• 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!

What am I supposed to be doing?

Posted on November 21, 2016 by wtdavid

It seems like a rather straightforward question for cross cultural workers.  We would normally answer by using the verbal equivalent of our role.  What am I supposed to be doing?  Church planting, discipling, translating the Bible, or teaching, for example.what-am-i-supposed-to-be-doing

However, what if we tried to answer the question by ‘keeping the end in mind’?  In other words, what if we responded to the question by focusing on the longer term objective?

The World Team Ministry Framework puts it this way: “reach, invest in, and equip others to release them into ministry”.  That’s what I am supposed to be doing every day as I work as a church planter, discipler, Bible translator or teacher.  I am supposed to be raising up another corps of committed followers of Jesus who will join in ministry.

Two outcomes come quickly to mind.  First, the ministry is a shared activity.  We as cross cultural workers are only one part in much larger plan God has to ‘multiply’ His people around the globe.  Our role may be one of a church planter, but our longer term objective is to raise up other church planters.  Second, I will have to ‘stand to the side’ from time to time to let others be launched into ministry.  Just as someone did for us, we need to platform, support and encourage others into ministry which will mean letting others do the ministry in our place.

Perhaps this is one of the long term outcomes John was referring to when he wrote: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”  (3 John 4)

Filed under: Church planting, Vision, WT Ministry Framework | 4 Comments »

What difference does it make?

Posted on November 15, 2016 by wtdavid

What difference does it make to be in the majority or the minority?hqdefault

Around the globe today, that’s a question on which a number of people are reflecting.  For some, it’s a financial question; for others, it’s a political question; and for still others, it’s a social structure question.

To be in the majority means that one’s way of seeing the world is the operating principle for the context in which one lives and works.  It’s a comfortable place to be.  To be in the minority means that one’s way of seeing the world is not the standard operating principle.  This can be an uncomfortable and awkward place to be.

Imagine that you have been invited to a dinner party where the host, and most of the guests, is an extrovert.  If you are an extrovert, you will feel very much at home at the dinner party and probably tell people later what a great time you had.  You are in the majority.  If you are an introvert, you will feel like the proverbial ‘fish out of water’ amongst all these extroverts.  The dinner party might be hard, uncomfortable, or awkward.  Rare would be the person at such a dinner party, from the majority group, who notices your uncomfortableness and tries to ‘bridge’ you into the conversation.

So, why am I writing all this?  In our World Team Ministry Framework, one of the elements of our organizational culture (our context) is community.  Community, Gospel community, calls us to address the differences, the disparities that may exist between us.  Gospel community calls us to think about others who may not be in our ‘majority’ in terms of language, culture, temperament or style of thinking; to think about others who may not be in our ‘majority’ and how they might feel. Gospel community calls us to turn away from ways that may isolate others, and move towards others to learn from their way of perceiving the world.

Have you ever wondered about when John writes: “And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude and as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah!  For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage supper of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready””, what language will be spoken when we are all gathered together in that way?  And what cultural cues will we follow as we sit down to the marriage feast of the Lamb?

Community: is the experience of God’s people sharing in common their relationship with Christ, stimulating each other toward growth in maturity … this kind of community operates through voluntary transparency and through speaking and receiving the truth in love.

 

Filed under: Community, Crossing cultures, Gospel, Listening | 6 Comments »

What are our distinctives?

Posted on November 10, 2016 by wtdavid

I am often asked: What are the distinctives of World Team?  There are two ways that I try to answer this question.what-makes-us-different

First, World Team’s distinctives flow out of our mission and vision of multiplying disciples and communities of believers.

  • World Team focuses on establishing communities of believers that will reproduce themselves in creating other communities of believers. We want to bring living examples of God’s church within reach of people who do not have a personal relationship with God.
  • World Team works in teams. We work in teams because we believe teams are a tangible expression of our need for all members of the body of Christ in order to carry out the mission mandate that He has given to us.
  • World Team members regularly ‘speak the Gospel’ to one another. It is the ‘air we breathe’ because if the Gospel is not good news for us, how can we expect it to be good news for others.
  • World Team’s size allows us to be more flexible in our approach, more innovative in our activities.

Obviously, others in the World Team community might put these distinctives differently or might add one or two others.  The point is that World Team has markers as to who we are and what we do.

A second way to answer the question is by asking a question.  Why are distinctives so important?  By taking a ‘marketplace’ approach to missions, we try to find our market niche and offer our product to those most likely to join us.  Now there is nothing wrong with trying to communicate well in this way.  However, the context of missions has changed in significant ways.  Many of us, as agencies, are quite similar in our distinctives.  In fact, several are considering inter-agency partnerships where people are recruited to ‘multi-agency’ teams. The focus is less on the agency and its distinctives, and more on shared distinctives and a longer term objective: multiplying disciples and communities of believers.

World Team has distinctives that make us different from others.  However, the World Team Global community is open to work with many other agencies and national movements because we all share similar distinctives and the same long term goal of bringing the Gospel within reach of lost people everywhere we go.

Filed under: Mission, Partnership, Vision | 1 Comment »

How will you respond?

Posted on November 8, 2016 by wtdavid

vote-electionToday, people in one area of the world will be voting to elect the next leader of their country.  For the past number of weeks, the news here where I live has focused on this upcoming election.  Conversations at church, in the neighborhood, or over coffee have centred on the question: “So, who do you think is going to win the election?”

It’s not my purpose to discuss the candidates themselves nor the content of the political debates surrounding this election.  And this is only one of a number of elections that have occurred or will occur this year.  My purpose is to talk about our response or our reaction to what happens; to what will be the outcome of this election.

In 1 Timothy 2, we read: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.  This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior.”

My first reaction, and perhaps yours as well, over the past few weeks has been to speak up and say what I think about the candidates and the issues in this election.  Paul exhorts us to first take our words to God and change them into prayers for the very leaders engaged in this electoral process.  However, Paul goes even further to challenge us to pray for these leaders so that they will allow a continued openness, in that culture and society, to living out one’s faith and sharing one’s faith with others.

I almost hesitated to write that last paragraph because it seemed so obvious.  However, it is very much ‘counter cultural’ for all of us to think first of prayer because passions can ‘fly’ in political discussions.  Without realizing it, our passion may demonstrate that we really believe it is the winner of an election who determines the future.

It is our God who is sovereign, and so our hearts and prayers need to turn to Him first in response.

“Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.”  (Psalm 115:3)

Filed under: Godly living, Gospel, Prayer | Leave a comment »

Have you heard about monoculturals?

Posted on November 4, 2016 by wtdavid

To be ‘monocultural’ is the idea of looking at another culture only from the perspective of our culture of origin.  However, have you ever heard of ‘monoculturals’?monoculturals

Monoculturals is a term that refers to people who see themselves as being connected globally to people from all different walks of life.  It’s the feeling that there is one ‘culture’ to which everyone has access and in which you engage others.   Facebook, Twitter, and the global music culture create the opportunity for people to relate to others from Cambodia, Paraguay and Denmark.  We have the possibility of ‘reaching out and touching others’ from a host of different places.

There is a caveat.  The caveat is that we can begin to ignore the specific underlying cultural assumptions and views of one another because of the ‘monoculture’ in which we believe we are all living.  The veneer of being ‘united’ can cloud the reality that there is more to each person than just a specific post or song lyrics.

If we apply this to our larger agency, we know that we are ‘united’ by a common culture, a ‘monoculture’ if you will of an unwavering commitment to multiplying disciples and communities of believers among the lost.  However, we can easily lose sight of the ‘cultural’ differences that mark each one of us and create unnecessary tensions in our relationships with one another.

Just as we did when we first started to learn a new language and culture, we should give ourselves more to listening well to others, and particularly to asking probing questions that will help us better understand what is ‘underneath’ each one of us in terms of our personal cultural values and assumptions.

Filed under: Community, Crossing cultures | Leave a comment »

Are you monocultural?

Posted on November 3, 2016 by wtdavid

By our job description, we are ‘cross cultural workers’.  In other words, we have moved from living in one culture to adapting to life in another.  Our perspective has certainly changed.  Or our perspective should have changed.  I am sometimes surprised by how easily I can move back and forth between working as a cross cultural person and acting like a monocultural worker.

monoculturalNow when I say, ‘monocultural’, I’m thinking of the idea where we look at another culture only from the perspective of our culture of origin.

The way that this often works out is by those small criticisms (seemingly justified) of the current culture in which we live.  It happens in the smallest of situations. The ‘little man’ on the pedestrian crossing signal turns from green to red, and that local pedestrian steps right into the crosswalk without even a moment of hesitation.  In my mind, I feel like shouting out: “Did you see that the little man change from green to red?  It means stop and wait to cross!”

What I am doing is monoculturally criticizing the behavior of others.  I’m not trying to assess why this happens or what element of another’s worldview moves them to act in this way, I’m just reacting from my cultural norms; cultural norms which I believe are right.

Without daily nurturing a ‘multicultural’ perspective, I will have trouble applying the Gospel appropriately and accurately to my life as well as to the lives of others.  I will end up ‘speaking’ a lot more than ‘listening’.   I will end up nitpicking rather than grappling with cultural issues that might become avenues for communicating the message of Jesus Christ to my heart and to the hearts of others.

 

Filed under: Gospel | 2 Comments »

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