a program being forced on these people. It is a tool that they can use to help achieve their dreams for the kids.
- Mission Generation Bolivia is a very family oriented program in a culture where so many of the families are broken and dysfunctional. Their curriculum for the kids emphasizes the importance of family and key principles on how to make family work. Their training for the parents – many of whom came from miles away, mostly walking or by bike, after a long day of working – dealt with key issues of marriage, love, respect and conflict resolution. There was a hunger in the parents who flocked around Joske afterwards with questions about their specific concerns. Mission Generation Bolivia emphasizes healing at the foundation of the culture – the family.
- MG & MG Bolivia, seem to have a good reputation and respect in the country and with other aid organizations. For example, we saw where they are working hand in hand with World Servants, a Dutch group, to build a kindergarten at a rural school with the aid of labor and materials from the local community. All the school administrators and teachers we met, some experiencing for the first time an outside Mission Generation Bolivia presentation, were greatly interested and supportive.
- Bolivian leadership of Mission Generation Bolivia (particularly Erica & Carlos) seem to be highly capable, engaged and dedicated. They definitely seem to have a feeling of ownership for the success of the organization and have a good business sense. We understand that this is unusual in a country where the culture is to look out for yourself and take advantage of whoever you can. I did not sense an attitude of entitlement that we are told is the norm for employees in Bolivia. They seem entrepreneurial and enthusiastic about making Mission Generation Bolivia a success.
- Unlike many aid organizations and missions, MG/MG Bolivia, emphasizes the model of helping the people help themselves. “Give a man a fish and you’ll feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you’ll feed him for a life time.” They regularly bring in people like us from the U.S. and abroad to make presentations in the schools, and even sometimes municipal rallies, in order to bring attention to the program and overtly present the gospel. However, the heart of their program is a curriculum taught weekly in the schools by the regular teachers and purposefully tied to other subjects being taught. In the evenings they have classes for the parents, led by resident Bolivians. Mission Generation Bolivia teaches principles for living and shows how they are meaningful in the day to day activities and lessons that the kids, families and teachers are facing.
What is UNIQUE about Mission Generation?
While all of the above really stand out about MG, there are other ministries and organizations for which many of the same things could be said. However, there are a few things that are truly unique about MG, at least from my experience and observations:
- The heart of MG/MG Bolivia, is a program that gets almost daily reinforcement throughout a school year. It isn’t a one time, high hype event but rather a program that teaches God’s principles on an on-going basis, in the same environment and with the same credibility of the rest of the academic classes. It reaches children at an early age, before they are most vulnerable, and then reaches their teachers and parents through what they care about most – their children. Outside visitors, speakers and rallies provide a means of delivering the Gospel clearly and directly — hooking the students and teachers into the program — but the meat of the ministry is the regular lessons taught by the regular, indigenous teachers. Biblical principles and teachings are woven through these lessons and the prayer of salvation is as close as the back page of the text book. These principles are expanded and reinforced over and over throughout the school year.
- In the spirit of “teach a man to fish”, MG sells and implements much of their program through Mission generation Bolivia, a nonprofit NGO made up of Bolivians. In this way, it is not a bunch of outsiders telling them what they should think, do or say, but their own people working day in and day out to spread the program.
- Government and local school support for the program are essential elements to Mission Generation Bolivia’s success. The districts, schools, parents and students feel ownership for the program and material because they have invested in it. The government certification of the program and insistence that its key principles are taught throughout the country provides a barrier to entry for other, competing philosophies or agendas. In fact, the government requirements are often used to win over reluctant participants. Joske told us of one teacher who argued against the God/spirituality part of the program. Her response to him was to read the government requirement that such things must be part of the curriculum and ask how else he was going to meet that requirement. The main thing that sells the program to often agnostic teachers and administrators and totalitarian government officials is the success it has brought in reducing unwed pregnancies, school drop outs and drug problems as well as the self-worth built into the students that has led to their becoming valuable, contributing members of society. This is then a direct, positive reflection on Jesus and the Bible from which the principles are derived.
- Mission Generation is now in a unique position to take this outreach to all of Latin America. The certification of the program by the Bolivian government makes it automatically accepted in other Latin American countries. They already have multiple other countries begging for the program. The approval by the Catholic Church as well as protestant evangelicals makes it universally accepted in the region.
- Perhaps most impressive, God’s Spirit must be moving in a mighty way. For a program to grow out of a “mom and pop” operation in one of the poorest countries in Latin America, with an essentially totalitarian government run by the president of the cocaine growers union can only be attributed to the glory of God and the working of the Holy Spirit. The fact that these governments and some of the poorest people in the region are helping to fund the program so that the cost is minimal can only be a God thing. As I Corinthians 1:27-29 says: “but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.”
What are the Key Challenges?
Based on Lori and my observations over the week, there are a few key challenges that stood out to us:
- MG/MG Bolivia is currently limited by resources, both money and people, not opportunity. They operate on a very small budget and yet need additional people to get the message about the curriculum out to the schools, sell them on its efficacy, and train the teachers and parents. This is largely a cashflow issue. Once the material has been picked up by a school or district it quickly pays for itself (i.e. the money received pays for the material used) but the expenses of meeting with the various government and school officials to initially sell the concept and then train everyone to use it must be spent before the payments for the material are received. Thus, as with any growth venture, the cash to grow must be provided up front. Some of this funding goes to material but most of it goes to the people that sell and initiate the program. Attracting, training and retaining the best people for this endeavor are the biggest challenges.
- As mentioned above, Bolivia presents a challenging environment. While it is a testament to God’s power that such a program is distributed with the approval and support of an essentially totalitarian and often corrupt government, these conditions none the less present real issues. When an official that has signed off on bringing the programs to their district is jailed for political reasons, the process must begin again from the start and the funds expended to date on that thrust are lost. Laws can change overnight. It is very difficult to let someone go once employed, no matter their performance. Bribery and fraud are part of how business is done and government decisions are made. Culturally, they are an expected part of the process. Temptations of kickbacks and corruption from this process are constant challenges to Mission Generation’s staff that are out selling the program.
- Our conclusion was that the training that Joske leads (mostly by training the trainers) is one of the most critical factors in the success of the program. Most of their trainees (teachers, parents, trainers) don’t know many of the things we take for granted. When a group of parents was asked if love was an emotion or a decision, all who were willing to venture a reply said “emotion”. The idea that it could be a decision, without always involving emotion was novel to them. Rocky & Joske have worked hard to make the material and training positive in a culture that emphasizes what not to do. Thus learning how to present a positive, upbeat message in training is essential and not readily understood. The trainers must be engaging (in different ways for different audiences) to be successful. Many in their audience are tired from hard physical labor and discouraged and will not be reached by dry and strictly factual presentations. Joske is key to the success to date in Bolivia, in our opinion. Her knowledge, passion, skills in presentation and heart make it work. To multiply the ministry she needs to find and train others with similar make up and motivations.
- Mission Generation has an aggressive and far reaching plan: to reach Latin America through their program. While God can and will miraculously empower them, they must still be of sound mind and balance the opportunity and passion for Latin America against overreaching and the risk of not being effective because they are spread too thin or because they moved too soon.
Suggestions
I am currently reading a book called “When Helping Hurts” (by Brian Fikkert, et. al.). One of the main points of the book is that “the economically rich often have ‘god-complexes,’ a subtle and unconscious sense of superiority in which they believe that they have achieved their wealth through their own efforts and that they have been anointed to decide what is best for low-income people, whom they view as inferior to themselves.” So it is with some trepidation that I offer any feedback. Let me first acknowledge that I have been exceptionally blessed by God and all that I have and am are the result of skills, knowledge, upbringing, family, training and opportunities that were given to me by grace alone. None the less, Rocky asked for my feedback so I offer the following for consideration with the caveat that it is based on a limited, one week exposure and should be filtered through those with “feet on the ground” day in and day out!
- I think an operating plan – essentially a planned budget for the fiscal year vs. expected income & cashflow statement – would be helpful in managing Mission Generation Bolivia throughout the year as well as communicating current status to the BOD. I provided some input on what a “dashboard” might contain in a separate email to Rocky.
- Rocky has bemoaned the fact that when he presents MG to businessmen they start evaluating it too much as a start up company and when he presents it to normal church goers they also sometimes view it as more of a business than a ministry. In both cases it may get in the way of fund raising. I would suggest that it be presented as a ministry augmented by government and individual support primarily for their ownership/ valuation of the program and materials. The in-country NGO can be explained as helping the indigenous people help their own vs. a “business venture”. I personally believe that while the program material, distribution and portions of the maintenance and training could become financially self-sustaining as Rocky envisions, there will always be a need to augment that with funds for training the trainers to keep the heart of the program pure and motivate the passion in the trainers. I also believe that funding of visiting speakers and rallies should continue to be funded through MG so that the direct presentation of the Gospel is never controlled by the government and schools and momentum lost. I believe sometimes a different perspective, (e.g. as a start up company that just needs to get to sustainability), can detract from the desire of donors and the above could help mitigate that. (P.S. I would avoid referring to MG Bolivia staff tasked to get schools and municipalities to buy into the program as “salespeople”. No one wants to make a donation to a “salesman” J).
- Focus on excellence in the training program. As discussed above, this seems to be one of the most important elements to making the program work. This needs to include not only the information and skills to present the program but also the heart. Finding ways to disciple the key leadership of MG Bolivia, so that you are developing their hearts as well as their business skills could yield great dividends.
- A closer tie to local churches would be a big plus. There seems to be a great need for a spiritual “home” for the children and families as they grow in their faith. Perhaps training programs in the churches could help align the way they view MG Bolivia and tie into what it is doing in the schools.
- Finding ways to hire new sales & training personnel from MG Bolivia success stories could help. Getting people that have grown up with MG Bolivia and had it make a big difference in their lives would likely lead to staff that are passionate about their jobs. One win-win-win approach might be to offer scholarships & internships for students in the MG Bolivia program – pay for university costs as well as offer an intern job and potential long term employment at MG Bolivia. This could help generate excitement for MG Bolivia in the schools, provide a good opportunity to select the best students early, give the students motivation to work hard and pay attention to the material, and even be a good way to raise funds (“sponsor a scholarship/internship”).
- Finding ways to tie fund raising initiatives to specific, tangible allocations. I think the “$1/child” to share the gospel through the MG Bolivia material, or sponsoring a class or school or district, are powerful draws but I think some people also like to know that their donations are going to something more tangible or someone specifically. The risk, of course, is that this designated giving will leave the basic day to day needs of the ministry under funded as they may seem less exciting but, if done right, hopefully this could be avoided. Some specific ideas are:
- The scholarship/internship described above.
- Another might be paying the salary (or part of the salary) for a key MG Bolivia staff member.
- One time rallies and visiting speakers is yet another.
- Establishing campaigns to bring MG to a new Latin American country might be especially powerful and provide a focused drive beyond the on-going MG giving. By “campaign” I mean a one time global emphasis for a period of time on raising the funds required to get a solid start in a country such as Chile or the Dominican Republic. It should:
- Paint a picture of that particular country, its needs and how MG will address them
- Show the growth curve and likely outreach numbers
- Show that you already have the right leadership (ideally by name & description) and government support in place and all you need is the initial funding.
- Maybe a “push it to the finish line” campaign for Bolivia might also be helpful to get to the sustainable level and get the right leadership staff in place so Rocky & Joske can move their focus to other countries.
Any numbers that can be provided to back up the claims of major reductions in unwed pregnancy, school drop outs, drug abuse, family problems, etc. as well as children, parents and teachers reached would be helpful. One of the responses we hear most when discussing MG (or after Rocky has given his impassioned vision) is that “it sounds too good to be true”. I think some of that is unavoidable as a powerful movement of God is always going to seem “too good to be true” but verifiable facts to demonstrate the results you are seeing would likely help.
