Archive for the ‘Ideas’ Category
Posted on May 14, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments
More than Money!
I am adopted. Some of you may know this about me. I was adopted when I was almost 2 years old though my adoptive parents took care of me much earlier. I am a huge advocate for adoption. I am thankful that my parents chose me and gave me a home. When I was a pastor in the states I actually served on a local board for Bethany Christian Services in our city. It was a very meaningful time for me and a way I could honor my parents who adopted me. I am so thankful for people who adopt children. They are my heroes. Every child deserves loving and caring parents no matter where they live. Now that I think about it I may even start writing some posts about adoption.
BUT since this is part of my series on developing partnerships with churches I need to transition to this topic. Here it goes!
I also think that every missionary deserves a loving and caring church that they can call home. Some of my readers may think this is a no-brainer. However, you would be surprised how many workers do not have a place they can truly call home. They do not have a church that supports them by:
Praying for them in specific ways
Giving care to them
Holding them accountable spiritually and strategically
Supporting them
Being involved in their ministry on the field
Simply talking to them and being interested in their work.
These six things can make such a difference in the life and total health of a missionary and his / her family. In many ways these workers need a church who will adopt them and call them their own. I know this may sound silly but I do not think so. This is my big question to every potential worker coming on the field: “Do you have a sending church and how are they involved in sending you?” My question to churches who are sending out someone is “how do you plan on staying in touch and how to you plan on supporting them in ways other than financial assistance?” Churches please do not simply outsource this to mission agencies. Most missionaries want your involvement even after they are on the field. I would add that we all need your involvement.
As I have written before about Acts 13 and beyond there was a connection to Paul and the sending church Antioch. There was an on-going relationship. This is vital to the life of the worker in my opinion. Missionaries need more than money!
I am not going to start an adoption agency for workers but if you need help with this let me know. If you are a church looking for a person to adopt or if you are a worker needing a church to adopt you please let someone know.
I will do all I can. Feel free to email me at larry@theupstreamcollective.org
Posted on March 22, 2010 - by Larry - 3 Comments
The Second Setting
A few months ago I was doing some training at a conference for new cross cultural workers here in Europe. One of the presenters was Jennie Hatchel who works on a team focusing on the Roma people group. You should check out the cool stuff they do here.
She did a presentation entitled “The Second Setting”. As I sat there and listened it really made sense to me. I asked her if she would be willing to write up this idea and you will find it below. As you think about being salt and light in intentional ways this idea should be kept in mind. Enjoy and thank you Jennie for writing it.
In the cloakroom of my children’s preschool, I followed the cultural custom of changing them from their street clothes to their school clothes. As each new parent and child entered, they would say “Good day” to the group, but the only other noise in the room was the hushed whispering of parents encouraging their children to hurry along.
After several weeks I had exchanged little more than a few words about the weather with some of the parents. My frustration grew over my lack of developing relationships. Then, one day while shopping in our neighborhood grocery store, I noticed one of the mothers from my son’s class. I said, “hello” and to my surprise she began to talk. Within a few minutes we had an invitation to visit in her home.
I had a similar experience with the parents at my children’s ice skating class. While we all spent the hour that the children skated huddled around the edge of the rink trying to stay warm, there was very little interaction among the parents. When I spoke to someone, they were polite enough, but their replies were short and I felt like I was really prying if I tried to get to know someone. After about a month of lessons I bumped into one of the ice skating moms downtown. She was friendly and very open. She spoke more to me that day than in the whole previous month of lessons.
It appeared that people were more comfortable with me once they saw me in a second setting. I began observing my interactions with others. On many occasions I noted that others were more open with me when they had seen me in another setting. I mentioned this observation to my husband and he shared similar experiences. He began calling it my “theory of the second setting”.
In the past few years I have been trying to take advantage of this “theory of the second setting”. When I notice someone from my exercise class waiting on the tram stop, I will cross the street in order to “bump into” them. If I see someone at the post offi
ce that I recognize from my child’s swimming class, I’ll chose the longer line just to wait with them and have an opportunity to visit. If I notice someone in the grocery store that walks their dog in the same park as we do, I’ll skip several aisles just for a chance to run into them.
While some of my difficulty in initiating relationships was cultural, the idea that seeing someone in a second setting provides more of an opportunity to develop relationships has cross-cultural relevance. The more someone is exposed to me, the more familiar I become to them. The more familiar I am to them, the more comfortable they are with me. The more comfortable they are with me, the greater likelihood of us developing a relationship.
Have you noticed people are more likely to open up to you when you see them in a “second setting”?
Posted on March 3, 2010 - by Larry - 3 Comments
Vision
I had a vision the other day that I want to tell you about.
I have been spending some time with Michael Hyatt on his blog about how to create a Life plan. He writes about how we need to write out what we see as our preferred future in several key areas of our life. Your preferred vision is what you want your life or aspect of your life to look like.
Maybe I am in dreamland but still I think it would be cool if I could say this about my work here in Germany.
Here is my preferred future.
I am investing weekly in several national church planters who are starting churches in their communities amongst various people groups. They are also discipling potential church planters in their church plants.
I am working with the national church. I am praying with the pastors of churches in this area. They are helping me know the culture. They are introducing me to other key people. I am helping them by supporting them through prayer and serving them in ways they feel are beneficial. I am trying to influence them regarding discipleship and church planting.
I am working with several other Christian organizations who have ministries in our city. We pray together. We dream together and we find ways where we can work together on projects. We are advocates for one another and we want to see each other succeed.
I am building a network of people who work in the marketplace. These people come from various parts of the world and they are here for often for just a season. They are believers and want to live their lives as salt and light in the marketplace and community. Because the work in the marketplace they have a type of credibility that I do not have. They are untapped resources for most of us. These Skybridge Community workers pray for one another, support one another, work with local ministries and churches. I try to provide some training and equipping for them that will help them live missionally in a cross cultural setting.
I have a few churches from North America that are helping me at various levels.
I have a team of people who pray for our ministry on a weekly basis. Some of these prayer advocates have told me they pray for me daily. I keep them up to speed via email and I have a Facebook group by invitation only that prays for us.
I have a couple of churches who are partnering side by side with me on some projects that I am working on. They provide some strategic resources. They provide our team with some short term teams that help us facilitate the church planting strategy.
I also have a couple of churches and I am always looking for more that will be the missionary in an area or amongst a people group that I cannot be engaged with at this time. I see these churches has self starters, highly motivated and able to implement their strategies in these areas. I work with them. I try to give them support and encouragement. We have good communication.
I wish this was true for my ministry. I do well at some of these areas and I have a lot to do in other areas.
I can tell you it is one of my goals when I look at what my ministry looks like. It is what I am working towards.
Posted on December 16, 2009 - by Larry - 2 Comments
Church Planting in Germany
As you may know we live in Germany. We have grown to love this place. Our life here is different than the life we had in Spain. My wife teaches in a high school. I travel a lot it seems with my work but I am able to have have some incredible opportunities to pour into the life of other workers. I also have the privilege of helping churches in the states in connecting with these people.
A couple of weeks ago I was able to go teach on the book of Acts at the Bible Seminary of Bonn. I always enjoy my time there. The students have such a great passion for the Lord and to serve Him.
This week I want to introduce you to a friend of mine here in Germany. Mark Wagner National training strategist for the IMB in Germany Austria and Switzerland. I have known Mark for almost 8 years now. We have worked together at various levels. Mark would be very interested in connecting with some churches that would commit to a partnership here in Germany. You can contact him at wmwagner125@aol.com.
I hope you will take 3 minutes to look at this video that I put together of my time at the seminary. (I need to give a disclaimer that I am not the best videographer and editor but I am giving it a shot.)
You will also meet on this short video Andy Wiebke who works at the seminary. I hope if you are a pastor reading this blog or watching this video that you would consider contacting me about this idea. He would love to see some pastors and church planters that would mentor / coach a student.
If you have an interest in this please email me at larry@theupstreamcollective.org
Posted on November 23, 2009 - by Larry - 4 Comments
a new type of missionary
Paris. Athens. Budapest. Frankfurt. Rome. Madrid. Vienna. Stockholm. Basel.
The urban centers of Europe are the new frontier of missions.
Stockbroker. Artist. Lawyer. Electrician. Professor. Programmer.
And these are its missionaries.
While Europe doesn’t often spring to Americans’ minds when they hear the word “missions,” the spiritual need in the region is overwhelming. Less than 2 percent of the population of most European countries is known to follow Christ.
In societies so numbed to the institutional church, cultural rituals and historical Christendom, being a “missionary” often calls for something totally different than the traditional face of North American missions.
What if the most effective missions meant simply living life with purpose among the peoples of Europe, working in a normal job, building friendships with co-workers and neighbors?
What if churches in the United States actively participated in sending out their best church members, not as missionaries, but simply as themselves? What if churches prayed and dreamed with those workers about how to live their lives as salt and light in their new European hometowns? What if churches took back – and took full advantage of – their role in the Great Commission?
Isn’t that what it’s supposed to be about anyway?
check out – www.skybridgecommunity.net
The above post was written by a member of the Skybridge Community.
Posted on November 4, 2009 - by Larry - 5 Comments
language learning, the final chapter
If you are reading this and you are a pastor or worship leader then I want to ask your forgiveness on the front end. Seriously. I am not a pastor nor a worship leader though I have been a pastor before. I have never tried this nor even thought of it til now. I know that Sunday comes around every 7 days and your weeks can become quite full. The last thing you want is for someone who is currently not doing this to try to suggest some new ideas for worship. Thus, this is my asking forgiveness on the front end. Maybe some day I will pastor again. If I do I think I would possibly try these out.
Our idea is how do we help our church learn a foreign language?
Here are my “what if”s”
What about getting a translator and have your sermon translated into another language one Sunday? Warning: If you typically speak for 30 minutes you would need to cut down how long your sermon would be since the translator repeats every word you say. smile.
What if the worship leader could teach the church a worship song in the desired language? This would take several weeks but I bet after a few weeks you would be surprised how well the people do. I have heard “Shout to the Lord” in at least 8 different languages so it the words are out there. Be sure to have the slides done correctly in the other language.
Read the scripture in another language. Print it out in English and the other language.
Have the prayer in a different language. (I am not talking about tongues. smile)
If you have a printed worship bulletin what about identifying some key words in another language?
Hola – Hello
Guten Tag- Good Day
Oracion - Prayer
Amistad – Friendship
Find ways you can introduce vocabulary words to your church. Perhaps with having bi-lingual posters or banners.
Play background music from another language or culture in the foyer or community areas of the church.
What if you did a little of this each week? In other words don’t just do this on a mission emphasis Sunday but do this for an entire series or make it a part of who you are as a church.
The BIG thing that we must realize in language learning is that most often it is a life long journey. We have to be learners!
Do you have other ideas that we could try?
Have you tried any of these?
more soon!
Posted on November 2, 2009 - by Larry - 3 Comments
language learning
I recently spent some time talking with Sarah Perkins
Here are some of her ideas and some great links. This can be helpful for new workers coming to the field BUT I think there are some great ideas for churches who are wanting to be prepared to have an incarnational presence on the field whether that is a one week trip or sending long term teams. Here you go!
Language and Culture Preparation Before Field Arrival
Some Suggestions…
Read about cross-cultural expectations and adaptation.
- American Cultural Baggage, by Nussbaum
- Cross Cultural Connections and Cross Cultural Servanthood, by Duane Elmer
- Culture from the Inside Out, by Alain Cornes
- Figuring Foreigners Out and The Art of Crossing Cultures, by Craig Storti
Become familiar with principles and methods related to language learning.
- How to Learn Any Language. Resource with lots of principles, ideas, etc. about learning languages in general
- Language Impact Some ideas for language learners
- Program In Language Acquisition Techniques (PILAT)
- Language Acquisition Made Practical (LAMP), by Brewster and Brewster
- Lingua Links
- Other resources, by SIL
- Language Coach and Language Learners CDs by Institute for Cross Cultural Training (ICCT)
Begin language learning now.
- Use Internet websites and computer-based software. Here are a few. Surf the web for others.
- Social language learning online.
- BYKI language learning program
- Rosetta Stone. Online or computer-based language learning program.
- Online language learning.
- An auditory learning method.
- http://www.pdictionary.com/
- http://www.quia.com/
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/
- Take classes at a local university
- Hold language classes at your church and taught by a qualified teacher
Some practical suggestions:
- Learn at least the following things before arrival in the country:
- Alphabet (if other than Latin-based)
- Basic greetings and leave-takings
- Basic expressions of politeness
- Numbers
- Basic expressions needed for shopping
- Basic expressions needed for ordering food and drink
- Learn about the country (history, current events, important people, worldview, etc)
- Read the newspaper online
- Listen to music in the target language
- Locate speakers of the target language for conversation groups (such as language teachers in the local schools and universities)
- Follow the progress of a national sports team in the country where you are going
Posted on October 29, 2009 - by Larry - 3 Comments
Start Up Ideas for Language Learning, part one
Here are some ideas about a few ways your church can get started learning a foreign language. Grammar and vocabulary are important. I love being able to say this. I hear this all of the time from my German teacher.
First up…
If you have an extra room in your church why not set up a computer lab or learning center? You can make use of such products as Rosetta Stone in the language of your choice. There are plenty of software packages around. I have enjoyed Rosetta Stone in Spanish and German.
Buy multiple copies of Rosetta Stone and make them available at your church for people to check out. Be sure to let people know about this option and but plenty of copies to go around. I would suggest putting a time limit for how long they can have the software checked out.
Do a google search and find a few online language learning tools that you can promote to the people trying to learn a language. Ask someone to be the resource person for your church in this endeavor.
Go online and find out if there are language learning schools in your city. One church found a site where they could learn Italian http://www.italianforfun.com/index.cfm located in their own city.
If there is an University or Junior College in the city find out if you could hire a professor to teach a class for a semester at your church or better yet encourage your people to enroll in a class at the university or Junior College. Offer some scholarship funds for people completing the course work.
Find out if you have a few language experts in your church and see if they will become tutors for your students.
Encourage your college students to take classes in the desired language.
Promote the idea amongst your college students to go to a country and do a study abroad program for a semester or two. They will not only learn the language but they will also have ministry opportunities while there.
Same suggestion but for people who have retired and can take several months to study abroad.
What are some other ideas?
Next Up .. Putting your language learning to practice in your own community.
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 October 21, 2009 - by Larry - 4 Comments
language learning
I heard today in a seminar that 56 percent of all Europeans can converse in two languages.
11 % can converse in three languages.
This is really amazing to me. It was a struggle to learn Spanish for me 8 years ago. Now I am trying to learn German but finding it very difficult. I do not know when I can make it to three.
We really want to see the church as missionary. We work with a lot of North American churches who are interested in finding ways to have an incarnational presence on the mission field. They want to be prepared when they come over on short term trips.
I have been thinking some about a conversation that I had last week with a church. They are wanting to have a presence in an European country. They are struggling with how can they do this and not know the language. They know they can use their English on occasion. Many Europeans speak English but they also know that in many cases in order to get to a deeper conversations they need to learn the heart language of the people.
They are exploring ways in which they can learn a second language as a church. Not just one or two people in the church or even the mission team that may be coming on a short term trip but they are wanting to emphasize learning a second language as a church so the Lord can use them both in the states and abroad.
I like this idea.
What do you think this could look like?
Any ideas that you can share about ways to go about this?
