• 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!

Is it worth the investment?

Posted on February 9, 2016 by wtdavid

investCross cultural ministry can call the best out of us. It can push us beyond our perceived capacities and abilities as we learn to rely ever more on a faithful and powerful God.  Yet, when ‘results’ are few, or when ‘fruit’ seems limited, or when the outcome of our efforts is not what we wanted or desired, we naturally ask ourselves: is it worth the investment?

That question is actually an assessment question. We are considering the impact or influence of our activity.  We are evaluating whether we should or should not continue to give our energies to a particular person, work or activity.

Here’s where our struggle and difficulty comes in.

We could respond to that assessment question by evaluating what is happening only from our personal perspective. By doing do, we can be lulled into thinking that nothing is happening, when a great deal of work is happening.  Or we can think lots is happening, when really it’s just a lot of activity with no sustainable fruit in the long term. We can get ourselves easily discouraged by our own assessment.  Or we can convince ourselves to stay engaged in a work that will not move us towards multiplying disciples and communities of believers.

The struggle and difficulty that may plague us should be addressed by asking that assessment question in a larger community than just ourselves.  Maybe this is simply a practical example of another application of the biblical truth that in the multitude of counselors there is wisdom (Proverbs 11:14).  Others provide that much needed perspective that we lack.  Others help us see more clearly the impact and influence of our investment.

Is it worth the investment? It’s a great question to ask ‘your community’.  You may not like all the answers, but if you ‘mine’ those responses for the truth that is there, it will refresh your heart to ‘excel still more’ in the work God has given each of us to do; in the work that God has given us as a community to do.

Filed under: Assessment, Community | 4 Comments »

Who speaks into your life?

Posted on January 27, 2016 by wtdavid

Passionate, activist, self-motivated and independent. Cross cultural workers could easily be described by this series of adjectives.  There is nothing like living and ministering for Jesus across cultures.  It drives one’s passion and stirs a desire to engage in work which is not always easy or rewarding.  It takes commitment and inner strength to get up each day and press on (Philippians 3:12).

However, our passionate independence can do us wrong if we do not deliberately seek to ‘grow in community’. community

Spending time in community provides an opportunity for others to speak into our lives; to be used by God to help us better assess our projects and plans. A community gives us perspective and allows us to grow in self-awareness as to our true heart motives.  A community stands with us and offers us the ‘one another’ help we so desperately need.

Community can take a variety of forms, and it can be composed of different people, not necessarily those from just our agency (see the TC4u document located on the WT Hub, or contact me and I’ll see that you get a copy).  Whatever form or composition it takes, it is essential for us to participate regularly in community with others.

Yes, I know that there are a number of obstacles to participating in community life for us as cross cultural workers. Yet, the benefits far outweigh the effort it will take to overcome those obstacles, simply because ‘growing in community’ causes us to grow individually and corporately in Christ.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it best when he wrote: “The more genuine and the deeper our community becomes, the more will everything else between us recede, the more clearly and purely will Jesus Christ and His work become the one and only thing that is vital between us.”

Filed under: Community, One another commands | Leave a comment »

Going all the way down

Posted on January 25, 2016 by wtdavid

In Saving Grace, a series of daily devotionals, C. John (Jack) Miller writes:

“Jesus emptied himself – made himself nothing. He took the form of a servant, and he was made in human likeness – a great step down from being equal with the Father. He took a second step down by humbling himself and becoming obedient to the point of death. Then he took a third step down by dying the death of the criminal and the sinner on the cross. He goes all the way down and down and down to redeem you and me. 

God proves that he really loves you by the gift of his Son. He’s telling you this to melt your heart. He wants you to see that you don’t need to be ruled by fear because he controls everything. God’s great work of redemption is at the center of history, which is moving toward a great destination.  That destination is the glory of the Father in Jesus Christ in which we’ll all be enjoying one another and enjoying God throughout eternity.  If you’re a part of that plan, it can make you so excited that you might even forget to worry for awhile.”

This is one way of talking about the Gospel, our main guiding principle as a World Team community.Worry_Ruminition_repetitive_thinking

This is one way of talking about the Gospel and showing its practical impact on our day to day lives: “If you’re part of that plan, it can make you so excited that you might even forget to worry for awhile.”  The Gospel displaces worry when our heart finds its joy and contentment in Christ rather than in all the things we do or accomplish.

“What? Me worry?” you might say.  Yet, worry is often part of a cross cultural worker’s daily grind.  The Gospel, speaking the Gospel again to oneself and to one another, pushes worry to the side.

Filed under: Gospel, Guiding Principles, Worry | Leave a comment »

What got you here …

Posted on January 11, 2016 by wtdavid

Several years ago, Marshall Goldsmith wrote a book that was a New York Times bestseller.  The title was simply: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.  The thrust of Goldsmith’s argument was that when people move from one level of responsibility to another, they need to learn a new set of skills. Most people, however, falter under new responsibilities because they try to ‘super-size’  the skills and talents from their previous level or role at the next level. Any new level calls for different abilities and aptitudes, most of which will need to be added to one’s toolkit.what got you here

Flux and change are part of a cross cultural worker’s normal life.  Teammates arrive; teammates move on to another ministry. One role and responsibility gives way to another in the task of discipling and building communities.  Our job descriptions are best described as fluid.

This is why we need to consider the application of Goldsmith’s advice to our lives and ministries; advice which is no different than the apostle Paul when he wrote: “as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.”  (1 Thessalonians 4:1)  Call it lifelong learning or ‘ongoing adult ed’, all of us should strive to grow more in our character and our competency.  Setting a ‘growth step’ for this year and enlisting the help of another, will help to add a needed new tool to one’s CP toolkit.

However, our work doesn’t stop there.  Now think of the others who are arriving to join in ministry with us. How can we facilitate their development, their ongoing learning?  What are the tools, skills, aptitudes in which we can train them?  Don’t assume that ‘what got them here in missions will get them there where they need to be in church planting’.

All of us are lifelong learners.  Those who have been on the journey a little longer should become facilitators of lifelong learning for those joining in cross cultural work and ministry.

Filed under: Facilitation, Lifelong learning | 8 Comments »

Why we get pumped up about our ministry

Posted on December 17, 2015 by wtdavid

I can put it in a variety of ways when I write to people. For instance, ‘thanks for praying for our ministry’ or ‘thanks for standing with us as we serve Christ here’. God has given each of us a unique and specific calling to the culture and people where we live and among whom we serve.  There are specific indicators to which we can refer along that journey and that serve as ‘ebenezers’ for us when the days get difficult or frustrating.myworldlogo

And such is the way it should be.

However, our vocabulary can also betray the lurking self-centeredness of our hearts. We can quickly make ‘islands’ of ourselves rather than ‘communities’.  When it is ‘my’ ministry or ‘our’ ministry that we talk about most of the time, we can unknowingly distant ourselves from others who have a similar calling.  We can turn the focus away from Jesus and His mission to ourselves.  We can work to mobilize people only to our small part of the world; to ‘our’ ministry alone.

The Jesus mandate was to ‘go and make disciples of all nations’.  Our call then is first and foremost a call to be part of His community. And secondarily to ‘find our place’ in His missional call.  Working out of that missional call, we plead with others to put their faith and trust in Him.  Working out of that missional call, we call others to join God wherever He may send them in the world.

Ask yourself these questions:

  • Do I get excited when someone I have been talking to about cross cultural work decides to go to another people group, another location or to another team?
  • Do I get excited when those I am discipling decide to start a new work 50 km from our church plant?
  • Do I get excited when others build on and better the work we began?

The answers to these questions will be an indicator of the level of self-centeredness stirring in our hearts. The remedy will come when self-forgetfulness begins to displace that self-centeredness.

Filed under: Gospel, Humility | Tagged: | 2 Comments »

Language learning, culture and humility

Posted on December 8, 2015 by wtdavid

Most of us are activists at heart.  That’s one of the ‘core skills’ of a cross cultural worker; whether plodding or charging ahead, the cross cultural worker will move forward.  We’ve got that ‘checklist’ mindset where each part of the church planting task gets ‘checked off’ as we move forward to the next part.

Language learning?  Nine months of intensive study in a language school and we can check that requirement off.  Cultural learning?  Digest two to books on Haitian culture plus a weekend stay with a Haitian family and we can check that requirement off.  It’s just so straightforward.language learning

Yet, something in that ‘process’ doesn’t rime with Paul’s confession: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12.9)

During my first few months of language school, one of our professors announced that he was going to share the ‘secret’ to staying long term France.  All of us grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, ready to write down these words of wisdom.  This was his ‘secret’: “Every day, when you get up, go into the bathroom, look at yourself in the mirror and say: “Thank you God that I am your beloved child.  Help me to learn one more French word today.””  That was it. That was all he said.  To say that most of us in the class were disappointed would be an understatement.  However, he touched on one of the fundamental elements of the cross cultural journey.  It’s more about humility than performance.  It’s more about a growing dependency than about independence.

You cross the cultural bridge.  You lay anchors to keep you from sliding back onto the bridge.  And you recognize that each day of this journey will take you deeper into humility and dependency; something that goes against our nature and that we often resist.

All of us know that humility is not part of an online module in which can participate. However, we can certainly strive to put ourselves in contexts where God’s Spirit can continue His refining work, leading us to depend more and more on Him.  Some suggested ‘contexts’:

  • Learn a new word, a new expression today. Grab hold today of the right way to say something you’ve struggled to say correctly for a while.
  • Say ‘thanks for your help’ when someone corrects another one of your grammar mistakes.
  • Ask a neighbor to explain the meaning of a recent cultural event or particular cultural value.
  • Read up on a local historical landmark and go visit it.
  • Ask for help in doing a project at your apartment.
  • Consistently describe yourself as a ‘lifelong’ learner

Filed under: Crossing cultures, Humility | Tagged: | 7 Comments »

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