“Home Service” . . . “Deputation” . . . a friend of mine even had a family member who referred to it as “the dog and pony show” . . .
I came across this post today from a CRWRC person, and got a kick out of her idea of calling it “detox”. But I also like the way that she captures the struggles that people who live and work cross-culturally have to define what “home” is.
Our “MK’s in the making” heard a story during orientation called Grandfather’s Journey that I thought captured this ambiguity perfectly. In that faltering way I have when talking to young children about huge theological concepts that I can barely get my mind around myself, I tried to connect this concept of not knowing where “home” is with what the Bible tells us about this world not being our home . . .
I’m not sure I succeeded in communicating this to them, but I do try to console myself (and those whose concept of “home” is even harder to define than mine is) with the fact that our true home will be in heaven.
And although I have no theological training, and therefore don’t have any idea whether this concept of mine is truly biblical, I like to tell myself that heaven will be the place where everything we love about each of our “homes” will always be with us, that our homesickness will be no more.
Until that day, may we all wander well on whatever roads God may lead us down . . .
When I lived in NYC, a local magazine had a feature that highlighted local folks and their individual fashion style. The set of questions included “how many pairs of shoes do you own?” I was never selected for an interview, but I always had the answer to that question ready, just in case anybody ever asked . . .
Megan Ribbens, who along with her husband Mike serves with CRWM in Nigeria, sent along a BBC article about people in that country who are “rubbish scavengers”, attempting to find useful things to sell among the piles of garbage. One photo in particular really struck me . . . here’s a quote:
This is Abdullahi. The 15-year-old has brought a haul of rubbish to sell.
He hopes to make between 40 and 50 Naira ($0.42) for half a day’s scavenging.
In his haul is a single flip-flop.
Decent sandals are cleaned up and re-sold. Shoes that are beyond repair are shredded up and bought by upholsterers for stuffing leather footrests bought by visitors to the Kano tannery nearby.
I was struck by this (convicted?), and it just reminded me again of how working for an international agency has changed my perspective . . . and how far I still need to go.
At the Internet Ministry Conference I attended back in Sep 2007 I took several workshops about open sourceCMSs. The best way to share those notes with you is to direct you to the original session notes.
A summary to walk away with…
Why Open Source?
Cost - Hey - you can’t beat free (sometimes)
A wide variety of pre-built themes and plugins at no cost or very little cost.
Runs on Apache/PHP/MySQL
A CMS helps force you to do good planning ahead of time
Support comes from thousands of users, not just a company (that can be good or bad…)
Continuing our “series” on things we learned at the Internet Ministry Conference 2007, I am sharing a few points to ponder about the effectiveness of internet ministry. Why do internet ministry at all, can you really reach people through the net?
Gospel Communications has an article addressing this very question, I encourage you to take a look at it. But the summary is:
… it lets us communicate with people in a new and powerful way.
… it lets us reach the lost in every corner of the world.
… it’s a tool God’s given to us to put to use in His service.
Our challenge - how are WE using the internet to advance God’s Kingdom?
I have some ideas, but I wonder, will it turn the way we do things upsidedown? Post a comment or contact me to discuss! Jessica
Barbarita Lee found this list online, and we thought it was good enough to share . . .
who, ME?! a missionary?
A tongue-in-cheek look at some sure-fire ways
to avoid becoming a missionary
Ignore Jesus’ request in John 4:35 that we take a long hard look at the fields. Seeing the needs of people can be depressing and very unsettling. It could lead to genuine missionary concern. (John 4:35 “Do you not say, `Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” For other Bible passages on missions, click here)
Focus your energies on socially legitimate targets. Go after a bigger salary. Focus on getting a job promotion, a bigger home, a more luxurious car, or future financial security. Along the way, run up some big credit card debts. [ ready feet . . . ]
Get married to somebody who thinks the “Great Commission” is what your employer gives you after you make a big sale. After marriage, embrace the socially accepted norms of settling down, establishing a respectable career trajectory and raising a picture-perfect family.
Stay away from missionaries. Their testimonies can be disturbing. The situations they describe will distract you from embracing whole-heartedly the materialistic lifestyle of your home country.
If you happen to think about missions, restrict your attention to countries where it’s impossible to openly do missionary work. Think only about North Korea, Saudi Arabia, China and other closed countries. Forget the vast areas of our globe open to missionaries. Never, never listen to talk about creative access countries.
Think how bad a missionary you would be based on your own past failures. It is unreasonable to expect you will ever be any better. Don’t even think about Moses , David, Jonah, Peter or Mark, all of whom overcame failures. [ more on Jonah ]
Always imagine missionaries as talented, super-spiritual people who stand on lofty pedestals. Maintaining this image of missionaries will heighten your own sense of inadequacy. Convincing yourself that God does not use ordinary people as missionaries will smother any guilt you may feel about refusing to even listen for a call from God. [ type of missionaries needed ]
Agree with the people who tell you that you are indispensable where you are. Listen when they tell you that your local church or home country can’t do without you. [ Apple pickers parable ]
If you still feel you must go, go out right away without any preparation or training. You’ll soon be home again and no one can ever blame you for not trying!
Inspired by Stewart Dinnen’s list in How are you doing? (Bromley: STL Books, 1984)
We at the Grand Rapids office of Christian Reformed World Missions are in the midst of a remodeling project that will require all of us to be relocated to a makeshift set of workspaces in the cafeteria for three to four months. In the meantime, we are frantically cleaning out our spaces, as well as the random closets and files we’re each responsible for.
I’ll have more to say, and some pictures of the process, soon, but for now, here are a few of the fun things we’ve found:
1) a stuffed penguin (not a plush stuffed penguin–a TAXIDERMIED stuffed penguin. I tell my boss frequently that the penguin is “staring at me!” but she won’t take it down. seriously, wouldn’t you be afraid of this?)
2) several cassette players (a few that look like this and had everybody saying, “I had this exact cassette player when I was a kid!”)
3) more books than we know what to do with, including, “Management trends of the 80’s” and other fun titles
We are praying that we will give each other much grace in the tense, chaotic weeks and months to come. We are reminded quite frequently to “keep smiling!”, and we are trying to do so . . .
Have you done any spring cleaning lately?
I’m quite embarrassed to admit that my desk looked like this
BEFORE we started “the move” . . . Lorraine Woodward
Some very talented kids who just couldn’t miss the opportunity to show off their skills for the camera . . . I think it’s amazing that they are so talented, without any “formal” training! Kids are just so resourceful . . .
Ben and Brenda Michelson are in Bamako right now, doing language study and getting to know the people around them. Although both Ben and Brenda grew up as missionary kids, they were certain they didn’t want that life . . . but as always, God had other plans.
Have you ever tried to tell God, “Anything but that, Lord?” Tell us what happened!
This past Sunday, at our SMP commissioning service, I think I saw God’s kingdom come. In the small, mostly African-American congregation of Coit Community Church, I watched my beautiful Latina sister sing to God (in both English and Spanish) of her willingness to go wherever God asked her to go . . . she was there at the service with her other teammates who hail from around the US and Canada, not to mention the grandbaby of former CRWM missionaries to Bangladesh (Albert and Mindy Hamstra), who is herself fresh to us from Uganda. It was beautiful, and it only made me hungry for more . . .
At the CRCNA’s 150th Anniversary Service that afternoon, we prayed prayers of thanksgiving, but we also prayed prayers of confession and repentance for the ways that we have practiced, as Roy Berkenbosch said, “the well-rehearsed arts of exclusion that have kept people away from the table.” I truly believe that the way to keep our denomination alive (and I say “our” denomination, even though I am myself an outsider) is to continue in this posture of repentance and openness, mindful of our past mistakes, and showing a willingness to do the hard work of becoming a truly multicultural people of God.
who, ME?! a missionary?
