• 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!

Learning from the ‘old’ guys

Posted on August 30, 2012 by wtdavid

J.I. Packer, in his book, A Quest for Godliness, quotes a well known Puritan writer (17th century): “And he that doth not feed on and thrive in the digestion of the food which he  provides for others will scarce make it savoury unto them; yea, he know not but that the food he hath provided may be poison, unless he have really tasted of it himself. If the word do not dwell with power in us, it will not pass with power from us.”  A fitting word for us today.

The hardest part of any day is setting aside time to dig into the Word of God for ourselves, to mine its truths and to dialogue with God about what we are learning and how it all applies to us.  The excuses are multiple: I just don’t have time; or doesn’t Bible study preparation count; or there’s no ‘system’ that seems to work for me.

Two small steps might be a beginning towards getting us back into ‘savouring’ the truths of the Word. First, ask someone to pray over the coming week(s) for you to have a desire to be with the Father.  Second, start sharing what you are learning with others, not in a teaching sense, but just sharing how something from the Bible is impacting you and how you desire to work it into your heart.  It sounds so straightforward, but the act of sharing or giving to others in this way creates a thirst for more, more time in His Word.

This is exactly what we want to see in our disciples as well, isn’t it?  To have a thirst and hunger for God’s Word and share it with others?

 

Filed under: Development, Lifelong learning, Prayer, Priorities | Leave a comment »

Techie Prayer

Posted on February 27, 2012 by wtdavid

In a post last month (24.01.2012), I asked the question as to whether you were “gathering for prayer.”  That post was meant to be an encouragement about trying creative or original approaches to “gather in prayer” for one another.

Well, yesterday I saw an example of such an innovative approach.  As the team here in France gathered for their annual retreat, they began their time in prayer and worship.  The facilitators of this part of the retreat said that we would be praying for each one of our ministries in Europe.  Using their computer screen and an external speaker, they ‘skype-ed’ in each one of the leaders of our European teams.  Each person was given a few minutes to share key prayer items.  One of the facilitators translated each request into French.  When each leader was finished sharing, we prayed together with that leader, and then moved to the next leader.

I don’t know how those other leaders felt, but I can tell you that the time spent together not only enlarged the vision of our Franceteam members, but also unified their hearts in ministry with colleagues in other places in Europe who are experiencing many of the same joys and frustrations.

Neither the distance nor the language posed a problem for the Franceteam.  All I can say is “bravo” to those facilitators for coming up with such an idea, and “thanks” to God for allowing us to share with one another in this important way!

 

 

Filed under: Innovation, Prayer | Leave a comment »

Are you gathering for prayer?

Posted on January 24, 2012 by wtdavid

Tomorrow marks the start of some important meetings. From Wednesday through Friday of this week, members of the global structure task force are meeting here at our house to finalize a proposal for creating a global network or alliance to better support and resource our World Team ministries. 

Right after that (starting Saturday), our leadership team of Area Directors and Sending Country arrives for a weeklong conference where we will share draft project plans for the coming years that seek to further our global vision in light of global trends.  There will be much discussion and feedback intended to refine and improve these project plans.

We have asked for prayer for both of these meetings for the past number of weeks.  I am asking again for your prayers during these days.  Would you gather for prayer with others and pray for these discussions that God would give wisdom and insight?

It is not an easy task to gather for pray.  We often find ourselves coming up with numerous reasons why we should put it off times of prayer until another more “convenient” time.   On February 2nd or 3rd, World Team is setting aside a Day of Prayer.  This is an opportunity for us to celebrate what God is doing and to pray for current needs.  This is an opportunity for us to be innovative in our approach to prayer together.

  • Perhaps gathering might mean inviting a group of workers by Skype conference to pray together online for half an hour.
  • Perhaps gathering might mean opening your home or apartment in the morning for an open time of prayer.  People could come whenever they wanted, and stay to pray as long as they could.
  • Perhaps gathering might mean meeting for a meal, praying before the meal, during the meal and after the meal for World Team ministries.

Maybe you have other ideas about how to gather for prayer.

 

Filed under: Global realities, Prayer | Leave a comment »

Ministry practice 1.2

Posted on October 11, 2011 by wtdavid

What is that we actually do as cross cultural workers?  The CPM Roadmap (like the WT Continuum) makes an attempt at ‘painting a picture’ to describe the ministry in which we are engaged.  It is a good model, a good
framework from which to work.

Could we look at cross cultural ministry from another perspective or outlook in order to help better grasp the task or the journey that we are on?

The first step we take in cross cultural life and ministry is to engage others in spiritual conversations. Spiritual conversations are not an attempt to contort everything that we are talking about around to some Scripture verse or biblical principle.  Spiritual conversations are engaging others in talking about what forms the framework for the way they see the world and live.  It is a dialogue between people where we seek, as the opportunities arise, to share the gospel framework in such a way that it arouses interest and reflection.

The Bible describes our role in one way as that of being an “ambassador”.

It is not an easy task.  John Wesley describes his struggles in a journal entry in 1738: “went several times the following days, with a design to speak to the sailors, but could not. I mean, I was quite averse [willing, wanting to] to speaking; I could not see how to make an occasion, and it seemed quite absurd to speak without. Is not this what men commonly mean by, “I could not speak”? And is this a sufficient cause of silence, or no? Is it a prohibition from the Good Spirit? or a temptation from nature, or the evil one?”

So, what do we do?  Pray.  We need to ask Him to open up opportunities for spiritual conversations.  Depend on the Spirit.  The Spirit must prepare and open a person’s heart for them to be responsive to any conversation. We must ask Him to move in people’s lives.  Timing.  We cannot force a conversation.  Divine opportunities are just that, divine opportunities.  We seek for open doors, and wait for God to open those doors up to us.

 

 

Filed under: Communication, Crossing cultures, Listening, Prayer, Sharing the Gospel story | 6 Comments »

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 »

Unfinished Stories “Encore”

Posted on May 30, 2011 by wtdavid

I posted this blog post several weeks ago.  I thought I would post it again, in an abbreviated format, as a sort of “encore” because of how the book, A Praying
Life, impacted so many of us.  I would really love to hear your responses to the questions at the end of this post:

“I’m not sure there is any better way to finish our study of A Praying Life other than quoting from the beginning and end of Paul Miller’s final chapter:

“In the stories I’ve told in this book, we can see God weaving a tapestry.  In my experience, as we abide in him, he usually shows us what he is doing.  But sometimes he doesn’t … We live in many overlapping stories, most of which are larger than us.  Each of us will die with unfinished stories.  We can never forget that God is God. Ultimately it is his story, not ours …

May the knowledge of the coming return of our King cause us to persevere with grace and courage in a “praying life”!”

I would love to hear your reflections on this book in light of these questions.  Please post them as comments to this post.  I will make a
summary of that feedback for a future post.

  • What has God shown you about “praying life” through reflecting on the chapters in this book?
  • How do you desire to grow and change in your “praying life”?

Filed under: Prayer | 1 Comment »

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