• 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!

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 »

Mission 11: Vision Forward – Africa Area [Day 2]

Posted on September 24, 2011 by wtdavid

Here are some thoughts from Lisa about the Mission11 Africa conference:

“Pictures. Today was a day of pictures. I’d like to share some of those pictures with you. Walking past the rooms, with participant pictures and names on their doors, we gathered in the hall for worship, devotions and prayer.  A picture of a small, hopeful African child looked out at us from the banner on the wall.

From 1 John, we drew out principles, painting a picture of what Christian community should be like.

Next, we were asked to close our eyes and picture the time we were called into missions. What drew us into missions? What was distinctive about World Team that made us want to join up? Are those things still true? How have our ideas and ideals changed?

The next picture came in the form of a skit. Nine people on stage represented the various populations of the world: 3 representing the “Christian” (active and nominal) portion of the world, 3 representing NonChristians Within Reach of the Christians, and 3 representing the Unengaged, Unreached. Ten “missionaries” were selected from the audience to go to the 9 groups. What a sad discovery to find out that in current reality only 1 of 10 has gone to the Unengaged, Unreached group. Next, $1 in coins was distributed to the 9 populations according to current worldwide mission spending. The Unreached received only 1 penny while the other 99 cents went to the Christians and those Within Reach.

To bring this worldwide situation closer to home, we next looked at another picture. A map of Africa – our area! Red marked the countries where 50-100% of the population is unreached. Large dots showed major Unreached People Groups. Sadly, WT Africa is not yet working in any of the red countries, although we are working with some of the large dots. What a challenge! What’s our Mission Forward? How do we mobilize the Africans where we do work in order to reach out to the red countries?

More pictures. Did you know you can build community with pictures? During the women’s time, we cut out magazine pictures representing things in our lives and shared them.  (I don’t know what the men did!) After lunch, we pasted pictures of our teams and ministries on posterboards and decorated the hall, hoping to learn about each
others’ lives and ministries.

The day is almost over, but I hear that we’ll be seeing a video from one of WT’s other Areas and praying for them, spending some time in worship and ending the day with fun and games.

I hope this has given you a small picture of our day. Keep us in your prayers!”

Filed under: Community, Mission11 | 2 Comments »

Mission11 Africa Update[2]

Posted on September 23, 2011 by wtdavid

Each Mission11 conference is unique.  I am once again amazed by the people that God has brought into the WT community and their passion to “multiply disciples and communities of believers.”  Gathered together in Cameroon for the next few days, here are some highlights from today:

  • Prayer and worship … prayer and worship … prayer and worship.  Mission11 Africa has been full of times of praise to our missional God, and prayers for the spiritual needs of the unreached here as well as in other Areas.  Tonight, WT workers here prayed for WT workers in the Americas.
  • “On community” is a three session workshop looking at what it means to live in community and to experience that kind of community in a small way here.
  • The WT Africa leadership team presented ideas about future project plans in light of our global vision and global currents.
  • Christoph shared from Exodus 17:8ff about how community was demonstrated when Aaron and Hur “held up his [Moses] hands, one on one side and the one on the other side,” as Joshua led the people of Israel into battle; when Moses held up his hand, the people prevailed, but whenever he lowered his hand, the Amalekites prevailed.  Each member of the ‘community’ had their part to play, but together in the power of God they saw God work for His glory.  He applied this truth to us today, by pointing us to Hebrews 12:1-2, and our need as a community to help one another as we face sin in our lives and seek to be transformed by His forgiveness and grace.

More to come ….

Filed under: Community, Mission11 | 2 Comments »

Mission11 Africa [1]

Posted on September 22, 2011 by wtdavid

The Mission11 Africa conference starts today.  As we are gathered here with workers from around Africa, we ask for your prayers for this time together.

Tonight, we will be spending time in small groups praying for the spiritual needs of unreached people groups here and around the world.

Filed under: Community, Mission11 | Leave a comment »

Mission11 Europe Update[3]

Posted on August 31, 2011 by wtdavid

The Mission11 Europe conference closed out this morning with time around God’s Word and God’s table.

Kevin from the US Support Center talked from Genesis 40:23-41:1 about the “white spaces” in our lives. There was “white space” in Joseph’s life where a great deal of change must have occurred in his character as he waited those two years for God to deliver him out of his situation (41:1).  He challenged each of us about returning to our normal life where it can appear that God sometimes may have forgotten us.

Kevin put it this way:

“While experiencing the white spaces of life: (i) We must not expect others to meet our needs; (ii) we can experience the love and faithfulness of God; and we can learn to wait on God and experience his goodness in our lives.”

That was the kind of encouragement we all needed as we head back into our everyday lives and ministries after this time away.

Jerry followed with a time of communion, and I think what was interesting was the way he introduced this time.  He asked about the symbol common to all believers.  Most of us responded by saying, “the cross”, which is correct he said.  However, another symbol that the Lord gave us was “a table”, for it was around the table that the disciples gathered for the Last Supper.  Around that table, the Lord reminded His disciples about what he was about to do and the promise of life with Him that His death and resurrection would provide.  The table is a place of rest, of hope, and of promise.

Thanks WT Europe for the time together of prayer, talking about vision, and living community together!

 

Filed under: Community, Hope, Mission11 | Leave a comment »

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 »

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