someone asked me why i signed up for the weekly missions evening class. i did not answer because i think the person will not be convinced.

i started to ask myself again the same question. i'd better be sure and always remember the motivation for the course.

i close my eyes and pray to god for a vision....and i "see" the following....

i see myself finishing my "education" on missions. i see myself with a group going into vietnam. i see myself surrounded by the children and the womenfolk there. i see myself feeling overwhelmed but nevertheless happy to be telling them where i come from or to learn from them about their lives. i see myself all sweaty, tanned, my hands worn out and my feet tired out. i see my days busy with menial chores around the village. i see the group of us sitting around together during the nights sharing what we did, praising god in worship and praying for each other. i see ourselves supporting each other, firing up each other at the end of each tiring day.

i see myself glad that god has given me an opportunity to be there...and he is there with me too.....

no more will i close my eyes and see anything else. i will not see things that will distract me or block my vision anymore. i will not see them because i have asked god to show me what he prefers me to see.

i will no longer wish to see him. unless god wishes me to, i will not want to see him anymore when i close my eyes....



therefore we do not lose heart. though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal 2 cor 4:16,17,18

the realities in our lives

the limitations

the hope beyond this life

all that we have to go through to reach the end - is it all worth it?

i believe it will be worth it.

today i met up with a friend whom i have not seen for a couple of years and immediately we exchanged our comments about the changes we saw in each other. i seemed to have changed a lot, according to her. yes, i think i have lost some weight (about 9 kg), my hair has grown longer, coloured too, etc.....

we talked next about what has been occupying us - the usual "stuff" - work, family, others. then about our future plans.

so i shared with her about my interest in mission work. straightaway i could see her eyes looking over my whole self again and she told me she did not expect me to have such plans. in her honesty, she told me she had never expected someone like me - who takes care of my physical appearances (hmm.......) - would even want to go and do this kind of work.

well, i did not really wished to spend time to try to continue the conversation explaining why - so i changed the subject and we happily chatted on other matters.

back home now i am thinking about the comment she made......

i have met several ladies who are serving in some mission fields. i have not asked them before but i think i would not be wrong to say that taking care of their physical appearance will be in their least priority list.

i know. it should be the last thing i would worry about if i am to take the work seriously.

however i have a few questions.

how should i take care of how i look? would i have to go around looking "sloppy"? overweight? dull? hair not combed properly? do i have to look old?

what would be "expected" of me? how should a lady serving in a mission field appear physically? i know i have to be "simply clad" for comfort to fit into the environment? for the purpose of the work?

funny thoughts came into my mind - maybe i would go for really short hair, and in time to come my skin colour would be very brown from the sun's effect - so it would be a completely different "me". wow, can you imagine me like this?

i think i can say i will not be afraid of hardship or what would become of me - i have gone through some struggles in my childhood and i have settled on my own in a new country - but i have to start to reduce and gradually stop "pampering" myself with the good things in life so that i am more prepared for a different kind of lifestyle in a mission field, wherever it is.

i know this is silly - can i ask god to be kind enough to let me serve in a "not-too-harsh" environment? ha ha ha!

pray - that these concerns will not steer me away from doing what i really want to do. these are just earthly concerns - looks is not everything (anyway i will not need to bother about you or any other guys anymore once i'm into the work) but god is and should always be my everything!





"i may be able to speak fluently the language of my chosen field
and even understand its culture
but if i have no love
the impact of my speech is no more for christ
than that of a businessman who comes to exploit the people

i may have the gift of contextualising god's word when i deliver it to my hearers
i may have all knowledge about their customs
i may have the faith needed to combat witchcraft
but if i have no love, i am nothing

i may give everything that i have to the poor, to the hungry in the favelas
i may even give my life for them
but if i have no love, this does no good

love is...
thinking in their thought patterns
caring enough to understand their world view
listening to their questions
feeling their burdens
respecting them
identifying with them in their need
belonging to them

love is eternal
cultures pass away
dynamic equivalents will change because cultures change
patterns of worship and church administration will need revision
languages will be altered over time
institutions will be replaced
.....because these are not reality

since i am finite, i can only study how to express the message cross-culturally
trying to free it from my cultural bias
i am able to do this only in a limited way
but i pray that the spirit will use my life to show christ
to those with whom i work

meanwhile these remain...
identification
contextualisation
and
love

but the greatest of these is love"

[jean mc cracken, sao paulo brazil]



do i have what it takes to do this work? what are all the "qualifications" - academic qualities and personal qualities - needed?

i have read stories about missionaries who did not "succeed" and had to return. some even suffered serious personal and family problems as a result of the "failure".

to study and understand about missions are simple feats. the difficulty will lie when taking the step to embark onto one such journey and stay "alive" in the whole journey. support is needed - financial and physical. for the physical part, it is always recommended for a person not to go alone - for married person, he or she should go with the spouse and children if they have any. for a single person, doing mission work alone is usually not easy. loneliness sets in very fast and there will be problems when the person falls in love while being "on the job" in the mission field.

sigh. it's not that i wish to withdraw from everything but it looks like i might fail in the assessment of being a mission worker. i seem to fall short of all the "qualifications" required. would any church then be willing to support me and send me?

prayer. i will continue to pray for a "door" to be opened - i don't know how, i trust that god will direct me somewhere somehow.

somewhere - maybe as a start where i am. start by reaching out to those i come in contact with everyday - the youths in my place of work? and their families? one by one, slowly but surely.

and regarding other issues in my life - this would be something i have to also ask god to give me wisdom to deal with them.

sigh - no, i am not giving up yet - i will continue my lessons and learn more about missions.



culture is god's idea.

1. from as early as the book of genesis, god scattered nations over all the earth. each comprised ethnic groups with their own families and tribes, occupied their own territories and spoke their own languages.
2. according to paul (acts 17), god did this in order that they would seek him.
3. christ's great commission is a command to make disciples of all nations.
4. in the book of revelation, we read about the redeemed from every tribe, language, people and nation coming before god in the holy city to live with him.

crossing cultures is hence very much of carrying out the great commission and cross-cultural workers have to go from one culture to another to "carry" and make known the gospel.

culture - definition : the integrated system of a people, their language, habits, customs, social organisation, things that give them an identity and distinction...

there are obvious and visible elements and some less obvious and not talked about elements too. it includes how people communicate, how they relate, their expectations of others, how close one may draw to the other, etc. communicating across culture would require an understanding of the formal and informal patterns of behaviour involved like how to greet each other, what is proper and improper behaviour.

the heart of a culture is its "world view" - the beliefs and values of its people. this determines their views of god, of themselves and of their meaning in life. a cross-cultural messenger would have to "learn" the world view of the people they hope to win, "adapt" their message to make it meaningful for them to relate to.

example of a great cross-cultural messenger : paul. at athens, a city full of idols, he began his message by alluding to the athenians' religious way of life and to their objects of worship, especially to their altar "to an unknown god". he then declared who god is by referring him as the creator, the lord of heaven and earth, the giver of life, who does not live in man-made temples. as he quoted and affirmed what some of the athenians' philosophers said, he brought in the gospel and offers them the truth.

paul's strategy showed he was sensitive to the athenians' culture. he realised that they were a people bound by culture and shaped by their backgrounds. he recognised that there is only one gospel, but it would have different manifestations or forms to gentile believers. he emphasized and shared on the truth of the gospel.

it is therefore necessary for a cross-cultural messenger to have a firm grasp of the scriptures and its essential truths. hence it would be good if the preparation of this person involves a period of study at a bible college or institution. and of course - sustained and fervent prayer - for god to confirm the "calling".



state of man
.....fall short of the glory of god
.....children of wrath
.....death...
.....judgment...

man is......
dead to the trespasses and sin
separated from the life of god
ignorant of god
hostile to god
disobedient to god

jeremiah 17:9 "the heart is deceitful above all things, ....wicked...."

conclusion - humanity is lost

what does it matter?
is humanity of mankind eternally lost?

god has set eternity in man's heart - there is a sense of justice in man and a sense of immortality in man's consciousness

man has two destinies after death - either with god or with the devil

so there is a need for evangelism and missions to reach out to man

what is there for us (god's children) to tell?
1. jesus christ..."the way, the truth and the life"
2. mankind is lost...but there is a way for them to be found.

jesus, by dying on the cross, has completed a mission to open the way for mankind to find god and be found in god. after that, christians are given the great commission to "go and tell" this good news to all.



from lesson #1-
1. missions has biblical basis
2. strategy that god use : through his people
3. motive of missions : to give a chance to every man to accept/refuse salvation

from the beginning in the old testament, abraham was chosen and god made a nation through him - israel - is to be as a "lighthouse" to all. all nations would come into israel - centripetal mission - israelites went out and other nations were "drawn in".

although israel failed in their mission, god is sovereign and re-instituted a new mission.

in the new testament, the great commission is "to go" - centrifugal mission - moving outward from a center - a progressive revelation from god for world missions which is happening now.

two strategies of missions : centripetal & centrifugal

summary :-
1. we must guard against the same mistake that the israelites made
2. cross-cultural evangelism is needed to reach the whole world
3. jesus is an example we have as the greatest cross-cultural missionary - he went out from the father to the people.



the living god is a missionary god.

the bible has a record of how god goes about re-establishing the rule of god in the hearts of man. jesus' supreme "obsession" is the proclaiming of the kingdom of god.

god is the creator of all mankind. his kingdom however was "usurped". mankind has lost their "manual of operation" (source of life)

why missions?
1. every man has the right to come to know their creator
2. not all nations know about their creator. so they need to be confronted, to know that they need to come back to their creator
3. every man should be given the chance to choose to accept or refuse god's gift of salvation

searching to do something more meaningful with my life

desiring god
after the storm antique religion biblical foundations historia ecclesiastica esv blog stand to reason between two worlds

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