top eight of two thousand eight

I wouldn't say that I read A LOT (I know a few people who read a whole lot more than I do), but I do read many books throughout the year - some for seminary and others for my own edification. Here are 8 spiritual / ministry books that I recommend...

1. Life on the Vine (Phillip Kenneson)
2. Sex for Christians (Louis Smedes)
3. For the Beauty of the Earth (Steven Bouma-Prediger)
4. The Art of Forgiveness (Louis Smedes)
5. Announcing the Reign of God (Mortimor Arias)
6. Surprised by Hope (N.T. Wright)
7. Working the Angles (Eugene Peterson)
8. The Violence of Love (Oscar Romero)

For Fun:
1. Anything written by Ted Dekker.

forgiveness vs. reunion

We can see the differences between forgiving and reunion clearly if we look at them both from several sides.

It takes one person to forgive.
It takes two to be reunited.

Forgiving happens inside the wounded person.
Reunion happens in a relationship between people.

We can forgive a person who never says he is sorry.
We cannot be truly reunited unless he is honestly sorry.

We can forgive even if we do not trust the person who wronged us once not to wrong us again.
Reunion can happen only if we can trust the person who wronged us once not to wrong again.

Forgiving has not strings attached.
Reunion has several strings attached.

Let us be clear that forgiving and reunion are not the same things; a person can truly forgive and refuse to be reunited.

~Louis Smedes The Art of Forgiving

sunday morning snapshot

"oh the weather outside is frightful...oh the weather outside is frightful..."

Beware of the Doghouse

short-term missions: part 5

Copyright Josh Cooper 2008.
Here's a recap of previous posts on the legitimacy of short-term missions.

1. Introduction

2. Individual Level

3. Leadership Level

4. Denominational Level

This post is the fifth and final installment in this series. This post focuses on the legitimacy of short-term missions from the recipient's perspective, specifically from a Thai perspective, as well as some final thoughts.

The International Level
In this section, the analysis of this issue is based on information gathered from email “interviews.” The interviewees were Thai Christians from several backgrounds: pastors, lay persons, seminary students and lay church members, most of them do ministry or attend a church in Bangkok, the most influential area of Christianity in Thailand.

Christianity in Thailand was started from 1828 by groups of missionary that went there at that time such as The American Board of Missionaries, the groups of Presbyterian missionary, and the American Baptists. However, the Christian population in Thailand has not grown as fast as some other Asian countries like China, Singapore, Hong Kong, or Taiwan. In Thailand, the majority of the population is the Buddhist (94.5%). The rest of the population is Muslim (4.6%), and only 0.7% is Christian (Setabutr 2008).

In asking how Thai Christians understand the meaning of the word “mission,” their answers have some similarities: they think, for example, that mission is “groups of people who go and share the gospel in the place to which God sends them,” “planning a church and proclaiming the gospel to people,” “going and sharing the good news long-term with a clear vision from God,” and “the one who is sent to share the gospel.” As such, Thai Christians tend to understand the word “mission” in the sense of “an evangelistic program”; namely, they tend to not define church activities such as social services, political or ecological movements as mission, but rather their primary thought about mission is the programs or activities about witnessing or sharing the gospel. In addition, most of interviewees agree that the goal of “mission trips” should correspond to the goal of “mission.” Therefore, potentially when the church starts the program called “mission trip,” they are going to do evangelism. Lay church members automatically understand in the same way.

Hence, we can draw two thoughts from this interview: 1) it seems like in the Thai church the word “mission” tends to be understood strictly as an evangelistic activity, and 2) the understanding of the word “mission” influences the character of the program called “mission trips” of the church. However, the very good thing that we learn from this interview is the thought that just considering the fact that the Thai Christians understand and define the word “mission” in a narrow way (strictly evangelism) it does not prevent the Thai church from living its life as a church in missio Dei.

When we have seriously considered all of the answers to the a about the benefit of mission, we can tell that there are many beautiful things which they do in mission trips that correspond to the content of mission. Many of them said that mission trips benefit the church in several ways such as: “mission trips help communities see a church in different way,” “mission trip provides a good chance to share the vision to other members, and receive the support (prayer or money) from them,” “mission trips benefits member to learn to serve others,” “even if the mission trip is just a short-term, it helps people to learn to be a servant.” There was a Christian lady who said, “mission trips help members in the team know and serve each other more than usual, and when they came back, the experiences from mission trip also motivated them more to serve God in other areas of church ministry.”

According to the responses of Thai Christians, the most interesting conclusion is that even though those Christians in Thai church do not hold a full understanding of mission and mission trips, and even though some people go on mission trips without ever having thought about “the mission of God,” God is still in charge and able to use His people to fulfill His purpose in saving the world. As such, we humans can never boast that we, by our wisdom, strength, and money, can accomplish missio Dei without the might, love, mercy, and sovereignty of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Making “mission trips” more legitimate and beneficial
Mission is a privilege for the church. Probably the best starting thought that the church should have in mind to make “mission trips” legitimate and beneficial is to not think that all members in the team must know perfectly the meaning of missio Dei, but surely they must have the passion to do it. In addition, the fact that participants must never forget is that people cannot accomplish mission without God; God knows human weakness, foolishness, and fallibility, but through all human imperfection, God still accomplish His mission. However, although God does not need the sinful men to help Him save the world, He grants them the privilege, He chooses them to be His people and be an important part of His mission.

In the article Mission Dei by Tormod Engelsviken, there is a powerful statement mentioning about the mission and the church, “‘the mission, and with it the church, is God’s very own work.’ Both the church and mission of the church are ‘tools of God, instruments through which God carries out His mission” (Engelsviken 2003). According to this statement, the church, by nature is the tool that God made and want to use in His missional purpose. Therefore, this should not be overemphasized to repeat again that the church must always realize its identity, origin and purpose.

Mission trip is not a program, but the life living in the Spirit- Paul Jeffrey noted that “there is a downside (of mission trips). North Americans often come seeking the emotional rewards of hands-on involvement rather than a way to make an investment in long-term empowerment” (Jeffery 2008). Though mission trips are one of the good strategies for Christians to learn the mission of God, mission trips must not be consider a short-term Christian life’s reward or a way to gain God’s favor. The mission trip is one part in a whole process of life living in the Spirit. To think that mission trip is the ultimate goal is not a healthy thought, but the church must proclaim to all members clearly that a mission trip is one in many steps in life of the followers who commit their lives for serving Jesus in a whole life process.

Of course, merely realizing its identity and purpose would not be enough to be a good missional tool unless the church and its members as a whole submit to live faithfully to according what Jesus taught and exemplified in the gospel, take faith into action, and serve the needs of people.

Mission trips are not just evangelistic programs- There are many marvelous things happening in the time that the church of God walks faithfully in a full obedience to its call. For example, even though someone participates in mission trips just to share their wealth, when they go and touch other people in desperate situations, possibly they would see God’s hand on those people and receive unexpectedly passion through those situations. One of Thai Christians shared his experiences in mission trip that “the mission trip is useful in many ways such as opening people’s mind to see the reality of life, help people to learn to work as a team, building up relation, and opening a chance to discover a new potential in life.” Moreover, one golden chance that mission trips provide to the church is the chance to find “the missional leader.” The leader in the missional church plays the significant role in leading the church to the will of God in the world. This is the principle that Apostle Paul emphasized obviously in Ephesians 4; the church is the body comprising of many organs, the church would be healthy if those organs (its leaders) function properly. However, the meaning of the leader as mentioned in Ephesians is not the one who is served, but the one who serves others. He or she is therefore the servant of God who is willing to serve and be all kinds of people in order to save people (1 Cor.9:19-23).

Mission trips, the task of the whole church, not the individual- One bad thought in the postmodern era that the church should be aware of is the trend of individualism. There are some benefits to having freedom to participate in other missional projects outside their church projects. However, the follower of Christ who has a real passion for mission must know that he/she cannot separate himself/herself from the church. Even though the individual one can do an excellent job in the name of God, the individualistic person will never uphold the mission of the church unless he or she gives up his/her personal sake, and comes to work in unity with other folks in their church congregation. Individualism is not the way of missional church. As Lesslie Newbigin said, salvation from God is “universal to all”; simultaneously it contains a sense of “particularity.” Namely, salvation is an interpersonal thing that humanity receives in the sense of being-in-relatedness; salvation that relates directly to God, but also can never be separated from the church community (Newbigin1978).

Conclusions
Certainly, as we take note of the amount of time, money, and energy being spent on short-term mission teams we see that they are increasingly becoming a part of North American church culture, and a significant part of North American missions and missions in other parts of the world. As future church leaders, each of us will undoubtedly be some way involved in STMTs during our ministries. This involvement may be as a participant, planner, sender, or receiver. Regardless of our role, it will be necessary to assess the potential effectiveness of such trip(s), to discern how to maximize their benefits, and how to avoid their potential pitfalls. The present paper, and our research activities behind it, will be of great benefit in achieving each of these.

From our interviews, STMTs show a potential to help participants develop a greater attitude of humble servitude. Further, participants can exhibit this attitude not only while on these trips, but also when they return to their home context. STMTs also seem to advance other aspects of participant’s faith and spiritual development. Unfortunately, these positive gains are often not enduring. Many times, people who experience a “spiritual high” while on a STMT lose that passion when they are again immersed in their home setting.

Another common benefit of STMTs seen in our research is that, when cross-cultural, they can help participants gain a greater understanding and appreciation of a culture other than their own. This can help participants to have a greater appreciation of the global church. In addition, when the STMT takes place in a two thirds-world country, participants have an opportunity to see what conditions are like in the majority world’s population. However, our study has also shown that if a trip is not carefully planned, and the receiving culture is not properly understood, participants can come away with a distorted view of other cultures. In such a situation, relations between the sending and receiving churches/groups can be strained. Conversely, we have seen that well-planned STMTs can foster positive relationships between participants and receivers, amongst participants, and between short-term and long-term mission workers. In fact, the development of relationships was often cited as one of the most beneficial aspects of STMTs.

There are many positive and negative aspects of STMTs, many more than we discuss here. However, studying these positive and negative aspects has given us a number of things to consider while planning for legitimate and beneficial STMTs. These considerations include:

•STMTs should be one part of a life of mission, rather than an isolated experience

•An attitude of humility is necessary when embarking on a STMT

•Pre and post-trip activities such as orientation/preparation and follow-up/debriefing are necessary to maximize effectiveness

•Participants and planners must consider and respond appropriately to differences in sending and receiving cultures

•Participants and planners must be careful with how teaching and evangelizing are done in the receiving culture as Scripture, and how it relates to varied worldviews, is different in different cultures

•There is a need to be intentionally dependent on the Holy Spirit to formulate, empower and sustain these trips

When considering if STMTs are in fact missional, we concluded that like so many other aspects of church life, it all depends on how, and with what attitude they are executed. STMTs seem to be prone to being lopsided, more about the need and goals of those going than about those in the receiving culture. In addition, STMTs can be, at times, very ineffective because of inappropriate attitudes or poor preparation. In such cases, one would certainly conclude that STMTs are not effective at furthering the Kingdom of God. However, STMTs can be done in such a way as to facilitate growth amongst both participants and receivers. Hearts are changed and blessed in participants, receivers, and even long-term mission workers. In such cases STMTs are missional.

Endnotes
Paul Jeffrey. Short-Term Mission Trips. (Publish by The Christian Century foundation) www.christiancentury.org (accessed Nov 3, 2008).

Kurt Allen Ver Beek. 2006. “The Impact of Short-Term Missions: A Case Study of House Construction in Honduras after Hurricane Mitch,” Missiology 34 (October 2006): 478.

Robert J. Priest, Terry Dischinger, Steve Rasmussen, C.M. Brown, “Researching the Short-Term Mission Movement,” Missiology 34 (October 2006): 432.

A. Scott Moreau, Editor, Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books), 873-4.

Guder, Darrell. Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998.

Van Engen, Charles. You Are My Witnesses: Drawing from Your Spiritual Journey to Evangelize Your Neighbors. New York, NY: Reformed Church Press, 2007.

Brueggemann, Walter. Hope for the World: Mission in a Global Context. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001.

Friesen, Randy . "The Long-term Impact of Short-term Missions." Evangelical Missions Quarterly 41, no. 4 (2005): 448-57.

Dohn, Michael and Anita. “Short-term Medical Teams: What They Do Well...and Not So Well.” Evangelical Missions Quarterly 42, no. 2 (2006): 216-227.

Livermore, David. Serving with Eyes Wide Open: Doing Short-term Missions with Cultural Intelligence. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2006.

Edwin Zehner, “Short-Term Missions: Toward a More Field-Oriented Model,” Missiology 34 (October 2006): 510.

Helen Lee, “Missional Shift or Drift?” Leadership, Fall 2008: 28.

RCA representatives were: Roger De Young, Coordinator of mission development and Jay Harsevoort, Coordinator for Volunteers. CRC representatives were: Norma Coleman-James, Special Project Director of the CRC, and Mary Dykstra, Volunteer Coordinator with the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC). Unless otherwise noted, all quotes regarding denominational perspectives come from these sources.

Taken directly from an RCA document entitled “Discipling All Nations, The Global Mission of the Reformed Church in America into the Twenty-First Century” emailed by Roger De Young.

The Reformed Church in Mission 2006. Reformed Church Press.

Taken directly from an RCA document entitled “Discipling All Nations, The Global Mission of the Reformed Church in America into the Twenty-First Century” emailed by Roger De Young.

Harsevoort, Jay. 2008. Mission Trips: A New Beginning. RCA Today. On-line edition found at: http://www.rca.org/Page.aspx?pid=3888

Ver Beek, Alan. The Impact of Short-term Missions: A Case study of House construction in Honduras after Hurricane Mitch. Missiology: An International Review, Vol. XXXIV, no. 4, October. p 481.

Richter, Don C. 2008. Mission Trips that Matter: Embodied Faith for the Sake of the World. The Upper Room. Nashville, Tennessee. p. 12.

Newbigin, Lesslie. The Open Secret. Wm. B. Eerdmans. Grand Rapids, MI. p. 65.

Noranit Setabutr. Buddhism in Thailand. (Published by the World Buddhist University) http://www.buddhanet.net (accessed Oct 2, 2008).

Tormod Engelsviken. “Missio Dei: The Understanding and Misunderstanding of a Theological Concept in European Churches and Missiology.” International Review of Mission, Vol. XCII, No. 367 O 2003, p.482.

Paul Jeffrey. Short-Term Mission Trips. (Publish by The Christian Century foundation) www.christiancentury.org (accessed Nov 3, 2008).

peterson on leadership

The biblical fact is that there are no successful churches. There are, instead, communities of sinners, gathered before week after week in towns and villages all over the world. The Holy Spirit gathers them and does his work in them. In these communities of sinners, one of the sinners is called pastor and given a designated responsibility in the community. The pastor's responsibility is to keep the community attentive to God. It is this responsibility that is being abandoned in spades.

~Eugene H. Peterson, Working the Angles, 2.

leaders as poets

Friday night was a monumental night - it was the last night of Missional Church class for the semester. We had the privilege of having an adjunct professor from Chicago come up once a month for the last four months to teach this course. So kudos to Dr. Roland Kuhl for creating time and space to come and teach and learn at Western Sem. Thanks Dr. Kuhl. In our last hours together, we discussed at length the role of the pastor in the church, particularly missional churches. Here is an excerpt from the class lecture about leaders (pastors) as poets. It's an interesting analogy and I'm curious to know if this strikes a resound chord within any pastors / leaders out there who occasion this blog.

Leaders as Poets
In times of transition and change – cultural shifts that lead us to question the kind of church we are, the need to move from attractional models of church to a missional understanding – congregations feel disconnected from their stable past, which they could easily describe, and people in midst of confusion or lack of understanding have a difficult time to express themselves.

What is required is not some new strategic plan, but an approach to leadership that enables persons to come to terms with the emotions of change within. “What is required of leadership at this point is an ability to articulate, or bring to verbal expression, the actual experiences of the congregation” (Crossing, 125).

Poets Listen
- Have skill in the art of giving voice to the inarticulate feelings of people

- Not a role of providing solutions, but a role of helping give people voice to what they are feeling, but cannot readily express.

- Do not criticize, but bring to the surface the voice and soul of the people, so that they can give words to what they are feeling (has a lot to do with visioning)

- The focus is on people and the inner drives that shape them and give form to their lives.

- To listen to the stories, the events, the symbols, the rhythms of person’s lives

- Becomes immersed in the multiple stories that run beneath the culture in order to understand (and critique them)

- Are deeply immersed in the Christian Story (Crossing, 124-130)

"The purpose of all this is to help people see differently. They are not so much advice givers as they are image framers.

“The poet is a kind of in-between person. Like the pastor, the poet is drawn to that side of leadership that longs to care for and watch over the people of God. Unlike the pastor, the poet is also deeply committed to engaging the imagined future that God calls into being. Like the prophet, the poet understands that this imagined future will, necessarily involve great grief and travail for the people of God as they journey toward that, as yet, unfocused, alternative life” (Crossing, 132).

So, I'm a second career seminary student. I'm 30 years old, I'm married, and have two children. I've been in positions of leadership in the past and sometimes find myself in those kinds of positions today. However, I was struck the prospect that the younger students in my class were deeply troubled by the prospect of pastor as a poet. Somewhere sometime in their young lives (and as they work through the steps seeking ordination) that they were led to believe that pastors are supposed to be the "strong leader" types - the ones who have all the answers, the vision, the drive, and passion. The pastor as poets conflicts with their ideology. Even the idea of pastor as servant leader was troubling. I'm not suggesting that all the younger students in my class had this perception, but it was a fair number.

The pastor as poet resonates deeply within me, so does the pastor as servant leader. When I'm in that pastor position, I will not expect my church to commit themselves to anything more deeply than I myself am willing to commit. I would hope that I could be transparent enough with our folks to enable them to be more than passive participants in casting and carrying out the vision of the local church. There's much more I could say on this and I'll come back to this in a few weeks, but what are your thoughts? Can you relate to pastor as a poet? Or serveant leader? Or something else? Peace.

short-term missions: part 4

Previous posts on short-term missions from a missional perspective...as always Copyright Josh Cooper 2008.

1. Introduction

2. Individual Level

3. Congregational Leadership Level

This post focuses on short-term missions from a denominational perspective.

Section Four – Denominational Level
In addition to looking at short-term mission trips from the perspectives of individuals and congregations, we also met with and interviewed representatives of the Reformed Church of America (RCA) and the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) to understand better the denominational perspective of short-term mission trips (STMTs).

Both the RCA and CRC and their agencies have and continue to support various types of short-term mission opportunities. These trips range in size from individuals to groups and include a wide variety of activities including community development, relief, pastor to pastor visits, church to church visits, service learning opportunities, and vision casting / discovery trips. The main role of the denominational organizations is to serve as a focal point for linking together those (individuals, groups and churches) wanting take part in a STMT with those (organizations, churches and mission partners) open to receiving such trips. During the 2007-2008 year, CRWRC facilitated 437 short-term mission opportunities.

Legitimate and beneficial?
In talking with these denominational representatives, it was clear that their perspective in evaluating these trips tended to be wide (broader in scope than a single trip) and long-term (longer than a single trip). Most of the representatives also talked about the role of these trips in supporting the mission partners who receive the trip participants, and that a trip is legitimate and beneficial if it works within the context and goals of those mission partners. As such, both denominations mentioned that one of their goals was to “do no harm” to their partners and both emphasized the importance of partnership. The CRWRC representative noted that CRWRC designs all of the opportunities for teams they send out in such as way that they “contribute to the plans of the (host/partner) community to meet a legitimate need.” The RCA concurs stating in their global mission strategy that:
We work with mission partners. We are committed to working whenever possible with partner churches and mission agencies within the context of ecumenical relationships, affirming the primary responsibility of the local church to set the agenda and invite the participation of the global church. Partnerships necessitate mutual praying and planning. They also witness to the unity of the church in the world (John 15:34-35).

Another benefit/requirement mentioned by both denominations was the need to build mutual/reciprocal relationships, where both those who go and those who receive are transformed. As the RCA states:
God calls us to mission, not because God would find no other way to accomplish God’s mission in the world, but because we need to be engaged in mission to become the men and women, children and teens, that God intends for us to be.

Norma Coleman-James expanded on this idea:

They [the trips] become beneficial if there is a reciprocal relationship formed where the folks who go are transformed by the experience and come back to the local church to further equip the local church to make an impact for local ministry. Sometimes we can easily see the needs elsewhere, but “step over” needs here at home. However, if those going on the trip go with a western “fix-it” notion, then the trips are not legitimate. If folks go with that notion, they themselves cannot be transformed. Both those going and those receiving them need to be transformed. The transformation for those going is learning from the experience and going back to serve those back home.

Lastly, one representative from each denomination placed the ultimate legitimacy of short-term mission trips within a larger framework of mission. Roger De Young stated that “ultimately, our goal is to share the love of Christ.” Nancy Coleman-James stated that these trips need to support world mission “in fulfilling the great commission.”

Missional?
When asked about their denomination or denominational agency definition of “mission,” all responded with elements contained within our provisional research definition of a missional church: “The church as called and sent by God to be God’s instrument in the in breaking of the reign of God.” For example, the CRWRC representative stated that:
Within CRWRC we believe that it is first of all God’s mission, not ours, and his purpose is to reconcile the WORLD to himself in Christ, and that means ALL THINGS – see II Cor 5, and Colossians 1. Our work is THE MISSION – living in the world in such a way that we reflect and point to and participate in what God is doing through Jesus.

The RCA similarly reflects these values:

… the Reformed Church in America defines mission as:
our personal and corporate participation in this work of God
by intentionally crossing barriers
from church to nonchurch, faith to nonfaith,
to proclaim by word and deed
the coming of the kingdom of God in Jesus Christ,
in works of evangelism, witness, reconciliation, healing, and diaconal service,
gathering people into the church
through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ
by the work of the Holy Spirit
with a view to the transformation of the world
as a sign of the coming kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Both of these statements reflect an understanding that the church’s mission is framed from within God’s mission, and that the church is called and sent by God to carry out that mission in the world.

When asked specifically whether the STMTs that they have been involved with fit into their definition of mission, each of the respondents stated that they “can and do,” but “not always.” The RCA representatives stress again the need for long-term relationship in order to achieve true partnership which leads to a fuller expression of mission through STMTs. To achieve this Roger De Young says, “We encourage short-termers to work with the long-termers who better understand the culture and language and have a deeper understanding of the local situation.” This is also reflected in the RCA’s global mission strategy:

We make long-term commitments. We believe that effective cross-cultural mission depends upon sensitive mastery of language, custom, and history in the context of genuine relationship. This itself is essential work of mission. It takes time. On a spiritual level, we reach out to make and baptize disciples, then stay long enough to teach the disciples to make and train other disciples (Matthew 28:19-20).

Norma Coleman-James seemed to agree, stating that one short-term trip cannot completely fulfill the great commission, “we cannot get it done in one short trip, especially if those going are serving their own interests or working from their own ideas without forming a partnership.” Though taking more time, both of the denominations agree that partnerships are a way to achieve their mission more completely. CRWRC puts it this way:
CRWRC’s STMTs provide the opportunity to connect the Southern with the Northern in a way that builds relationships and contributes to future involvement and transformation in those that participate on both sides. With the shift of the global church to the South, we can no longer talk about a “sending church” in the way we used to. We need to be a “Partnering” church.

As noted below, the RCA sees the lack of such long-term, strategic relationships as a pitfall for individuals or individual churches that attempt STMTs on their own; often these individuals or individual churches lack a deep relationship, or at least, a commitment to a long-term, deep relationship with those they visit. Otherwise, it is unlikely that a true partnership will develop, one in which both feel comfortable to disagree, “to really give their opinion rather than agreeing to whatever the North Americans want.”

Pitfalls
Respondents at the denominational level were able to articulate many pitfalls associates with short-term mission trips from their own experiences. These included:
Short-term Focus- Focusing on “the trip” itself rather than seeking and exploring a wider perspective of personal and communal faith journeys, and the journey and context of those they travel to. All too often, said Jay Harsevoort, this leads to a situation in which when the trip ends, so does everything else, where the “life-changing” effects of the short-term trip are themselves short-term.
Task Focus- Focusing on tasks rather than relationships, and wanting to “do for” rather than “do with.” Norma Coleman-James notes that without reciprocal partnerships and deepening relationships, STMTs can waste money, cause dependency and reinforce stereotypes.

Being Closed-minded- In the same way, a lack of willingness or openness to learn from those we visit can inhibit participants from learning and seeing how God is working through others, and the things God would like to teach us through them. We need to ask ourselves, do we have the openness to learn from others, especially others that are not resource rich?

Going it alone- Many churches or individuals try to set things up on their own without the denomination. Because of this, Norma Coleman-James says that they “lose all of the experience and insight” of those that have gone before them. The RCA representative shared this sentiment sharing that the denomination means has over 100 year experience on “what to do and what not to do,” and that long-term RCA missionaries and mission partners have the local experience and relationships, neither of which individual congregations or groups have on their own.

Response to Pitfalls
In response to these pitfalls, the denominational representatives all agreed that planning, preparation and follow-up are essential. Norma Coleman-James felt that preparing folks before they go through orientation would help “to remove the scales from their eyes of how God is working in other places.” Her organization also does debriefing and follow-up. Mary Dykstra likewise stated that CRWRC finds careful preparation, competent coaching and careful follow-up helpful in mitigating the pitfalls listed above. She also noted that CRWRC as an organization is willing and committed to change as they learn at the denominational agency level.

For their part, the RCA created an office of Volunteer Services with a Coordinator to help facilitate the relationship with those who “want to go” with those who “are there,” to “plug-in” short-term trips into longer-term strategies, partnerships and vision. RCA Global Missions also offers twice annual workshops for mission team leaders, misters of mission and pastors of large churches who are moving in this direction to help them make wise choices: “We are committed to helping every local congregation become an effective mission station, locally engaged and globally connected.” RCA Global Mission also provides a six-session course entitled “Building a Mission Minded Church” in an effort to further empower congregations to make wise decisions about missions. They have also developed a mission trip orientation video entitled “Walk Humbly; An Orientation for Christian Servants.” Lastly, in the Spring 2008 edition of the denominational publication RCA Today, Jay Harsevoort makes these suggestions to make sure that trips make a lasting difference:
• Make your short-term trip part of a bigger commitment to mission by supporting missionaries annually.

• Focus at least as much energy on follow-up and debriefing after the trip as you do on preparation before you go.

• Build time into the schedule for getting to know the community you're serving.

• Be flexible. God has provided amazing opportunities when plans fall through--will you be open to them, or unwilling?

• Remember that mission is a part of your life rather than something that happens for a week once a year.

• Make the trip a beginning rather than the end by raising money for a related project after you get back.

Summary of the Denominational Level
As noted by each of the denominational representatives, short-term mission trips may or may not be missional. They may or may not serve as a legitimate way for the church to act as God’s instrument in brining in the reign of God. From the denominational perspectives surveyed here, one of the keys to achieving legitimacy is for STMTs to exist within mutual/reciprocal partnerships, where both those who go and those who receive are transformed. From their perspective, this calls for longer-term investment and a broader perspective than one-off, short-term trips taken from a North America perspective. In other words, there is a need to incorporate short-term activities and experiences within longer-term plans and wider perspectives for both those who go and those who receive.

The Ver Beek study reflects these values in what Ver Beek calls “missed opportunities,” the opportunity to building strong relationships and mutuality. In her forward to Mission Trips that Matter, Dorothy Bass also makes that point that such trips need to be beneficial for both those who take the journey and those who receive them. Ver Beek also hypothesizes that the key to lasting change among the STM participants is for the trips to be “just one piece in a structure that also include support and accountability before and after the trip.”
As persons preparing for leadership within the church, these views highlight for us the importance of framing STMTs as part of a longer-term strategy formulated between mutual partners for the transformation of those who go was well as those who receive. As noted above, it calls for careful preparation/orientation as well as follow-up and debriefing. All of which the denominational representatives believe they are well equipped to provide as they journey together with the would be short-term missions trip participants.

Lastly, while there was some mentioned about the importance of prayer and the Holy Spirit in the RCA’s Walk Humbly video, very little else was said about these in the interviews. Similarly, we were surprised that the legitimacy of STMTs was not initially linked to the mission of God’s mission, missio Dei. In other words, we had hoped to see a deliberate indication that short-term mission trips were an intentional part of the wider mission of the church as we have defined it, as God’s instrument for God’s mission. Only after the mention of the term “missions” was this link clearly stated (though indirect links were made if one assumes that the goals of partners are linked to this framework). We had hoped to see a stronger fit of short-term mission into the larger framework of mission, and more dependence on the Holy Spirit to formulate, empower, sustain and even transform that mission. As Guder et al. state:

Missional communities are called to represent the compassion, justice and peace of the reign of God. The distinctive characteristic of such communities is that the Holy Spirit creates and sustains them. … they are not formed solely by human intentional and efforts, individual or collective [even in mutually beneficial partnerships], but instead by God’s empowering presence” “the Spirit of God is the dynamic, live-giving power of the Church, the unseen Lord, Master, Guide and Inspirer of the Christian community.

Likewise, Newbigin stresses the importance of the Holy Spirit in mission:
By obediently following where the Spirit leads, often in ways neither planned, known, nor understood, the church acts out the hope that it is given by the presence of the Spirit who is the living foretaste of the kingdom.

short-term missions: part 3

Copyright Josh Cooper 2008.
This is the third of five posts in which I have been focusing on the beneficialness and legitimacy of STM trips from various perspectives. This post focuses on STM trips from the congregational leadership perspective. To read part 1, the introduction, and part 2, which focuses on STM trips from the individual perspective, please click below:

1. Introduction

2. Individual Level

Section Three – Congregational Leadership Level
At the congregational leadership level we discovered – naturally – that the responses to the survey questions were varied but valuable for our research to uncover what makes STM trips legitimate and beneficial. All six pastors / lay leaders had at some point in their ministry career participated in a STM trip. Their destinations included – Zambia, Azerbaijan, Haiti, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Ethiopia, Canada, Turkey, as well as multiple domestic trips (especially after a hurricane disaster). When asked “Was your specific STM trip legitimate and beneficial?” the overwhelming answer was “yes” in every case! Further when asked “What makes STM trips legitimate and beneficial?” answers varied but shared three common themes. For example:
1. STM trips have the capacity to establish positive cross-cultural connections and build relationships.
2. STM trips create opportunities to become aware of the challenges of the world. One pastor said that STM trips help participants gain a personal understanding of the issues being faced by people in other parts of the world.
3. And finally, STM trips foster life-change. Many respondents mentioned life-change as a result of going on a STM trip.

When asked to define the word missions, responses varied greatly from “participating in the Great Commission” to “advancing the kingdom revolution of Jesus worldwide” to “the varied dynamics that need to occur in order that the message of Jesus Christ as the Son of God is communicated in a cross-cultural setting in a real and relevant way.” And as a follow-up, we asked participants, “Do you think that STM trips fit into this idea of missions? Why?” Respondents were unanimously in agreement that STM trips do fit into their frameworks of missions. However, a couple of pastors cautioned that STM trips are not the only way of doing missions.

When we asked respondents to identify the pitfalls associated with STM trips, the participants identified many. Pitfalls associated with STM trips, according to our survey of pastors / leaders, include:
1. Wasteful spending.
2. Emotional entanglements. Interestingly one pastor had two separate instances where female participants were engaged in moral breakdowns whereby one filed for a divorce, and the other had some mental impairment and had to be brought back to “sanity.”
3. Desiring to live differently as a result of a STM trip, but not having the resources to actually do it.
4. Wrongful attitudes. One key leader mentioned that the mentality that “we have it all together and we are going to fix the world” is culturally insensitive and lacks humility.
5. Lack of direction / openness. One pastor talked about how certain people in a congregation can have strong feelings about working in a particular mission field without ever discerning the Spirit’s direction on where the church as a body is being called to serve.

Finally, when we asked respondents, “How did you avoid pitfalls in the past, and/or how do you avoid pitfalls in the future?” we received a lot of good feedback. The two most frequently cited tips to avoid pitfalls were:
1. Maintaining an attitude of humility; and
2. Providing pre- and post-trip training / debriefing, such as requiring participants to read certain material to better prepare them for departure as well as providing opportunities to share their experiences upon return.

Summary
Overall, there seemed to be no reservation about the legitimacy and beneficialness of STM trips. All agreed that STM trips are legitimate and beneficial. The three most frequently cited reasons in support of STM trips are: 1) STM trips build relationships; 2) STM trips generate global awareness; and 3) STM trips foster life-change. As far as pitfalls are concerned, there are many. Yet, despite the many obstacles which can wreck missions, all the respondents felt that the benefits far outweighed the obstacles. The findings from our informal survey are consistent with the literature concerning the benefits and pitfalls of STM trips.

The Benefits and Pitfalls in the Literature
For every article which emphasized the benefits of STM trips, we can find an article which criticized them. The value of STM trips according to the Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions is that short-term missions play an integral role in the mobilization of global missions by bringing in fresh enthusiasm from the outside, accomplishing practical projects, and serves as an advocate for long-term mission service. Additionally, upon return from STM trips, participants are able to impact their local congregations via increasing awareness and encouraging others to be more active in what God is doing in the world. From a youth pastor’s perspective, Pastor Scott Meier believes that the primary goal of STM trips should be to help teens see Jesus Christ and his kingdom in a new way. Mission experiences, he says, give us a “broader view of the world in which we live” and in order for us to understand other people and their cultures, he continues, we need to immerse ourselves in their culture and live the way they live (Scott, 2001). According to Zehner, even critics of STM trips are cautiously optimistic about short-term missions potential, especially if they support the national leaders and develop healthy relationships (Zehner, 2006).

The pitfalls of STM trips are many such as – overburdening local missionaries; cross-cultural insensitivity; creating unhealthy co-dependent relationships; too goal-focused; unrealistically positive about effectiveness; and last but certainly not least, “Americans seemed unaware of the cultural influences on their own readings and perceptions of the Bible, the result being that they often taught ‘a different Jesus than the one we know.’” (Ibid.). Ouch, this is a painful thing to read.

So What?
At some point, we have to ask, so what? What does all this mean? Well, at a leadership level there is movement toward not only proclaiming the Good News but also demonstrating the Good News vis-à-vis acts of healing, acts of restoration, and acts of love, compassion, justice, and so on. Not only that, “there is good reason to believe that many seminarians, when they become pastors, will support, participate in, and supervise STM trips abroad and that this will be a core center of their engagement with cultural ‘others.’” (Priest, 2006). So there is this sense at the pastoral / leadership level that STM trips are beneficial for those who participate in them and they are a legitimate expression of mission and that STM trips will be a primary outlet for such an expression. However, even though STM trips are regarded as beneficial and legitimate, our informal survey shows that pastors / leaders feel that some guiding principles are in order to frame STM trip participation, such as including pre- and post-trip education and debriefing; cross-cultural training; as well as promoting and maintaining an attitude of humility (or what one pastor called a servant’s heart). These guiding principles can in effect help alleviate (if not eliminate) many problems which pose as pitfalls to living in mission.

On a more personal note, this author (JC) believes that while all the pastors / leaders we surveyed had some difficulty articulating what mission is, they all believed their congregations should be participating in STM trips as a way to create cross-cultural relationships, increase world issue awareness, and foster life-change. These claims, in my opinion, do fall under the broader missional umbrella whereby the church is called and sent by God to be God’s instrument in the in breaking of the reign of God.

Lastly, a word of patient endurance – perhaps the greatest challenge for today’s pastors lies in the differences between a pastor’s understanding of the gospel and church’s mission and the congregation’s view of the gospel and mission (Lee, 2008). Pastors should tread carefully through these missional waters while at the same time be patient with their parishioners as the come to internalize, understand and live out the reign of God in their own lives.

short-term missions: part 2

Copyright Josh Cooper 2008.
This is the second of five posts focusing on the legitimacy and beneficialness of short-term mission trips. This post focuses on STM's from an individual participant's perspective. To read the introduction to this series, click here.

Section Two – Individual Level
As we conducted the interviews for this paper, it became clear that the individuals that we interviewed felt that the most impactful aspect of a STMT, from an individual non-recipient perspective, was the spiritual formation that resulted from the experience. Therefore, as we begin this section of the paper, which explores how STMT are legitimate and beneficial from an individual non-recipient perspective, we would like to start by exploring how they can contribute to individual spiritual formation.

First, from the two interviews that we conducted, it seems that STMT can help an individual develop a greater humility and dependence on God and others. This was especially apparent in the first interview that we conducted. The gentleman interviewed told us that he originally did not think STMT were worthwhile endeavors. But, he decided to go on one when invited by a friend to partake in a STMT to Guatemala. His original intentions were, as he put it, self-centered. He thought that he would “go on the trip and show these Guatemalans a thing or two.” Also, he thought that going on a mission trip would look good to the congregation of his church.

While on this STMT he found that he was struck by how little the people that he was serving had materially. Yet they appreciated what they had and they truly appreciated the Gospel and the hope that it brought. This moved him to evaluate all that he had, whether material, spiritual, or relational. He came to realize that he had felt like he deserved all that he had-material things, his salvation, everything. Also, he came to realize that he did not deserve these things, but that they were gifts from God. Since that first STMT, his priorities have been much different. He feels that he now lives a life of much greater gratitude toward God. He feels that he now recognizes that he depends on God and those whom God brings into his life, for his physical and spiritual sustenance.

This same gentleman also mentioned that when someone finds themselves our of their usual they learn to depend more on God’s provision. He mentioned that in Guatemala, where he has spent most of time as part of mission teams, resources such as concrete, lumber, and other building supplies are not as readily available as they are in the United States. Thus, they have at times found themselves short-handed. However, he said that supplies almost always have a way of showing up. He feels that this is a result of the provision of God. In this way he feels that STMT help you to learn to be dependent on God.

The other gentleman that we interviewed also placed an emphasis on the importance of a humble, serving attitude while on STMT. He mentioned that sometimes people have a certain goal that they feel must be accomplished-a certain number of houses built, a certain number of people witnessed to, etc. However, he feels that one must be willing to “be available for what the Lord wants you to do,” no matter how grand or menial that task might be. We suspect this gentleman is naturally willing to do whatever is necessary, but he seemed to feel that STMT really drive this point home.

Another aspect of STMT that is legitimate and beneficial is the relationships that can develop out of this type of mission experience. The gentlemen that we interviewed both commented on how close the members of their STMT had grown, even though they were only together in the mission setting for a matter of days. In fact, one of the gentlemen said that he found it much easier to open up to his fellow mission workers than he did amongst fellow Christians at home, even though he had not known many of his fellow mission workers before embarking on the trip. Both gentlemen attributed this sense of connection with the other members of their STMT to the feeling of solidarity over the work that they were doing.

On STMTs, there is often a chance for the team members to develop relationships with people from the receiving culture. This is especially true when a group of workers can form a team with those from the receiving culture. Randy Friesen tells of a group of four Canadian university students who partnered with a group of four university students from Nairobi to witness to Massai families in Nairobi. As a result of the shared efforts of these students, the people of the village they worked in requested that another Christian come to live with them. Eventually, the village started a church and it now includes 300 members (Friesen, 2005). Undoubtedly the team members on this trip were able to develop some very significant cross-cultural relationships.

The gentlemen that we interviewed also saw the relationships that they formed with people of the receiving culture as significant. One of the gentlemen commented on how powerful it was to worship with the people who lived in the area that they were serving in. He felt enriched by the opportunity to worship in a different language and style than what he was accustomed to. He also commented on the genuineness of the worship. He felt that he learned something from the indigenous people and their joyful and genuine worship services.

This was a result that was highlighted in both of the interviews-learning from their relationships with the people they were serving. One of the gentlemen was moved by how little the people of Guatemala (where he was serving) have materially, yet they were seemingly happy. Now, this comment may betray how our culture influences us and convinces us that happiness comes through material wealth. However, a lesson was still learned and this gentleman now has a greater appreciation of how to live happily with or without material wealth.

Both gentlemen also felt that their STMT experiences helped them become more adept at working for the Kingdom here in their home context. One of the interviewees shared that he would have been reluctant to share his testimony with another American before he had gone on a STMT. While on STMT he has had opportunities to share his testimony without worrying about if the people would think him foolish. Presumably, he feels that the people of the cultures in which he served are less cynical than Americans, and thus he felt more comfortable. As a result he now feels more comfortable with sharing his testimony in whatever context he finds himself in. Therefore, working at identifying gifts for service seems to be a legitimate and beneficial aspect of STMT.

Lastly, we think it is important to note that cross-cultural STMT tend to help people view the world in a more global manner. In a scholarly study, Randy Friesen found that “cross-cultural short-term mission assignments have a significant lasting and positive impact on participants’ valuation of the global church when compared with the impact of domestic assignments” (Ibid.). In addition to STMT, team members having a better valuation of the global church, they also have the opportunity to learn about conditions in the majority world and begin to understand underlying causes of poverty (Dohn, 2006). Both men that were interviewed seemed to have a deep appreciation for Christians in other parts of the world. We feel that it is important for laypeople to have experiences that not only unite them with non-Western Christians, but cause them to view Christians from other cultures with respect. This is a big step in moving Western Christianity out of thinking that it is the most “Christian” culture in the world; and instead thinking of itself as one of many possible Christian cultures.

Pitfalls to Short-Term Mission Trips
Sometimes things that make STMT legitimate and beneficial can become pitfalls if they are pushed too far. For example, one of the gentlemen we interviewed commented that the people in the two-thirds world that he served in were all so happy, even though they had little in the way of material wealth. Maybe they were all very happy and maybe they were putting on a good face for the mission team in order to be courteous. Sometimes, when communication is difficult, a group of people will simply mirror another’s behavior in lieu of real communication and with the goal of being polite (Livermore, 2006). This kind of misunderstanding can lead to a significant number of people returning home and unintentionally misrepresenting the situation in another part of the world. This may affect how the mission team’s church supports upcoming missions or other projects in that part of the world. In any case, overgeneralizations and misunderstandings that come back with people from STMT are antithetical to the better global understanding that was named as one of the legitimate and beneficial aspects of STMT.

Another pitfall, from the individual perspective, is that an individual’s work, either singly or as part of a team, can be hindered and undermined by the fact that missions team members often fail to realize that Scripture and the Gospel story are often interpreted differently in different cultures (Ibid.). Thus, if a team is going as part of a teaching team, there can be much confusion over what is being taught. And, even work teams might run into some problems with differences in theology. Most likely this pitfall is most detrimental to those in a recipient position, but it can also lead to much frustration and confusion on the part of a missions team or a single short-term missionary.

Finally, one of the aspects of STMT that is most appealing to individuals can be one of their biggest fallacies of STMT and thus one of their biggest pitfalls. Many people value STMT for the spiritual formation that they provide or seem to provide. However, studies show that not long after the trip is over many people experience a waning of the spiritual high provided by STMT (Friesen, 2005). This of course is not always true as evidenced by the two men that interviewed. Each seems to have retained much of the growth experienced on their respective mission trips. However, it is important to note that individuals react differently to similar experiences. Some people truly internalize their significant mission experiences, while others enjoy them for awhile then allow these experiences to fade into nothing more than nice memories.

Summary
As with many aspects of the Christian life, STMT, as seen from an individual perspective, can or cannot serve as instruments of furthering the reign of God depending on the attitude of the individual or individuals going on the trip. Even though it seems that STMT can certainly be legitimately beneficial to individuals who go on them, are they missional? Do they function well as instruments in the in-breaking of the reign of God?

If the reign of God is seen as being able to continually break more fully into the lives of those who already count themselves as members of the Kingdom of God, then yes, STM trips can be effective instruments. Therefore deciding whether or not the reign of God can break more fully into the life of a missions team member depends on his or her attitude and receptiveness to what the Holy Spirit is trying to do in his or her life. If one embarks on such a trip with a desire to simply find a spiritual high, the results do not seem to be positive and long-lasting. But, if one goes on a STMT with the desire to serve the Lord and allow the Holy Spirit to shape him or her as God sees fit, then it seems that the results are positive and enduring. Finally, we have noticed that if someone goes on a trip with rigid and incorrect preconceived notions about the people he or she will serve do not fair well, however, those who go with an open mind guided by love and respect grow as a result of the trip.

Trailer for Crossing Over

I've read books...I've seen documentaries...and I've been face to face with migrants who prepare to come to America, and....

I'm anxious to see the new Harrison Ford movie Crossing Over which is an encounter with immigration. The trailer looks good! And in the words of Daddy Warbucks, "We're off to the movies!" to see this one!



For more information on my trip to the Arizona-Mexico border, click here.

short-term missions: legitimate and beneficial???

Copyright Josh Cooper 2008.
This post is the beginning of a five part series exploring the legitimacy and beneficiality of short-term mission trips (STMTs). The following article was written by myself and three of my fellow seminarians for a course we are taking called Missional Church.

Section One – Introduction
Background
The concept of sending mission teams for short-term work has grown increasingly popular in U.S. congregations. People are not excited about sending their dollars off to faceless mission agencies; they want to become personally involved. Encouraged by the testimony of others who have had a life-changing experience in a Third World country, they want to "do mission" themselves (Jeffery, 2008).

This statement reflects a shift within the postmodern church that affects traditional ways of mission (long-term), and brings the popularity to other, new ways, especially short-term programs like mission trips. According to the literature, the number of North American short-term mission (STM) participants grew from 125,000 in 1989 to an estimated 1 to 4 million in 2003 (Ver Beek, 2006). At the congregational level, this is perhaps best called a “grassroots movement” in which pastors are expected to take a group of congregants oversees on these trips. Many churches today organize mission trips to fit around school and work schedules, holidays, and vacations. One survey found that two out of three people served for two weeks or less, the blocks of time fit within Spring Break, annual vacation time, holidays, and summer vacation (Priest et al., 2006).
Not only are congregations catching the short-term missions fever, pastors are also participating in greater numbers. In a 2004 survey of 120 M.Div. students enrolled at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS), 62.5% of the respondents reported having been on mission trips outside the United States, and more than 97% of these students expect to participate in these trips in the future (Ibid).
According to the Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions, the rapid growth of the STM movement is due in part to efficient travel that allows people to journey to anywhere in the world in relatively short time. However, despite the ease of travel there seems to be a growing desire to serve without committing to a long-term missions career. Though there is much discussion about the legitimacy and benefits of STM trips, “it is obvious that short-term missions is a powerful and effective force in the modern missions movement.”

Our Purpose
In light of the growing interest and practice of STMTs within the church of which each of us my soon take leadership roles, the authors of the present paper agreed to embark together on a learning experience surrounding this topic. Our purposes are three. First, our goal is to trace and evaluate the literature that critiques short-term mission trips as well as conduct our own interviews, in order to identify dominant views of what makes these trips “legitimate and beneficial” at the individual, congregational, denominational and international levels. Second, we will also reflect on the degree to which these views reflect, or not, an understanding of the church as “missional” as we are coming to understand it in the course: the church as called and sent by God to be God’s instrument in the in breaking of the reign of God. Third, we will also attempt to identify pitfalls of current approaches as well as articulate ways to avoid them.

Our Survey
In order to achieve our goals for this project, our team assembled a list of seven questions by which we asked all participants to respond. At the individual level, author CT asked men from his congregation to participate in this project. At the congregational level, our team surveyed 6 pastors / lay leaders who participate in STM trips on a regular basis. The pastors / leaders represent the Wesleyan and Baptist denomination from states which include, but are not limited to: Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa. At the denominational level, our team surveyed two denominational leaders from the Christian Reformed Church and two denominational leaders from the Reformed Church in America. Finally, at the international level, our team surveyed Thai Christians from several backgrounds: pastors, lay persons, seminary students and lay church members, most of them do ministry or attend a church in Bangkok, the most influential area of Christianity in Thailand. In this part of the study we desired specifically to understand the understanding of mission outside North-America since STMTs are taken not only in American, but indeed in the church worldwide, including the Thai church. In doing this, we hoped to expand our understanding of how STMTs are understood and carried out outside North-America. As noted above, our classmate Mee surveyed Christians in his home country, Thailand, where he feels the idea of mission and missiological theology have not been developed or emphasized generally in churches and seminaries.

Each of the participants at each level were asked to respond to the following questions:

1. Have you (your church, denomination) taken part in a short-term missions trip (STMT)? If so describe.
The purpose of this question was to give the respondents an opportunity to express freely themselves about short-term mission trips and to get a feel for what they think of them. We listened carefully for indicators of what they think the purpose for these trips is, and how they relate to the church’s mission, their own lives, etc.

2. What makes a STMTs, in general, “legitimate / beneficial”?
This question was more specific to our research question, what do they think either individually, or as a church or a denomination makes these trips “legitimate” in general?

3. Was your specific MTMT “legitimate / beneficial”? Why/why not?
This question was asked in order to get the respondents to reflect on their own (or their church’s, or their denomination’s) practice of STMT, whether they should be considered legitimate, and why or why not.

4. Since we have been talking about short-term mission trips, please define what you think the word “missions” means, for you (your church, your denomination).
This purpose of this question was to get the respondents to reflect on their idea of missions and a “missional church.”

5. Do you think that STMTs “fit” into this idea of “missions”?
This purpose of this question was to get the respondents to reflect on how their idea of STMTs fits in, or not, with their ideas of mission, and a missional church.

6. Are there any pit falls with STMTs?
This is the last part of our research question together with the next follow-up question.

7. How did you (your church, your denomination) avoid pit falls in the past, or how do you (your church, your denomination) avoid pit falls in the future?
A follow-up to question 6.


A Missional Expression?
For the purpose of ascertaining how short-term mission trips (STMT) are “legitimate” and “beneficial” as well as what pitfalls are associated with STM trips from a missional perspective, we will use this paper’s definition of what it means to be missional. Our definition of being missional is – being called and sent by God to be God’s instrument in the in-breaking of the reign of God.
As we talk about being called and sent by God, we recognize that our call, and the sending that relates to that call, is given by God, through the Holy Spirit. Thus, we are called and sent by the Holy Spirit and we depend upon the Holy Spirit to teach us how we are to be instruments in the in-breaking of the reign of God (Guder, 1998).
Charles Van Engen writes, “The Holy Spirit’s work always seems to surprise us, to stretch us to the limits of our normal expectations, and to point us in directions we have never considered before” (Van Engen, 2007). These words illustrate for us that being missional is not about our deciding what it means to be called and sent, rather it is about listening to where and how God is calling and sending us so that we might proclaim the in-breaking of his reign.
Thus, to be missional is to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. To do so we must seek the direction of the Holy Spirit through prayer and discernment. “Only through prayer,” Van Engen continues, “do we prepare ourselves to examine our own motivations and goals in evangelism, and to appropriately participate with the Spirit in this wonderful adventure of being used to bring God’s presence to bear in the life of another” (Ibid). Though this statement has evangelism in mind, it illustrates how important it is for us to seek God’s will and the guidance of the Holy Spirit through prayer.
So, we are called and sent by God, through the Holy Spirit, to be God’s instrument in the in-breaking of the reign of God. To do so we must be prayerful and discerning what that specific calling and sending will look like. But, what are we looking for? What is mission? What types of activities are missional?
We are coming to see through this course that mission is any type of action by the body of Christ that bears witness to the hope that we have in the present and coming reign of God. Mission is eschatologically-grounded. Our hope as Christians ultimately rests in the fact that Christ will return and make all things new. Though the reign of God is not fully consummated, the Kingdom of Heaven, as announced by Christ, is already here even as we wait for Christ to return and complete the task of ushering in His reign of shalom. Also, as members of the Kingdom in this world, we are to point to this coming shalom through our present actions. Thus, mission is any activity that works toward bringing about shalom in the present, and thus bears witness to the shalom that is to come. We work at bringing temporal hope to the world so that the world might see the eternal hope that is brought about by the reign of God (Brueggemann, 2001).
To be missional then is to be called and sent by God as God’s instrument in the in-breaking of the reign of God. To be missional is to be called and sent by listening to the Holy Spirit and allowing ourselves to be used as instruments that bring hope to the world; hope that points to the consummating reign of God (Ibid).

Happy Healthy People

This is a video of my wife and brother-in-law, Jeff, singing a song called Happy Healthy People written to the tune of REM's Shiny Happy People. They performed the song for health and exercise awareness at the workplace. This song is now their theme song. (Notice the back-ups exercisers in the back!) This is the first performance of their major workplace tour which kicks off in Zeeland, MI and will be coming to a workplace near you!!!

Compassion International

A couple weeks ago, my wife and I went on a date. Now there's nothing unusual about this - though we both agree that we need to date more often! But nevertheless, it was a date night and she made the arrangements (so I give her all the credit!). She took me out to dinner at Via Maria, a nice little Italian place in Holland, followed by a Bebo Norman / MercyMe concert. I had my doubts - at least initially - about going to a MercyMe concert, but I kept an open mind and was pleasantly surprised, not by MercyMe as much as by Bebo. All I will say is WOW! Bebo put on a really good show.

The part of the night we celebrated, however, was that we decided to sponsor a child from Compassion International. We now sponsor a 6 year-old girl from the Philippines nameed, Camela. We are very excited about this opporutnity and look forward to watching her grow, learn, and love.

This is a wonderful opportunity to bring the love and compassion of God in to the world and there is no easier way than to sign up by clicking on the title of this post. If you're looking for a unique way to celebrate the holidays this year, why not go to Compassion International's website and sponsor a child?!? You will be just as blessed as the child you are blessing!

For the Beauty Chapter Four

In chapter four of For the Beauty of the Earth, Dr. B-P examines the connection between Scripture and ecology. Does a connection exist? If so, how? Or in what way? B-P affirms that the Bible is the norma normans - the ultimate norm which trumps all other authorities (ie., reason, tradition, experience, etc.). In the beginning of the chapter he attacks the use and abuse of Scripture citing times througout history where the Bible was used to justify slavery for example. He talks about the fact that we all read from somewhere - "there is no view from nowhere." "We read the Bible," Bernhard Anderson says, "where we are." I think this is an important point to remember when engaging Scripture - that we all have context and limitations in our understanding and the Bible often challenges our limitations and understandings. And Dr. B-P first addresses this question - where are we? - via Genesis 1. I will summarize below:

Where are we? "In a world of wonders, wisely order by God." We are in a world where "peace is primordial."

Where are we? "In a home we share with many other creatures."

Where are we? "On an earth not of our own making, blessed by God."

"In sum," B-P says, "this founding story [Genesis 1] affirms that God is a gracious homemaker and the earth is our home." God is a homemaker...I like that! God shows hospitality to a host of creatures including humans.

Just one more thing I'd like to touch on in this chapter and that is B-P asks the question, "With whom does God make a covenant?" The quick and dirty answer is US! Right? Well, yes God does make a covenant with humans, but God's covenant is not limited to humans. Turning to Genesis chapter 9, we are reminded that God establishes his covenant with Noah and his descendents and with every living creature, the birds, animals, and every animal of the earth (vv. 9-10). It is clear from these verses forward that God makes a covenant not only with Noah but with the earth and all it's creatures. "The covenant with Noah (6:18) includes every living creature." Let us never forget that God is concerned with His earth. Yes, we as human beings are important and loved by God, but God loves the earth too and has covenanted with it.

The Violence of Love

We have never preached violence,
except the violence of love,
which left Christ nailed to a cross,
the violence that we must each do to ourselves
to overcome our selfishness
and such cruel inequalities among us.

The violence we preach is not the violence of the sword,
the violence of hatred.
It is the violence of love,
of brotherhood,
the violence that wills to beat weapons
into sickles for work.

~Archbishop Oscar Romero, November 27, 1977

fpl viewer statistics

I was curious to know where y'all are from, so I installed a third-party tracking device on front porch life from Google, which can be found by clicking here. The Google analytic tool allows me to see which pages are getting the most hits; how long the average reader stays on my blog; as well as where the reader is from; as well as a host of other things. I installed this device on October 20th, so the stats that I'm presenting are from October 20-31, 2008.

1. 38 site visits in 11 days.

2. 6 was the highest number of visits on a particular day (October 29).

3. Average time on site - 1 minute 53 seconds. (My goal is to reach two minutes!!). Kidding...sort of!

4. Countries represented - U.S.; Switzerland; and Canada. So, thank you to my Swiss and Canandian friends. Of the U.S. visitors:
a. 22 visits from Michigan;
b. 3 visits from Iowa (thanks Mom and Dad!);
c. Other states represented - KY, PA, CA, OK, IN, IL, and MO.
d. Yes, the analytics tool even tells me which cities y'all are from, but that's it I swear. Okay, I have your addresses and phone numbers too! Just kidding! (Sort of!)

5. The two most frequently read articles - "JoAnn Lyon: A Woman of Hope" and "Green Bible is Here" had nine hits each. I suspect there are a number of people interested in learning more about JoAnn who is one of the General Superintendents of my denomination, and because there really isn't much information out about her, I think she'll continue to lead the most frequently read article list.

For the Beauty Chapter Three

After outlining the messy state our planet is in Dr. B-P turns his attention to Christians and asks, "Is Christianity to blame for this mess?" It's a fair question to ask, right? Or IS it? God says to Adam and Even in the garden in Genesis, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth" (Gen. 1:28). See there it is! It's in the Bible that Christians are to fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over it. Well, yes there it is, but in what sense are we to subdue and have dominion? In chapter three B-P addresses this oft asked question (as well as many others)and offers some better explanations.

"We must learn," says B-P, "to read the Bible anew precisely because our behavior is out of line with the ecological vision of Scripture" (69). B-P makes a call to read the Bible with new eyes in order to receive ecological wisdom.

So, what are the complaints against Christianity concerning creation care? Well, there are four that B-P addresses:

1. Monotheism, in general, and Christianity in particular, is the primary cause of the despoilation of the earth.

2. The Christian emphasis on dualisms of soul and body, spirit and matter, denigrates the earth and sanctions its misuse and exploitation.

3. Christian eschatology (or "last things") negates any rationale for preserving the earth.

4. And finally, because of the rise of technology and science, Christianity bears a huge burden of guilt for the present situation.

One by one, B-P tackles each of these complaints and disspells the myth that Christianity is somehow the primary cause for the current ecological state of our world. Concerning Genesis 1:28, does dominion mean domination? Is this verse a "license" to exploit anything and everything on the earth. The short answer is no, it is not. One key to defining dominion, says B-P, is to take example from an ideal king in Psalm 72, who exercises dominion correctly. The psalm says that a ruler executes justice for the oppressed, delivers the need, helps the poor, and embodies righteousness in all he does (74). To exercise dominion is to bring about shalom (or peace). To rule properly is to serve. "We are to serve and protect the garden that is creation..." (74).

To protect and serve...

It's not only the "motto" of most of our police and local law enforcement agencies, it's also the "motto" of humanity in relationship to the earth. To protect and serve.

The Green Bible is Here!

I had the opportunity to preview the just released Green Bible published by HarperCollins in conjuction with The Sierra Club, The Humane Society, and Eco-Justice Program. It just so happens my ethics professor, Dr. Steven Bouma-Prediger, served on the publicating committee for this project. For more information, click here to check it out!

You might remember the Red Letter Bible (the words of Jesus were inked in red color). Well this is the Green Letter Bible. Any reference to creation, or caring for the earth is inked in green. There are over 1000 references in green! If anything...this kind of Bible is at minimum a reminder that not only as Christians but as a global village of people we need to care for our earth which sustains us in so many ways.

PS - I would be happy to receive such a gift. =)

painting revelation: a visual exploration of the last book of the Bible

I had the privilege of meeting Rev. Debby Topliff of West Michigan. Not only is she a pastor, but an artist. She visited the seminary last week to display her artwork based on Revelation, and to lead our morning worship for the week. I have provided a link to her website. I commend her work to you. Peace.

Friday Humor

When my back seized up, I called my doctor's office, explaining that I was a minister and was in too much pain to deliver my sermon. Could they help?

The woman on the other end asked me to hold. The next thing I heard was a loud voice announcing, "I have a minister on the phone who can't stand to preach!"

~Gilbert Vieira from Reader's Digest

Still Rings True Today

"Oh, if we only had persons of prayer among those who oversee the fate of the nation and the fate of the economy! If, instead of relying on human devices, people would rely on God and on his devices, we would have a world without injustices, a world with respect for rights, a world with generous participation by all, a world without repression, a world without torture."

~Oscar Romero, Archbishop of El Salvador, July 17, 1977

New Creation

New Creation from FC Post on Vimeo.

This is unbelievable! Way cool! Thoughts?

For the Beauty Chapter Two

Chapter two is appropriately titled, "What's Wrong with the World?"

Creation is groaning, says St. Paul. The state of the world is not good, and in this chapter Dr. B-P attempts to outline the ways in which our planet is crying out as if in pain. The staggering statistics in this chapter are frightening and despairing - even in B-P is half right! So, what are the contributing factors to the earth's groaning?

POPULATION
Global population had doubled in only forty years, and it grow by 80 million each year. That's 80,000,000 each year! The popluation grows exponentially.

HUNGER
If the hungry people in the world today were lined up shoulder to shoulder, how long would the line stretch? Answer: Around the world 18.2 times!! This is unbelievable. Approximately 1.2 billion people are undernourished and do not eat enough calories per day for a normal life.

BIODIVERSITY
Three species of plant or animal goes extinct each day! One species every eight hours is gone forever.

DEFORESTATION
Tropical rain forests are deforested at the rate of 25 million acres each year - roughly the size of the state of Indiana.

WATER
Approximately 1.5 billion people do not have adequate drinking water. That's 25% of the world's population.

LAND
18 tons of topsoil per hectare are lost each year in the U.S.

WASTE
The average American throws away 1500 pounds of trash a year. That amounts to 52 tons of trash over a 70 year lifespan. Enough disposable diapers, if stretched end to end, are thrown away each year to reach the moon and back seven times!!!

ENERGY
The U.S. devours approximately 24% of the available energy. The average American consumes twice as much energy as compared to other industrialized nations.

AIR
100% of Sweden's lakes are too acidic to support local wildlife.

CLIMATE
Our climate is changing. Greenhouse gas concentrations are up. Temperatures are rising in certain places, and cooling in others.

This chapter is chuck-full of staggering statistics which leave the reader with a feeling of despair. Thankfully, this is only chapter two. There is much more to come, but in the mean time, how are you and I contributing to the groaning of creation? What can you do starting today to be more responsible concerning the care of the earth? Big gains can be made through small steps like recycling; turning off unused appliances and lights; riding a bicycle or walking to work; collecting rain water; consuming less; fasting? There is so much to be done, yet there is much we can do to make a difference.

Lamentations of the Father

Lamentations of the Father (audio file) by humorist Ian Frazier.

In Brief: For the Beauty Introduction and Chapter 1

Introduction
What possible relevance, the author asks, does ecology have for Chistian theology? What is theologically wrong with ecological degradation? These are some very tough questions that Dr. Bouma-Prediger asks, but the purpose of his book For the Beauty of the Earth is to answers questions such as these and prompt some more. The central claim of the book is that authentic Christian faith requires (notice the language, he very intentional about his use of words) ecological obedience. "To care for the earth is integral to the Christian faith." What do you think - do you believe that authentic Christians are required to be ecologically obedient? Why or why not?

Chapter 1: Where Are We?
Chapter one's primary focus is calling the reader to his/her attention to their surroundings. "Do you know where you are?" asks Dr. B-P. "What is the soil like around your home? What are five agricultural plants in your region? What flowers bloom where you live? When did it last rain?" And so on goes the line of questioning. Questions like these test our knowledge of where we are. For example, I live in West Michigan. My soil is very sandy in some places, but in others very hard from clay deposits. Five agricultural plants that grow in my region are: apples, blueberries, corn, soybeans, strawberries. Tulips are the predominent blooming flower where I live. And it rained last night. And so I ask you - do you know where you live? We know the things we love, and if we know where we live in a more intimate way, we're likely to love and care more for it.

Dr. B-P contends that we are ecologically illiterate. We're simply not aware of our surroundings, therefore, our unawareness (or knowledge) leads to apathy or disconcern for the creation around us. Hence, "knowing, caring, and practical competence constitute the basis of ecological literacy" (David Orr). To wrap up chapter one, I'll close with a list, from the book, of 5 components to seeing our place:

1. We need a broad understanding of how people and cultures / societies relate to each other and to nature.
2. We need to know something about the ecological crisis that we face.
3. We need to know something about the dynamics of our world - historical, political, religious, etc.
4. We need to have some familiarity with the development of "ecological consciousness." Are we humans, earth dominators? Or are we just visitors in a world that is not ours?
5. We need alternative measures of well-being. For example, the Sustainable Economic Welfare versus the GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

In summary, to be more ecologically literate requires some knowledge of various systems, dynamics, and interrelationships between humans and the "world." We need some understanding of people, societies, the ecological crises of the day, as well as some knowledge of alternative standards for measuring just how well we're doing besides the Gross Domestic Product. Is knowledge key? Will knowledge prompt you or me to care more? These questions will be explored further.

To close this post, I'll end with a quote from the book, "The fit between humanity and its habitat" is the agenda of the twenty-first century, a matter of human survival. We simply must become more ecologically literate. We have no choice.

Book Discussion: For the Beauty of the Earth

I am reading a wonderful book entitled For the Beauty of the Earth by Dr. Steven Bouma-Prediger of Hope College - from right here in West Michigan. I just so happen to be taking a seminary level ethics course with the good doctor, and this text of his is required reading. And because I think this book has a lot to offer, I'd like to share some 'wealth' of information concerning creation care. Why do I want to share this? In short, I believe that when we talk or listen to sermons about stewardship, we never (yes, never) talk or hear about creation stewardship though it is apparent (at least to me) that this is a really big concern to the biblical authors (and to God for that matter).

So, I hope to engage Dr. Bouma-Prediger through is insightful book, highlight key points from each chapter, and offer questions for further consideration. This is the first time I've taken on a task such as this, but I think it will be fruitful.

From the back cover of For the Beauty of the Earth:
At a time when it seems humans have erred much in their understanding and keeping of the planet, For the Beauty of the Earth explores the relationship between Christianity and the natural world in the most thorough evangelical treatment available on a theology of creation care.

Preview of coming attractions - Chapter 1 "Where Are We? An Ecological Perspective on Place"

Mission as Love in Action

The church represents the presence of the reign of God in the life of the world, not in the triumphalist sens (as the "successful" cause) and not in the moralistic sense (as in the "righteous" cause), but in the sense that it is the place where the mystery of the kingdom present in the dying and rising of Jesus is made present here and now so that all people, righteous and unrighteous, are enabled to taste and shre the love of God before whom all are unrighteous and all are accepted as righteous. - Lesslie Newbigin, The Open Secret 55.

Reflections on the Shema - Part Albah

וּקְשַׁרְתָּם לְאוֹת, עַל-יָדֶךָ; וְהָיוּ לְטֹטָפֹת, בֵּין עֵינֶיךָ

(8)And you shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes (AKJV).

וּכְתַבְתָּם עַל-מְזֻזוֹת בֵּיתֶךָ, וּבִשְׁעָרֶיךָ

(9)And you shall write them on the posts of your house, and on your gates (AKJV).

Whether taken literally or metaphorically, the importance of these commands is such that they (these words) should be bound as a sign on the hand and on the forehead (near the eyes). These words are taken literally by our Jewish brothers and sisters who actually bind, with some sort of thread, these words as well as the instructions from Numbers 15:37-41 to their heads and hands as well as their door frames and gates. The word translated 'posts of your house,' mezuzah, has become a technical term, identifying a small box containing parchment. So, through signs and symbols, literally or metaphorically, the individual, the home, and the community reflected in their being a response of love to/of God.

So, what does this mean for us today? Or more importantly, I should ask what does this important text say about who we should be as individuals as well as a faith community?