Thursday, March 8, 2007
Wednesday reflection for wk #10
I was very sad to see this class go today. I loved Dr. Bolger's teaching style and I was enlightened by his insights. I am looking forward to taking his Evangelizing Nominal Christians course this summer. I was very enlightened to the insights of the emerging church movement as well other contemporary church movements.
Monday, March 5, 2007
Monday Reflection for wk #10
After the initial confusion of finding where class was today, I was pleasantly suprised that the entire class was in lecture format. Now that we are somewhat guided on our papers, I think it is great that we are absorbing, with a majority of our class time, Dr. Bolger's insight on the contemporary issues facing church and mission. Dr. Bolger's quote today that "we have the choice to participate in God's singular mission to restore creation" was right on and it will suppliment my final paper.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Wednesday reflection for wk #9
I truly enjoyed the peer review of our papers today. I received great feedback on my paper which has led me to change the thesis as well as some of the content of the paper. I appreciate the structure we are using for the remainder of the course.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Monday Reflection for wk #9
Today's discussion was very helpful to the creation of my case study. I especially how Dr. Bolger was talking about how mostly all cultures are hybrid in our current world. This creates much broader implications for cross-cultural studies and missions. I have always assumes that, in order to build relations with another culture, one only needs to adapt to said culture. I now know that it is also important to take an inventory of the effects that surrounding cultures have on the creation of said culture.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Second Draft
(I don't know if this post was necessary; nonetheless, I am posting it for your convinience).
THE KINGDOM IN SHORT-TERM MISSION
Introduction:
“You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave to all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many”-Mark 10: 42-45.
Short-term missions trips are sometimes at odds with the purpose of the commission of Christ. Dr. Sherwood Lingenfelter states that “ (in mission) We must love the people to whom we minister so much that we are willing to enter their culture as children, to learn how to speak as they speak, play as they play, eat as they eat, sleep where they sleep, and thus earn their respect and adoration” (Lingenfelter, 25). Such statement begs the question: how, than, do we show true God-like love on a short trip? In this paper, I will address the necessary changes we as a group need to make concerning our cultural biases and traditions so that God’s mission will be done and our culture will not get in the way of the kingdom.
Context:
I will be leading a group of men on a trip to Maneadero, Mexico, a city forty miles south of Ensenada (note: said trip will occur before the submission of this paper and hard data will be added in an appendix). Baja Mexico is crippled with a poor, authoritative economic system that creates a large deviation in the household incomes. The society is not very bureaucratic ; thus, there is a low level of diversity amongst the available work. This leads to a severe class society. The Mexican people are also very traditionalistic in terms of family and religion. The men are the power and voice of the family. Many of the men will squander the earnings of the family on status items (i.e. cell phones) before they provide the necessities for their families. I learned this information from nationals and fellow servants on former trips across the boarder; such knowledge has helped me shape how I act in the culture and it helps me to understand where they are coming from.
We will be serving in a soup kitchen as well as visiting a migrant farm where nomadic marginalized persons reside for undeterminable parts of the year. We only have one person in our group that speaks fluent Spanish and we have a few men that can speak Spanish at a conversational level (myself included). We will be bringing resources for the soup kitchen, gifts for the children, our physical labor, and a short gospel message (I will expand this section in a later draft).
The group consists of men from my non-denominational church in Simi Valley. Our church is very missions oriented; however, there is a bias toward merely voicing the gospel as opposed to showing the gospel through action and witnessing. My beliefs and/or inspirations from God are slightly different from a majority of my group; accordingly, I believe that I am alone (amongst the group) in my skeptical approach to short-term missions. My advisor/mentor has told me that the objectives of the service project are to get the men in our group prepared for a life of mission, assist them in using their spiritual gifts to the glory of God, and to get each man out of his cultural comfort zone. Although these motives are benevolent, I believe that they are too inward focused and do not grant enough attention to the needs of the people we are serving. The agenda presented to me stems from a long-term focus in a situation that is inherently short-term and “in the moment”. In other words, the leaders of my group are worried about the spiritual growth of the men so that their future ministries are more fruitful. In the following section, I will further discuss why I believe this to be an inappropriate state of mind for such a trip.
Kingdom in Short-Term Mission:
In all honesty, it is hard to gauge how the kingdom of God can be manifested in this scenario simply because Jesus seemed to prefer to engage the people in community, which is outside of the confining time of a short-term missions trips. In the following passage, an example of why time is a necessary element of mission is given:
“While evangelistic events that reach groups are important ingredients in a church’s evangelism strategy, research consistently shows that the most effective faith-sharing takes place in the context of relationships” (Sider, 78).
It is hard to build relationship with others when one arrives from another culture (carrying all of its influences) and than departs the next morning. It could conceivably take months, if not years, to build solid relationships. Irrespective of this point, I will observe Jesus’ actions and try to extract what practices would exemplify the kingdom of God (I will expand this section in a later draft).
I feel that God’s only mission and purpose for us to go down to Mexico is so that we can share his love with the people. Thus, we should not be focused on how we will grow spiritually from this trip. Rather, we should pay attention to the need we are going to fulfill. We have a future tense, self-oriented mindset. Such an internal mentality is exemplified by the group’s agenda to take many pictures so that we can have a slideshow. This subtle act will make us seem like tourists as opposed to members of the community. We need to focus more on the heart of our function so that we can have an impact similar to what the Lord wills. If we strive for servanthood in love, than the tangent issue (personal growth in missions and spiritual gifts) will come in response. However, we need to make sure that our goal of servanthood is not motivated by our “business model” cultural bias.
“Evangelicals, however, should avoid the temptation to make ‘servanthood’ the tool of effectiveness. Our definitions must be carefully derived from Jesus Christ and Scripture rather than adopted from whatever current leadership trends are popular” (Fitch, 87).
We will come closer to kingdom-type ministry by submitting to the Mexican culture as much as possible, being flexible in our service, and remaining open to learning from the Mexican people. Dr. Lingenfelter states that “an individual who is not ready to give up being an American for a time and to begin learning as a child is not ready for the challenge of cross-cultural ministry” (Lingenfelter, 25). This statement shows how we are to submit like children to our mission field so that we can be all things to all people. (I will expand this section in a later draft).
Action Steps to Find the Kingdom in this Study:
By nature, evangelicals are focused on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I find this to be true and a blessing, however, in supporting such a belief, we tend to have a harder time grasping the importance of community and complete sacrifice for others. Such traits lead us to focus on the benefits we will be receiving even when the project is selfless in nature. Our group must embrace the fact that even though each person might not be grounded in faith or service, this project exists for enriching others so that God may be glorified.
The selfless attitude described above will lead us to do such things as learning Spanish, being comfortable (not uneasy in the different culture), and submitting to the authority of the indigenous partner we have formed. Although it is important for us to promote the social standing of the people we are serving, we must not neglect our holistic responsibility to evangelize through word and/or action.
“A prevalent myth in many churches is that if you give non-Christians a chance to rub shoulders with Christians, they’ll catch a dose of the gospel…It allows churches to feel that they are obeying the Great Commission just by doing good deeds for Christ’s sake. ‘Our actions speak for us’” (Sider, 63).
We have decided that, since Spanish is not universal amongst us, we will evangelize through non-verbal, physical connections. Such actions are tentatively defined as placing stickers on the kids, having friendly and deep eye connection, and listening even if we are not fully aware of what they are saying (for not fluent Spanish speakers). These steps, along with submitting to the authority of our partner, should really show our brothers and sisters of Maneadero that we love them.
Conclusion:
From my perspective, this trip is not about enriching the men, as my mentor alluded to; it is about teaching the men to embrace true sacrifice in service. In the 21st Century, the only way that we can truly evangelize with people is by building relationships with them. As I have presented, this makes it harder to demonstrate kingdom traits through short-term missions. We must leave our cultural biases and our primary desire to grow spiritually (as if short-term missions is a training ground for longer missions), serve our neighbors/partners in the specific manner they need assistance, and evangelize through humble and non-intrusive mediums.
THE KINGDOM IN SHORT-TERM MISSION
Introduction:
“You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave to all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many”-Mark 10: 42-45.
Short-term missions trips are sometimes at odds with the purpose of the commission of Christ. Dr. Sherwood Lingenfelter states that “ (in mission) We must love the people to whom we minister so much that we are willing to enter their culture as children, to learn how to speak as they speak, play as they play, eat as they eat, sleep where they sleep, and thus earn their respect and adoration” (Lingenfelter, 25). Such statement begs the question: how, than, do we show true God-like love on a short trip? In this paper, I will address the necessary changes we as a group need to make concerning our cultural biases and traditions so that God’s mission will be done and our culture will not get in the way of the kingdom.
Context:
I will be leading a group of men on a trip to Maneadero, Mexico, a city forty miles south of Ensenada (note: said trip will occur before the submission of this paper and hard data will be added in an appendix). Baja Mexico is crippled with a poor, authoritative economic system that creates a large deviation in the household incomes. The society is not very bureaucratic ; thus, there is a low level of diversity amongst the available work. This leads to a severe class society. The Mexican people are also very traditionalistic in terms of family and religion. The men are the power and voice of the family. Many of the men will squander the earnings of the family on status items (i.e. cell phones) before they provide the necessities for their families. I learned this information from nationals and fellow servants on former trips across the boarder; such knowledge has helped me shape how I act in the culture and it helps me to understand where they are coming from.
We will be serving in a soup kitchen as well as visiting a migrant farm where nomadic marginalized persons reside for undeterminable parts of the year. We only have one person in our group that speaks fluent Spanish and we have a few men that can speak Spanish at a conversational level (myself included). We will be bringing resources for the soup kitchen, gifts for the children, our physical labor, and a short gospel message (I will expand this section in a later draft).
The group consists of men from my non-denominational church in Simi Valley. Our church is very missions oriented; however, there is a bias toward merely voicing the gospel as opposed to showing the gospel through action and witnessing. My beliefs and/or inspirations from God are slightly different from a majority of my group; accordingly, I believe that I am alone (amongst the group) in my skeptical approach to short-term missions. My advisor/mentor has told me that the objectives of the service project are to get the men in our group prepared for a life of mission, assist them in using their spiritual gifts to the glory of God, and to get each man out of his cultural comfort zone. Although these motives are benevolent, I believe that they are too inward focused and do not grant enough attention to the needs of the people we are serving. The agenda presented to me stems from a long-term focus in a situation that is inherently short-term and “in the moment”. In other words, the leaders of my group are worried about the spiritual growth of the men so that their future ministries are more fruitful. In the following section, I will further discuss why I believe this to be an inappropriate state of mind for such a trip.
Kingdom in Short-Term Mission:
In all honesty, it is hard to gauge how the kingdom of God can be manifested in this scenario simply because Jesus seemed to prefer to engage the people in community, which is outside of the confining time of a short-term missions trips. In the following passage, an example of why time is a necessary element of mission is given:
“While evangelistic events that reach groups are important ingredients in a church’s evangelism strategy, research consistently shows that the most effective faith-sharing takes place in the context of relationships” (Sider, 78).
It is hard to build relationship with others when one arrives from another culture (carrying all of its influences) and than departs the next morning. It could conceivably take months, if not years, to build solid relationships. Irrespective of this point, I will observe Jesus’ actions and try to extract what practices would exemplify the kingdom of God (I will expand this section in a later draft).
I feel that God’s only mission and purpose for us to go down to Mexico is so that we can share his love with the people. Thus, we should not be focused on how we will grow spiritually from this trip. Rather, we should pay attention to the need we are going to fulfill. We have a future tense, self-oriented mindset. Such an internal mentality is exemplified by the group’s agenda to take many pictures so that we can have a slideshow. This subtle act will make us seem like tourists as opposed to members of the community. We need to focus more on the heart of our function so that we can have an impact similar to what the Lord wills. If we strive for servanthood in love, than the tangent issue (personal growth in missions and spiritual gifts) will come in response. However, we need to make sure that our goal of servanthood is not motivated by our “business model” cultural bias.
“Evangelicals, however, should avoid the temptation to make ‘servanthood’ the tool of effectiveness. Our definitions must be carefully derived from Jesus Christ and Scripture rather than adopted from whatever current leadership trends are popular” (Fitch, 87).
We will come closer to kingdom-type ministry by submitting to the Mexican culture as much as possible, being flexible in our service, and remaining open to learning from the Mexican people. Dr. Lingenfelter states that “an individual who is not ready to give up being an American for a time and to begin learning as a child is not ready for the challenge of cross-cultural ministry” (Lingenfelter, 25). This statement shows how we are to submit like children to our mission field so that we can be all things to all people. (I will expand this section in a later draft).
Action Steps to Find the Kingdom in this Study:
By nature, evangelicals are focused on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I find this to be true and a blessing, however, in supporting such a belief, we tend to have a harder time grasping the importance of community and complete sacrifice for others. Such traits lead us to focus on the benefits we will be receiving even when the project is selfless in nature. Our group must embrace the fact that even though each person might not be grounded in faith or service, this project exists for enriching others so that God may be glorified.
The selfless attitude described above will lead us to do such things as learning Spanish, being comfortable (not uneasy in the different culture), and submitting to the authority of the indigenous partner we have formed. Although it is important for us to promote the social standing of the people we are serving, we must not neglect our holistic responsibility to evangelize through word and/or action.
“A prevalent myth in many churches is that if you give non-Christians a chance to rub shoulders with Christians, they’ll catch a dose of the gospel…It allows churches to feel that they are obeying the Great Commission just by doing good deeds for Christ’s sake. ‘Our actions speak for us’” (Sider, 63).
We have decided that, since Spanish is not universal amongst us, we will evangelize through non-verbal, physical connections. Such actions are tentatively defined as placing stickers on the kids, having friendly and deep eye connection, and listening even if we are not fully aware of what they are saying (for not fluent Spanish speakers). These steps, along with submitting to the authority of our partner, should really show our brothers and sisters of Maneadero that we love them.
Conclusion:
From my perspective, this trip is not about enriching the men, as my mentor alluded to; it is about teaching the men to embrace true sacrifice in service. In the 21st Century, the only way that we can truly evangelize with people is by building relationships with them. As I have presented, this makes it harder to demonstrate kingdom traits through short-term missions. We must leave our cultural biases and our primary desire to grow spiritually (as if short-term missions is a training ground for longer missions), serve our neighbors/partners in the specific manner they need assistance, and evangelize through humble and non-intrusive mediums.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Wednesday reflection for wk #8
Today we had a nice change from the normal composition of the class. The voluntary nature of the sessions was good. Our discussion of the The Great Giveaway was enlightening to me inasmuch as I saw the value of the book. It is not that I had missed the points when I was reading it, it is, rather, that I was less defensive about the book when it was discussed in a corporate setting where the main objective was to decipher how the book (positively) applies to our case study.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Monday Reflection for wk #8
I was very glad that we had peer review of our first drafts today. Since it is the foundational level of the paper, it is important to have as much criticism as possible. However, I look forward to get back to the class interaction on Wednesday. I am interested to see what Dr. Bolger has to say about Fitch's text.
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