Archive for the ‘Church’ Category

Posted on July 31, 2010 - by Larry - 1 Comment

Intrigued

This weekend I have been in Norfolk, Virginia. I had some great conversations with three pastors in this city. I am very much a novice at what I am about to write but want to learn more about this subject. I am intrigued.

This area is sometimes called Hampton Roads and then at other times  it is known by  the distinct cities it represents. The area is highly affected by the amount of people in the military that live here. I am intrigued about what ministry looks like in these type of places.   I greatly respect these men who are leading their churches to minister to here. Thanks for spending time with me.

My observation:

What a challenge to pastor in an area like this!

What an opportunity to pastor in an area like this!

Potential Challenges -

The transitional nature of the community and how that affects the church.

Building continuity amidst transition.

Caring for families as they are separated due to deployment.

Potential opportunities -

Your church members move all over the world.

Empowering your members to live missionally wherever they are sent.

Being able to minister to the families in the community during times of transition and tragedy.

Posted on July 10, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments

Staying!

Several years ago  I was talking with a couple who had been on the mission field for over 30 years. I asked the couple about what was the one thing that kept them on the field over the years.

Her answer was quite profound- She looked at her husband and said “we have never both wanted to leave on the same day”. I was probably a couple of years into our time on the field. I did not quite understand her response then. I do now!

Why do missionaries leave the field?

I have asked myself this very question recently.  Our family has been overseas for almost nine years now. Last week I was reading in the Evangelical Mission Quarterly a very good article on this topic. It was an executive summary about The Engage! by James Nelson.

The Engage! is a study comprised of surveys of on the field missionaries and interviews with former field workers. It is across 18 different sending agencies. This blog post does not give the results of the survey.  I recommend picking up a copy online or hard copy of the journal. They consistently produce good stuff!

What really grabbed by attention were the questions that field workers need answered in their lives.  These are in no particular order. As I read them I recognized some would be more important to me than others but I saw how all of them can be relevant to longevity on the field.

Is my family provided for?

Do I have real friends?

Does my agency listen and speak to me respectfully?

Do I have the support of those at home? (I am in the middle of a series on www.theupstreamcollective.org regarding the Sending Church which is an important key for on the field workers.

Does someone know and care about what I do?

Do we (colleagues and partners) live and work well in community?

Is the work progressing with purpose?

Does integrity flow from the top of my agency?

Am I free to do what needs to be done?

Does my agency prepare people to be effective?

I think most of us would agree that our calling is paramount in the missionary experience. However, the truth is that our circumstances quite often affects our calling.

What questions on this list are important to you? How would you answer these questions in your private journal?

What would you add?

more soon,

Larry

Posted on May 6, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments

On-going communication, Part Four

Previously I wrote about what to say and how to say if given a chance.  An important key to me is not just a “one time” communication but  having “on-going” communication with the church.

As overseas workers we need to find ways to create advocacy with our churches. We cannot afford to be out of touch with them.  We definitely do not want to only come around when we need something. Our motto should not be “pray, pay and get out of the way”. The Great Commission was given to the church and we need to help the church in this venture.  I have some friends whom I think do an incredible job with having “on-going” communication and their secret is that they allot some of their time each week to develop partnerships and communicate with them formally and informally. They put it on their calendar.

Here are some other ideas. Feel free to let me know what works for you.

Some people write email updates and create an email distribution list.  I like the idea of this. I always make a point to reply personally to those who reply to my general letter. This keeps the conversation going and personalizes it more in my opinion.

If you need to keep security in mind you can always send your email to a person and they could distribute it for you. I also use a “b/cc”  so as not to show everyone on the list who I am sending it to.  It also helps curtail those who “reply to all” when they get an email from you.

Others may print out a newsletter and mail it though I think that number has greatly declined in the recent years with such connectivity with the internet. I know we have some people in one church who print out our email updates and send it to people who do not use the computer. We are thankful for them doing this for over 9 years now.

Create a private Facebook group where you can tell your advocates about prayer requests as they come up or you can message the entire group at one time.

Then there is Twitter. For me it is more for general requests and not so much extremely personal ones.

Others create a You Tube account and upload short videos about their work.

All of these social networking tools can be inserted into your blog or website for your advocates to be able to connect with you when they have time. Again, you have to decide how public you desire your work to be. Once it is in on the internet the world can see.

I hear more and more of workers doing skype calls with the church for a morning service or with a small group. This is a great way to have a presence in a church on a regular basis. It is a way you can be in front of the people while you are on the field.

I am also a huge fan of the partner church having a designated advocate that is tasked with regular communication with their workers. Many churches are project driven but I am finding more and more churches who have a person either on staff or a member who is the contact person for the overseas workers. This ensures on-going connectivity between the church and the worker. This person can help tell your story to the church. If you have regular communication with this person then your work spreads quickly. I know some people who have advocates in several churches and so the worker spends time communicating with their advocates knowing that they will tell their story to others.

Next Up

What about the worker who does not have a partner church?  I have an idea!

Posted on April 15, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments

What to Say? Part Two

On my last post I noted some examples from scripture about conversations that seemed to have happened between the worker and the church.

• Telling stories of the work
• To let the church know how the workers are doing
• Encouragement to the worker
• To give encouragement to the church
• Received them in joy and honor
• To give praise for what God had done

The church and missionary should have an on-going relationship. If the worker is sent through a mission organization all three entities need to know how to relate to one another regarding the work. The church should never simply hand over the missionary to the sending agency and feel like their work is done.

The church needs to stay connected with the worker even after they are on the field and even if they are part of a mission organization. The mission organization cannot take the place of their church. The Great Commission was given to the church. The workers need the on-going prayer, care, nurture, strategic involvement and accountability from the church.

So if there is regular communication between the worker and his / her church then it is quite natural for the worker to report as he returns home. You would not believe how often I hear those who say they rarely hear from their home church unless they (the worker) initiate the conversation.

Another caution that I want to address is that since it takes money to live on the field then often the missionary lives in a tension between reporting about their work and raising support for their work. If the only time the church hears from their missionaries is during a point of financial need then that message can get old to the church.  It also can put the missionary in a position of needing to have some thing spectacular to report on. Quite frankly this can hard if you are serving in a new area, a non-harvest area or if you serve in more of a “support” role. We sometimes tend to elevate certain types of workers above others.

So..

What do you say to your church if you have

5 min?

10 min?

30 min?

What do you say if you have one hour in a Small Group Setting?

What do you say if you have put together a Special Event such as a concert, dinner, art exhibit?

What is your story?

What do you think they need to hear?

What do you think they want to hear?

Next week we will look at “How do you say it?”

As always would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Posted on April 13, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments

What to say? Part One

Last week I wrote about “How do you report back home?”

This week I want to take a quick look at “What do you say once you are there?”

David Hesselgrave in Planting Churches Cross-Culturally wrote regardless of how you deliver the message (we will get to that one the next post) we need to communicate two things. Dr. Hesselgrave has studied and written much about Pauline Mission so I underlined these points in his book.

He says that these two objectives need to be kept in mind (p.427)

1. To achieve a thorough understanding of what God has accomplished through the missionary evangelist and how this fits into His purpose for the church.

1. To achieve a full participation of all Christians in the missionary  efforts of the local church.

I started looking up places in scripture where we see the church gathered.

Paul after the second missionary journey

²²When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch.  Acts 18:22

Paul after the third missionary journey

¹⁷When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. ¹⁸On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. ¹⁹After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.  Acts 21:17-19

Epaphroditus to the church at Philippi

²⁸I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. ²⁹So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men,           Philippians 2:28-29

Tychicus and Onesimus to Colossae

⁷Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. ⁸I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts, ⁹and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here.  Colossians 4:7-9

Can you see a common pattern in these verses?

Here is what I see.

It seems that their gatherings consisted of

• Telling stories of the work
• To let the church know how the workers are doing
• Encouragement to the worker
• To give encouragement to the church
• Received them in joy and honor
• To give praise for what God had done

The church and missionary should have an on-going relationship.  The second part of this post will come out on Thursday. Until then…

Posted on April 7, 2010 - by Larry - 2 Comments

Returning Home

A few weekends ago  I was sitting in a church service and a couple of missionaries gave a report about their work in a  far off land.

They had normal clothes on. I remember going to church as a kid and seeing how they dressed when they came back to report to the church. Well in 2010 these guys had their PowerPoint or Keynote slide show and some videos embedded into their slide show. They told about some of the neat ways God was working among their people.

If you know me well you will know that I am quite keen on Acts 13 and the Antioch church or better known in some circles as a good model for a sending church. I love talking about how a church sends out their missionaries. But what happens after they leave for the field?

Do you forget about them? How do you learn about what they are doing and how can that be useful for the church?

So as I sat there I had this question.

How did Paul and Barnabas report back to their church?

I found this in Acts.

Paul and Barnabas Return to Antioch in Syria

²⁴Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. ²⁵And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, ²⁶and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been⁽ commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. ²⁷And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. ²⁸And they remained no little time with the disciples. Acts 14:24-28

They had been traveling. They had seen people come to faith. They had made disciples. They had seen churches planted.

They had fulfilled the work for that trip.

They had witnessed God move in some amazing and powerful ways.

They had stories to tell.

So they gathered the church and told them all that God had done with them.

I like how Paul and Barnabas took the initiative with that meeting. I sometimes laugh to myself at the thought of a worker calling home to their church  saying  “scratch the programming ideas for this week we  are going to meet this Sunday and talk about my mission work. Smile.

Honestly I think it can be a challenge today to report back to your church or churches! It makes me wonder.

How do you invite yourself?

Do you wait to be invited?

What if your home church has no interest or lost interest in your work?

How do you work with a church to a point where you can talk with them once you return home for furlough or stateside mobilization?

How do you report back to your church?

• Is it better to give a talk / presentation to the entire church?
• Is it better to talk with a small group or bible study within the church?
• Do you plan a some special event (dinner or café) ?

I would like to hear your thoughts, ideas, feedback or pushback on this?

Next up? What do you say when you actually have an audience?

Posted on February 19, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments

7 reasons why I like working with young churches

I am headed to Atlanta to be with my good friend David Putman at ChurchPlanters.com Velocity conference. So I am on the road again.

I always love going to MountainLake church near Atlanta. If you are attending this conference be sure to look me up. I would love to see you.

This past week while leading our Upstream Jet Set tour across Europe I was able to think about some of the reasons why I like to work with young churches or church plants on the field. This does not mean I do not like working with other churches. I am just making some observations about why new churches can be great in missions. I think they make great partnerships for cross cultural church planting teams, working along side a national churches, or a church plant on the field.

So here is my list.

1. They are self starters. Since they are church plants they usually know how to get things started. They live in a constant state of start up mode. They know how to start something out of nothing.

2. They can live with ambiguity. This is life on the mission field. We rarely know what lies ahead on the field. This is how church planters roll. They are fluid.

3. They are explorers. They love to take a look into the unknown. Their exploring often leads to creative ideas for missional living.

4. They have lots of energy. They work very hard. They do whatever it takes to get the job done.

5. They are bold in their witness. I have noticed that most of these planters and young churches actively find ways to share their faith in natural ways.

6. They are practical. They have a keen sense of what works and they move towards that end.

7. They are risk takers. They do not like to fail but they are not afraid of failing or taking a chance.

Posted on January 27, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments

Cross Cultural Church Planting Assessments, Part four

I am at a new worker conference this week for  imb. I love coming to these events. I love the energy of the workers here. They all have such a heart to see the peoples of Europe come to Christ. Some amazing stories of how God is working here.

I want to return to the cross cultural church planting assessment posts.

Here is a really important verse in the life of the early church.

Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. Acts 11:19

What intrigues me about Acts 11 is that there was a cross cultural witness that took place. The result we find later is that a church was planted in Antioch of Syria. We see in Acts 13 this church became a sending church which also embarked on cross cultural missionary journeys as they sent out Paul and Barnabas.
Over the years as I have studied and taught church planter assessment mainly from a North American perspective but also some  in Europe.  I think there are some behavioral competencies that can be helpful in a person or even a group of persons who are going to work cross culturally in a mission setting.
I would welcome your thoughts on this. I am still developing this idea but I am very interested in helping churches as they think and act as missionaries in another culture.
Here is the first part of the list!
Contextualizer – Ability to read / understand a culture and contextualize  the gospel for that culture.
Cultural Adaptation – The ability to adapt to another culture other than you own.
Ability to Create Ownership – A Gatherer of people around a common vision and community.
Visioning Capacity – Ability to cast a clear and compelling vision.
Intrinsically Motivated – A deep sense of calling that drives the person to be able to create movement.

I will show you five others characteristics that I feel are important for cross cultural ministry on my next post.

Posted on October 26, 2009 - by Larry - 4 Comments

TCFL – Teaching Churches Foreign Languages

The Idea

I mentioned before about a conversation that I had with a church leader about his desire to see his church learn another language.

This thought has grabbed my attention so I thought what would I do if I pastored in the states again. Perhaps if any church needing a pastor reads my blog it would take care of that possibility but here goes the thought.

TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) is a program that many universities and language schools have throughout the world. I guess our new institute can be called TCFL (Teaching Churches Foreign Languages) Okay, so that was bad. I really do not have a institute but this is the idea. How can a church learn a foreign language?

I guess before we get to the “how” we need to look at why would we even consider such a thing.

Many churches today that I work with have an interest in reaching a particular people group with the gospel. They have been going on short term trips all over the place and I hear quite often they are tired of being spread out and they are ready to focus their efforts.

As they think about the “going” implications they also realize that in many cases those same peoples live in North America and often in their own cities. They begin to think about how can they connect with them in their own community. Therefore when they are putting together their mission strategy they are thinking both where they are and in other parts of the world.

They are also saying that they feel the Great Commission belongs to the church and that they need to be doing more and outsourcing missions less. They want to be involved strategically.

With this being the context one key aspect of cross cultural missions is how do you have an incarnational presence amongst the people? Language obviously is one element of that. These churches are thinking “how can we be better prepared?” If it is one person or a family then they normally arrive on the field and start language school for an amount of time until they can become proficient in the target language. What needs to happen if you do this for an entire church?

Here are a few foundational points that I think are very important if you are really serious about TCFL.

Vision of leadership – I believe key leaders in the church have to have the vision to see this as important. I think if they are trying to learn the language and using the language themselves it will go a long way in creating ownership of the vision to the people. Some how the church has to constantly put this vision before the people on a regular basis. More ideas on this in another post.

Time and Resources- The church has to find some ways to put this into the two important value checkers: their calendar and their resources.

Think Small Groups – One of the best places to start is with the small group structure of the church. Perhaps it is with the first groups going out locally or internationally.

Committed locally and internationally- It is important to be trying to find ways to minister to the people in that language group locally. So this means the church needs to focus on the group(s) they are wanting to work with.

Identify your language talent in your church. Chances are you have some people in your church that are fluent other languages. Discover those people and the languages that they speak and start working with them.

I will post some ideas on how to see this happen soon.

Posted on July 9, 2009 - by Larry - 7 Comments

Partnerships – The Sending Church

What is the difference between a “sending church” and a church that is in “partnership” with a missionary or cross cultural church planting team? Do you believe there is a difference?

I truly believe that every cross cultural worker needs to be “sent” from a church. I believe one’s calling into cross cultural missions needs to be in community and not simply an individual’s calling. I believe often the calling starts in a person’s heart but it needs to be shared, prayed through and confirmed within a community of believers.

I really believe this is the model we see in Acts 13.
I found this from Urbana 81 by Gordan MacDonald.

There are many churches; there are relatively few sending churches. Let me define a sending church. We can do it by way of a historical model, the church in Acts 13 in which the Holy Spirit was free to speak because he would be heard. That church called Saul and Barnabas and sent them out to the uttermost parts of the earth. That was a sending church. It was a church marked by intercession for world evangelization, marked with caring for the needs of hurting people, marked with a hunger for the teaching of the Word of God. It was a church marked with leaders who really believed the mandate of Acts 1:8. Into that sort of atmosphere the Holy Spirit can quickly move. So when he said, “Set apart these men,” the church laid hands on them and “sent them off’ (v. 3). It was a sending church.

Here are a few thoughts I have had over the years of church planting, pastoring and being a cross cultural worker in regards to “sending” churches.

• They confirm the giftings and calling of the missionary and family if married.

• They find ways to prepare and equip the missionary to go out.

• They pray over the missionary and send them out. In Acts 13 you see the “laying on of hands”. I think this came once they knew the Holy Spirit was sending them and they confirmed this calling and blessed them.

• The sending church maintains contact with the missionary while on the field even once the new wears off. (I found a great link for this and will try to post tomorrow)

• The sending church should hold the missionary accountable while on the field. I believe this accountability deals with the spiritual, character and strategic aspects of the missionary.

• The sending church financially supports the worker as needed. I say this for I believe there are some missionaries who do not need the financial support or as much financial support from the church for they work in jobs in these countries. They do still need these other aspects of support.
Check out Skybridge Community or Marketplace Intiatives if you want more context about “tentmaking” or “Doing Business As Missions”.

• They find ways that they can be involved in the work and strategic ministry of the missionary. I think as a church sends out a missionary that they are also committing to supporting the ministry in which they are going to serve. One way that I think this can work is when churches build their mission’s strategy around the people whom God has called to missionary service. This may not always be a possibility but I think it can work. This facilitates long term involvement with the missionary team that is sent out and meaningful mission’s involvement for the church.

For example if a church has a couple / individual coming overseas to serve as church planters what are some other ways their church can engage in the city? Obviosuly prayer should be a given.

• Could international business people from the church look to come to that city to take a job with thier company?
  
• Could a football or basketball player from the church try out for a professional team in Europe and play a sport?
• Could the church rent an apartment in the city and send short term workers for three months at a time?
• What about the international business people from the church who may make trips to that city? How can they be strategically used to think missionally while doing business abroad?
• What about college students from their church looking to study abroad? Could they study in that city?
  

The list can go on and on. You are more creative than I.
Just sending one person or family could be the beginning.
A couple of opportunities for conversation:

If the missionaries are being sent through a mission agency strategy conversations need to take place regarding who makes strategic decisions once on the field.

As time goes on for the people that were sent on the field conversations need to continually be revisited in case there is a change of ministry in the life of the missionary or if the church chooses to go another strategic direction in their missions. What happens if the church and the missionary have differing strategies? What gives?

LifePointe Church in Smyrna (near Nashville, Tennessee) and The Upstream Collective will be putting together a “Sending Church” conference early in 2010. I will keep you updated on the dates and info on that as we plan.

More soon.