The Illusionary You

"Every one of us is shadowed by an illusory person: a false self. This is the man that I want myself to be but who cannot exist, because God does not know anything about him."

(Thomas Merton)

Costs A Lot To Live In Decent Poverty

"And what about that decent poverty that Ramon and I claimed to have freely chosen as a guiding principal? We were still practicing it, though with a little less enthusiasm; we could seldom describe our poverty as decent. What we were learning was that it costs a hell of a lot to live in decent poverty."
(Moritz Thomsen. The Farm On The River of Emeralds)

Why Ebola Kills The Most Loving

"Ebola is a tragic and frightening disease, because it is transmitted by the most basic human acts of community.  Wiping tears, carrying a child, cleaning up a mess, hugging.  And it seeks out those most caring."

(Dr. Who survived Ebola treating patients in Uganda in 2007)
Link

How We Live In Foreign Lands

"I cannot make any generalizations about the problems created by our image abroad because North Americans in foreign lands vary from the “let’s-go-native” variety to the “we-live-in-an-ivory-tower” type. Several U.S. Consulate people visited our beach house. They usually brought their own food and ate it exclusively. I saw Embassy people on similar occasions refuse good food carefully prepared by Bob Carpenter’s Ecuadorian wife. The North American’s caution can be extreme and sometimes harmful. We knew North Americans whose overprotective concern for themselves strained their personal relationships with Ecuadorians to the point of little or no social contact. They were too stiff to be able to relax enough to enjoy the simplicity and friendliness of the life around them.

Rhoda told me about the comments of two U.S. government people who came to visit our house. “Do you always have so many people around?” they said, referring to the many, always present, neighbors. “I’ve seen them on the street but they never come into my house.”

“I respect these people for the fine and necessary work they do for the U.S. in Ecuador,” Rhoda said, “but I also feel sorry for many of them because they are missing out on so much fun.
Work is being done by foreign service people, technical assistance personnel, and volunteers in the Peace Corps who live in everything from lean—to shacks to homes swarming with servants. Accomplishments seem to be based on personal associations with the nationals, which in turn is based on appreciation, interest, and respect. Adherence to a specific standard of living is not the most important factor, though it is the feeling of many responsible Peace Corps volunteers that an extremely high standard of living in poor countries almost automatically limits contact with the vast majority of people."
(The Barrios Of Manta. Rhoda & Earle Brooks)

Missionaries to be Example to Nationals

This is a quote from over 30 years ago. Insightful!

“As missionaries we need to set the example and pace for the national churches and pastors. Our responsibility is to keep moving out to the cutting edge of the work. As new churches are planted, we will continue to break new ground rather than limit our efforts to organizing and training.”

Joseph S. McCullough, Our First Priority”, The Andean Outlook (Plainfield N.J.), Fall, 1971, p7

Women in Missions- Examples of Invaluable Contributions! Suck it up Men?

"Overall, probably two-thirds of the missions force has been, and currently is, female. Many mission executives agree that the more difficult and dangerous the work, the more likely women are to volunteer to do it! David Yonggi Cho concludes from his experience that women are the best choice for difficult, pioneering work. “We have found that in these situations, women will never give up. Men are good for building up the work, but women are best for persevering when men get discouraged” (p271)

(Example Illustration)

"After the last road ended, it was a two-day hike to where the Balangao people lived. The Balangao, a tribe of former headhunters, still sacrificed to powerful and demanding spirits who caused sickness, death and constant turmoil. Two single women missionaries, trained in Bible translation, were on their way to work among them.
When they arrived, they were greeted by men wearing G-strings and women wrapped in cloth from homemade looms. It is hard to say who was more amazed. The Balangao had asked for Americans to come live with them and write their language, but they never dreamed the Americans would be women!

An old man offered to be their father and was faithful in looking after them. Besides the work of translation, these women began giving medical assistance, learning about the spirit world, and answering questions about life and death. One of them, Jo Shetler, stayed for 20 years, winning her way into the hearts and lives of these people and completing the New Testament translation. Because of this dedication, thousands now know Jesus as Lord of the Balangao.
Jo Shetler, a shy farm girl with a dream, has stirred many with her story. However, stories remain unwritten of multitudes of women who likewise obeyed the call of God to serve Him on the far horizons. Many women do not realize how greatly God can use their giftedness and commitment in situations such as this.” (p 269)

("Women In Mission” , Marguerite Kraft & Meg Crossman. "Perspectives on the world Christian Movement", 1999, William Carey Library, Pasadena California . Pg 269, 271)

Western Church Discipleship Models Have Been Tested & Failed!

(I originally published this in 2009)The true success of our church discipleship is found in the litmus test of our very own born-and-raised" evangelical church kids. I'm not speaking about evangelism outside the church. I'm talking about our own glaring inability to transfer faith within the family unit. Consider the following:

"Every year, hundreds of thousands of American evangelical young people lose their faith while attending college: An estimated 65% (My Note: This is very conservative estimate. I have seen studies that suggest 75%). Here they are confronted with a secular humanist world view, often anti-Christian, which they have not been prepared to engage. Next year a new batch will be sent, and this spiritual holocaust will go right on with few people seeking to do anything about it.

Now why is that? And what is the real problem? Could it be that we are merely entertaining our young people in youth groups across the country instead of disciplining them? On the other side, why can almost all of our great Christian leaders point to someone in their life who mentored them in faith? Is there a connection here? Many missiologists believe so....

What kind of Christianity are we seeking to establish around the world? Is it a copy of our own- one in which we can't even keep our own young people who have been raised in Christian Homes"

(Discipling All Peoples: Today's Imperative and Vision of Tokyo 2010. David Taylor. Mission Frontiers, September-October 2009 vol. 31, No. 5. US Center For World Mission)
Interestingly, home-schooled kids have a 95% faith retention rate when they go off to college and university. We can not pass this off as merely "Sheltering", becuase once these kids are out of the nest, they are exposed to the same secular humanism and challenges in university and college.

So, if home-schooled kids are exposed to the same influences in university, why the amazing success? The difference is found in the type of discipleship the kids have received at home. They have not been brainwashed, but rather "mentored" in a very effective manner. Rather than sheltered, most have actually been exposed to the fallacies of secular arguments and ideologies, and been given adequate Christian answers and tools by which to measure the philosophies they encounter with a Christian World view.

The home-schoolers success rate in transmitting their faith to their children is so impressive, that non-homeschooling Christians best not criticize them. Their mentoring discipleship approach is working much better than the methodology the average christian family or church is using- or not using.

Effective discipleship involves more than just transmission of "information". But also requiring Relation, Conversation, and Assisted Application. Unfortunately, the only conversation most kids get about Jesus is, "Great ready for Sunday School or Youth Group". But little actual mentoring from many christian parents or church staff.

Plant Churches or Missionaries? Which Comes First?

Which comes first? The more people live the missional life, the more churches will be planted.

"The goal of our missional life is not to grow churches. The goal of the church is to grow missionaries."

(Tangible Kingdom. Hugh Halter, pg 168 2008, Jossey-Bass)

Simple Ways to Show Love to Muslims!

"Show sympathy in times of illness or bereavement. Perform little acts of service. Invite them to your house and accept invitations to theirs. Be scrupulously honest in all business dealings. Show that you are a Christian in the smallest details of life. If a Muslim shopkeeper has given you the wrong change, be sure to point this out to him or her. Be respectful and show honor where honor is due. Demonstrate that you love Muslims by trying to understand their point of view. Be a good listener."

("Sharing Our Faith With Muslims. Charles R. Marsh. Chapter 8 in "Encountering The World of Islam" Authenic books Atlanta 2005)

Tears Of Lady Christian Missionary Converted A Muslim!

"Si Mebarek was a young Qur’anic student who taught the boys in the mosque to recite their holy book. For many years he had attended Sunday school classes, but the teaching had left no impression on him. He hardened his heart to the gospel and mocked his teachers. When he was eighteen and very proud of his knowledge of Islam, he went to the home of a woman missionary and asked for a gospel in Arabic, saying he would very much like to read it again. The servant of God was thrilled. Here was an answer to her prayers: a young man seeking the Lord. Si Mebarek took the gospel in his hand, glanced at it, and then, with a look of defiance, tore it to shreds and threw it on the ground, trampling on the pieces. He quite expected to receive a sharp reproof for having treated the Word of God thus. Instead he saw tears come into the eyes of the servant of God. With a look of inexpressible sadness, but of genuine love, she turned away without a word, going into the house to pray for him.

Si Mebarek headed for home, but that expression of the patient love of Christ, of his meekness and gentleness, really reached his heart. Within an hour, he was back again, now a convicted sinner seeking salvation. That simple expression of the love of the One who wept over Jerusalem achieved what the years of teaching had failed to accomplish."

("Sharing Our Faith With Muslims. Charles R. Marsh. Chapter 8 in "Encountering The World of Islam" Authenic books Atlanta 2005)

Relationships Over Mission Programs - Relationships as our Program!

"....Westerners struggle with relationships. They may get so involved in programs, technical projects, and social ministries that they have little time for friends and neighbors. Our western culture is often relationship- deficient, and the western Christian can take this deficiency with him to the field.

Once the Christian worker begins his ministry he usually thinks in terms of weekly studies, weekly discipleship meetings, and weekly teaching sessions. The thought of meeting daily or twice day with a new contact or convert does not usually enter his mind. If he is to take on the role of a religious teacher, he must remember that the Muslim students he has want to develop relationship with him as a religious teacher, and not simply sit in on a series of lectures. Students may sit quietly for a couple of lessons, but if no relationship is forthcoming, they will seldom want to continue."

("Contextualization and Community. Roland Muller. in Encounter the World OF Islam, Lesson 7 extra Readings online to text.)

Contextualizing Your T Shirt , Sandals, Short Skirts & Bare Arms in Muslim Contexts

"The most important part of contextualization is to present ourselves in such away that our lifestyles demonstrate, and even enhance, the message we want to communicate. If a single woman says she has been set free from sin but dresses and acts as would a prostitute in the target culture, no one will believe her message. If a man says he is a teacher but dresses in shorts, t-shirt, and sandals as if he were a useless young man on the streets, no one will believe he holds such an honored position."

("Contextualization and Community. Roland Muller. in Encounter the World OF Islam, Lesson 7 extra Readings online to text.)

Developing Community is the Most Crucial Muslim Contextualization Issue?

"Christian workers frequently want to make the transition to Christianity easier for converts from a Muslim background. They try to strip all the external, unnecessary trap from Christianity and flt it into the Muslim setting. They dress as Muslims, develop Jesus mosques, and place a Muslim façade on Christianity in an attempt to make it less offensive. But they seldom develop community.Theologically, the new convert is able to see and understand the gospel; he can exercise faith and experience gifts, and is able to enter into ministry. What he struggles with most is the idea of leaving his community..... I have discovered that in I have discovered that in most settings where large numbers of Muslims have turned to Christ, the common attraction is not contextualization but rather the presence of community."

("Contextualization and Community. Roland Muller. in Encounter the World OF Islam, Lesson 7 extra Readings online to text.)

Going Native, Only Goes So Far With Natives!

"There are those who try to live a totally Muslim-style life in order to reach Muslims within their own culture. Years ago I heard about a western missionary who tried something similar in India. He dressed as an Indian, ate Indian food, and lived in an Indian house. However, he was “sahib” (teacher). So he moved to a very poor part of town and identified with the poor. He got a job on a road construction crew, and people still called him “sahib.”

He asked the men around him why they used that name for him. They thought for a minute and then told him that it was because he used a toothbrush. He got rid of the toothbrush and used a stick to clean his teeth. And people still called him "sahib". One day, in desperation, he asked a wise man why he was not considered an Indian. The main replied, `It is because your mother was white.' No matter how hard we try, we can never completely identify with our Muslim friends, not because of outward cultural issues, but because of Sociological issues."

("Contextualization and Community. Roland Muller. In "Encounter the World Of Islam", Lesson 7 extra Readings online to text)

Real Theological Issues of Muslim Contextualization: Avoiding Reductionism of the Issue!

"At the other end of the spectrum, missiologists sometimes advance theories as facts and simply assert that God is doing a new thing...... A prime case in point is the debate in recent years that has gone on about contextualization in Muslim contexts. Some have asserted or implied that watershed differences exist over cultural issues, when in fact those differences are primarily theological in nature.

The reality is that pretty much everyone agrees that a Muslim who becomes a follower of Christ shouldn’t have to cease being a good cultural Algerian, Nigerian, or Indonesian of whatever ethnicity into which he or she was born. The person does not have to be “extracted” from his or her roots or claim the title “Christian” in the cultural sense in which the term is often equated with perverted Western lifestyles. The individual can continue to honor his or her family and heritage, and do the things that members of his or her society do, up to a point. And that point is reached when doing something communicates falsehood about who Jesus is and what faith in him means.

Falsehood is hyped when the issue is treated as if there are only two choices—extraction or remaining a good Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist, The fact is that the issue is a complex one. While there is an almost universal commitment to avoiding extraction and keeping new believers functioning in their home societies, there is a continuum of understanding as to where lines must be drawn in order to maintain faithfulness to Christ and the gospel. To paint the issue otherwise is to engage in a misleading reductionism, an effort that has the appearance of being intentionally confusing in order to gain acceptability for one’s views."

(A Second Look: The Audacity of Hype and Humility. Gary Corwin Editor EMQ. EMQ January 2009 Vol 45, No 1 pp 7)

How Open & Honest is Your Missionary Journey?

(If You are Familiar with EMQ You Must realize Gary is not bashing Missionaries and Agencies.) But Gary is asking a valid Question. How honest are we about the challenges of mission, not just the successes?

Why we must be honest- if all people here is glowing success and none of the challenges they begin to question every missionary about their apparent lack of success. Certainly, in rare cases an odd missionary is simply not working hard, or refuse to look at some wise strategy change that might possibly help them. However, what about people working in limited access countries, where it takes years to build a church? Churches measure Pioneer missionaries against the success of regular missionaries who are working with a high percentage of Christian people with many existing churches of all stripes to work with and through.

Just a personal note. My experience with a "Rayner Rambler" private email that went to the over one hundred of the keenest of interested people within churches was a smashing success. Discussing ups, downs, discouragements, church struggles, raw form the village each week.
Those ramblers were the most commented on news, far out stripping glossy newsletters and printed materials. The 20-35 group is looking for real heart and life news about what is involved in the "Journey", not only wanting to hear about the end result, after the fact.

"I almost cringe when I hear of groups launching new marketing plans, expanding public relations departments, or engaging in “branding” exercises, While each of these may have its place, these and similar activities are also breeding grounds for the professionalization of falsehood. Whatever happened to just being ourselves and being faithful to our values?.....IF that is all the Lord requires of us, why is the massaging and packaging of truth necessary for others?

But these are not the only places where shaded truth emerges in the mission enterprise. It exists all the way from rank-and-file missionary prayer letters to the most articulately argued missiology. It’s too discouraging to our donors, we surmise, to burden them with the real struggles we may be facing. Things like loneliness, uncertainty about what to do next, and feelings of depression are not the stuff of missionary heroes, Besides, our partners support us in order to see certain things accomplished, and they want to hear how that’s happening, not the hindrances we’re dealing with. This is particularly so, we conclude, when those hindrances may reflect personal or professional inadequacy on our part. But in doing so, are we not declaring how unimportant we really think prayer is?

(A Second Look: The Audacity of Hype and Humility. Gary Corwin Editor EMQ. EMQ January 2009 Vol 45, No 1 pp6-7)

Middle Eastern Culture Is Challange for Westerners To Understand

"It is not uncommon for Middle Easterners to talk as though they know something when they don’t have any idea. They do not do this to deceive, but out of a desire for a good relationship. More than once I have asked a Middle Eastern policeman for directions, only to discover that he does not have a clue! I have learned to observe closely the non-verbal communication (the confused pause before the confident statement) through which the Middle Easterner communicates that he or she does not know.

Middle Easterners will rarely admit verbally that they are wrong. Preserving honor—both one’s own and that of significant others—is very important in the Middle East, and Middle Easterners will often communicate acknowledgment of wrongdoing through a kind act rather than an apology..... pg 18

Middle Eastern society is overwhelmingly tribal and there is a great concern to look after one’s own and trust only one’s own. Consequently, in general one could expect that Middle Easterners who join Western agencies will see no obligation to seek tenders or shop around for the best deal. They will probably go to someone they know—preferably a member of their extended family—even if the family member asks two to three times the price and/or is incompetent.... pg19

(Westerner and Middle Easterners Serving Together: Potential Sources of Misunderstanding. Perry W. H. Shaw. EMQ January 2010 Vol 46, No 1, pp 18-19)

Innovators Or Opportunists????

Missionaries have instructed to remember that fact that the first people to present themselves to you as a missionary, often are not the people we will build ministries on. They tend to be Opportunistic. Is this always true?
Innovators are also the ones most open to a foreigners presence and input. This is a great reminder.

"Remember that innovators will be first responders. As argued, innovators will be greater media consumers than the population at large, and will be more open to new ideas. They will be attracted to the foreign missionary since the innovator thinks in broader categories than the average person. The innovator can be confused as the “person of peace” since he or she obviously gets it.” Yet many missionaries know well the heartache that comes as these innovators quickly grow spiritually and then lose focus because they lack roots (Matt. 13:1-23). But innovators can be a gateway into a network of a “bunch of guys.” Spending time with them can be strategic, but mainly for seeing them as a link to the opinion leader.

Teach them as a group. As noted earlier, the aberrant group finds their restlessness in the fact that the majority religion does not satisfy their soul. These groups are looking for someone to help them make sense of their restless soul. Helping the group as a group keeps the bonds tight and the vision alive. They are more often able to handle persecution as a group and also use their gifts in a natural way to expand the work. The missionary should concentrate on the “group leader,” who will then teach others (2 Tim. 2:2).

(2 1/2 Percent: Church Planting Movements from the Periphery to the Center. Dwight McGuire. EMQ January 2010 Vol 46, No 1, pp 29-30)

Peaceful Change of National Power Unknown to Many

"In the summer of 1984, I had an unforgettable conversation with one of my Congolese friends. I had been in the Congo for only six months at the time, and my Swahili could only handle simple conversations. My friend had been listening to shortwave radio broadcasts describing the political events in America. He heard a news report about the presidential re-election campaign of Ronald Reagan and wanted me to clarify something for him. He calmly asked me in Swahili, “If Walter Mondale goes on to win the election and defeat Reagan, who would then kill Reagan?”

At first I thought I had heard him wrong and it was just my poor Swahili. He then repeated his question slowly, “Nani ataua Reagan?” Who will kill Reagan? I suddenly realized I was in a place that did not understand peaceful transfer of power. President Mobutu ruled the Congo as an iron-fisted dictator for thirty-two years (1965 to 1997). He had no intentions of having a peaceful transfer of power or grooming a younger person to take over. The only thing he could see in a young, potential successor was “threat” with a capital “T.”

(Spiritual Adoption & Africa Potential for Changing a Land Scape. Mike Nichols & Tresor Yenyi. EMQ January 2010 Vol 46, No 1, pp49-50)

No Reserves, No Retreats, No Regrets - William Borden

William Whiting Borden - missionary to the Muslims of China, but died of spinal meningitis in Egypt during his training there at the age of 25. Samuel Zwemer conducted his funeral.

"In 1904 William Borden graduated from a Chicago high school. As heir to the Borden family fortune, he was already wealthy. For his high school graduation present, his parents gave 16-year-old Borden a trip around the world. As the young man traveled through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, he felt a growing burden for the world's hurting people. Finally, Bill Borden wrote home about his "desire to be a missionary."

One friend expressed disbelief that Bill was "throwing himself away as a missionary."In response, Borden wrote two words in the back of his Bible: "No reserves."

Yale University in 1905 One of them wrote: "He came to college far ahead, spiritually, of any of us. He had already given his heart in full surrender to Christ and had really done it. We who were his classmates learned to lean on him and find in him a strength that was solid as a rock, just because of this settled purpose and consecration.

During his college years, Bill Borden made an entry in his personal journal that defined what his classmates were seeing in him. That entry said simply: "Say 'no' to self and 'yes' to Jesus every time."

Borden's first disappointment at Yale came when the university president spoke in a convocation about the students' need of "having a fixed purpose." After that speech, Borden wrote: "He neglected to say what our purpose should be, and where we should get the ability to persevere and the strength to resist temptations."4 Surveying the Yale faculty and much of the student body, Borden lamented what he saw as the end result of an empty, humanistic philosophy: moral weakness and sin-ruined lives.

During his first semester at Yale, Borden started A scripture & Prayer meeting with himself and one other, it grew to three. By the end of his first year, 150 freshman were meeting weekly for Bible study and prayer. By the time Bill Borden was a senior, one thousand of Yale's 1,300 students were meeting in such groups. Borden's outreach ministry was not confined to the Yale campus. He cared about widows and orphans and the disabled. He rescued drunks from the streets of New Haven.

Borden's missionary call narrowed to the Muslim Kansu people in China. Once he fixed his eyes on that goal, Borden never wavered.

Upon graduation from Yale, Borden turned down some high-paying job offers. In his Bible, he wrote two more words: "No retreats."

William Borden went on to do graduate work at Princeton Seminary in New Jersey. When he finished his studies at Princeton, he sailed for China. Because he was hoping to work with Muslims, he stopped first in Egypt to study Arabic. While there, he contracted spinal meningitis. Within a month, 25-year-old William Borden was dead.

Was Borden's untimely death a waste? Not in God's perspective. Prior to his death, Borden had written two more words in his Bible. Underneath the words "No reserves" and "No retreats," he had written: "No regrets."

Link: http://home.snu.edu/~HCULBERT/regret.htm