• 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!

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 »

What is going to keep you there?

Posted on December 4, 2015 by wtdavid

Once the cultural bridge has been crossed, we might think that the ‘journey’ is over.  However, it has only just started.  Not only do we need ways to ensure a safe and sure passage across the cultural bridge, but we need to discover anchoring points that will keep us on moving forward in ongoing cross cultural learning and living.

It is somewhat like mountain climbers who use screws to secure an anchor for all the climbers in the group to move upward on the rock.  Crossing the cultural bridge calls us to be ‘equipped’ to look for such anchors.Carabiner

What are those anchors?  Several come quickly to mind, but there are certainly others: identity, community and laughter.

Identity.  A firm grasp of our identity and value in Christ is the first anchor we need to secure into the ‘rock’ as we move forward.  It is easier to say this than it is to actually live it out.  When you find yourself in another culture, you want to feel part of that culture. You make an effort to learn the language and the customs.  However, that ‘petit accent’ (that slight accent) always seems to give away the fact that you are not from there.  And when someone says again: ‘Oh, you must not be from here,’ you can easily feel devalued.  Speaking the Gospel to ourselves reminds us that we are not defined by what others think of us, nor by our ‘slight accent’, nor by our work.

Community.  God created us to be in community.  Our communities are a tangible reflection of the community that exists between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  As one moves through the cross cultural world, all kinds of emotions can rise to the surface of one’s heart.  An arena where honest sharing, mutual support and accountability can occur is vital.  That forum is the place where we can remind one another of the Gospel; where we can speak the Gospel to another.  That community is the place where our ‘strength’ is restored, where our idols are challenged, and where we are sent back out into life and ministry with a greater hold on Him.

Laughter.  This anchor doesn’t seem to fit often with the others.  However, it is just as vital.  The capacity to laugh at oneself in a cross cultural context is a gauge, in one sense, of how well are lives are founded upon Christ.  If we are unable to laugh at ourselves when we confuse again the ‘ou’ sound with the ‘u’ sound, for example, after years of living in a culture, then our value may be based more on my desire for language fluency, or on what others think of me, or on a desire to avoid the shame of just not measuring up.

None of these anchors are ‘for sale’ anywhere, but you will ‘find’ them in authentic relationship with fellow believers (both expat and national).

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

The cultural bridge

Posted on December 3, 2015 by wtdavid

A friend of ours was over for dinner the other night.  During the meal, he turned to us and said, “It’s really hard to always feel like a foreigner in this country.”  Yes, his home country is far away from here. However, he has lived in Europe now for over ten years.  Yet he still does not feel ‘at home’ here.

He has not yet crossed the cultural bridge.cultural bridge

‘Crossing the cultural bridge’ means that we adopt as our own the culture in which we find ourselves; drawing on all that is good in that new culture, building on all that is good from our home culture.  It is not an easy journey across that bridge and it doesn’t happen overnight.  We benefit from people encouraging us who have already made the ‘crossing’.  We profit from the insight and wisdom of cultural guides from that new culture.

It’s like the proverbial wooden swinging bridge across a ravine.  Your first thought is to back away from the bridge and start thinking of all the reasons why it is not worth crossing the bridge. Then a friend comes along and encourages you onto the bridge.  Things go fine until the bridge starts swaying, and your immediate reaction is to backtrack to the start.  However, the encouraging words and patience of your friend draw you across the bridge.  After what seems like an eternity you find yourself on the other side, sighing a great sigh of relief.

We have that same feeling of relief when we ‘cross the cultural bridge’. However, at times we may find ourselves backpedaling, backtracking to the bridge.  We can find ourselves being pulled back across the bridge, questioning the adopted culture in which we now live.

When you hear yourself regularly criticizing the culture where you now live, you may be backtracking onto the cultural bridge.

When you notice that all of your close friends are people from your home passport country, you may be backtracking onto the cultural bridge.

When you find yourself stumbling for words in a conversation with your neighbor because you haven’t given much time recently to the language, you may be backtracking onto the cultural bridge.

When you hear yourself often saying: “Well, in our culture, that would never happen because …”, you may be backtracking onto the cultural bridge.

A friend helped you get across the bridge. A friend and cultural guide can keep you from backtracking to the bridge, and can help you keep moving forward on the cross cultural path.

 

Filed under: Crossing cultures, Friendship | 6 Comments »

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