ey’rehesT
He believes what?
She’s convicted about that?
Category: missionary
3 Opportunities in Gen Z for the Future of Missions
Reading Time: 4 minutes
I met 16-year-old Juan while leading a pastor’s seminar. He sat on the front row with his dad, one of the pastors, and listened intently while I spoke about generational trends and opportunities for the church to engage younger generations.
At the break, I sat down to chat with him, intrigued by his focus and attention. He shared his story of coming to America as a young boy and helping his dad’s work as a pastor of a bilingual church–a role he was grateful for, steadied by strong relationships. His strong faith was clear.
When talking about living out his faith, however, Juan confessed he doesn’t talk about God on social media or at school: “I would be ostracized and lose all credibility if I did.”
The Magi & Your Path Abroad: “We Have Come to Worship Him”
How to Avoid Colonialist Missions: A Page From Paul’s Playbook
Reading Time: 6 minutes
Photo credit: IMB.org
It’s a cautionary tale for any of us. (Sometimes “good missions” is defined by what not to do.)
Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible (1998) is virtually a tale of how to do missions badly, wrecking as many lives as you can along the way (and hey! Don’t forget your family’s).
Betrayal in Ministry
Reading Time: 7 minutes
. 
By Anonymous
Perhaps in moving overseas, even possibly working with Christians for the first time, hope fills your sails. Won’t it be great working with people who share your vision, who you can trust?
But so often–too often–even as Christians, we inflict deep pain on one another.
Personally, in my spouse’s and my decades as missionaries, we have had that “betrayal” feeling an uncomfortable number of times. So many times, you’ll see, you might wonder if the problem is me!
(I wonder that, too.)
But instead, human nature acts as the common denominator, piled directly with our carry-ons onto a plane.
In hopes of helping you encounter your own possible future betrayal in ministry, I’ll seek to be honest here.
And perhaps you’ll witness the absolute necessity of emotional health on the field, both in yourself and the agency you serve. (Our emotions, Peter Scazzero writes, are a discipleship issue.)
Because it does influence the Gospel we display to others.
Rather than some veiled revenge or chance to tell “my side of the story,” I hope instead you see the question marks still bouncing around in my soul even now.
As someone who’s served in leadership, I can tell you as well as anyone that there are always two sides, always explanations on both sides that feel legitimate.
It won’t be pretty. But even in the Bible, God doesn’t spare telling the truth about how weak we still are, as Christians.
BETRAYAL IN MINISTRY, SCENARIO #1: “People like you fail”
We were in the internship program–a good one–for our mission when our leaders told us a fellow intern had cautioned we were similar to “a couple they knew who went overseas and failed almost immediately.”
The leaders wouldn’t tell us who it was, of course, but it raised red flags with them, they said. And they made a point of mentioning it to us. To their credit, a couple later told us they’d been the source.
The plot thickens: That couple reported to the same field with us. (As time would have it, two years later, they were off of the field and we were just arriving.)
I still scratch my head over that one.
BETRAYAL IN MINISTRY, SCENARIO #2: Wait. We were on Probation?
Our next hard-to-swallow “betrayal” in ministry came a year later as we sat down with our agency’s personnel committee to confirm our field assignment and set a date for departure.
During the discussion, a comment was made about us having been on probation the past year.
Puzzled, I turned to my wife. “Am I forgetting something?”
Neither of us could remember ever being told we were on probation.
The committee scrambled to change the topic. The committee offered no further comments about our probation, the reasoning behind it, or how our sending organization felt about us now.
My thoughts ricocheted for weeks.
Was it because I had questioned some things that happened in the internship program? The gentleman in charge, I knew, was of a culture where questioning authority was frowned upon. Was this a clash of cultural norms before we even arrived?
BETRAYAL IN MINISTRY, SCENARIO #3: “I am so sorry you got bumped out the door”
After arriving, the conflict grew more complex.
The national team leader was vocally committed…to a ministry opposite to everything we had been told our mission organization did. And we were the only international couple serving beneath him.
Needless to say, we felt caught between significant organizational disparity–all while political tensions in our host nation’s government also rose.
When betrayal means tears
Perhaps you’re seeing this one coming. In the name of legitimate political strife, our family was bumped out of the country. (Which is a nicer way to speak of the upheaval of one’s family.)
Curiously, at the same time, other missions agencies were plucking their global workers from the countryside, the front lines of the political strife…to place them in our neighborhood.
That one ended up being a heartbreaker. We had planned to stay there many years.
Our whole family, including our three kids, shed tears on our way to the airport in a nation to which we would never return. It would be two years before we felt we could open our hearts to a new people in a new country.
This particular betrayal in ministry, of course, wasn’t about the leaving itself. People leave the mission field nearly every day of the year. We felt pain simply in the manner in which we both entered and were removed–as if the deck were stacked against our being there, and without us being consulted.
Our removal was supposed to be temporary, but ended up being permanent. It was as if the pieces were arranged to bump us out the door while allowing leadership to say, “Oh, my goodness. How did that happen? We feel bad for you.”
[su_button url=”https://www.goservelove.net/emotionally-healthy-agency/” target=”blank” style=”3d” background=”#00779b” center=”yes”]Don’t Miss CHOOSING AN EMOTIONALLY HEALTHY MISSIONS ORGANIZATION[/su_button]
BETRAYAL IN MINISTRY, SCENARIO #4: Confidences betrayed
After a particular term on the field, we returned to our passport nation on home assignment. During a visit to the home office, they debriefed us and asked a number of questions about the field, our relationship with our team leader and the ministry. We were open in our answers.
Unbeknownst to us, the committee shared back that information to the field leader in our new host nation.
He was not happy. When we returned to the field, he sat us down and essentially rebuked us for how we felt and told us his expectations for us.
I think he meant well. But this did nothing to build team relations. Further, we knew now we should never share openly with the debriefing committee in the future.
Yes, we relayed to the debrief committee about our trip to the proverbial woodshed. It was a case of good intentions, but harmful results and permanent caution.
To their credit–and perhaps because others had similarly been burned–the debrief committee modified how they shared information after that.
BETRAYAL IN MINISTRY, SCENARIO #5: “Let me take your team” …behind your back
For about eight years, my family and I served on one of our organization’s two in-country teams. The other team’s director–who was also the field director–came to visit and catch up on how things were going.
While I was out of the room for a half hour making arrangements for our lunch that day, he presented a proposal to the rest of my team. Why didn’t they all move to the capitol city, where his team resided, and eliminate us as a separate team?
That idea had never come up in conversation before. I had no idea he was thinking this. And I was reeling.
The longer I live, the more I realize these types of interactions can become par for the course when in leadership in any organization. Missions agencies are not exempt.
BETRAYAL IN MINISTRY, SCENARIO #6: “I can do better than you, friend”
Upon returning to our passport country, we started a website service for those entering missions.
Yet just as it was getting off the ground, a trusted friend purchased a competing domain name to start a similar service in direct competition, but with far greater resources.
That day we murmured in resignation, “Well, Lord, tell us when to stop. The handwriting on the wall is fairly obvious about where our website can hope to be in comparison.”
My disappointment crashed in waves.
In this case, we waited and waited, but nothing came of it. For whatever reason, the friend never proceeded with their plans. And in fact, their organization later handed us the competing domain name..
God works in odd ways. Yet the wounds of friends do hurt the most.
REFLECTIONS ON PAIN AND LOSS
Was I betrayed by my teammates and leaders? Or was this a case of imperfect people making imperfect decisions?
I can see it being both.
Did they know what I knew about the situation? Or could they have been forming decisions based upon uninformed opinions?
Were they choosing a course of action because of the facts–or doing the best they could, based on a previous “somewhat similar” situation?
I’m not sure I would say these kinds of events are “normal,” but they are common.
Looking back, I would say we sinful human beings hurt one another for lack of better interpersonal skills–skills that help us love each other–or even because of malicious motives.
Hurts coming from those you expect to be your partners in ministry cause the most pain. And you least expect them.
The Log in My Eye
But apparent betrayal in ministry is also a painful reminder of what I do and say as well.
We often don’t realize the hurt we have caused other. We simply can’t see the harm or misunderstanding we caused, nor its profound impact.
Or we are convinced we did the right thing, even we didn’t do so in the best manner.
[su_pullquote]The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. – 2 Corinthians 5:17-20[/su_pullquote]Later in reflection, I realized I was slow to initiate conversations with those over me to work through difficult questions. I tended to downplay the difficulty, or assume they knew, or that I knew their answer already. Of course, being the new man on the field for some of them didn’t add much credibility to my perspective, as you might guess.
With time, I also realized I needed to have pushed back more and talked more about what I saw happening. I was the person who was going to be most affected by the situation and its implemented resolution. So I also was often the person who had thought the most about the various aspects of the situation and some possible responses.
As part of the Body of Christ, I needed to be honest with my perspective and thoughts even if they didn’t seem receptive to them. [su_pullquote align=”right”]Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. – Ephesians 4:25-27[/su_pullquote]
Mine, too, is a cautionary tale of good intentions but harmful results.
And on both sides? When any of us sins or is sinned against, we must seek reconciliation, recall who called us…
…and keep going. Because–like Jesus’ own example in betrayal–our reconciliation, and the Kingdom it represents, is worth our steadfastness.
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10 Ways to Make Sure Conflict Pulls You off the Field
Emotionally-Healthy Missions: Could It Save Your Ministry?
Choosing an Emotionally Healthy Missions Organization
Janel’s Story: When Helping Hurts (You)
Reading Time: 4 minutes
The phone connection sounded a bit like Oliver, one of my closest Ugandan friends, was crushing newspapers on the other end. I held the phone an inch from my ear.
But I didn’t miss what made my hand fly to my chest: “Aisha…she passed. It was just too late. Things were already too bad.”
Aisha. I had snapped the above photo of her from my phone two and a half months prior, outside a mud hut in the slums of Namuwongo, deep in Kampala, Uganda.
She was the young mother of four kids. A twenty-something.
Initially I wasn’t sure if I wanted to photograph her family. As a rule, I believe photos of the impoverished shouldn’t whiff of the slightest emotional manipulation, of despair. Taking cues from other nonprofits’ policies, I want what I convey about the poor to show that they have hopes; dreams.
But asking for a smile from Aisha—who minutes ago, had been literally wailing in Luganda about the abuse of her children from her husband’s alcoholism, about them starving—would have been equally manipulative.
And I didn’t want to forget.
The help that changes us
As I held the horrifyingly light youngest girl, the heat of her fever soaked into my skin. Her breath felt alarmingly shallow.
I had never been so fearful a child would die in my arms.
I couldn’t stop myself near-chanting over and over: We need to get her to a hospital. Like, now-now.
Through group efforts, the family not only received food, charcoal, and clean water that day—they were all brought to the hospital the following day.
Aisha and the baby tested positive for tuberculosis. The baby was in the hospital for more than a month. The other children were sent to relatives.
Tuberculosis, while treatable and curable, still leaves scar tissue on the lungs. Remember “consumption” from history? Same thing. I recall one novelist describing it as coughing up razor blades.
Aisha’s lungs—in my very limited understanding—were already too lashed by scar tissue, their reserves of nutrition and stamina already overtaxed from months of starvation.
Aisha probably did not expect that on her death, an American woman would be bent over a granite countertop in a well-appointed kitchen a hemisphere away, crying.
The stories we tell ourselves
And this is where I have to choose between two versions of the story.
Version 1:
American woman returns to America. Aisha dies because we did not get there in time, and because the American woman (me) was not there, advocating for her health.
Version 2:
American woman returns to America after working diligently with Ugandans before leaving to ensure Aisha’s family is on the upswing. Baby is gaining weight and health. Other community members are seeking to help rehabilitate father, find solutions for family. God has numbered Aisha’s days. She dies knowing for a little while that people who love Jesus loved her family.
Doesn’t so much change with the stories we tell ourselves?
Aisha’s death sat in my chest like a stone that day. I felt the vise of survivor’s guilt as I enjoyed Greek pitas with my family, no danger of starvation near.
Every now and then I weighed whether it would be appropriate to bring up in conversation the bulky presence that had propped its feet up in the corner of my mind. God, I knew, was mourning this loss so few had seen or grieved.
Why didn’t we get there earlier? It’s a question sinking into that mental basket of mine labeled Painful Mysteries God May Illuminate Someday.
Salvation belongs to…
But this is what I came to know, which is so critical for those of us in helping lifestyles or professions: This work is urgent. The night is dark. Yet I am not savior.
I am responsible to play my role fully in the Body of Christ, with godward trust and tenacity.
Yet it’s tempting to maneuver my way into a role that feels critical. To hold just a little too tightly a grip on a national or a student or a client, perhaps, in a way that is just a little less than empowering; to overestimate my importance.
[su_button url=”https://www.goservelove.net/indispensable/” target=”blank” style=”3d” background=”#00779b” center=”yes”]Don’t Miss “SIMPLY INDISPENSABLE? ON THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR WORK (…OR NOT)”[/su_button]
The need to feel needed and vital—on the mission field included—is more powerful than any of us like to admit.[su_pullquote]This work is urgent. The night is dark. Yet I am not savior.[/su_pullquote]
Then when you’re expected to report progress on this nebulous, often intangible work, we’re all hoping the slideshow or newsletter or summary compacts our “results” into something that sounds compelling enough to donate toward, maintain employment, inspire hope. Or perhaps justify why we’re so exhausted.
Maybe that’s why missionaries are tempted to stretch the truth a bit on statistics. (…True story.)
What looks like failure
[su_pullquote align=”right”]The need to feel needed and vital—on the mission field included—is more powerful than any of us like to admit.[/su_pullquote]Poverty relief, development, and discipleship around the world are S-L-O-W. It is a series of small and large griefs, losses, and tragedies, each precious and overwhelming in their own right. They are fraught with what looks like failure. (Don’t miss What happens if overseas = failure?)
Yet God is still moving. Babies like the one I cradled have a different quality of life. Muslims are coming to Christ.
Perhaps it feels less often like God dividing the Red Sea, and rather like a glacier transforming the landscape with its own steady, sometimes imperceptible pace, yet undeniable power.
But development work has hardened in me a “Big God” perspective more than ever, and eroded my own all-important role. My faith has increased not only as I see God move through me—but as I see God move without me.
That week, I grieved with God over the loss of Aisha. Her death reminds me both of the urgency of this work, and how much it is removed from my hands.
Janel Breitenstein is an author, freelance writer, and speaker, as well as the editor for Go. Serve. Love. After five and a half years in East Africa, her family of six has returned to Colorado, where they continue to work on behalf of the poor with Engineering Ministries International. Janel also frequently writes and speaks to global women through Thrive Ministry.
Her book, Permanent Markers: Spiritual Life Skills to Write on Your Kids’ Hearts (Harvest House) released October 2021. You can find her—“The Awkward Mom”—having uncomfortable, important conversations at JanelBreitenstein.com, and on Instagram @janelbreit.
A version of this post initially appeared on the author’s blog, and is used with permission.
10 Ways to Make Sure Conflict Pulls You off the Field
Reading Time: 8 minutes
Near the end of my second short-term missions trip, I–a lowly teenager–was surprised to find that conflict with other global workers was a serious difficulty for those I was staying with.
Now, as the spouse of someone aiding conflict resolution in the field, this surprises me not one iota.
Personal conflict is a notorious bad actor splintering great work being done overseas. Too often, it lands once-starry-eyed global workers back in their home countries…wounded, bewildered, and even angry.
No one sets out on the field anticipating that broken relationships will take us under. But for a lot of global workers?
It’s real.
Rethinking What’s Natural in Conflict
Truth: Godly responses to conflict are pretty much all counter-natural–or more specifically, super-natural.
God’s ways in conflict beg an overhaul of what I typically want to do: You know, stuff like
- Hand someone the silent treatment they have so justly deserved.
- Eloquently let someone (and possibly the neighbors) know exactly how they have trodden on my kingdom. Even though I may put God’s unauthorized signature on it. (Anne Lamott: “You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”)
- Burn a bridge that isn’t that important to me anyway, I’ve decided.
Your Open Door
Conflicts are full of such…loss.
But would you believe me if I told you they’re an opportunity?
Conflict is a horizontal outworking of something God’s doing in me vertically. Or conversely, it often exposes what’s amiss in my own relationship with God. As Paul David Tripp writes, “relationships are first fixed vertically before they are ever fixed horizontally.”
Conflict, more specifically God’s conflict, is at the center of why God sent Jesus. And how we respond to the breaking of relationship replays all over again what he did.
It’s why, as we make disciples, how we handle messy relationships matters. It’s a chance to honor God, to love others well, to grow more like Jesus, and to just find some practical solutions.
I’m thankful for a God who cared enough to get dirty for me, to absorb my guilt when I’d positioned myself as enemy.
10 Ways to Make Sure Conflict Pulls You off the Field
Here are 10 easy ways conflict could fracture your work overseas and possibly even tank the good thing you’ve got going. (Thanks to Peacemakers and Relational Wisdom 360 for many of these principles.)
1. Confronting or responding through any written word.
My husband, a trained mediator, describes the hazards of text-only communication by explaining that a significant portion (some estimate 70%) is nonverbal.
Imagine how much can be misunderstood by subtracting 70%! Even if you’re a gifted communicator, words are never the same as seeing someone before your eyes, communicating the emotion and value that only physical presence can afford (no matter how many emoticons you’ve got at your disposal).
God handled His own conflict with us by sending Himself into our mess, in the flesh (see John 1:14).
Move as close as you can to face-to-face conflict. If it’s with someone a distance away, go for video chat. Relational context reminds the person of your genuine care, concern, and compassion.
2. Using social media as a platform for conflict.
And as a policy, keep a conflict as private as possible for as long as possible (see Matthew 18:15-20).
Social media is a nifty tool for sudden, sweeping revenge…and an excellent slash-and-burn tool to take someone and their reputation under. It adds humiliation and public shame, using anger as a grenade rather than a scalpel for sin.
(Speaking honestly, it’s also not loving your neighbor as yourself: “Please broadcast my weaknesses”. Said no one ever.
It leans toward the immature, tacky, and a possible reason for getting fired.)
If your anger and hurt against someone are real, they’re much less likely to own the conviction to which you wish them to come if they’re publically burned. Fear may be effective to create outward change, but it’s God’s kindness that leads to true repentance (Romans 2:4).
3. Assuming the worst.
But when other people mess up, we tend to attribute it to their character. That’s just the kind of person she is.
But that’s only part of how our assumptions sabotage us. People have malicious intent much less often than we give them credit for! Don’t miss this article from The Gospel Coalition on Critical Judgments vs. Charitable Judgments.
Gently asking questions about others’ motivations rather than assuming they meant harm can save us tremendous misunderstanding.
Psychologist and author Brene Brown notices there’s a generosity in this when we’re “Extending the most generous interpretation to the intentions, words, and actions of others.”
Having been on both painful ends of mistaken assumptions, I am slowly learning all I don’t know—and beginning to treat my relationships with the dignity they deserve of gently asking when I wonder about someone’s motives.
4. Posing [for peace].
On the Relational Wisdom 360 spectrum of “peace-breakers,” “peace-makers”, and “peace-fakers”, my weaknesses definitely tend toward the latter.
I’m indifferent enough to the relationship or person to dive deeper into the opportunity that is conflict. I prefer my comfort, thank you. Or at least looking loftily like the one who’s right.
I’m not truly overlooking and graciously forgiving; I am hardening and distancing.
God didn’t fake the severity of my conflict with him, but chose to change me and honor himself through it. He valued me enough to care about my holiness.
Am I really extending grace, really overlooking?
Or am I glossing over? Denying? Stuffing deeper?
5. Cleaning the surface.
When we address only the presenting problem of the conflict and not the true interests and hurts and questions beneath it, it can be like slapping a Band-Aid on an infected wound and calling it good.
Sometimes it may go away—but a lot of times it gets worse and/or repeats itself in another avatar.
Bonus: Often, when you move beyond the presenting issue in a conflict, you may share much more than you disagree upon. Understand the other party’s underlying interest in the conflict (“I’m afraid of losing precious time”/”I don’t feel valued in how this process is going”/etc.), and it could be easier to come to a mutually fulfilling conclusion than you think!
6. Venting—to people who aren’t part of the solution.
Widening the circle of knowledge about a conflict sometimes includes people who aren’t going to lead you toward reconciling or problem-solving.
That can put a label of “authenticity” on damaging another person’s reputation and their relationship with the other party. It furthers resentment, discord, and emotional distance (remember, our own words change us).
In short, this kind of venting (aka gossip) isn’t encouraging us toward unity and wise problem-solving.
It’s cementing and spreading isolation.
Be choosy about who you open up to about your conflicts. Protect your relationship and the person you’re in conflict with (returning a blessing for an insult)—just like you’d like them to be choosy in whom they talk with.
(P.S. When you do wrap up a conflict with a friend, let the people you talked to know about how it turned out, so their frustration can be resolved, too.)
7. Letting “I want” become “I must have”.
Take time to get down to the fears, values, and hurts that are driving your anger—which, remember, is a secondary emotion (the primary emotions often being fear, hurt, or embarrassment).
RW360.org explains,
When faced with conflict, we tend to focus passionately on what our opponent has done wrong or should do to make things right. In contrast, God always calls us to focus on what is going on in our own hearts when we are at odds with others. Why? Because our heart is the wellspring of all our thoughts, words, and actions, and therefore the source of our conflicts.
James puts it even more starkly: “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?” (4:1). Our desires that morph to become more important than people, replacing what only God is to satisfy in us.
Desires morph into demands, which becomes judgment—and all idols deserve sacrifices. We put our relationships on the chopping block for what we crave.
This can only find true resolution by being satisfied by what our soul truly longs for: satisfaction in the one Person who won’t disappoint us, with whom we are finally satisfied.
Getting honest about the core needs fueling our frustration can help us treat it, beginning at the source.
8. Mistaking honesty for love.
Truth and love aren’t mutually exclusive. Telling someone “I’m just telling the truth” or “I’m just being honest” can often give us a lame excuse for not speaking the truth in love.
Directness is fine. But make sure you check your kindness and gentleness, too.
Are you creating an environment where a person feels the security and care to eventually want to change—or where they feel ambushed and defensive?
9. Not seeing the signs.
Are you setting your conflict up for success in light of all the other stressors in that person’s life? How much do you know and compassionately internalize about the other person’s story, past and present?
See the other party for more than just what’s affecting you. That’s what it looks like to love the human in front of us, looking not only to our own interests (Philippians 2:4).[su_pullquote]God…through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling[c] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 [/su_pullquote]
(Meditating on Philippians 2:1-11 is a great way to pray through your conflict before approaching someone.)
Interrupting a meeting or erupting after weeks of bottled frustration—all the “hows” of your approach—may keep you from the “who” and the “whats” that are precious to you.
10. Going up the food chain.
Involving people above that person in authority (bosses, pastors, etc.) before going to them first (as per Matthew 18) is a fantstic way…to invite shame into your conflict.
And in that, to add an extra layer of protectiveness around someone’s issue, rather than creating a vulnerable, supportive environment where a person can find healing and help to change:
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:1-2)
Though in some circumstances it’s appropriate to go to a supervisor first (involving deceit, egregious sin, etc.), true resolution and change is often helped by a person not feeling like they’re sacrificing their dignity.
Rather than someone closing up to protect themselves, you show them honor and dignity by approaching them first.[su_pullquote align=”right”]Conflict can empower you both, shaping you to be more unified from the soul-out, and more like the face and heart of God. [/su_pullquote]
Conflict doesn’t have to pull you off the field. In fact, it can empower you both, shaping you to be more unified from the soul-out, and more like the face and heart of God.
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- Why to Consider Counseling Before You Head Overseas
- Different Strokes? Marital Differences as You Look Overseas, Part I and Part II
- He Said/She Said. You Say? “What do you wish you’d known before you went?” Part I and Part II
Jeff’s Story: Life Lessons for a Better “Fruit Salad”
Reading Time: 4 minutes
My family and I served six years in Guatemala when I became aware nearly all the songs sung in churches were translations of hymns and worship songs written in the U.S. or elsewhere.
Guatemalans are creative and musical. I’m a composer. So I thought I’d help them write original music for their worship services.
During a break from my teaching commitments, we headed to a remote village to help in a popup seminary our organization had spearheaded. I took the opportunity to teach several sessions on writing worship music.
(Notice: At no time did I ever ask God if this was something he wanted me to do.)
…It was a complete failure.
All the songs written during that time, though in the Guatemalans’ native language, just sounded like all the other songs I write–not like songs they were writing. None of them were used beyond that week.
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Running ahead of God, even for the kingdom’s benefit, is not the same as being in step with God.
A Better Fruit Salad
Years ago, I wrote the song “Fruit Salad” to help my kids memorize the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23. Unfortunately, knowing that we are to live lives characterized by the fruit of the Spirit–love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control–does not make it happen.[su_pullquote align=”right”]But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25 (NIV)[/su_pullquote]
In verses 24-25, the apostle Paul gives us two steps to see ourselves transformed: to die to self (someone else can cover that idea) and be in step with the Spirit.
What could that look like in real life?
Don’t get ahead of God or fall behind.
Like my enthusiasm in Guatemala, in my excitement to see great things happen for the kingdom, I jump at opportunities that look good at the moment and then must force them to work.
As one commenter here on Go. Serve. Love recently mentioned, the Holy Spirit alone is our secret sauce.
(I’m not referring to the times when God’s leading is not clear, but when we fully know what he wants us to do.)
As you can imagine, this ends up being a waste of time and resources and often fails completely.
Don’t hesitate when God says “go.”
As we raised money to go overseas, I continued working as an air traffic controller in central Washington State. One night, as I left the tower cab after the facility closed, I heard an arriving passenger telling his wife that he would not be home until the following day.
As soon as I understood what was happening, the Holy Spirit spoke directly into my brain. “Take him home with you,” he said.
If I doubted what God wanted, his direction was repeated continually, louder each time.
Mentally, I argued vehemently. I do not know this guy. What would he think if I tapped him on the shoulder and told him God wanted him to spend the night at my house? I have a wife and four children. I need to keep them safe.
The Spirit was speaking undeniably to me as I passed him. I got into my car and headed home, though I don’t know how I was able to concentrate on driving with the din in my head.
When the hotel van passed me on its way to pick him up, the Holy Spirit fell silent within me. I cannot accurately explain how I felt at that moment, but I never want to feel that way again.
As soon as it was safe, I made a U-turn and headed back to the airport, praying that God would tell him to wait for me. He did not.
Whatever God had for me in that meeting was lost. Disobedience can steal God-sized opportunities from you.
Walk in sync with him.
Leading musical worship times is a deep joy for me, and I believe God’s given me a unique ability to do this.
My leadership style involves encouraging those on my team to use the gifts God has given them freely–yet with respect to what is happening in the whole sound.
We experience moments when all things come together uniquely, and the presence of God is felt like never before.
Maybe you’ve had a moment like that. You want to stop, hold your breath, and just be. When you and the Holy Spirit move in harmony, miraculous things can happen.
I am sure this is how Peter, James, and John felt at the transfiguration – overwhelmed by God’s presence. For a moment, God allowed them to see beyond the divider between the spiritual and the physical. Peter wanted to stay there.
We all would. But that’s not for now.
That’s our future! We still have lives of influence to live. The kingdom is not complete. Jesus led the three back down the mountain and back into service.
When we can rest in the work of the Spirit in and through our lives, we have the most significant impact.
Jeff Boesel serves as Director of Mobilization for One Challenge. Don’t miss his post, “I want to go…I think. What should I do first?”
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Marketplace missions: 4.13 billion reasons to consider
Reading Time: 3 minutes
Go. Serve. Love’s always pretty hyped to share marketplace-missions-related stories and thoughts from Marketplace & Development Enterprises, an organization providing business, vocational, missional, and personal services to fellow believers who want to make money and make disciples in unreached communities. So we’re pulling this important post from our archives today.
In light of the 4.13 billion unreached–and the need for the solution of an equal size–-MDE is looking for Christians who want to be in the workplace, either as employees or entrepreneurs, and who truly want to be intentional about developing authentic relationships.
They’re looking for a few good men (and women! to take both the presence and the message of Jesus to co-workers and neighbors.
By Mark Canada, CEO, MDE
We’ve spent some time weaving through some of the myths around marketplace missions (or Business as Missions/BAM), tossed up like misplaced traffic cones. We’re talking ideas like “Missions” is for missionaries” or “BAM takes away from ‘ministry'” or “reaching the unreached takes me to places my mom will be afraid I’ll get shot.”
But what about the reasons to go?
Why Marketplace Missions/BAM/B4T?
Because of the billions.
The need is too great, the urgency too strong, for “traditional” missions as the sole method.
We need a solution as sizeable as that 4.13 billion. If we are to engage the unreached billions, marketplace believers must play a part. As the Church, we must empower and send out more than “full-time missionaries” to vast fields.
Supply.
As a corollary to the first reason: God’s called more believers to work in the marketplace than in full-time ministry. There are significantly more marketplace believers than full-time ministry folks.
All believers, including those in marketplace missions, are called to make disciples. We need to tap into this larger group to make disciples in unreached communities.
Access.
Marketplace workers have greater access to more unreached communities than traditional missionaries due to governmental and cultural restrictions. Countries welcome jobs and healthy economies more than Christianity.
Relationship development.
People are generally more open to listening to the gospel presented by individuals with whom they have an affinity and relationship. And those relationships may develop faster and deeper through the natural connections made in the marketplace.
Most traditional missionaries would kill for the opportunities with which marketplace missions gains access into lives.
Daily discipleship.
Missionaries strive to be incarnational–and by that, I mean as Jesus “dwelled among us” (John 1:14)–for Jesus, as a carpenter for over two decades. As we make disciples, we long to train people how to do their lives as transformed Christ-followers.
That incarnational ministry can be difficult when means of support comes from donations of others. Full-time ministry, paid for by someone else, is not an option for most who become Christians.
Marketplace missions is.
Marketplace people are that much closer to and better understood by nationals. An unbeliever can see what it looks like to be a normal marketplace person and a disciple of Jesus.
Finances.
School debt and diminishing funds targeted for missions require alternatives to traditional missions funding methods. Marketplace workers are generally able to engage in ministry and retire educational debt sooner than “traditional” mission workers.
This is especially true in developing countries where the church wants to send out workers but can’t use the U.S. model of financing missionaries. The bi-vocational method of marketplace missions is the only viable option for them.
Have we convinced you to check it out yet–and maybe even forward to a friend?
Try our FREE self-assessment to see if
marketplace missions could be a good fit for you.
Verses to Help You Trust [FREE PRINTABLE]
Reading Time: 3 minutes
When my husband and I headed overseas, my soul was one giant, multicolored ball of playdough.
There was the largest lump, the lemony yellow of excitement–finally pursuing a dream I’d previously shelved under “not gonna happen.”
There was the moody blue of loss, realizing I wouldn’t get to watch my sisters’ kids grow up, didn’t know exactly how one relative would see Jesus if we moved. I sold my kids’ bikes and toys and craft supplies at pennies on the dollar.
The constant pressure of all we had to do, maybe an arresting orange, wound around every other emotion.
And the unmistakable red of my fear was visible on all sides of that knobby mass of emotion.
I didn’t know if I’d be able to drive in the utter chaos of African traffic. My heart seized at thoughts of malaria, giardia, bilharzia (oh, my!). When my son was diagnosed with ADHD in the middle of our fundraising process, my heart sank at the lack of resources in Uganda; how could I be fully responsible for my son’s disorder? I feared being unprepared, in danger, damaging my kids.
[su_button url=”https://www.goservelove.net/what-if-something-happens-to-my-child-overseas/” target=”blank” style=”3d” background=”#00779b” center=”yes”]Read: WHAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO MY CHILD OVERSEAS?[/su_button]
At the time, I had little idea Africa would be both the technicolor dream I hoped it would be, as well as introducing traumas I couldn’t imagine.
WHEN ALL YOUR EGGS ARE IN THE GOD-BASKET
But I’m not the only person who’s had to place all their eggs in the God-basket amidst terrifying transition.
Think of how many biblical characters lived cross-culturally–like Ruth, Esther, Paul, Abraham, Daniel, Joseph, Mary, even Jesus.
And rather than the major theme being “they lived happily ever after,” I hear, “Behold, I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). That our reason for trust is not temporary well-being–though God values our shalom–but rather that God is with us through every death and resurrection on the micro and macro levels.
So we’re cobbling together some printable verses to help you trust–to post or tuck away where you can find them, chew on them.
As I have been reminded by Nathan Foster, we are always meditating on something. And Jan Johnson points out that if we know how to worry, we know how to meditate.
What are you concentrating on?
Meditation, see, is connected to worship.
So print out (free) these verses to help you trust. And start chewing on something, Someone, bigger than your fear.
Verses to Help You Trust
PRINT THEM ALL HERE.
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