Evangelism

World Vision's evangelistic bias appears in many forms. World Vision's aid is normally channeled through selected Christian churches, normally Protestant.

The following letter written this year by a New Zealander formerly working in Cambodia provides an insight into how the World Vision aid game is played:

"In Cambodia, World Vision was involved in a project with the Khmer Evangelical Church (KEC), to provide assistance to families for feeding, clothing, educating children, on the condition that the children attended a KEC sunday school - and then the KEC had the audacity to boast of the growing numbers attending their Sunday School.

The point is accentuated in a letter written last year by a US Volag volunteer working in Vietnam to David Marr of the Indochina Resource Centre of California:

"Most of the World Vision assistance is channeled through local churches who have agreed to follow the Christian religion. For example, they help support 1,000 children in Quang Ngai who have lost one or both parents. Under the rationale that they have limited resources only 'protestant' children are helped by these funds. It is not surprising that this has encouraged the phenomenom of 'rice Christians'. The Vietnamese describe this phenomenom with the proverb: Het gao, lay dao, nui ion (Food craved, get saved, feed your children.)

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World Vision's evangelical message is disseminated in a variety of ways. A letter from Alison Arblaster of the Australian Student Christian Movement recounts some observations made by Jean Skuse of the Australian Council of Churches:

"In the Phillipines in 1972. Jean visited a World Vision hospital - very isolated hill, very small, they had piped bible texts playing virtually all day -texts in English. The patients couldn't understand English anyway. When asked if the piped texts were ever turned off, the reply was yes, they're turned off when visiting evangelists are around to talk."

World Vision's childcare, sponsorship and adoption programme is centred upon Christianity. To quote World Vision:

"Ours is a ministry to a total need -physical, spiritual and emotional. Christian leadership.... both by example and teaching is an integrated and natural part of the programme. In no sense is Christian profession a condition of receiving aid - youngsters are helped on the basis of need; they learn about the love of Jesus.

Even in the area of extreme' need. World Vision persists in spreading the gospel. When Viet Kits (part of World Vision's Emergency Relief) are distributed, Scripture portions are included with them. We wonder if all New Zealanders who supported the Viet Kits were aware of this;

Despite the broadly evangelistic nature of all World Vision projects, the organisation has a special section specifically directed towards evangelism. Through this programme. World Vision of New Zealand provides scripture memory courses, and bible correspondence courses for approximately 30,000 people in Indonesia and Malaysia. Evangelistic kits, consisting of casette players and tapes, as well as Bible correspondence courses are sent throughout Indonesia.

Mr Renner has said that only 2% of World Vision New Zealand's budget is earmarked for evangelistic Christian leadership training areas.

The American Branch of World Vision allocates 30% of its funds to such programmes

According to official figures. World Vision of New Zealand divides its aid into the following categories:

Childcare ministries	75%
Relief and Development work	23%
Evangelistic outreach & Christian Leadership training	2%