• Our hope-filled future is bound up in sharing the story of Jesus, in discipling others, in bringing those disciples together into communities of believers, and in developing and releasing those believers to create other communities... till Jesus the King comes again!

Mission11 Africa Update[2]

Posted on September 23, 2011 by wtdavid

Each Mission11 conference is unique.  I am once again amazed by the people that God has brought into the WT community and their passion to “multiply disciples and communities of believers.”  Gathered together in Cameroon for the next few days, here are some highlights from today:

  • Prayer and worship … prayer and worship … prayer and worship.  Mission11 Africa has been full of times of praise to our missional God, and prayers for the spiritual needs of the unreached here as well as in other Areas.  Tonight, WT workers here prayed for WT workers in the Americas.
  • “On community” is a three session workshop looking at what it means to live in community and to experience that kind of community in a small way here.
  • The WT Africa leadership team presented ideas about future project plans in light of our global vision and global currents.
  • Christoph shared from Exodus 17:8ff about how community was demonstrated when Aaron and Hur “held up his [Moses] hands, one on one side and the one on the other side,” as Joshua led the people of Israel into battle; when Moses held up his hand, the people prevailed, but whenever he lowered his hand, the Amalekites prevailed.  Each member of the ‘community’ had their part to play, but together in the power of God they saw God work for His glory.  He applied this truth to us today, by pointing us to Hebrews 12:1-2, and our need as a community to help one another as we face sin in our lives and seek to be transformed by His forgiveness and grace.

More to come ….

Filed under: Community, Mission11 | 2 Comments »

Mission11 Africa [1]

Posted on September 22, 2011 by wtdavid

The Mission11 Africa conference starts today.  As we are gathered here with workers from around Africa, we ask for your prayers for this time together.

Tonight, we will be spending time in small groups praying for the spiritual needs of unreached people groups here and around the world.

Filed under: Community, Mission11 | Leave a comment »

Mission11 Europe Update[3]

Posted on August 31, 2011 by wtdavid

The Mission11 Europe conference closed out this morning with time around God’s Word and God’s table.

Kevin from the US Support Center talked from Genesis 40:23-41:1 about the “white spaces” in our lives. There was “white space” in Joseph’s life where a great deal of change must have occurred in his character as he waited those two years for God to deliver him out of his situation (41:1).  He challenged each of us about returning to our normal life where it can appear that God sometimes may have forgotten us.

Kevin put it this way:

“While experiencing the white spaces of life: (i) We must not expect others to meet our needs; (ii) we can experience the love and faithfulness of God; and we can learn to wait on God and experience his goodness in our lives.”

That was the kind of encouragement we all needed as we head back into our everyday lives and ministries after this time away.

Jerry followed with a time of communion, and I think what was interesting was the way he introduced this time.  He asked about the symbol common to all believers.  Most of us responded by saying, “the cross”, which is correct he said.  However, another symbol that the Lord gave us was “a table”, for it was around the table that the disciples gathered for the Last Supper.  Around that table, the Lord reminded His disciples about what he was about to do and the promise of life with Him that His death and resurrection would provide.  The table is a place of rest, of hope, and of promise.

Thanks WT Europe for the time together of prayer, talking about vision, and living community together!

 

Filed under: Community, Hope, Mission11 | Leave a comment »

Mission11 Europe Update[2]

Posted on August 29, 2011 by wtdavid

Sometimes the noise is so loud that it can cause you to have trouble hearing your own voice or the others in your group.  But, what a good noise it is!  Spread out around the room, there are groups of four to five people praying at the same time for teams and workers in Spain, Moldova or elsewhere.

Over the past few evenings, the WT Europe community has given significant time to hear about what God has been doing in and through our teams and workers, and praying for the prayer points shared.

It has been a rich experience.

Dick, the main speaker, has been talking to the group about “transformational communities.”  This morning, he said: “One of the main products of the Gospel has to be community.”

If that is true, then what we have been experiencing in these evening prayer times is one small glimpse of such a transformational community as we lead one another back to the Father, sharing our heart cries for the needs of our brothers and sisters working together with us throughout Europe.

Pray with us!

 

More later …

 

Filed under: Community, Mission11, Prayer | 2 Comments »

Mission11 Europe Update[1]

Posted on August 27, 2011 by wtdavid

The conference started yesterday.  Here are just a few short impressions of the time together so far:

  • Sixty participants including our US Sending Country Director and board members from WT International and WT UK.
  • Each day begins with a significant time of prayer for one of the other Areas of World Team.  Today, the workers here prayed for the Americas.
  • Joi walked participants through the CPM Roadmap, giving them opportunity to consider implications of parts of the Roadmap for their teams.
  • Dick, the main speaker, began talking about “Discipleship that leads to transformation.”  He stressed how “transformation always occurs through community,” and the need for people to have others involved and
    investing in their lives.  You can check out some of his writings at: http://www.dickscoggins.com/

 

More later …

 

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Talk with me

Posted on August 19, 2011 by wtdavid

Sometimes when I look at our WT community, I see a multicultural network of workers driven by the same purpose and vision.  Sometimes though, when I look at our WT community, I see an innumerable series of silos or towers that are all located on the same paddock, but have no connectedness one to another.

Living and ministering out of a silo mentality can foster all sorts of troubles, not the least of which is a critical spirit.  When you can see nothing but what surrounds your own silo, it is quite easy to question or criticize what others are doing, even when they belong to the same community as you.

Verses such as Ephesians 4:29 can become lost to practical application when we choose to live disconnected from the larger community: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

Phrases such as “Well, he just decided that without asking us,” or “There’s no use sharing what I think because she doesn’t listen to me anyway” are nothing less than gossip, the evidence of a critical spirit.  True heart change will require more than just a renewed emphasis on community. Something will have to ‘displace’ that critical spirit.

Several hundred years ago, Jonathan Edwards wrote this: “For as long as a man or woman is not emptied of himself/herself and of his/her own righteousness and goodness, he/she will have a legal spirit.”  The only remedy is if God and His amazing grace and free righteousness ‘displace’ me out of the center of my life.  Only then can I truly begin to live as part of an interconnected community.

Maybe you need to ‘pick up the phone’ and talk with the Father about your heart, and as a natural outflow, pick up the phone and talk with someone with whom you are struggling with, or of whom you have spoken poorly.

 

 

Filed under: Communication, Community | 1 Comment »

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