With Taliban's release of Korean Christian hostages, caution for missionaries

Broadly speaking, the Koreans in Afghanistan operated on a 19th-century missionary model that has evolved considerably in the US, says David Heim, editor of The Christian Century, a magazine in Chicago. "American churches going out to the world and converting people has been critiqued for a century, and most have learned from the criticism," notes Mr. Heim. "The South Korean churches seem to be in that older independent evangelical model of going off alone. Today relatively few mainline American churches do this. Most send small teams that partner with indigenous churches and local believers. It's more collaborative."

In the 1950s and '60s, mainline Protestants in the West began to help various independence movements in developing nations, and to work in social-justice causes abroad – but only where invited, and in an equal partnership with locals.

By the 1980s and 1990s, a rise in evangelicalism brought more fervor among Christians to go to new areas – including states in the former Soviet Union and Central Asia.

New way: work with locals

Serious mainline Christians who feel that sharing the gospel is part of the natural activity of their faith point to a long history of learning-by-doing among missionaries. The World Council of Churches has a "Commission on World Mission and Evangelism" that teaches this history and advocates that Christians learn the lessons of earlier missionaries.

Marian McClure, former director of worldwide ministries for the Presbyterian Church (USA) points out that, "The older organizations devoted to mission [do] work hard at not having to relearn lessons learned through mistakes made. The newer ones too often repeat those mistakes, but ... they also bring fresh energy and boldness and vision."

In the early 1990s, Presbyterians sent missionaries to Central Asia that had either lived there before or had mastered a local language. The approach built on conversations with indigenous believers, says Ms. McClure: "This proved to be a good security strategy as well. There have been many instances where US expatriates sent by mainline churches were kept safe by their hosts."

More workers, more killed

In the past decade, the number of NGOs has risen sharply, as have incidents of violence against them, say Larchu of Médecins du Monde and Martin of Mercy Corps. "More than 80 humanitarian workers were killed in 2006 – that's more than UN soldiers," says Larchu.

The number of religious groups is also rising and work closely with secular groups. "Worldvision, the Aga Khan Foundation, Catholic Relief Services – which makes no attempt to hide its name – they channel their faith into humanitarian efforts," says Martin. "When they come into a dangerous place, they either sit at the table with us, or work at cooperation. If, like the South Koreans, we don't know them, and they don't know us, that makes it more difficult for everyone."

Philip Leveque, director of CARE France, says the basics of humanitarian interventionism today are: sending an ethnically diverse team, employing locals, building over time, and becoming familiar with rules and procedures.

"The old days when 8 of 10 aid workers were white guys is over," Mr. Leveque says. "Maybe the main thing is to know when to leave." Every CARE mission now has a security chief who can overrule the head office and circumvent the local head of mission in most cases.

McClure says a public misconception abroad is that Christians want to "foist" their beliefs on others. "On the contrary, most Christians today suffer not from a tendency to foist our faith on anyone, but from a tendency to be excessively private about our faith," she argues. "I have never met a follower of a non-Christian religion who would respect someone who could not and would not express his or her beliefs."

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