Cross-Cultural Misadventures #2

It's been a bit of a slow week in our household.  Since posting the first of the series last week, I keep thinking about how much fun we had making it.  So, here is the second episode of Cross-Cultural Misadventures.  This one is near and dear to my heart, largely because of our time living around this culture and experiencing some of these missteps first hand.  Enjoy

Quote of the Week

This week's quote comes from Gladys Aylward.  One of the things I love about Gladys is that she embodied a willingness to go, wherever God might send her.  She went from being a housemaid in England, to being rejected by a missionary agency, to finally making it to China where she served for many years.  I love this quote for it's simplicity.  I think in the end, the main thing God is looking for is people who are willing.

"I wasn't God's first choice for what I've done in China.  I don't know who is was.  It must have been a man, a well-educated man. I don't know what happened.  Perhaps he died.  Perhaps he wasn't willing, and God looked down and saw Gladys Aylward.  And God said, 

"Well, she's willing." - Gladys Aylward

Gladys Aylward

Perspectives

One of the things I love including in every School of Frontier Missions (SOFM) is reading through the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement book.  The book is actually the textbook for a course of the same name.  The Perspectives course is aimed at helping believers become "Global Christians."  This goal is reached by having teachings and readings covering four main areas.  The first is the Biblical Perspective, which takes at look at the Biblical basis of missions.  The second, the Historical Perspective, looks at how God has been moving throughout history.  The third, the Cultural Perspective, looks at some of the obstacles to taking the gospel to all nations.  The final one, the Strategic Perspective, addresses how we can move toward seeing the great commission completed.

I highly recommend this course and think everyone should go through it.  Every time I read through the articles Father uses them to challenge me and teach me new things about Himself. It is only a 15 week commitment and it will change you life.  Click here to find a class near you.  Below is a promo video about the Perspectives Course.

Cross-Cultural Misadventures

Since we've addressed some heavy topics this week I'd like to end the week with some lighthearted fun.  A few years back I was asked to create some videos to help share the vision of YWAM Jax Beach.  The first series we did was titled Cross-Cultural Misadventures.  When ministering cross-culturally it is very common to offend people unintentionally simply by doing things we're used to doing every day.  My goal in this series was to bring awareness to cultural differences in a humorous way.  In my opinion, one of the biggest strengths a cross-cultural worker can have is the ability to laugh at yourself after making a cultural or language mistake.  I've included the first episode below.  I never expected the impact of this video to be quite so far reaching.  It has even been used by a Bible school in the Middle East to help teach on cultural differences.

Quote of the Week

In light of yesterday's post our quote this week deals with the same topic.   This is actually an excerpt from a chapter David Platt contributed to Finish the Mission (John Piper 2012).  In his chapter, Platt addresses the question of whether or not man is truly lost.   In response to the idea that those who have never heard the gospel will be saved because of their ignorance, Platt refers to Romans 1:18-21.  In this passage Paul talks about general revelation, or, put simply, that God has revealed Himself to all people.  Below is Platt's way of summing this thought up. It is blunt, but cuts to the heart of the issue.

Every unreached person in the world - every man in an African jungle, every woman in an Asian village, every person in a forgotten tundra - all of them have a knowledge of God that exposes the lostness of their hearts.  The revelation of God that they have received is sufficient to show them that God is glorious and they are guilty.

You say, "Well, what happens to the innocent guy in Africa who never hears the gospel?" The answer to this question is simple.  Based upon the authority of God's Word, the innocent guy in Africa who has never heard the gospel will absolutely go to heaven.  The only problem is that the innocent guy in Africa DOES NOT EXIST [emphasis mine].  If he were innocent - which is the way this question is normally phrased - why would he need the gospel? He has no sin to be saved from.  However, there are no innocent people in the world waiting to hear the gospel.  As we have seen, there are guilty people all over the world needing to hear the gospel, and that's why we must go to them - precisely because they are guilty.  No one is innocent.

David Platt (right)

 

Universalism

Over the last couple of years I've enjoyed getting more involved in the teaching side of YWAM. While I've had opportunities to teach on language acquisition and church planting principles, the topic I've spoken on most has been universalism.  I think this is very timely as around 25% of American Christians believe in this concept. Universalism is, at it's root, the belief that all people will eventually be saved and accept Jesus' Lordship, or alternately that only those who clearly reject Jesus won't be saved. 

Obviously, one's beliefs on this subject will shape their view of missions, and whether or not it is even a necessary endeavor.  Personally, I feel this viewpoint (universalism) cheapens the Great Commission given to us by Jesus in Matthew 28.  I really enjoy dialoguing with the students while we look at scriptures used by universalists to support their position and address questions raised more recently in books like Love Wins (Rob Bell, 2011).  In the end, to me, it seems that this idea is simply a self-serving attempt for people to justify the fact that they're not reaching out to those around them.  If you are interested in learning more about the subject I recommend reading Erasing Hell by Francis Chan and God Wins by Mark Galli.

Teaching in the Winter DTS

Thailand & Cambodia Outreach

Continuing with our theme from last Friday, here is a slideshow put together by an outreach team from the Fall DTS that went to Thailand and Cambodia.  They saw Father move in powerful ways and saw many people decide to make Jesus Lord of their life.

Quote of the Week

This week's quote comes from CT Studd.  CT was one of England's top cricketers in the late 1800's.  He gave up his cricket career, though, after God burdened his heart to bring the Gospel to those who had never heard.  He began his time as a missionary working with Hudson Taylor in inland China.  Following his ten years in China, Studd spent six years working in India.  After returning to England from India, Studd became aware of the large number of unreached people in Africa.  He followed that call and spent the final 20 years of his life in Africa, becoming the first missionary many tribes in the Congo ever saw.  He saw churches planted and lives changed. 

Our quote this week is actually Studd's response to people's concern after doctors cautioned him not to go to Africa, less he be dead within a few weeks of arrival.  The reason I love this quote is Studd's perspective. He saw the bigger picture and had a realization that, in the end, it is God working through us, not us working for God. 

"Shout Hallelujah, the world will have lost it's biggest fool and with one fool less to handicap Him, God will do greater wonders still. There shall be no funeral, no wreaths, crape, not tears, not even the death march. Congratulations all around will take place.  Our God will still be alive, and nothing else matters! To die is gain." - CT Studd

CT Studd (middle)

SOFM

One of my hopes in writing this blog is to give a little insight to the things we do at YWAM Jax Beach.  To that end, from time to time I hope to talk about some of the topics we cover in our Discipleship Training School (DTS) and School of Frontier Missions (SOFM).  But first, I want to give you a brief overview of the SOFM, which is the school I facilitate and organize at YWAM Jax Beach.
The SOFM is aimed at equipping people before they move to work among unreached people groups.  The DTS is primarily focused on the student's relationship with God. The SOFM expands that focus to providing the students with tools to help them thrive in their cross-cultural ministry.  We deal with language and culture acquisition, principles of church planting, orality/storytelling (for oral-based cultures), and team dynamics to name a few.  After the lecture phase ends, students participate in a 2-year internship.  During the internship students join an existing church-plant team working in the 10/40 window.  These teams help the students acclimate to a new culture and further practice the skills learned in the SOFM   The end goal of the school is not to have trained perfect missionaries, but rather to prepare the students to go with their eyes open and ready to learn, so their ministry will be effective and culturally appropriate.  In coming weeks,  we'll look more in-depth at these and other topics.

 

Fall DTS Graduation

We're still dealing with nagging sickness, so please pray for our family's health.  Last week we had the pleasure of seeing our Fall Discipleship Training School (DTS) students return from outreach and graduate.  It is always such an amazing time seeing these people who we had developed close friendships with returning and hearing about what God did in their lives during the outreach portion of their DTS.  Below is a video the team that went to Thailand and Malaysia put together. 

Quote of the Week

We've been dealing with some sickness this past week, so I apologize for the silence.  This week's quote goes back to the disparity in missionaries working among the unreached.  It comes from Isobel Kuhn, a missionary who played a huge role in bringing the Gospel to the Lisu people of western China.   I think there's a lot of truth in what she says.

"I believe that in each generation God has called enough men and women to evangelize all the yeat unreached tribes of the earth.  It is not God who does not call.  It is man who will not respond!" - Isobel Kuhn

Isobel Kuhn