How Poor can a Poor Person Be?

"A recent report in the Guardian newspaper says that already more people are eating locally made mud cakes literally patties made of mud to alleviate hunger pains. ‘Traditionally, pregnant women eat the clay patties to try and get more iron in their system, but children are eating them too- Dr. John Carroll, who’s spent much of the past 27 years working in children’s clinics in Haiti, says the next blow may be a water crisis. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are water riots in the future because of a lack of clean water for the vast majority of Haitians, he says."

(Maclean’s, August 18^th,2008, “Dirt Poor Eating Mud to Survive”, pp.30)

Long Live Canadian Imperialism!

Well someone had the great idea of introducing the Canadian Beaver into wild Russia. And surprisingly they adapted well. Too well! They are damming up the whole country it seems. Causing massive problems. In response to the news as delivered in Maclean's mag, two people rote in- WAY to FUNNY read Both. The second is priceless. Long Live Canadian Imperialism!

BEAVERS ON THE MARCH
"NATIONAL PRIDE swelled inside me and my hand went over my heart when I read Malcolm Gray’s story about Canadian beavers chomping their way across Russia (Ivan, what’s that chewing sound? Nature, July 28). Our imperialist little rodents are can’ing a legacy worthy of us putting them on our nickels. I am sure it is not funny for the Finns, Russians and Argentineans, but it does show our beavers are the best. All hail the mighty Canadian beaver and its conquering of the world.
Glen Davis, Carleton Place, Ont."

THANKS FOR the article on the pesky Canadian beaver threatening Moscow. Do you think they’re onto us? All over the world Canucks meet in clandestine corners plotting how we can take over the world using beavers. Phase one: Moscow and Argentina. Phase two: Washington, London and Madrid. After that, the most devastating. Phase three: we clip the flight feathers of Canada geese and place them in downtown parks in foreign cities. Soon Canadian icons will be everywhere. Today, the Great White North, tomorrow, the world! Owen Thornton, London, Ont.

(Maclean’s, August 18^th,2008, Comments )

So Hungry you will eat Mud?

"A recent report in the Guardian newspaper says that already more people are eating locally made mud cakes literally patties made of mud to alleviate hunger pains. ‘Traditionally, pregnant women eat the clay patties to try and get more iron in their system, but children are eating them too- Dr. John Carroll, who’s spent much of the past 27 years working in children’s clinics in Haiti, says the next blow may be a water crisis. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are water riots in the future because of a lack of clean water for the vast majority of Haitians, he says."

(Maclean’s, August 18^th,2008, “Dirt Poor Eating Mud to Survive”, pp.30)

Marriage Helps our Mental Function?

I thought this was interesting. A Letter to the Editor of Maclean's Mag.

"In the previous issue of Maclean’s, Harvard University professor Mark O’Connell explained why marriage, though difficult at times, is worth all the effort both emotionally and economically. Married couples, he said, are a positive force for society. They reduce poverty, produce law-abiding children, and live longer than singletons. But if you’re still not convinced that a wedding is for you, here’s another perk: marriage is good for the brain. According to Swedish researchers, living with a spouse decreases your risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. In fact, people who never marry and live alone are twice as likely to develop dementia, and those who divorce in middle age face three times the risk. So cherish your partners. They may drive you nuts, but not necessarily to the nuthouse."

(Maclean’s, August 18^th,2008, )

Ever Feel like this? Humbling!

"Some people say we need twenty years of experience. But often twenty years' experience is really just one year, repeated twenty times, with no better results after the twentieth year then the first!"
(Fruitful Practices, Don Allen. Mission Frontiers, July -August 2008, pp.7)

Mexican Terrorists in Spain?

No kidding here.

One of my boys was speaking to grade 11 female friend who will be traveling to Spain at some point in the future. She expressed her worry & concern over the trip. Inquiring as to the sources of the hesitation, he was told by said female 11th grader that she was worried about all the Mexican terrorists crossing the border into Spain.

My son laughed and informed the girl that Mexico was not next to Spain, and in fact, it is not even on the same continent. She said to him “I think you better learn your geography Homeschool Kid”.

Ted explained that Spain is under France and next to Portugal.

She replied “I don’t think so! Is France near Mexico?”

“No!”, was sons reply. “

Where is Mexico then?”, was the returning question.

Ask me why I homeschool!

Good Question!

"How can you worship a homeless Man on Sunday
and ignore one on Monday?"

said the sign outside St. Edward's Cathedral in Philadelphia.

(The New Monasticism, Rob Moll. Christianity today. (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/september/16.38.html) Accessed July 26,2008.

In Need a Modern Mission Hero!

Three Prince Edward Island, Canada, missionaries deaths bring the Gospel to Vanuatu, and I have to share the story.

Our, ......my........, shallow, convicted, evangelism of today does not stand the test of examination in the light of their sacrifice. How much passion do we have to reach lost people anymore in western Christianity? Sacrifice for the gospel, is it on the radar, called for in our preaching?

George & Ellen Gordon must have been people of deep conviction. However, the even, more profound story is embedded deeply inside –the story of James Gordon, Georges Brother. After receiving word that his brother George was killed in 1861, James finished his missionary studies and immediately went to pick up his brothers work in 1864. James himself was also killed in 1872. The Memorial Monument is not far from my house. So, in some small way, I can't help but wonder if my call to missions was not to satisfy, though in some very small way, the cry of the gospel to the nations that was left unfilled by PEI, and the kingdoms, loss? I do wonder, who are our missionary hero's today? Who is modeling deep, willful, intentional, sacrifice to free their lives, and resources, to get the gospel to the front lines. Shallow, shallow me, would my faith ever enable me to be a hero some day?

(The note under the photo states)

TWO DELEGATES from the Presbyterian Church in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu Rev George Aki, Moderator General and Pastor Kalsakau Urtalo, Assembly Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu visited the birth place of martyred missionaries Rev George Gordon and his wife Ellen Gordon and his brother Rev James Gordon. They were slain by natives of Erromango in the 1800s but their work was not in vane. Now 38 percent of the islands once known as New Hebrides are Christian and they belong to the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu. (This Monument in Huntly PEI, contains a memorial plaque)

Here is the rest of the story that appeared in the West Prince Graphic June 11,2008:

Missionaries Visiting the Roots of Their Faith

Visiting Gordon Memorial Cairn and the Gordon Cemetery in Huntley held great meaning for Pastor George Aki and Pastor Kalsakau Urtalo.

The delegates from the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu were on PEI and NS as guests of the Presbyterian Church of Canada. They felt honoured to walk the same grounds as the martyred missionaries from Huntley didbefore leaving for the South Sea Islands of New Hebrides 150 years ago.

The islands are now known as Vanuatu, an archipelago nation consisting of 83 islands in the Southwest Pacific Ocean, north of New Zealand and east of Australia. Vanuatu has a population of 240,000 people and 38 percent belong to the Presbyterian Church.

Their Christian faith can be traced directly back to some of the first missionaries to go there so long ago, Rev George Gordon, his wife Ellen and later his brother James Gordon. They were raised in the peaceful little farming community of Huntley, PEI, which was literally and figurativelyworlds apart from the place they were called to spread the gospel.

“It is in our history, the story of Christianity”, Pastor Urtalo said while viewing the stone cairn that marks the Gordon’s birthplace in Huntley The cairn also serves as the tombstone for the three missionaries who were killed on the island of Erromango.....

Pastor Urtalo is assembly clerk of the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu and Pastor Aki is moderator general for the church. Joining these guests were the closest living descendants of the Gordon's, Robert Gordon of Alma and Jean Burnett Farris,who grew up on the farm where the missionaryGordon’s once lived.

Mrs Farris said her mother told her many stories about George and James Gordon and how they went to the uncivilized islands to bring Christianity to the people there. They were murdered by those who weresuspicious of their motives, blaming every disaster on their presence.

“There were a number of reasons’ Mrs Farris explained. White sandal wood traders were exploiting the islands for many years, doing unscrupulous things to the native people in the name of commerce. They were slave traders and through them, measles were introduced causing many to die. On the heals of that a hurricane and another disaster occurred-There were some who quickly became Christians but there were a number of island natives who didn’ttrust the missionaries.

Two missionaries came in 1848 from the London Missionary Society. They were killed as soon as they landed. In June of 1857 Rev Gordon, who had been educated at Free Church College in Halifax was placed as a missionary on Erromango. The island was described as a dark and godless place at the time.

In a 120-year-old book entitled “The Story of John G Paton’, also a missionary at that time, a chapter is devoted to the Gordons. It explains how they were making inroads among the people, gaining their trust. A group was attending church at a Mission House they had built and was listening to the stories from the Bible, singing hymns and reading a small book from the Bible that had been translated into their own language. The young men and women living at the Mission House were being trained to become teachers. Rev Gordon was in the process of moving the house a mile or so up a hill partly because of Mrs Gordon’ health and partly to escape what was described in the book as “the annoying and contaminating influence of the sandal-wooders on the Christian Natives:’

“On the 20th of May 1861, he was still working at the roofing of the printing office and had sent his lads to bring each a load of the long grass to finish the thatching.

“Meantime a party of Erromangans from a district called Bunk-Kill, under a chief named Lovu had been watching him. They had been to the Mission House inquiring and they had seen him send away his Christian lads. They then hid in the bush andsent two of their men to the Missionary to ask for calico:’ the author wrote.

Rev Gordon scratched a note on a piece of wood telling his wife to give them two yards of cloth each. They insisted that he accompany them back to the house, saying they needed medicine for a sick boy and their chief wanted to see him. As he led the way, he crossed a stream and slipped. “A blow was aimed at him with a tomahawk, which he caught: the other man struck but his weapon was alsocaught. One of the tomahawks was wrenched from his grasp”.

Rev Gordon was knocked to the ground with a blow to the spine and a second blow to his neck killed him. His wife was slain as she came out of the mission house to see what was happening. Over the four years of their mission work, the Gordon’s learned the language, and had been writing stories from the Bible in the native tongue. News of their murder travelled quickly and heightened the danger for other missionaries who were living on nearby island communities.

Mrs Farris explained that when Rev Gordon’s brother James received word of his death, he was studying to become a missionary. He went to the islands in 1864 with Hugh Robinson and his wife who stayed to continue the work started by the Gordons. James met a similar fate in 1872, becoming one of six martyred missionaries of the South Sea Islands.

“We are shameful this happened and regret it,” Pastor Aki said. Coming to the place where the early missionaries were born, is like a journey from the past to the future for him.

“We feel it is a great honour given by the United Church of Canada to be here with the roots of our Christianity”, Pastor Aki said. They came to celebrate the 160th anniversary of the arrival of Rev John and Charlotte Geddie in Aneityum, Vanuatu in 1848.They also visited Camp - Geddie and Geddie Memorial Church in New London, PEI as part of their tour.

“It is like seeing things come full circle. It was very thrilling to see these men and hear that the Islands are now Christian:’ Mrs Farris commented.

In 1968, the late Alice (Gordon) Green visited Vanuatu for a rededication of the martyr’s church. She brought back memorabilia which is displayed at Gordon Memorial United Church. Mrs Farris has her research papers about their ancestors, who are now very much revered in that corner of the world. A reception held at Gordon Memorial Church after the tour gave people from the community an opportunity to meet Pastors Aki and Urtalo.”

Honest Arizona Saloon Owner Writes in 1906

This is suppose to have been actually printed in the local paper: Appeared in West Prince Graphic July 16,2008, Alan MacRea

Friends and Neighbors:

"I am grateful for past favors, and having supplied my store with a fine line of choice wines and liquors, allow me to inform you that I shall continue to make drunkards, paupers and beggars of the sober, industrious and respectable." Honest Saloon Keeper, Tombstone, Arizona...The Guardian, 10 February 1906.

Frank Statement Issued By Man In Tombstone, Arizona

“Tombstone, Ariz: claims credit for frankest saloon keeper in the United States. He keeps the Temple Bar Saloon, and advertises his business with most surprising frankness. ‘Allow me to inform you that you are fools; he says, yet his place is usually filled. He maintains that he is an honest saloon keeper, and that it will not hurt his business to tell the truth about it.”

“He has had printed an advertising card which would make an excellent manuscript for a temper-
ance lecture. Copies are being circulated through the western states and are attracting much attention. The card reads as follows:”

“Friends and Neighbors:

I am grateful for past favors, and having supplied my store with a fine line of choice wines and liquors, allow me to inform you that I shall continue to make drunkards, paupers and beggars for the sober, industrious, respectable part of the community to support. My liquors will excite riot, robbery and bloodshed.”

“They will diminish your comforts, increase your expenses and shorten your life. I shall confidently recommend them as sure to multiply fatal accidents and incurable diseases. They will deprive some of life, others of reason, many of character, and all of peace. They will make fathers fiends, wives widows, children orphans and all poor.”

“I will train your sons in infidelity, dissipation, ignorance, lewdness and every other vice. I will corrupt the ministers of religion, obstruct the gospel, defile the church, and cause as much temporal and eternal death as I can. I will thus ‘accommodate the public’ it may be at the loss of my never dying soul. But I have a family to support—the business pays—and the public encourages it.”

“I have paid my license and the traffic is lawful; and if I don’t sell it, somebody else will. I known the Bible says:’Thou shalt not kill, no drunkard shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven: and I do not expect the drunkard make to fare any better, but I want an easy living and I have resolved to gather the wages of iniquity and fatten on the ruin of my species’

“I shall, therefore, carry on my business with energy and do my best to diminish the wealth of the nation and endanger the safety of the State. As my business flourishes in proportion to your sensuality and ignorance, I will do my best to prevent moral purity and intellectual growth.”

“Should you doubt my ability I refer you to the pawnshops, the poorhouse, the police court, the hospital, the penitentiary, and the gallows, where you will find many of my best customers have gone. A sight of them will convince that I do what I say Allow me to inform you that you are fools, and that I am an honest saloon keeper.”

Well at least he is honest, Right?

Dare to do the Gap!

Jesus Christ’s passion for the world is so vast that he willingly died to bridge the gap between God and humanity. He is looking for a people like himself, a people who will dare to ‘stand in the gap’...... The Lord Jesus, in his Great Commission to the church, told his followers to go out into the world and make disciples of all nations. Sadly, a Christian believer or Christian church that is not passionately and practically seeking to fulfill the Great Commission is, in effect, neutered because it has lost both the desire and the DNA to reproduce and multiply. We are out of sync with God’s vision if our vision is limited only to the welfare of our family, our church, or our city. These are only platforms for launching out into the world to make disciples of all nations. The Great Commission should be the signature tune of every believer and church. "
(Nexus: The World House Church Movement Reader. Rad Zdero, William Carey Library, p19)

Challenge to Live Simply For Missions! Are we too High on the Hog on the mission field?

How far above the people is reasonable?
General Romeo Dallaire, of Canada took his post in Rwanda just before the Genocide there. He remained during the genocide. When offered the fancy perks that “Influential” people get in Africa, as he took his post he wrote;

“…..because of my rank and secondment contract from Canada, Hallqvist seemed to expect me to take advantage of every possible perk and privilege: fancy car, big house, all the little luxuries. I believe a commander does his mission a disservice when he lives high off the hog while his soldiers are eating meagre meals prepared by cooks standing in the pouring rain in temporary kitchens. I think I may have actually shocked Hallqvist when I returned the Mercedes staff car he assigned me in favour of the UN standard four-by-four Land Cruiser and sent Willem de Kant out to rent us a small house, where I intended to house him and myself, and Brent and my personal driver when they arrived. I did not want one of the comfortable residences that so many of the UN staff were acquiring, because it sent a message to the Rwandan people that we put our comfort before their interests, and I couldn’t stomach that. I loved the house that Willem found us: it was on a hill in Kigali and was cosy and clean behind its wall and single metal gate. Each morning I drank tea on the patio, staring out at the view of the city spread below me, and I sometimes struggled to find the resolve to leave that peaceful spot to take up the challenges of the day.

(Shake Hands with the Devil: A Failure of Humanity in Rwanda: LGen Romeo Dallaire, Random House, 2003, pg 107-108)

Self -Supporting National Church Planting Only Needs Members to Give Eggs?

I was privileged to participate in a seminar some time ago in Lomé, Togo. One of those
in attendance from a neighboring country told the following story. He said that the church of which he is a part decided to launch a campaign to evangelize a number of villages in an area that they identified as needing a Gospel witness. They knew the cost would be high, so they drew up a budget. The amount they felt would be required in CFA francs was the equivalent of
US$100,000.

The one telling the story said he felt that was an unrealistic amount for a church of their size, so he told the other leaders that he did not believe such a goal could be reached. However, one of the other leaders suggested that they invite the members to give what they can. They said, “If someone can bring an egg, they should bring it. If they can bring a chicken, they should bring it. If they can bring a cow, they should bring it.” After all, in 2 Corinthians 8:12 the Apostle Paul says the gift should be according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.

The effort to raise funds was launched and to the surprise of many, the entire goal of US$100,000 was reached with some to spare. In fact, they had enough over and above the goal to purchase a van for the project! The evangelistic outreach was launched, and when it was completed, thirty- three new congregations were started!

Those who try to justify Western funding for cross-cultural church planting in places such as this most likely do not understand the power of local creativity and local resources. Westerners just don’t think of beginning with an egg. How many times do we as outsiders rationalize that since we have the funds, we are obligated to give regardless of the impact on those we are trying to help. God blessed the efforts of those in this West African country, and they were rewarded with the blessing of a goal accomplished. Consider the harm that is done when local participation is overlooked or even spurned in favor of the outsiders need just to give. And that need to give—on the part of outsiders—is what results in donor-driven missiology, hardly the best kind.

(Glen Schwartz: Can a church Planting Effort Start With and Egg? Mission Frontiers. Nov-December 2007, p27)

Is Christianity Relapsing Globally? Does Our Missions Movement Have Depth?

This article is a needed challenge. I have dealt with syncretism and poor ethics in leaders. I have also dealt with missionaries who indicated "Their" work or church does not have the same problem as mine. I listened politely. However, I also know what leaders knew about actions of "their" national leaders, and I realized these guys where just fooling themselves.
Read this and Let us examine the fruit of our work, and work for more depth.

"Is Christianity Relapsing Globally?
Far worse, is the nightmare of a thought that our vast global, hard-won expansion of Christianity is falling to pieces before our eyes. We always used to think, “Even if things are not going too well in the USA, at least those millions of newly won believers overseas are flourishing in the faith.”

Okay, that is mainly true. They are flourishing. However, there are some disquieting facts that are hard to ignore. Kenya, with over 400 denominations and almost as many Evangelicals as in all of Europe, has exploded before our eyes—into nasty and unprecedented intertribal warfare—despite being 80% Christian, just like the USA.

Nearby, the Central African Republic is considered by some to be one of the more dangerous and corrupt countries of the world. We might say, “Those people need Christianity.”Well, 70% of the country is “Christian” in 59 denominations, with a higher percentage of Evangelicals than any other country in Africa.

In Nagaland, almost 100% of the Nagas are Christian—it is the most Christian state of India. It also is considered the most corrupt. At least there is less head-hunting.

Does this mean we are planting a superficial kind of Christianity all around the world? Are people seeking or accepting our offered Gospel for reasons other than what we have expected?"

(Ralph D. Winter. Editorial Comment, Mission Frontiers, March-April 2008, p 4)

The Need for Self-Supporting National Work

"The first thing I remember about encountering self-reliance thinking happened nearly fifty L years ago when I was a college student. I read a story about missionary work in Vietnam following the Indo-China war. It was about the return of missionaries to Vietnam following the devastation caused by the war. When they saw the ruined pastors’ houses, the missionaries felt compassion and wanted to help rebuild. The local people, however, had other ideas. They asked the missionaries not to help, saying that it was their privilege to rebuild their own pastors’ houses. That was a very small seed sown in my thinking a long time ago.

The second experience that brought this issue to my attention happened when I served as a missionary in Zambia in the 1960s. Several Zambian believers and I were sitting under a grass shelter discussing their desire to start a church in the village. They wanted to know if there would be outside funding available to provide a building. I noticed that they constructed the shelter in which we were sitting using only local material. I also noticed that next to us there was a grocery store made with burnt brick and a metal roof. I asked if the missionaries built the grocery store for them. They were happy to say, “Of course not, we did it ourselves.” A few more seeds were sown in my thinking. That was in 1967—about twenty years before I began to deal in-depth with self-reliance issues..............

............................The fifth thing that influenced my thinking on issues of indigeneity and self-support came from listening to and interacting with hundreds of church leaders and missionaries while traveling in Africa from 1984 to the present. Many times, church leaders or missionaries would say, “Let me tell you my story.” Recently I was in Canada speaking on self-reliance issues. One man in the audience spoke up saying that he had been a missionary in Botswana for twelve years. As he was preparing for his return to Canada, the local churches in Botswana took a collection equal to US$1000 to help him and his family relocate back home. He made a point of saying that some of the churches doing the giving were poor churches. Like others, this missionary learned how humbling it can be to receive from those who give out of their relative poverty."

(My Encounter With Self-Reliance. Glenn Schwartz. Mission Frontiers, May-June 2008, pp 27)

How to "Preach" in Other cultures? Interesting to Think About!

"While on furlough, I once tried to explain to an American pastor about the flow and form of a typical house-church meeting in Central Asia. I described how some of the pastors I know, simple Muslim-background men, wait for normal conversations over tea and a meal to determine what they later teach in that meeting. I went on to say that by using this as the primary means of imparting Christian doctrine, they are being relevant to the spiritual needs of people who do not usually think in the abstract. After struggling to get his mind around this paradigm-shattering idea, my friend became annoyed and asked, “But how can you call that preaching?”

Some time later, I related this conversation back to one of those house- church pastors I had referred to. He was just as piqued when he replied, “If I stood up and gave a speech like you do in your Western churches, people would think I was crazy! No one would ever talk that way in real life.”

Hopefully, this illustrates the degree to which cultural conditioning affects our presuppositions about what is the appropriate form for ‘Christian” communication."

(Event-speech as a Form of Missionary Communication, by Gene Daniels. EMQ Jan 2008. p. 80)

Respect and Seek out Elders as a Short-Term Missionary! Don't just "hang out"!

"A local senior pastor, commenting on the manner of dress of the short- term team, said, “They come with their culture, not minding about the people they are ministering to have their own culture.” The team wore hats while evangelizing and when approaching local elders; this was understood lo cally as a sign of disrespect. The senior pastor also complained that the team “hooked up with younger people,” which made the locals suspect the team of having their own agenda. In that culture the missionaries were expected to approach older people for guidance in the culture."

(The Trendy Giant Wounds: Some Lessons from the Church in Africa, David Ngaruiya. EMQ, January 2008, p.63)

When Short -Termers Conduct is an Embarrassment! Listen!

"Some members of a short-term team visited a local disco hall seeking entertainment. They took alcohol in public—a scandal for the local community. In another case, two members of the short-term team were smoking—an embarrassment to local believers and the host pastor. The two were also seen with local girls who made their living from prostitution. The host of this team said that with few exceptions, “they do not build relationships; they come for projects.” A pastor’s wife was puzzled that the short-term mission often turns out to be a vacation, which raises questions about the sincerity of some short-term missionaries. She asked, ‘Do they come here to do the holiday thing or do they come here to minister?” Lack of listening to the local leaders led one pastor’s wife to say, “They have an agenda. They want to get that agenda so that they will have enough information to bring back with them. They are not patient enough to stay and listen.” In her context, respect able nationals will not open up to a short-term missionary who is just “coming and going......

One pastor recalled how the short-term missionaries felt dishonored when their hosts did not schedule every moment of their time. The team felt they were left idle when an event was not occurring. The host team planned around the events. A sharp disagreement arose after debriefing and, although they were invited in return, the team never came back. The implied self ascription of the short-termers as “the achievers” and the host as offering “idleness’ created a conflict between the two groups who were actually committed to the good of each other.”

(The Trendy Giant Wounds: Some Lessons from the Church in Africa, David Ngaruiya. EMQ, January 2008, p.61-62. 63)

Short-Term Mission Activity Should Build up Local Leaders!

"One host pastor complained that the efforts of short-term missionaries caused his work to be sneered at. In terms of evangelism, they accomplished in two weeks what he had not done in all his years at the local church. The comparison left a dented image of the local pastor; his congregation no longer appreciated the enormous work he had done for them, he lamented that short-termers merely “come, hit and run.” His comment raises the question of what mission models might have suited his context so as not to overlook the fact that his work also included weddings, baptisms, burials and hidden ministries such as counseling. The short- term missionaries were involved only in evangelistic outreach. A good mission model would have left both the pastor and the congregation united over their goals."

(The Trendy Giant Wounds: Some Lessons from the Church in Africa, David Ngaruiya. EMQ, January 2008, p.61)

Some Mission Field people have been Christians Longer, know the bible better and pray more faithfuly that you - Remember that Short-termers

"A pastor’s wife and community leader shares this about her time with some short-term missionaries: They come as superior to me. They come as those who have been told what I am and who I am. . I became a Christian before many of them were born. The team members were not willing to learn, They would quote an expert in their country who gave them the orientation and it got to a point where I gave them what they wanted to hear."

(The Trendy Giant Wounds: Some Lessons from the Church in Africa, David Ngaruiya. EMQ, January 2008, p.60-61)

Relationship's & Group Activity are Very Important in Other Cultures! Avoid Judgments!

"Because they do not understand how nationals socialize, some short- term missionaries have labeled them as “lazy.” A pastor’s wife was shocked when one missionary commented, “People here don’t like to study the Bible; they prefer to dance” and ‘Your lifestyle is not good. Your songs are not good. This is the way to sing.” This experience gives credibility to the wife’s claim that “they don’t seem to appreciate the way we do things and that it has meaning for us.” The issues she raised illustrate the priority of relationships while going about one’s tasks or chores. In her context, relationships are so critical that a person is considered antisocial for neglecting to take time to interact with others."

(The Trendy Giant Wounds: Some Lessons from the Church in Africa, David Ngaruiya. EMQ, January 2008, p.60)

African Warns Short-Term Missions "Wounds" at times! But Needed Skills Come as Well.

The trendy short-term mission giant has been striding across Africa and leaving some indelible footprints, some of them positive, others negative. On the positive side, people are coming to faith, revival is breaking out in communities hospitals and schools are being developed, women are becoming economically empowered and there is significant church growth. Short-term missionaries have not only visited, they have given financially, professionally and spiritually. They have founded orphanages and ministered to financially handicapped women, equipping them with skills to improve the quality of their handcrafts for better marketability.

The giant has, however, left some indelible wounds and impressions as well. ibis is a concern raised by some national leaders. Here I will argue from interwoven data that in an age of growing partnerships between the Western and the African Church, careful and adequate pre-mission training needs to be done in preparing westerners to engage the cultural context of Africa in short-term missions. In this way, the short-term mission giant can be enhanced for greater fruitfulness and effectiveness....

During and after the short-term mission trip, the local pastor and other leaders face challenging missiological issues. These include clarifying the Missionary's’ language and etiquette, competence, stewardship of resources and contextualized worship. In one incident, a short-term missionary tried to speak the local language but ended up using a word which insult ed the local people. The pastor had to go back to the people to clarify what the missionary had meant. The same missionary also declined to eat food offered to him. This led the local people to say, “He was not prepared well enough to live with us.” The hosts found it very difficult to minister to him.

In another case, a missionary with very little training was sent to serve as a pastor. His preaching was so poor that the local pastor asked him not to teach from the pulpit and to take time to acquire some biblical knowledge.

(The Trendy Giant Wounds: Some Lessons from the Church in Africa, David Ngaruiya. EMQ, January 2008, p.58-59)

Is Short-Term Missions - Just Christian Tourism?

This is a good article on Short-Term (STM) missions. Missionaries know it's not all as helpful and rosy as it appears. Most of the projects done by STM's could be done for a minuscule fraction of the cost by locals, supportig their families with months of income, if STM people would give to support them in the work, instead of paying for tickets for themselves to go. How many of these STM people raise $5000 for missions before they went? How many of them put in as much effort to raise that kind of money for supporting missions, that they are not going to personally, after they come back?

Problem I have encountered is that when dealing with the pitfalls of STM, most involved feel they are avoiding them. Bottom line is data is showing that STM is not increasing missions giving among those involved and may be siphoning off support for long term workers. The party line all long has been, "STM promotes greater mission..... support, awareness....." It seems its not true! Is STM missions a step above Christian tourism? You decide. Thanks for this article Daniel, who every you are. Andy!

Say what you will about the benefits of short-term missions; however, there is a strong case to be made that it is shifting in the wrong direction. The lines between short-term missions and global tourism have blurred and that at a time when “slum tourism” is on the rise.
“‘Slum tourism’ stirs controversy in Kenya,” a newspaper announced.The report describes the bitter irony of the rising number of tourists to the Kibera slum with little benefit to its inhabitants. According to the report. at least one travel agency has added Kibera to its list of tours....

What do you call it when people with the time and money travel to a foreign country for a week or two? Missions experts have discovered that research on tourism can inform STM (Aden ey 2006, 461). Indeed, missions researchers are encouraged to dialogue with their tourism counterparts.

I have no quarrel with tourism or with learning from it, but is the promise of short-term missions a Christianized version of tourism—experiences to awaken the unscarred and overfed to their privilege? Are we tourists or are we God’s missionary people (see Van Engen 1991)?....

The people of God may make the most of it or not. The movement may cultivate authentic fellowship in the gospel or result in little more than tourism. STM is at a tipping point and the forces of tourism appear to be winning. A growing body of research suggests STM is not delivering on its promise.

• A short-term experience is as likely to increase ethnocentrism as it is to decrease it (Priest, et al 2006, 444; Linhart 2006, 455-458).

• Whether STM experiences abroad improve interethnic relationships at home is unclear (Priest, et aI 2006, 445)

• People with extensive STM experience are no less materialistic than those with none (Priest, et al 2006, 440).

• STM have little appreciable impact on giving. It does not appear to have increased financial support for career service and may be siphoning money away from long-term miss ions (Priest, et al 2006, 440; Vet Beck 2006, 485).

We know what is wrong with short-term missions. They are short. It is the brevity that reinforces stereotypes,’perpetuates misperceptions about the poor and feeds the quick-fix mentality. It is the brevity that leaves local Christians feeling shortchanged. The very notion that missions can he short plays into tourism. Although mission researchers are quick to emphasize that better preparation and coaching will reduce negative effects, it is not simply a problem of preparation (Priest 2006, 444; linhart 2006, 458). The problem reaches to the very core of the movement’s identity and purpose. How is STM part of God’s agenda for the Church?

(Short-Term Missions for Long-Term Partnership, Daniel Rickett. EMQ, Jan 2008, p. 42-44)

Is 21st Century missions to AFRAID? Afraid to Sacrifice and Suffer?

This quote struck me deeply. Why are the majority of missionaries serving where it is comfortable to live in a nice house and city, Often English works some what, and in close proximity to international mission schools? I’m convicted how about you. The authors have done us great service in this article. Read it all!

Lie #5: The safest place in the world Is within the will of
God.

“Are our missionaries safe? is a commonly asked question.
Missionary safety is of prime importance. Yet if that is the main issue for
families, churches and agencies, then there is only one thing to do: stop
sending. Western culture has attempted to cleanse faith of its rough edges.
Surely God only wants what is best for me, my family and my country! When
troubles come, are they not a sign of God’s disfavor? Has Western Christianity
attempted to neuter the heart of faith by removing the suffering and
persecution the New Testament promises are intrinsic to following Jesus?

It may be time for the Church in the West to admit we are
afraid. Often, when Muslim Background Believers are asked what they learn from
missionaries, they sadly respond, “Missionaries teach us to be afraid. This is
not just a missiological mistake. It is a sin. Missionaries may be afraid of
getting local believers arrested or harmed. They may be afraid they will lose
their visas or work permits. They may fear moving, learning another language or
placing their children in yet another school. Where did missionaries learn to
be afraid? They learned fear from their parents, churches and sending bodies.

The lie that personal safety and an absence of risk is of
paramount importance is a heinous lie that has infected Western, believing
enterprises globally. What do Chinese house church leaders call prison? They
call it their “theological training school.” What did pastors and lay leaders
call persecution, and even martyrdom, in
their environment during the years of the Soviet Union?
They called it “normal.” Fear is devastating. It paralyzes. It is the deadly
enemy of the Church. What can believers do in the face of such a destructive
lie? Choose not to be afraid. The one thing Satan can never take from one of
God’s created is the freedom to make the right and godly choice. Not being
afraid is commanded. What’s more, it is always possible."

(Five Lies about Missions,Nik Ripken & Barry Sticker. EMQ, Jan 2008, Vol 44, No1, p.38)

Do we love God enough to send our Son’s, Daughters, & grandchildren?

Lie #4: I have made a bargain with God. If I work hard in my own church, then God will not call my children to the nations. There is no way God would want me to be with out my children and grandchildren.

Listen to the story below.

“He was the toughest man the interviewer had ever met. From a Muslim background, the man agreed to meet in a Central Asian city where he was not known. His hawk-like features were arresting; his eyes chips of coal. His presence seemed to fill the entire room.

For years, he had been a freedom fighter, leading a squad of fifteen men in attempts to run the foreigners out of his Muslim country. As a freedom fighter, he reveled in stalking his enemies until he could slit their throats with his own hands. Those from his own country who cooperated with these godless foreigners often met the same fate by his knife. He rejoiced to feel their blood wash over their hands. He could not number the dozens, perhaps hundreds, he had personally put to death. He planned, he led and he killed.

He recalled when the day came that he could not get the blood off his hands. He saw the blood every waking moment and he saw the blood in his dreams each night. This went on for weeks. However, one night he had a different dream. In this dream, Jesus came to him and told him that he, Jesus, could remove this bloodstain forever This divine encounter led this freedom fighter to investigate the man named Jesus and his claim of cleansing. The blood of Jesus washed this fighter dean of his bloodlust by cleansing his soul.

The change in his life was so dramatic that he began to carry the good news to others in his own country. He smuggled Bibles through the mountain passes of his homeland. He did this until, one day in an isolated mountain pass, he came face to face with the fifteen men he had once led. They had been looking for their former commander, this one-time freedom fighter now turned believer. They threw him to the ground and broke his wrists and ankles with the butts of their rifles. Before they could kill him, however, a secret believer in the group spoke up: “If we kill him, we will not be able to uncover others who might be helping him spread this foreign faith. Let me take him to a village nearby. I will patch him up so that we can beat the truth out of him
and uncover other apostates.”

They placed their former leader into this man’s care. Traveling to the nearest village, this man patched the man up. Together, the two of them crossed the border into a neighboring country.

Hours went by as the interviewer listened to the faith story of this man. Then, the interviewer asked this man to talk about his wife and his children. With a cry of despair, this nail-hard follower of Jesus pleaded, “How can God ask this of me? I will sacrifice my own life. But how can God ask this of me? I have already given so much, but I lie awake at night worrying that my son, my daughters and my wife will pay the same price that I have paid to follow Jesus. How can God ask that of me?”

The author adds

"There is only one thing more difficult than releasing our own lives into the hands of God—and that is releasing the lives of our loved ones. What risks are we willing to shoulder for the sake of the Kingdom of God? What is the hardest task? Going? That is difficult; however, going is not the hardest task. The hardest task is sending: sending our loved ones to serve the nations."

(Five Lies about Missions, Nik Ripken & Barry Sticker. EMQ, Jan 2008, Vol 44, No1, p.37-38)

Do We Prevent Obedience to Simple Christian Duty By Emphasizing or Expecting Fancy Call Experiences?

"He came to Jesus at the age of eighteen.... He did not have much background in the faith, but he was hungry to learn. He be gan to read the New Testament and was taken by the four Gospels.

He fell in love with the work and the will of God. He simply trusted God and tried to live his life under the authority of scripture. Reading what he later learned was the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 and another word in Acts 1:8, he thought, “This is God’s word and it has authority over me. God says in his word that I should go the nations, so I must do that if I am to be Jesus’ follower? It was simple and straightforward. With joy, this uneducated man had understood that the entire world was open to him for ministry. That is what God had told him in his word. And that is what he believed—until the day that he encountered the mission agency.

He was married now, and thrilled at the prospect of following through on the biblical command to “go to the ends of the earth,” With his wife, he applied through his denomination to serve overseas. Soon he and his wife were in a small room with some men in suits. They looked at him and said, “Tell us about your call to foreign missions.” He innocently looked at them and said, “I read Matthew 28:18 and Acts 1:8.” They smiled. “That’s good,” they said. “but with this board, there has to be an experience of ‘a divine call’ to foreign missions. Tell us how God called you to overseas missions.”

The young candidate was confused. “I read the Bible,” he said. “I read Matthew 28:18 and Acts 1:8. I read God’s command to go to the nations—and I am trying to go!” By now, his wife was in tears. Raised within the denomination, she could see her husband did not know the secret code words that opened the doors fix overseas missions. With patience, the men in suits explained again the agency’s position about “a call” that would allow the agency to send a family overseas. Not knowing any better, the candidate replied, “I am simply trying to be obedient to what God has commanded me to do. It seems this denomination has created a special call to foreign missions that would give people an excuse not to he obedient to what Cod has already commanded.” Dead silence. Surprisingly, he was approved. He and wife headed overseas."

(Five Lies about Missions, Nik Ripken & Barry Sticker. EMQ, Jan 2008, Vol 44, No1, p.34-35)

The author then adds this comment

"But our conversations about call should be focused on where we have been called rather than on whether we have been called."

How precious is Gods word to us? It is precious in China!

"The Chinese house Church Movement is a story of the miraculous. Conservative estimates of believers in house churches in China begin at 100 million. The interviewer was astounded by the church growth observed in three church plating movements. In one location, Over 150 house church leaders were being trained. Pastors sat on the ground in rows as other leaders passed among them. They seemed to tearing pages out of books, distributing them to the people seated on the ground.

In horror, the interviewer suddenly realized these leaders were tearing copies of the Bible into page-sized pieces. He asked what could possibly cause such destruction of God’s word. The answer cut him to the heart. “There are about 150 pastors here today,” he was told. “only five of us own a Bible. We are tearing our Bibles into its separate books and distributing them so that each leader can return home with at least one book to teach from the Bible.”

The interviewer watched as they passed books of the Bible back and forth. “Have you taught Genesis? No? Here it is.” Rip. “Have you taught Luke yet? Here is Luke.” Rip. The sound of tearing pages filled the air."

(Five Lies about Missions, Nik Ripken & Barry Sticker. EMQ, Jan 2008, Vol 44, No1, p.34-35)

Does God Still Give Special/Specific "Calling"?

I know in my fellowship this sort of stuff is relegated to the apostles and special "Bible Times" people. This is worth considering. The author is dealing with a myths about mission.
When replying to "God no longer calls his people" he writes.

He was thirty years old when he heard an interviewer had come to his country. The interviewer was trying to understand how it was possible for men and women in this particular country to come to faith in Christ, given the severe persecution that was so prevalent. The man’s people group exceeded twenty-six million at the time— and at that time, outsiders were aware of only three believers.

The man arranged to meet with the interviewer. He shared about earlier days. lie talked about dis harmony in his marriage. He explained that his children were sick and weak, his crops simply refused to grow and his livestock multi plied erratically.

True to his folk-Muslim culture, he went to the spiritualist for ad vice. After describing the problems in his life, he received this word: “I will sacrifice a chicken on your be half. You are to return home, Fast and meditate for three days and three nights. On the third night, an answer to your problems will come,”
The man did exactly as he was instructed. He told the interview er, “On the third night, a voice without a body came to me, saying
‘Find Jesus, find the good news:”

The man knew nothing but Islam. lie had nothing but an oral Quran. He had never met a Christian. He had never heard of a Bible. Lie did not know whether “Jesus” was a fruit, a vegetable or a rock. He did, however, want the good news he had been told about. This voice instructed him to go to a particular city about five hours away. It was a city the man had never visited. The voice instructed him to ask the first two men he met in the city to direct him to a certain street. Then, he was to search for a door marked with certain numbers.

This man, without informing
his wife or children, left his village the next day. lie walked five hours over the mountains, lie arrived at the city, and he asked the first two men he saw to direct him to a certain Street. He walked down that street until he saw the door marked with the correct number He knocked on the door until an older gentleman opened it. “What do you want?” the older man asked. The young man answered, “I have come to find Jesus and the good news!”
A hand shot out and pulled the young man into the house. “You Muslims must think I am idiot to fall for something like this!” the older man cried. But the young man replied, “Sir, I do not know if you are an idiot or not, but this is why I have come. I have been told to come.”

Over the next hour, the young man told his story. God had led this man to the home of one of the three believers known among that people group at the time! Patiently, this older man shared the story of Jesus with the young man until the good news became his own. The young man returned to his village. Over time, his wife saw the change in his life and she too became a believer. His children regained their health; his crops and livestock prospered. Faith broke out in his village.

Five Lies about Missions, Nik Ripken & Barry Sticker. EMQ, Jan 2008, Vol 44, No1, p.33-34)

Soloman Islanders Cut Down Trees By Yelling at Them! A missionary "conduct" moment!

In the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific some villagers practice a unique form of logging, If a tree is too large to be felled with an axe, the natives cut it down by yelling at it. (Can’t lay my hands on the article, but I swear I read it.) Woodsmen with special powers creep up on a tree just at dawn and suddenly scream at it at the top of their lungs. They continue this for thirty days. The free dies and falls over. The theory is that the hollering kills the spirit of the tree. According to the villagers, it always works.

Ah, those poor naive innocents. Such quaintly charming habits of the jungle. Screaming at trees, indeed. How primitive. Too bad they don’t have the advantage of modem technology and scientific mind.

Me? I yell at my wife. And yell at the telephone and the lawn mower. And yell at the TV and the newspaper and my children. I’ve even been known to shake my fist and yell at the sky at times.

Man next door yells at his car a lot. And this summer I heard him yelling at a stepladder for most of an afternoon. We modem, urban, educated folks yell at traffic and umpires and bills and banks and machines - especially machines. Machines and relatives get most of the yelling.

Don’t know what good it does. Machines and things just sit there. Even kicking doesn’t always help. As for people, well, the Solomon Islanders may have a point. Yelling at living things does tend to kill the spirit in them. Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words will break our hearts....”

(Robert Fulghum - “All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten” sorry I don't have the page number and the book is.....?)

How to Handle Attention From Locals on the Mission Field

This was an interesting insight about how we should handle all that uncomfortable attention we receive at arrival in a mission town or new village. How should we respond?

"Rather than despise the attention brought to us by our nationality, we should embrace it. God is positioning us where we can have the most impact....

1. Learn why the culture views you as superior. This will allow you to neutralize misconceptions that might cause divisions in your relationships. For example, if you are revered for your American education, those you reach out to might feel inferior because they are unable to read and write.

2. Aim for strategic humility. If you are honored, receive it warmly. Then look for opportunities to exercise radical humility that will challenge worldly views of status. If you are considered wealthy and often invited to dine with social elites, eat your lunches on the street corner with orphans, or commit to menial tasks.

3. I you are given a platform, point to Jesus. If for whatever reason your voice is valued above others, steer conversations toward the one who is truly worthy of attention. Make the most of every relationship. Seize divine opportunities to offer the testimony of Christ’s life, death and resurrection."

("Revered for All the Wrong Reasons." Tyler Emler. EMQ January 2008 Vol 44, No. p11)

Specific Geographic Calling & General Calling - Is there a difference?

This is an interesting observation.

"...people who have a specific geographic call to, say, China, the Syempire people of Mali or the l’unisian Arabs of North Africa also have interests that lead them to do evangelism and church planting. People who do not have a specific geographic call have interests that lead them to discipleship, teaching and leadership training. Although I have not done a scientific study, as a World-Venture mobilizer and as WorldVenture Africa director, I have talked with thousands of young adults. Except for two, everyone who had a call to a specific geographic area was interested in evangelism and those without the specific geographic interest were
more interested in training....

Because this pattern is so consistent, I use it as a diagnostic tool. Someone whose call seems to be geographic specific will also be interested in church planting. The person without a geographic specific call at the stage when he or she is talking to mission mobilizers will invariably be on the training, teaching and mentoring side of ministry...

The prospective missionary knows so many other prospective missionaries with geographic calls that he or she tends to question the genuineness of his or her call. When I explain that about half of the people I listen to do not have a geographic specific call and that in inevitably those are the people gifted/interested in training, I always see relief spread over their faces. For them, then, the lack of a geographic specific call is no longer a deficit in thinking and call but rather it becomes a confirmation of God’s guidance and their interests and gifting.

(EMQ Janaury 2008 Vol 44, No1, pg5 Glenn Kendall, Africa Director, WordVenture. Letters to the Editor)

This just about says it all!

"It is God himself, in his mercy, who has given us this wonderful work of telling his Good News to others, and so we never give up. We do not try to trick people into believing—we are not interested in fooling anyone. We never try to get anyone to believe that the Bible teaches what it doesn’t. All such shameful methods we forego.... We don’t go around preaching about ourselves, but about Christ Jesus as Lord. All we say of ourselves is that we are your slaves because of what Jesus has done for us.

2 Corinthians 4:1-2,5 (LB)

Western Ideas Taken into Pioneer Missions!

"In some aspects, westernized Christianity has captivated the gospel in Western culture for centuries. Examples of this include:

1. A church needing full-time clergy who have graduated from a Bible college or seminary.

2. A church meeting once a week on Sunday morning around 10 or 11 a. m.

3. A church needing a building.

4. A church needing a three-point sermon.

5.Church planting needing lots of funding.

(A Critical Evaluation of the Westernization of the Gospel, By Daniel Kim. Lausanne world pulse, March 2008)

Mission as Works of Love?

"The truly effective and productive missionary is the one whose precious and godly work of love survives into eternity"

These observations, along with several others, have led me to question the way we often do missionary work today. We have blended modern management theory with the urgency of the Great Commission to create an addictive and compulsive “productivity treadmill” that is emotionally, mentally, and spiritually exhausting. The presence of spiritual qualities such as love, joy, and peace has been replaced by Excel spreadsheets and the need for an increased number of indicated decisions for Christ per donor dollar. As a direct consequence the Church is being deprived of deeply spiritual missions exemplars that can inspire future generations.

(The Productivity Myth, By John Edmiston Lausanne world pulse, March 2008. John Edmiston is chairman and CEO of the Asian Internet Bible Institute)

2 New Denominations Per Day

Fragmentation. The Church is more diverse today and more fragmented then it has ever been in its history. As of January 2008, there are over thirty-nine thousand denominations in the world.² Moreover, the number of denominations is growing at the rate of two new ones per day, while the number of believers and their respective contexts continues to increase in both number and complexity.

("Doing Strategy as the Whole Church", By Sandra S. K. Lee. Lausanne World Pulse, March 2008) Lee sites her information as 2 Barrett, David B., Todd M. Johnson, and Peter F. Crossing, 2008.“Missiometrics 2008 Reality Checks for Christian World Communions,”International Bulletin of Missionary Research. 32(1): 28-30.

Charismatic Appeal in Africa!

The Uniqueness of the Charismatic Movement
The Charismatic renewal experienced across Africa should be celebrated and theologically guided. There may be questions about the Pentecostal resurgence regarding practice and doctrine, but it should never be discarded. I recall an African proverb which states that “a mother does not throw away the dirty water and the baby inside after the bath.” Reflecting along this thought line, Rev. Nalwamba added,

I think we need to consider trends in the Renewal/Charismatic movement and its relationship to the African traditional worldview/religion. One reason why the Charismatic movement has had such a growing appeal is that it takes seriously the spiritual world and spiritual phenomenon which mainstream Christianity tends to sideline. A theologically sound and balanced approach to these phenomenon would contribute to the deepening of faith and mission on the continent.

Lausanne World Pulse - LAUSANNE REPORTS - Theological Trends in Africa: Implications for Missions and Evangelism. By Gideon Para-Mallam, March 2008 Gideon Para-Mallam is associate regional secretary of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) in West Africa.He is also Lausanne international deputy director for Anglophone Africa.)

African Mission Challanages - Nigerian Examples!

"One in every four Africans is Nigerian. One in every five black people in the world is Nigerian. With a population of nearly 150 million, there is no doubt the Nigerian Church and nation are bound to have a significant impact on the African continent. The general perception of Nigeria is its failure to set a good example for the rest of Africa. Recently, I read a screaming headline in one of the Nigerian daily newspapers: “Nigeria Still Sinful Despite Many Churches.” This calls for sober reflection, genuine repentance, and a reorientation on the part of the Church. Here are several issues the Nigerian Church isfacing:

• The creation of megastars. The “Man of God” syndrome is aptly described in the book Preachers of a Different Gospel, by Rev. Femi Adeleye. “Men of God” have become “stars and celebrities.” Preaching has become a skilful marketing art. Jesus is
  relegated to the background. Where is the humility of John the Baptist, who declared, “He must increase but I must decrease” (John 3:34)?
  
  
• The existence of doctrinal distortions, pulpit abuse, falsehood, and the commercialization of the gospel. “Cash for Christ” is sometimes found in churches—the more cash you pay,the greater your chances of seeing a bigger miracle take place.
  
  
• The commonness of the prosperity gospel. Nigerian churches have exported this to the rest of Africa. Today, this gospel of greed is a disturbing trend with appealing momentum.Capitalist desperados are masquerading as church planters. In his book Foxes in the Vineyard, Insights into the Nigerian Pentecostal Revival, Sean Akinrele quotes Bishop Mike Okonkwo, former president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN):

This has degenerated to the extent that people now come to church primarily to get rich outside the richness in their souls. Pastors, too, have cashed in on the gullibility of unsuspecting members as symbolism in oil, mantle, honey, palm-leaves, sprinkling of blood, andother mediums are now evolved to build the faith of the people unto materialism.

The PFN leadership has discovered that money has sadly become the yardstick for success in the Church,especially the Pentecostals…. Prosperity messages have therefore taken centre stage of most preaching at the expense of full gospel messages.

• The prominence of bossy leadership. In Christ, we learn a new and liberating model of leadership: servant leadership. The African continent, caught in the throes of conflict arising from tussles for power and resources, are desperate for this biblical leadership model. The current posture of spiritual grand-standing depreciates the gains of the Charismatic renewal movement across Africa and makes the tasks of evangelization less convincing in its genuine appeal.
  
  
• The lack of making the cross central. Where is the cross in the way we live as Christ’s followers? Today,popular theology inspired by the prosperity gospel exponents, “He go butter my bread and sugar my tea. Me, I no go suffer.” This needs to be reviewed if we are to be faithful to the teaching of the one who hung
  on the cross for the redemption of humankind. In The Chosen One—a Ghanaian home movie—a prostitute made an observation that resonates with the African Church: “Nowadays, pastors want to be like Jesus, but they are not ready to suffer like Jesus.”

Lausanne World Pulse - LAUSANNE REPORTS - Theological Trends in Africa:Implications for Missions and Evangelism. By Gideon Para-Mallam, March 2008(Gideon Para-Mallam is associate regional secretary of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) in West Africa. He is also Lausanne international deputy director for Anglophone Africa.)

Lack of Intergrity in Much African Leadership!

The Rev. Billy Graham once observed, “If you lose your health you have lost something, but you have not lost everything. If you lose your wealth you have lost nothing. If you lose your character you have lost everything.” The Church in Africa will do well to heed this word of wisdom. The absence of Christian integrity is a key trend that marks church growth and activity on the continent....

Since 1988, there has been a growth of mass conversions and a resurgence of church planting in my native country of Nigeria. Because of this, I began asking myself questions concerning the character of the emerging Nigerian Church (which includes churches with strong neo-Pentecostal roots). Some of these Charismatic churches boast having some of the largest church attendances in Africa; one congregation in Lagos records a weekly attendance of fifty thousand people. Prayer meetings attract up to two million attendees.

Yet the impact of the gospel on society is diminished by the disjuncture of belief and practice. During the Langham Nigeria Preaching Seminar ’08, Rt. Rev. Dr. Cyril Okorocha, Anglican Bishop of Owerri Diocese, observed that Nigerians are tired of hearing ministers preach about Jesus. They want to see Jesus lived out by preachers through lives of personal integrity.

One major result of the disjuncture between belief and practice is the lack of depth found in many Christians. Religiosity is widespread; however, godliness is scarce. People from all walks of life profess faith in God; however, this is not displayed in everyday life practices. Is it any wonder that Christians going into government are unprepared to withstand temptations of the office? They fail to be true ambassadors of Christ in government. Many have instead brought shame to Christ’s name.

Lausanne World Pulse - LAUSANNE REPORTS - Theological Trends in Africa: Implications for Missions and Evangelism. By Gideon Para-Mallam, March 2008(Gideon Para-Mallam is associate regional secretary of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) in West Africa. He is also Lausanne international deputy director for Anglophone Africa.)

Challenge in Mission to Buddhists

"This chapter has sought to engage in an honest dialogue with Buddhists concerning the nature of ultimate reality and how it compares or contrasts with the Christian understanding of the Triune God of Scripture. The dialogue began with an honest admission that many observers have noted that the Christian God and the Buddhas seem to “function in their own separate universes.” This testimony is not far off the mark, for although Buddhism may be functionally theistic, even at times functionally monotheistic, at its deepest level it is clearly nontheistic. Popular Buddhist worship and experience may give the appearance of some continuity with Christianity, but the actual gap between emptiness or mind and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is indeed great. Only the naive join in the common refrain that declares all religions are basically the same. In fact, while Buddhism and Christianity both claim the ardent allegiance of millions around the world, we must candidly admit that these two religions are fundamentally different. To use religious language to mask this difference is to be unfaithful to both the history of Buddhist thought and the integrity of Christian revelation."

(Timothy C. Tennent, Christianity at the Religious Roundtable: Evangelicalism in Conversation with Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. (GrandRapids:Backer Academic, 2002), p.113)

Difficulty of Dialogue Between Buddhists & Christains

“Engaging in genuine dialogue with Buddhists concerning the nature
of God or ultimate reality is not an easy task. Roger Corless has correctly observed
that “the Buddhas and the Christain God function in their own universes and it
is not clear weather these universes relate to each other at all, if they do,
in what way or ways.” Debate concerning the nature of ultimate reality is
central to the entire history of Buddhist thought, and that discussion has influenced
every strand of Buddhism in one way or another. Despite the obstacles, we do
not have the luxury of avoiding this central question when Christians and
Buddhists sit down at the table of dialogue.”

(Timothy C. Tennent, Christianity at the Religious Roundtable:Evangelicalism in Conversation with Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. (GrandRapids:Backer Academic, 2002), p.89)

Bridges of Understanding with Islam?

"Even a cursory reading of Islam reveals that there are vast areas of agreement between the Islamic view of Allah and the Christian view of God. Both Islam and Christianity affirm the absolute reality of God as the center of everything that is. Islam does not debate the existence of God; it is taken for granted as an undeniable reality. Allah is the creator, the Lord of history and the one to whom everyone must give an account on judgment day. Both Islam and Christianity affirm that God sends prophets, that he calls us to worship him, and that he is the central reality of our existence."

— Timothy C. Tennent,Christianity at the Religious Roundtable:Evangelicalism in Conversation With Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam(Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2002), p. 152

Can We answer why Jesus?

"Arguably, the Church's greatest challenge in the next century will be the problem of the scandal of particularity. More than ever before, Christians will need to explain why they follow Jesus and not the Buddha or Confucius or Krishna or Muhammad. But if, while relating their faith to the faiths, Christians treat non-Christian religions as netherworlds of unmixed darkness, the Church's message will be a scandal not of particularity but of arrogant obscurantism."

Gerald R. McDermott, Can Evangelicals Learn From World Religions? Jesus, Revelation, and Religious Traditions(Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2000), p. 10

Salvation among the Nations-God's Great grace!

"A fundamental point in this theology of religions is the conviction that God's redemptive work in Jesus Christ was intended to benefit the whole world. ...The dimensions are deep and wide. God's grace is not niggardly or partial. ...For according to the Gospel of Christ, the outcome of salvation will be large and generous."

Clark Pinnock, A Wideness in God's Mercy:The Finality of Jesus Christ in a World of Religions(Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1992), p. 17
(Pinnock is arguing that there is evidence of many being saved not 'Few" as many fundamentalists argue)

The Challenge facing us Through Postmodernism (& Pluralism)

This sentiment is very relevant to us today. Half of the people sitting in our pews really believe this deep down inside. How do we respond, and keep missions passion?

"How can you tell but that the Turks had as good Scriptures to prove their Mahomet the Saviour, as we have to prove our Jesus is; and could I think that so many ten thousands in so many Countries and Kingdoms, should be without the knowledge of the right way to Heaven... and that we only, who live but in a corner of the Earth, should alone be blessed therewith? Everyone doth think his own Religion rightest, both Jews, and Moors, and Pagans; and how if all our Faith, and Christ, and Scriptures, should be but a thinks-so too?"

(John Bunyan,Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners,ed. Robert Sharrock(New York: Oxford University Press, 1962), p. 31)

A further Examples of pluralism's emerging.

"The needed Copernican revolution in theology involves an equally radical
transformation in our conception of the universe of faiths and the place of our
own religion within it. It involves a shift from the dogma that Christianity is
at the center to the realization that it is God who is at the center, and that
all the religions of mankind, including our own, serve and revolve around
him."

(John Hick,The Second Christianity,3rd enl. ed. of Christianity at the Centre(London: SCM Press, 1983), p. 82)

"Christians, in their approach to persons of other faiths, need not insist that Jesus brings God's definitive, normative revelation. A confessional approach is a possible and preferred alternative. In encountering other religions, Christians can confess and witness to what they have experienced and come to know in Christ, and how they believe this truth can make a difference in the lives of all peoples, without making any judgments whether this revelation surpasses or fulfills other religions. In other words, the question concerning Jesus' finality or normativity can remain an open question."

(Paul F. Knitter,No Other Name?A Critical Survey of Christian AttitudesToward the World Religions(Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1985), p. 205)

"A theology of world religions that wants to be true to the empirical situation
in the way the religious traditions confront each other must not evade or play
down the conflict of truth claims. If we look to the history of religions in the
past, there was always competition and struggle for superiority on the basis of
different truth claims."

(Wolfhart Pannenberg,"Religious Pluralism and Conflicting Truth Claims,"in Christian Uniqueness Reconsidered,ed. by Gavin D'Costa(Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1990), p. 103

New dynamics - We Rub Shoulders With People of Many Religions!

"Other faiths used to belong to other lands. At home,rival religious claims could safely be ignored. Or, if not ignored, patronized. The superiority of one's own faith was so evident that the alternatives could somehow be brought within its purview without posing any real theological or social threat. Today things are different. Different faiths are practiced cheek by jowl in most parts of the world."

(John Habgood, Archbishop of York,Preface to Many Mansions:Interfaith and Religious Tolerance,ed. Dan Cohn-Sherbok(London: Bellew Publishing, 1992), p. vii)

Real Dialogue With Other Religions Requires People Who really Believe their Religion. - Pluralisms Problem

Just Say No to Pluralism
"First, we must not succumb to the forces of religious pluralism that seek to bring to the table of dialogue a version of Christianity that has been robbed of its distinctiveness.’ For too long interreligious dialogue has been advanced and identified with a pluralist agenda that open seeks to accommodate other world religions by discarding distinctive Christian doctrines such as the incarnation and the resurrection of Christ. The result, as Mister McGrath observes, is that “it is not Christianity that is being related to other world faiths; it is little more than a parody and caricature of this living faith, grounded in the presuppositions and agenda of western liberalism rather than in the self revelation of God.’ Pluralism seeks to censure all truth claims as imperialistic, dogmatic, and divisive. Our desire to avoid such nasty labels has caused us all too often to avoid the table of dialogue and by our silence to acquiesce to the idea that all religions are fundamentally the same.
True interreligious dialogue acknowledges that all religions in one way or another seek to defend certain truth claims. It is not fair to any religion to allow it to be ensnared in the swamp of religious pluralism, which concludes that we are all saying the same thing…….

As I stated in chapter 1, a Muslim who earnestly desires the entire world to acknowledge that “there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his Prophet” does not of fend me, Indeed, I fully expect it and do not believe he would be a trustworthy representative of Islam if he said that such a confession did not really matter or that Christians and Muslims were really no different from each other,
This is why it is so important that the table of dialogue brings together actual adherents of the various faiths and not just those who are masking their postmodern notions of truth behind religious language."

(Timothy C. Tennent, Christianity at the Religious Round Table: Evangelicalism in Conversation with Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. Grand Rapids, Baker Academic, 2002. p. 239,240.)

Indian Legend says there are 330 million gods in Hinduism?

“Indian lore contains a well-known tale about a Hindu man who spent his entire life as a kind of theistic census taker. He went from village to village, house to house, occupation to occupation, caste to caste, inquiring at every location about which deities were worshipped at that place by those people. After traveling throughout India and recording the names of all the deities who were worshipped, tradition states that he chronicled the list in a great book. The number is traditionally held to have been 330 million. When the weary traveler finally returned to his home village, exhausted and in his ninety-third year, he was asked to count how many gods were in his book, He spent seven years counting the gods, and at the end of the book he wrote the grand total—one. He declared in his dying breath that there is “one God worshipped in India.”

The author goes on to make this Missiological claim.

"This story symbolizes the classic problem concerning Hindu theism, and it is the reason why the Western assumption that Hindus are polytheistic is not as simple as the observations of a casual visitor to India might indicate. On the one hand, popular Hinduism seems to have no end to gods and goddesses who are worshipped and adored. On the other hand, India is known throughout the world for its intricate and sublime philosophy that teaches there is only one ultimate reality."

(Timothy C. Tennent, Christianity at the Religious Round Table: Evangelicalism in Conversation with Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. Grand Rapids, Baker Academic, 2002. p. 38.)

Inter-religious Dialogue, Pluralisms & their affect on Missions!

I Have been Studying the Theology of Religious Pluralism. I assure you this quote is a real issue.

"I confess that although I have read dozens of books on interreligious dialogue, I have enjoyed precious few of them. Yet I am now in the curious position of writing such a book. Upon reflection, the basic reason for my dissatisfaction is that the average Christian would hardly recognize the Christianity that is often presented in such works. Certainly, the apostles— the eye- and ear-witnesses of Christ’s life and the first to testify about him— would go away scratching their heads in bewilderment. The Christian gospel is often presented as one among many different paths to God. Christianity is ranked side by side with religions such as Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism in much the same way as films are displayed at a multiplex cinema. The Islamic Qur’an or the Hindu Upanishads are as likely to yield spiritual light as the Sermon on the Mount.

I do not believe that the authors of such books distort the gospel message intentionally or maliciously. Rather, most of them simply do not affirm the historic Christian confessions; yet curiously they continue to identify them selves as Christians. Even scholars among the non-Christian religions have begun to recognize this phenomenon. For example, Grace Burford, a practicing Buddhist scholar, comments on this in a recent Buddhist-Christian dialogue titled Buddhists Talk about Jesus—Christians Talk about the Buddha. Her chapter is insightfully titled, `If the Buddha Is So Great, Why Are These People Christians?’ She bluntly asks about these scholars, If they were so taken by Buddhism, why did they hang on to Christianity… Why would people be prepared to surrender every central claim of historic Christianity and yet be so doggedly determined to remain spokespersons for Christianity?”

(Timothy C. Tennent, Christianity at the Religious Round Table: Evangelicalism in Conversation with Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. Grand Rapids, Baker Academic, 2002. p. 9,10.)

New Dynamics

There needs to be a better way to approach people of other "faiths" than "Us" and "Them" attitudes. More and more our attitude and openness to dialogue, and genuineness in building real relationships, will be needed to witness for Christ. We can not approach people in integrity with the attitude that my soul purpose with you is to "Tell you what is right"? We might tell them, but they will not be listening. It is it possible to be real friends, have real exchange, and real love for people and their families, real people of other world religions. We will be little light among people of "world religions", until a shift in attitude among the average Christian occurs. What joy it is to see the shift in some as they become sincere loving evangelists where needed most. (Andy Rayner)

"Other faiths used to belong to other lands. At home, rival religious claims could safely be ignored. Or, if not ignored, patronized. The superiority of one's own faith was so evident that the alternatives could somehow be brought within its purview without posing any real theological or social threat. Today things are different. Different faiths are practiced cheek by jowl in most parts of the world."

(John Habgood, Archbishop of York, Preface to Many Mansions: Interfaith and Religious Tolerance, ed. Dan Cohn-Sherbok (London: Bellew Publishing, 1992), p. vii)

Not Feeling At Home? ---------This Blaufway, Tu-ba-boo will Be "At Home" some day!

In West Africa the Agni Kids would chant "Blauf-way" the Jula "Tu-Ba-Boo" as we entered a village or courtyard. This practice is ancient I was told. For generations the kids were taught to shout this as a warning during the slave trade, "There's white people here!".

However, now it's more of a curious interest as they shout this with a huge smile because, frankly they do not see many white people in some of these rural forest villages. Kids, even the odd older woman, will come up and rub your arm to feel your skin, especially the blond red hair on my arm. However, "blaufway!" is still chanted every time in every village.

The Agni often tell their small kids; "If you're not good, the white man will come and take you away." So many infants have a horrible fear of us when we first begin working in a village. Mothers coming by with wide eyed babies to see their first white person. Often the baby's begin to ball hysterically clawing and clutching to their mother.

There was a time when for six months I had not seen a single western person or spoken English to anyone other than my wife and kids. One day I passed another white guy on the highway in the car and I wanted to turn and chase him down just to talk. Not because he was white, rather because chances where much greater that we shared a similar cultural background and language, therefore making it easy to just chat with full understanding. Cross-cultural communication is not easy because it involves more than just words of a language, but culture and world-view exchange. Anyway, for the first time in my life I think I kind of understood just a little bit what it might feel like to be black in an all white place, even though I was white. Though here I am given a more prominent status by default. Regardless, this experience did help me understand better the desire to belong. To feel at home. To feel welcome. To belong. I'm glad to say that over time in Africa I eventually did come to "belong" and be accepted too. What a precious gift they gave me.

However, now having lived it, there are some things that always weigh a bit heavy on my heart. I'm generally a happy person, but now there are things I can't put out of my mind very long that many of my western friends and neighbors can. Makes me feel "foreign" at times even though I am suppose to be "Home". In Africa I'm a "Blaufway", at home, well I am just not "at home" anymore. People don't "get" me. I know why this is in my head. I have become what they call a Bi-cultural person and the feeling of being at home never really comes anywhere anymore.

Don't feel sorry for me, this does not mean I am sad. No it's deeper, a sense of not being "at home" in either place now. I was told by an older wiser bi-cultural person that this "at home" feeling will now only be satisfied in the place made for us. Near the throne of heaven where every tribe, language, people, and nation will stand with us around the throne. Sigh! Home!

Submitted by Andy Rayner

Weight Watchers, South Beach & Atkins Diet - Meet World Misisons!

How hard have we tried to save others? The nearly two billion dollars American evangelicals give per year to mission agencies is one fourth of what they spend on weight-loss programs. A person must overeat by at least two dollars worth of food per month to maintain one excess pound of flesh. Yet two dollars per month is more than what 90% of all Christians in America give to missions. If the average mission supporter is only five pounds overweight, it means he spends (to his own hurt) at least five times as much as he gives for missions. If he were to choose simple food (as well as not overeat) he could give ten times as much as he does to mission and not modify his standard of living in any other way!

(“Reconsecration to a Wartime, Not a Peacetime, Lifestyle.” Ralph D. Winter. Perspectives On the World Christian Movement, William Carey Library, 1999, pg706)