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Quote of the Week

After a great summer seeing family and friends all over the country we have finally returned home.  While our car didn't quite resemble the one below, it's so nice to not be living out of a suitcase.  While we do miss those we were able to visit, there is truth in this simple quote. 

"Home is the nicest word there is." Laura Ingalls Wilder

Quote of the Week

This time of the year, many thoughts turn to celebrating the freedoms we have, especially here in the United States.  Our quote this week is taken from from a prayer offered by Peter Marshall in 1947  when he served as chaplain to the U.S. Senate.  The obvious takeaway from this quote applies more to the grace vs. license debate, but I want to look at it from a slightly different angle.  For those of us living in "western" nations, we have incredible freedom to travel to almost every nation on earth.  While some may require creative access there are very few nations that we are completely unable to enter.  We also have an immense amount of resources available to make it happen (although this does require others to get on board).  My question for you today is this: are we using these freedoms to do what is right in light of the mandate we've been given by Jesus?

"May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to 

do what is right." - Peter Marshall

World's Toughest Languages

Below is a fascinating infographic I came across dealing with language learning.  To me, language acquisition is one of the biggest parts of preparing to work cross-culturally, as communicating truth in the "mother tongue" is so much more effective.  These findings match up pretty well with what I've heard/experienced. I have heard that Indonesian is one of the easier languages to learn as most people are proficient within 6-9 months.  In my opinion Tibetan languages should be added to the hardest list.  There is an alphabet so you can read it quickly, but the grammar is very different, it is written and spoken differently, and there are endless dialects which vary greatly from each other.

Info graphic from Voxy

Reviewing the SOFM: Week 9

Two of the main focuses of the SOFM, which go hand in hand, are language and culture acquisition.  One reason they go hand in hand is that you can learn so much about a culture in the process of learning it's language.  I find it amazing how much of a culture's mindset and history can be picked up in the process of learning to communicate.  As the vast majority of cross-cultural workers will be learning either a trade or heart language to better communicate,  we always try to include solid teaching on the topic.  This year we had some great teachers come from MTI to impart some principles from their PILAT program.  It was a great time combining traditional linguistic exercises, such as learning to make sounds not used in english by adjusting the position of the tongue, and hands on practice with techniques based on how a child of that culture would learn the language. Obviously there isn't one magic method that will work with all languages since some have an alphabet while others are character based, etc.  That is why one of our goals in all of the SOFM teachings is to adopt principles and adapt methods.

Quote of the Week

Our quote this week comes not from a missionary or theologian, but rather, a politician.  This quote represents a decision many cross-cultural workers face: should they focus on communicating in their native tongue (especially if English), use a trade language, or take the time to learn a people group specific language?  To me it comes down to the question of which option removes the most barriers to someone accepting the gospel?  In that regard I think Mr. Mandela hits the nail right on the head.

"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head.  If you talk to 

him in his own language, that goes to his heart." - Nelson Mandela

The Herrema's Cross-Country Adventures

This summer our family will be visiting many sites while seeing family and supporters.  Our first stop was Washington DC, which Lyla was very excited about as she had been learning about it in school.

What parents look like after a day exploring DC

SOFM Testimony

Today I want to share a testimony with you from Nat, a girl who participated in one of our most recent School of Frontier Missions (SOFM).  She is currently doing the internship portion of her school in a closed nation.

"I came into my SOFM with little expectation for gained knowledge or growth, because I thought I knew enough about long-term work.  After my first week in the school with Brian Hogan, I gained more insight that I thought I would the entire three months.  The school helped me to think more strategically, without forgetting God's mandate for missions from Genesis to Revelation.  This mandate that flows seamlessly from the old to new testament encouraged me to seek out more of God's heart for the unreached, more of His character, and more of my part in his will.  After three months, I exited with more passion, more drive, and more determination to go and tell the world.  I have been on the field now for only a month, but I am seeing teachings and information I thought to be irrelevant during the school come to life and they have proven to be extremely important.  I have already found myself digging through old notes and searching for language materials.  To me, it has affirmed that the teachings are applicable and the resources are useful."

A Little Fun to Start the Week

I'm somewhere between Florida and Michigan today, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to repost the second video from the Cross-Cultural Misadventures series I did a few years back. 

The What and Why of People Groups

I realized the other day that I throw the term people group around quite a bit, but have never defined what one is or why we focus on them so much.   While there are different opinions of what exactly a people group is, the best definition I've found was crafted by a group of mission leaders in 1982.  They said that a people group is; "a significantly large grouping of individuals who perceive themselves to have a common affinity for one another because of their shared language, religion, ethnicity, residence, occupation, class or caste, situation, etc., or combinations of these."  For evangelistic purposes it is:

"The largest group within which the gospel can spread as a 

church planting movement without encountering 

barriers of understanding or acceptance."

The "why" of people groups is twofold, having both a biblical and strategic aspect to why we focus on them.  In the great commission (Matt 28: 18-20) Jesus commands us to make disciples of all "nations."  The word used for nations in this passage is "ethne" which has a meaning closer to families than nations.  We have an English word that is very similar: Ethnic. It is the same idea we see in Genesis 12: 1-4 when God tells Abram that through him "all the families of the earth will be blessed."  As an example, let's look at India and China.  Each one is considered a single nation, but how many families, or ethne, are there in each?  China has 56 recognized ethnic groups, but Joshua Project lists over 500 distinct people groups in the country ranging in size from around 1,000 - 840 million (Han).  India on the other hand has over 1,800 unique people groups with the largest being 77 million (Shaikh).  So the task is much more complex than just reaching a politically defined nation.

The strategic aspect of why we focus on people groups is mentioned in the definition above.  By focusing on individual people groups, the hope is to remove as many barriers as possible to a person accepting the truth of the gospel.  The same strategy and approach will not work in every group.  As an example, let's look at India again.  The Shaikh and the Brahman are the two largest people groups in India (77 million and 55 million respectively).  One is 100% muslim and speak Urdu, while the other is over 99% Hindu and speak Hindi.  Thus, these two groups need different teams working to reach them using their own language and culture.  In many instances there is also animosity between people groups that hinders the flow of the gospel between them.   This is why we focus our efforts on unreached people groups rather than a whole nation.  Today the waters are muddied even more by the mass urbanization we see around the world.  In many urban settings the worker needs to discern whether it is more efficient to work among an ethnolinguistic people group (one that shares a language and ethnic background) or a sociopeople group (one that sees each other as peers, regardless of background).  

The 56 recognized ethnic groups of China

Quote of the Week

Our quote this week comes from James Gilmour, a missionary to Mongolia and China in the 19th century.  I love this because, for me, it is so true.  All too often we follow common sense instead of kingdom sense.  We find ourselves pursuing the things this world finds important: comfort, security, financial stability, etc.  How different does this look from what Jesus told his followers to expect in Matthew 10?  This next week, try to view your actions through the lens of kingdom sense instead of common sense. 

"I go out as a missionary not that I may follow the dictates of common sense, but that I may 

obey that command of Christ." James Gilmour

Reviewing the SOFM: Week 8

One of the more difficult aspects of taking the gospel cross-culturally is discovering how people best learn.  One thing that makes it so difficult is that close to two-thirds of the world's population are oral preference learners, which differs extremely from our western learning style.  The majority of people in the remaining unreached people groups  are oral preference learners, many of whom have no written language.    One of the best ways to present the gospel to these people is in story form.  So, we had a week in the SOFM about oral Bible presentation.  We had a teacher come from the Onestory partnership to teach on crafting story sets and to impart principles to be a successful storyteller.  There are many organizations like New Tribes Mission, who I first heard of the concept from, using chronological Bible stories to present the gospel to unreached peoples.  Onestory is unique in the fact that it isn't a single organization, but rather a partnership between Wycliffe, Cru, YWAM, the IMB, and others.  I suggest you check them out, and see what cool things are happening in unreached people groups through storytelling.

They're Among Us - Students

A couple months ago I posted a challenge to look at the area you live and see if there are people from unreached people groups (UPGs) living nearby.  I want to dig into that and look at some specifics. This will be the first in a short series looking at some of the different demographics of people from UPGs living in the United States. 

The first group I want to explore is students.  At any given time there are close to half a million students from nations in the 10/40 window studying in the US. For the 2012-13 school year among the top 10 countries sending students to the US were: China (235k), India (96k), Saudi Arabia (44k), Japan (20k), Vietnam (16k), and Turkey (11k).  Other nations in the top 20 include Nepal, Iran, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia*.

Why is this important?  First, many of these students hail from unreached people groups, which gives us unprecedented access to people from nations where we often have difficult time getting to.  Second, 40% of the world's current 220 heads of state studied in the United States at some point.  Imagine how different our world could look if people had reached out to them during that time.  Finally, It's important because currently we're not doing a good job of even attempting to reach these students.  Of the nearly half million students here at any given time, 80% will return to their home country without ever having been invited into an American home.**  If you live anywhere near a state university, chances are good that you have an opportunity to help change this number. 

*Stats taken from The Institute of International Education
**Taken from The Traveling Team

Quote of the Week

Our quote this week come from Robert Moffat, a pioneer missionary to South Africa in the early 1800s and the father-in-law of David Livingstone.  This quote is a good reminder of the task remaining.  While progress has been made in the 200 years since Moffat went to Africa, there are still over 3,000 people groups that are considered both unreached and unengaged, meaning no one is even working towards bringing them the gospel.  It brings to mind the words of Jesus. "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

"In the vast plain to the north I have sometimes seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been - Villages whose people are without Christ, without God, and without a hope in the world." Robert Moffat

Robert Moffat (1795-1883)

Quote of the Week

I love this quote for so many reasons.  The first truth in this is that those ministering cross-culturally depend on those back home who are praying for them.  There are countless stories of people being led to pray for a missionary and later finding out that at the exact moment they were praying, that person had been in a place of great need.  The second truth is that prayer is the missionary's means of expressing their dependence on God for strength as well as to move in the hearts of those they are trying to reach. Hudson Taylor expressed this thought when he said, "brother, if you enter that province, you must go forward on your knees."  So when there is fruit and when the worker is able to persevere, those are answers to prayer.  A third, and I think exciting aspect, is that sometimes the missionary going is an answer to prayer.  In Acts 10 we see the story of Cornelius and Peter.  We still see instances like this today, when God sends a believer into the path of someone who is hungry for truth.  To me all these truths are a great reminder that we are called to join God in His mission, not accomplish it all on our own. 

"The history of missions if the history of answered prayers." - Samuel Zwemer

Reviewing the SOFM: Week 7

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana
These famous words flowed well with the topic in week seven of our SOFM. I feel that it's important to take a look at those who have gone before us to see what has worked, and to see what has failed miserably.  While there are many things that can be taken away from a look at the history of missions, to me one of the greatest is this: God has been calling people to the ends of the earth, and there have always been those who have heard that call and obeyed, regardless of the cost involved.  Did they always do things perfect?  Of course not, and we've learned a lot from the time of missions compounds and other interesting methods of reaching the lost.  As someone who loves history in general, I especially love digging into the Moravians, Raymund Lull, Samuel Zwemer, and Adoniram Judson.

Friday Fun

We've been addressing some challenging topics recently so today we'll just have some fun.  This is the first in a series of videos I made a few years back taking a lighthearted look at the challenges people face when communicating in a cross-cultural setting.  All too often we find ourself unintentionally offending people without realizing what we did wrong.  This is one reason it is so important to take the time to learn the culture, so we can do our best to avoid these pitfalls.  Some may have seen this before, but this series still makes me chuckle, even after countless views.

Quote of the Week

Our quote this week dovetails off my previous post.   A lot of times when we think about going cross-culturally and the sacrifice involved, we forget who has asked us to join in that endeavor.  An important aspect of the great commission in Matthew 28 is that the first of four "alls" Jesus mentions is that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him.  It is out of this universal authority that we are commanded to make disciples, baptize and teach all nations.  In the book Finish The Mission  there is a chapter by Louie Giglio looking at exactly who is asking us to join in the pursuit of global evangelization.   Without going into much detail he essentially comes down to the same conclusion as Stott. This leaves me with a sense of responsibility as well as one of expectation.  While Christ is asking me to play a role in the great commission, it is not solely on my shoulders to make it happen. Rather, He is asking me to join in with what He is already doing. 

"His authority on earth allows us to dare to go to all the nations. His authority in heaven gives us our only hope of success. And His presence with us leaves us no other choice.” 

John R. W. Stott

The Gospel of Self-Preservation

At the frontier missions consultation I recently attended one of the things we were challenged in was to continue mobilizing people to the least reached, even though many of the remaining places are not considered "safe" by any stretch of the imagination.  Within this was a call to search our hearts and see if we truly believe that seeing Jesus worshiped in all the ethne of the world is worth the price.  This was an especially powerful word coming from a colleague whose husband was martyred in North Africa.  These words were still resonating in my mind when I came across this quote:

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer  

I think we've lost touch with, or chosen to ignore, this aspect of the gospel.   We've replaced it with a gospel of self-preservation, one that places value on avoiding putting ourselves or those we love in positions where they might suffer.  While Jesus did say, "my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matt 11:30),"  He also said "If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. (John 15:20)"

How does this apply to our usual topic of the least reached?  Simply put, there is a cost involved in reaching the least reached.  It can be anything from leaving friends, family, or comfortable surroundings to paying a high price.  Within my circle of friends there are those who, while working in these areas have been imprisoned, found themselves on a terrorist organization's list of kidnapping targets, and another who walked through the death of his infant son.  The common theme is that, while walking through difficult situations, they all saw the kingdom of heaven advance in dark places.  I think one of the big reasons we haven't been more faithful in pursuing our biblical mandate to "bless all the families of the earth (Gen 12:3)" is this:   

We have counted the cost.... and found ourselves unwilling to pay it.   

Quote of the Week

Last week we looked at the idea of attempting things that are impossible without God's help.  Our quote this week addresses how we look at people who do exactly that.  Often when hearing about what we do, missionaries get responses along the lines of, "That's crazy, I could never that" or other statements describing how unusual it is for someone to live their life that way.  This is not how it should be! Every follower of Jesus, whether ministering cross-culturally or working a "normal" job in their home country, should be living their life in such a radical manner. 

"Lukewarm people call radical what Jesus expected of all His followers."

Francis Chan

Happy Birthday Sage

Today is Sage's 4th birthday.  I can't believe how quickly time has flown by.  She is such a blessing to our family and I'm excited for the person Father has made her to be.  Look out world.

Recommended Reading

From time to time I enjoy sharing resources that I've learned a lot from or been challenged by.  While  these have primarily been books, I have something new to share with you today.  If you enjoy, or are challenged by what you read here, I suggest you also check out my good friend's blog at davidjoannes.com.   I have known Dave for about ten years and we've spent nights playing cover songs at Chinese college bars,  countless hours bowling, and shared a passion for Chinese street food.  He and his wife are currently involved in mobilizing and training Asians to reach the least reached.  I find his posts both insightful and thought-provoking, and I think you should check them out.

Reviewing the SOFM: Week 6

Earlier in the SOFM we had spent a week digging into principles of church planting movements.  This week we focused on developing a biblical view of the church.  One of the most important aspects of this, in my opinion, is developing a clear understanding of the varying levels of authority regarding church practices seen throughout church history.  The first and most important are New Testament commands.  These are the non-negotiables, things all believers are expected to do ie. sharing the Lord's Supper together.  The second level are New Testament practices.  These are things we see the church doing in the New Testament that are permissible for the church, but are not commanded ie. greeting each other with a holy kiss.  The third level are human customs.  These are things that aren't bad for a church to do, but are open for each church to be led by the Holy Spirit whether or not to follow ie. only using grape juice for the Lord's Supper.  The reason this is such a vital concept to grasp is that it helps prospective missionaries unpack their own culture's expectations of what a church should look like, which is incredibly freeing. The goal is not to transplant our childhood church in a far away locale, but rather to see a church started that is true to who the locals are, while still being honoring to God.   This might mean the setting, worship style, order of service, etc. look very different from what we're used to.  But that's not a bad thing. 

Quote of the Week

Our quote this week comes from Hudson Taylor, one of the pioneers who began the era of missions leaving the coastlands and moving to the inner, more difficult to reach regions of nations.  I love the thought here, because too often when assessing a possible path or calling the first thing we ask ourselves is if we are capable of doing it.  If our desire is to see amazing things happen and the Kingdom advance where it already hasn't, we need to stop attempting the things that are possible in our own strength and start attempting things that are impossible unless God shows up. 

"Unless there is the element of extreme risk in our exploits for God, there is no need for faith." Hudson Taylor

Quote of the Week

How well do you know the area you live in? Our quote this week comes with a challenge. With the constant influx of immigrants and refugees into our nation there's a good chance you have members of an unreached people group living nearby.   This gives you an amazing opportunity to impact groups that are difficult to access in their home nations.  The challenge is to look at your own community and see what groups you have access to.  You may be surprised at what you find.  For example, one of the largest communities of Somali people outside of Africa live in Minnesota, of all places.   You can see from the chart below how many diverse groups live in the San Francisco area.  While not all these groups are considered "unreached," you can get an idea of how many unique groups populate our cities. After doing the research ask yourself what you can do to welcome and share Christ's love with these people.

"God cannot lead you based on information you do not have" - Ralph Winter

Collaborative Gathering

This last week I had the pleasure of attending our annual YWAM North America Frontier Missions Consultation.  This is always a great time of connecting with others with similar focus and passions as we discuss ways we can be more effective in mobilizing and training people for ministry to least reached people.  This year we had an added twist as we were joined by our friends from YWAM Cities.  It was a really good chance to see what others in our YWAM family are doing and see how we can work together to better reach least reach peoples, both those living in the 10/40 Window as well as those who are here as immigrants or students.  It was fantastic to look at how our God-given strengths and focuses are able to help each other.  Moving forward I'm very excited about how Father is going to use this partnership.

Quote of the Week

Our quote this week comes from T.J. Bach, a missionary to Venezuela and Columbia in the late 1800's.  I feel like a lot of people have this mentality, that if God wants them to do something, He'll shine a spotlight on the path and it will be lined with Roses and everything will be easy.  

"If we are going to wait until every possible hindrance has been removed before we do a work 

for the Lord, we will never attempt to do anything.” - T.J. Bach

Quote of the Week

Our quote this week comes from William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army.  One of the things I admire about Mr. Booth is that, while caring deeply about helping to meet people's felt needs he didn't lose sight of the bigger picture.  That being the fact that those he was helping also needed an opportunity to hear the Gospel. 

"Not called!’ did you say? ’Not heard the call,’ I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father’s house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face—whose mercy you have professed to obey—and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world.” – William Booth

Reviewing the SOFM: Week 5

Earlier in the SOFM we had taken a look at cross-cultural insights to give the students a surface level look at anthropology and ethnography (the hands-on research of a culture).  This week we dug into the importance of not only ethnography, but also doing research on the location each student feels led to work in.

The idea behind doing research is to better understand the worldview and mindset of the people you're trying to reach.  While things may appear very clear on the surface, it is often the things far beneath the surface that cause the most difficulties, sort of like an iceberg. For example, you might be working in a SE Asian country that is predominantly Muslim.  What you don't see is that the country has been, at various points in it's history, predominantly Hindu and Animistic .  These things, while seeming like ancient history, have actually played a large role and continue to define and influence people's worldview. Without taking the time to dig into a culture and it's history it's impossible to develop a clear picture of their worldview, which makes it difficult to clearly communicate the gospel.

Quote of the Week

I hope that you find this week's quote challenging.  I have always found it strange when Christians complain about facing opposition because of their relationship with Jesus.  When I read the New Testament and look at reality for most Christians in the world, it bears out what Chesterton expresses.  The way I see it is this: the enemy is probably not going to bother attacking you if you're not doing anything to threaten his kingdom, and in my opinion the normal life of a disciple of Jesus should include the type of actions that do just that. 

"Jesus promised his disciples three things: they would be completely fearless, absurdly 

happy, and in constant trouble.” – G.K. Chesterton

G.K. Chesterton

Reviewing The SOFM: Week 4

During the fourth week of the SOFM we took a look at the subject of member care.  Member Care is based on the Biblical command to love one another (John 13:34-35) and involves looking after and caring for those around us.  In our context it deals largely with coming alongside those living overseas to meet any needs they have.  These could be logistical, spiritual, or even mental needs.  Living cross-culturally is not easy and it's always beneficial to have someone who you can talk to when going through culture stress or other difficult times. 

The focus of the week was three-fold.  First, we looked at some common challenges in order to better prepare the students for what lies ahead.  Second, we talked about self-care, or some practices that each individual can utilize to stay in a healthy place.  Finally, we talked about the resources that are in place should they need some outside help.  I loved this week because, to me, if all we do is send people overseas and leave them hanging, I've only done half of my job.  My goal is to send out people who are able to thrive, even in the face of difficult circumstances, and that requires a team of people supporting them. 

Quote of the Week

Our quote this week, to me, does a great job of explaining the state of Christian mission efforts today.   Too often instead of the gospel being a fire burning in our bellies, it is treated more like a special blankie, that we clutch only when we need it for our own comfort.  Every time I read this it challenges me deeply, because one characteristic of fire is that it spreads, quickly, and the Gospel contains that same potential if we truly understand that and live our lives accordingly.

"The Gospel is not an old, old story, freshly told. It is a fire in the Spirit, fed by the flame of 

Immortal Love; and woe unto us, if through our negligence to stir up the Gift of God 

which is within us, that fire burns low.” - Dr. R. Moffat Gautrey

Quote of the Week

Our quote this week is taken from the book The Missionary Call by  M. David Sills.  I have seen this truth first hand.  More than once while sitting down with people in a remote area of the Himalayas I have been offered a Pepsi to drink while receiving blank stares when I ask if they've heard of Jesus.  It's really quite sobering, to be completely honest.

"Today, 112 years later, 94% of the people in the world recognize the Coca-Cola logo 

and product.  In 112 years, we can reach the world for profit’s sake, but we cannot 

do it for the glory of God in 2,000 years.” - David Sills

Reviewing the SOFM: Week 3

In the third week of the SOFM we went through a module entitled "Cross-Cultural Insights for Missionaries."  In this course we looked at ethnography, anthropology, and the importance of learning the culture and worldview of the people you are reaching out to.  The graphic below takes a light-hearted look at how different cultures view something very common.  Until you learn enough about the culture to understand someone's worldview it is hard to communicate the gospel in a meaningful way.  We also look at some of the challenges, such as culture stress, that arise from trying to assimilate into a new culture.

Quote of the Week

With the recent violence in Kunming weighing heavy on my heart, I thought this was a great quote for this week.  It comes from Isobel Kuhn, who played a huge role in bringing the gospel to the Lisu people of China who are from the same province Kunming is in.  Her life was not easy, as the Lisu live in mountainous regions where travel between villages wasn't easy or safe.  Father rewarded their faithfulness as they saw great fruit within the Lisu.

"When I get to Heaven they aren’t going to see much of me but my heels, for I’ll be hanging over the golden wall keeping an eye on the Lisu Church!” - Isobel Kuhn

Isobel Kuhn

Quote of the Week

Our quote this week comes from E. Stanley Jones (1884-1973), a Methodist missionary who worked in India.  One of the barriers often faced when bringing the gospel cross-culturally is the assumption  that to follow Christ one must become American, or whatever ethnic group the missionary comes from.  Both the idea of abandoning one's mother culture as well as assuming a new one, especially one that is often viewed poorly, are distasteful to people.  The joy that follows the discovery that a someone can follow Christ and remain Kurdish, Thai, etc. is infectious.

"The Indian is making an amazing discovery, namely that Christianity and Jesus are not the same—that they may have Jesus without the system that has been built up around him in the West.” 

E. Stanley Jones

E. Stanley Jones

Reviewing the SOFM: Week 2

During the second week of the SOFM we delved into the unique challenges cities present when taking the Gospel cross-culturally.  While cities tend to be melting pots in the sense that many cultures share a given city, cultural prejudices aren't so easily removed.  Within a given city, how do you find the people group you've chosen to work with?  How well will the Gospel flow between different groups?  What existing barriers or prejudices are there between these groups? Will these groups be able to fellowship together initially or will they need to be discipled to love their neighbors from other people groups? These are a few big issues to consider when researching and preparing to move overseas.  Unfortunately there's not a set formula that works everywhere, so as with church planting, this week is aimed at teaching the students principles while encouraging them to adapt methods.

Where are the workers?

We've talked in the past about the skewed percentages of where Christians are working cross-culturally.  I came across a stat today that reminded me of that, and it got me a bit fired up.  In 2010 the nine nations that received the most international missionaries were only home to 3.4% of the world's non-Christians.  I had mentioned previously that on average there is one Christian worker for every 278,431 people living in unreached people groups. Using that ratio we can estimate that in most nations in the 10/40 window there are roughly 4 missionaries for every 1 million non-Christians.  Conversely, we have Samoa at the other end of the spectrum with the highest ratio of Christian workers per million people.  In 2010 Samoa had 1 international missionary for every 2.5 non-Christians* in the country!  Something needs to drastically change if we hope to see Matthew 24:14 fulfilled in our lifetime. 

I need to include a brief caveat here.  I don't intend to lessen or question the obedience of those going to places like Samoa, but rather wonder why more aren't answering the call to go where Jesus name has never been proclaimed.  I know the Father's heart breaks for the tens of thousands that die daily without ever having a chance to hear the name of Jesus. 

*All stats from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon Conwell Seminary
 

Birthday Girl!

Today is Vanessa's birthday.  I was thinking back the other day to the first birthday I spent with her.  It was on our DTS outeach, and it is memorable because it was not a good day.  We spent that day in Cambodia traveling by boat from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap.  It would have been uncomfortable enough given that the boat had rickety seats,  but the boat broke down along the way.  This led to hours spent stuck in the middle of the river being, not so gently, rocked by the waves.  After finally reaching our destination, our group discovered the only restaurant open served only fried rice, if it could truly be called that.  All in all it was not a very good day.

Why do I share this story?  It's because one of the things I really treasure about our outreach experience was the opportunity to experience the highs and lows of cross-cultural work and see each other at our best and worst moments while we were getting to know one another.  In the days that followed this disappointment, I was able to see how quickly Vanessa rebounded, and seeing her reaction was part of what drew me to her.  So, I guess this "bad" birthday was part of setting the foundation for the journey we've been on for the past 12 years. 

Special Memories

Last Friday Lyla and I attended our first Father Daughter dance.  I really treasure special moments like this.  In the business of normal life I often forget to enjoy the little moments.  And yes, we had an awesome time dancing the night away.