• 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!

The ministry of incarnational living

Posted on May 11, 2021 by wtdavid

Recently, I listed these four (4) possible applications for an incarnational lifestyle for us as cross-cultural workers.

  • We invest significant time in understanding the local culture in which we live and work at mastering the heart language of the people we serve.
  • Disciples and communities are trained to critically contextualize the gospel in a way that preserves the integrity of the gospel as it engages one’s local context.
  • We are not satisfied until we see the gospel multiplied by disciples making disciples, and communities multiplying themselves in other communities.
  • We are not the centre nor the ultimate motor of all this work.

Then I read the following in the prayer update of our one of our fellow WT workers and smiled at the thought that they mentioned, in some way or another, the four (4) possible applications above … as well as one or two others.  We do learn from one another!

Here is what they wrote:

“The ministry of language learning?  Moving to the city has allowed us to use language a lot – which means we have a lot of embarrassing moments and some great stories!

But amidst our studies we are recognizing that there is ministry even in language learning. Crossing cultures means you enter into a world where you can barely communicate basic needs at times – much less navigate cultural cues. The things that give us confidence, identity, importance, or even just predictable stability are thrown out the window.

Anyone who has ever attempted to live in a context not their own can relate. Yet God is using the very stretching, awkward journey of learning language and culture to prepare our hearts and minds for the ministry ahead. The language skills and cultural understanding that we gain in this season will have a profound impact on how we serve others in the future.

But just as significant is the emptying (Phil 2) that we are experiencing in the process. Only when we are empty can Christ flow through us; only when we are weak is His strength perfected in us (2 Cor 12:7-10).”

Filed under: Language learning, Ministry experience, Perseverance | Leave a comment »

Why the future is clear

Posted on May 28, 2020 by wtdavid

The question that seems to fuel most conversations these days is: when?

When will we be able to travel again (by plane, train or automobile)?  When will restaurants and cafes be open again?  When will life return to some semblance of normalcy?  When will we no longer have to wear a face mask?  When will we be able to hug loved ones again?

You get the idea.  “When?” is an important question and one with a multitude of possible applications to our daily lives.

However, the “when?” question can also be quite debilitating because it tends to leave us in a kind of limbo situation.  For example, not knowing when trains will start running again, we can’t make any plans to visit friends in the south of France or Italy.  All our plans are in an ‘up in the air’ phase.

The future simply seems unclear.

Then the disciple Peter reminds us that this is not the case:  “According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials …” (1 Peter 3-6)

The limbo and the uncertainty can be faced by telling ourselves again of the hope (defined as that settled and sure confidence in God’s promise) we have in Christ.  Our hope is one that is alive, that has been reserved for us, and whose assurance grows day by day as we think on it. 

None of us know when we will be able to meet again for corporate worship, visit family living far away or gather with other World Team workers from around the world.  However, the when of the ‘new normal’ is not what should define us.

Rather, it is Jesus, the centre of all of life.  Focusing on Him (and the hope He gives and has reserved for us) will give us the patience, the joy, and the courage to face the constant when question without letting it ultimately define us and our hope.

Filed under: Hope, Jesus Christ, Perseverance | 6 Comments »

Gotta go all the way

Posted on November 16, 2017 by wtdavid

go all the wayOkay, I know that’s not proper English (neither British nor American).  However, my point is simply that learning to talk with others in a language that is not our heart language is a work of perseverance in order to get to the objective of sharing our faith with others in a cross cultural context.

Perseverance calls for several actions or heart attitudes that are not natural to our hearts.

For one, the work of perseverance pushes you to always keep the endpoint in mind.  We should not be satisfied with ‘almost there’.  90% is still 10% short, we could say.  The problem here is that we are good at talking ourselves into accepting ‘half-way’ work.   Other concerns begin to weigh in on us. The main concern in cross cultural life, we believe, is to ‘get out into ministry’.

For another, the work of perseverance presses on the humility quotient.  Coming from ministry experience in our own cultural context, we can feel ‘child-like’ in cross cultural life and ministry when we recognize that it takes a whole lot longer to talk, to get a sentence out then it does in our own culture and language.  Perseverance drives us see our need for grace even in language learning and cultural acquisition.

Finally, the work of perseverance can highlight (regularly) our weaknesses. The problem for me (and most of us) is that I don’t always see the benefits of this ‘highlighting’.  However, the psalmist saw this benefit (Psalm 139:23-24) and maybe his prayer should become our prayer.

It is true that at the 30 kilometer mark in a marathon, one ‘hits the wall’.  The temptation to quit is so strong when one ‘hits that wall’ that it’s hard to resist.  When I ran the Paris marathon, one of my teammates here in France stepped on the course at the 30 kilometer mark and ran with me for two kilometers.  The words of encouragement that teammate shared were just what I needed to ‘go all the way’ to the end of the marathon at 42 kilometers.

Perseverance is hard work, but it is a community work.  Struggling in language and culture?  Tempted to ‘call it quits’ before the language acquisition finish line?  Feeling discouraged at not being able to express yourself like you would want?  Call on a friend. Call on a group of friends.  Call on the community to help because we ‘gotta go all the way’ to learning the language and culture of those God has called us to serve.

Filed under: Crossing cultures, Language learning, Perseverance | 2 Comments »

Do you ever feel like throwing in the towel?

Posted on March 7, 2016 by wtdavid

It’s an idiomatic expression that gets translated in different ways in different languages. In French we say, “Throwing (in) the sponge” Why a sponge?  Taken from the world of boxing, throwing the sponge into the ring was a signal that the boxer from that corner was giving up and giving the win to the other fighter.towel

In cross cultural living and ministry, such ‘sponges’ can be thrown quite often.  Sometimes, it comes about because we don’t have the energy to try and navigate the administrative hurdles of living in a particular region of the world. Sometimes, it happens when one more person asks that question that we dislike: “You must not be from here. Your accent gives you away.  Where do you come from?”  Or sometimes, it comes from the lack of observable fruit in the ministry in which we have been engaged for a good deal of time.

Granted, we can talk ourselves out of truly ‘throwing in the towel’, but before we know it the feeling can return because of another event or misplaced word.

‘Throwing in the sponge’ is an indicator that our hold on God, our calling, and our friends is at best weak.  Three steps we might think about. First, fix in your mind the journey that led you to put your faith and trust in God.  Remember how He opened your heart to hear His voice, and the effort He went to in bringing you to Himself. Second, speak back to yourself those words that marked the beginning of your ‘call’ by God to serve Him.  This is not our work or just our adventure. This is first God’s work. Reminding ourselves of how He brought us here, gives us renewed confidence to move out again into our world.   Third, make it a habit to call a friend and check in with another as to how you are doing.  It’s the words of a friend that are a blessing to the soul, and can be used by God to direct our ways.

Rather than ‘throwing in the towel’, it would be better to throw up (or lift) our hands to God.

Filed under: Community, Gospel, Perseverance | 2 Comments »

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