Living faithful, fruitful and fulfilled on the mission field
Missionary teams go through hard seasons. Disagreements, leadership crises, or a high turnover of staff can leave everyone feeling insecure. Or, you might experience a major traumatic event that shakes everyone’s foundations. Another difficulty can be when there is a lack of focus or momentum. …
There is nothing like learning a new language to make you feel like a total idiot! It’s humbling. Sometimes it’s humiliating. For months and even years- it can feel like forever- you speak at the level of a two or three-year-old child. Then, after much …
Balance. This word is important but over-used. It’s not balance we need. We need wisdom to live in the tension of seemingly opposite values with equal importance. This is a skill effective leaders develop. How can you be both good at completing tasks and also very relational? Great leaders are.
As a Westerner, I’m from an individualistic culture. If you are from the Global South (Asia, Africa, Latin America) you are from a more community-oriented worldview.
Fruitful missionaries learn to be reliable in completing tasks, and also are loving in the way they interact with people. Too often we use culture or personality as an excuse. Instead, we must become skilled in both task completion and relationships.
My friend Suzy* is from Malaysia. She is a business minded person and quite task oriented. I can count on her to get things done and often have to remind her to rest. At the same time, I feel like she cares about me. She takes time when we meet to ask how I am doing before jumping into business. Often, I get a text from her asking how I am, or about a personal or family issue.
This makes me feel loved. I know our friendship is not only about work. She knows the names of my kids. I know hers too.
What does friendship do to our working relationship? It makes it far easier. Our relationship is the oil that makes the ministry machine work. When there is conflict or misunderstanding, it is not hard to pick up a phone and call.
“Hey, Suzy. How are you doing? How is Timothy recovering from his car accident?” After catching up personally, it is easy to say, “Can I talk to you about what you said in the meeting yesterday? I felt a little confused by the tone in your voice when you said…”
It’s not worth debating which is more important, task or relationship. The answer is both. Without relationships, our tasks are empty. Without tasks, we spin around in circles and little progress is made.
As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
Luke 9:51 NIV.
The above verse is a clear example of Jesus’ focus on the task. His job was to go to the cross and redeem mankind. He determined not to be distracted from His overarching purpose. Yet, He always made time for people. When a blind man cried out, He stopped and healed. Children felt free to climb up on His lap.
Take time for people. Pause. Breathe. Listen. Observe. The projects only have value if they serve and develop people.
Love, for many, is expressed through giving quality time to them. If you say you love your spouse but don’t take time to listen to her share about her day, you aren’t doing a very good job of demonstrating your love. The same goes for your disciples. Do you make time to listen?
The Bible commands us to be faithful. Faithfulness is shown by our reliability in doing what we say we will do. Does your yes mean yes? Reliable stewards will be given more authority and responsibility by God (Luke 19 parable).
If you are so busy relating to people that you never have time to take action, you will disappoint. Yourself, others, and even God will soon realize that you only talk, but don’t do what you talk about. Make time for the doing as well as the talking about doing.
Many of us preachers, teachers, and writers are good at speaking about Kingdom work. We need to stop talking about it and start doing it! Are you making disciples personally? Reaching out to lost people? Spending time in intercession?
You can’t balance doing and being. Nor can you hold tasks and relationships in balance. These are both/and values. We live in the healthy push and pull of life and keep both as important values.
Jesus was very relational and also completed the tasks God gave Him. Would you pray this prayer with me?
O Christ, when I look at you, I see that you were never in a hurry, never ran, but always had time for the pressing necessities of the day. Give me that disciplined, poised life, with time for the thing that matters. Amen. – by E. Stanley Jones
Which do you struggle with task completion or making time for relationships?
Share in the comments below or on the Missionary Life Facebook group.
*Not her real name.
“I can’t believe it! That’s not what I understood from the website,” my husband exclaimed. We’d just gotten a response from the embassy saying we were not eligible for the type of visa we’d applied for. A few days before, a friend planned to go …
This is a busy time of the year. I won’t write a full blog post today as I am traveling to visit my parents and wish them a merry Christmas. I do want to take this moment to wish you a very Happy Christmas. A …
“Christmas in America is so strange!” I could hear the reverse culture shock in his voice. He hadn’t celebrated this major holiday in his home country in fifteen years. The materialism of an American Christmas distressed him. Later, a friend from Africa said, “I don’t do Christmas. Here in Africa, we traditionally go to church, eat a feast, and buy new clothes for our children, but I don’t celebrate this holiday.” The Christmas season stirs up questions for missionaries. How much do we adapt to the culture and when do we resist it? What do we do and not do at Christmas?
Culture plays a huge role in the celebration of festivals.
The Christmas festival, in particular, has taken on many cultural elements. Many of them are not at all Christian and need to be resisted. Others have value and can be used as a bridge to share Jesus with others.
How do you know what to resist and what to adapt when it comes to cultural issues?
This is an important question for any missionary. It is not only related to Christmas. Let’s use this holiday to instruct us in cultural adaptation principles.
Culture is like water to a fish. We don’t notice it, but it plays a huge role in our lives. The more adapted you are to a cultural environment, the less you pay attention to it. This can be bad or good. Jesus’ followers must learn to be thoughtful about what we adapt to or resist in the culture around us (This is true in our own culture and our new culture as well.)
Cultural issues often came up when we returned to our home country. It was also a big issue when we moved to Nepal, India, and Thailand. How much do we adapt to the culture around us? Do we wear their clothes and eat their food? Is it okay to only learn the trade language, or do we need to also learn the heart language of the particular group we want to reach?
Coming back to the USA, there were things we found we didn’t like about our own culture. Things we hadn’t noticed before we went to another country to live. For America, a prime example is materialism. Our nation is obsessed with money and things. Obtaining them drives much of what we do. I don’t want that in my life as a disciple of Christ.
In India, our kids asked questions like, “My friends put a tikka on their forehead to match their khurta-suruwal (Indian dress). Can I wear those too?”
Back in the USA, they asked, “Will we celebrate Halloween and go trick or treating?”
These are cultural issues.
During the Christmas season, let’s look at issues that arise around this holiday.
We must make wise and prayerful choices. Our decisions have an impact, especially as we work among the unreached.
You may be the first person to share Jesus with your people group. The believers will look to you for guidance. The customs you adopt will impact the church in this people group for generations to come.
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise.
Eph. 5:15 NIV.
They were created by God for good.
God designed human beings to live in a cultural and communal environment. Everything He does is good. Jesus was born into a particular culture. He transcended culture but also participated in Jewish culture. He went to cultural events and celebrated them in the Jewish way (the wedding at Cana for example).
Jesus participated in rituals, like going to Jerusalem with his family to celebrate Passover every year (Luke 2:41). Participation in cultural events builds community with others. This is something God designed us to need. We were made to celebrate. It is good for the soul.
As we examine cultural festivals, we must be aware of both the common meaning and the historical one. The Christmas tree is a good example of a Christian tradition that has a pagan root. These are good to be aware of but don’t necessarily determine what we do as far as resistance or adoption.
More important is the common meaning in most people’s minds. There are many examples of this, but let’s continue with the Christmas tree. Do people look at it and immediately think of druids dancing around it and worshipping a pagan god? Or do they think of the joy of giving gifts to loved ones now? Or the beauty of lights and family togetherness? What does it mean now?
This can be done with any cultural tradition. In India, the sticker tikkas (put on the forehead by women) has a historic meaning and a common one. For most women today it is much like wearing makeup and is something you wear to match your outfit. Very few even know the historic meaning. The red-colored rice put on the forehead is different. That is clearly a symbol of having done “puja” to a god or goddess. Which do you wear? Which do you avoid? Prayerful decisions must be made.
Not everything in culture is redeemable, but many things are. We can ascribe new meaning to cultural symbols or rituals. This has been done throughout mission history.
By maintaining cultural symbols but giving them new meaning, the gospel feels local (indigenous). Its much easier for people to adopt it as their own, rather than as a foreign religion.
For example, in Africa, singing and dancing is a huge part of many cultures. Why not redeem the cultural songs and dances for good and use them to worship God? In Mizoram, there is a particular drum that was used in spirit worship. It is now used to praise Jesus. It has been redeemed.
We don’t need to adapt to everything to reach people.
Some cross-cultural workers feel they must adapt to every aspect of their new culture without discretion. This is a mistake. Many things in culture are far from godly.
What are some examples of cultural things you do not want to adapt to? Think beyond surface-level issues. Here in America, I actively resist consumerism. It’s a huge cultural value, but not a Biblical one. In India, fatalism is a pervasive part of the cultural mindset. I resist it. God is directing my path, not karma.
This Christmas season, what will you adapt, redeem, introduce, or resist?
Share in the comments below or on the Missionary Life Facebook Group.
Have you ever seen an angel? We don’t talk about these things in the church very often. I wonder why? Looking through the gospels and Acts, angelic activity and interaction seemed part of Jesus’ and the disciple’s experience. In the book of Revelation, there is …
“We’ve tried but no one responds,” they said to me. I saw his sad face and heard the disappointment in his voice. My heart went out to him. His ministry was important. It was worth investing in. Unfortunately, there were several key things necessary in …
“I want to get married,” she said. Her eyes were sad. In her culture, unless she was a wife and mother, she was a non-person. Many women in Asia don’t even use their names. They are “John’s mother” or “Raju’s mother.” Their own name has little meaning apart from their son. This is so far from the gospel! It is something Jesus came to set us free from.
Living a life of wholeness as a single is not easy. Loneliness and fear of a future alone can plague us. Temptations and the pressure to marry are at times intense. Family, co-workers, and even well-meaning supporters wonder why we haven’t yet found someone. It gets tiresome to go to weddings and church events and constantly be asked “When will you get married? Have you found someone yet?”
Singleness on the mission field holds challenges. Many societies will not acknowledge you as someone of status as a single. They may wonder if something is wrong with you or lovingly try to find you a spouse. Christianity Today reported that singleness is the fourth greatest reason why candidate missionaries don’t make it to the field. It is also a common reason why many leave.
Yet singleness is a valid biblical option and not to be scorned. Instead, singles who are emotionally healthy demonstrate godliness in unique and important ways. Learn to minister out of your healthy singleness. It is an important testimony to those around you.
Peter Scazzero writes about this in his excellent article, Lead Out of Your Singleness. “An increasing number of leaders in the body of Christ are single. That is a wonderful gift desperately needed in the church today. Daniel, Jeremiah, Jesus, Anna the prophetess, John the Baptist, and Paul were all single. They each bore rich fruit for God.”
Singles who embrace this gift and devote themselves to God, reflect the truth that God is enough. Our value is not in our marital status but in our relationship with Him.
Paul wrote in Phil. 4:11, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” This included his singleness.
Resist the temptation to absorb the world’s values. In the Kingdom of God, singles are highly regarded. They are not second class citizens who need to hang their heads.
If you are married, do all you can to affirm those around you who are single. Embrace them as persons of worth and include them as friends. Be careful not to exclude them from family-oriented events and don’t constantly talk about your kids all the time. Don’t assume that because they are single, they would make good babysitters. Pray for them and be sensitive to their needs.
As a single there are some things you can not do. Don’t focus on them. Give attention to the many things you are free to do. Do those with all your heart.
Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do.
1 Cor. 7:8 NIV.
This verse says “it is good.” Singleness can be a good and healthy thing! Paul found it to be so and was then able to devote himself to Jesus and the ministry with greater focus. Don’t allow yourself or anyone to tell you it is not good to be single if that is your circumstance. God makes all things good in our lives as we surrender to Him.
I am blessed to have many close friends who are single. They are amazing people who have deeply blessed my life. They have rich lives of faith and are impacting nations.
Out of your singleness, demonstrate the Kingdom of God. If you are married, do the same. Next week I’ll write more about marriage and how we can minister out of a healthy marriage.
What biblical or historical leaders were single? What do you most admire about them?
For years we served in missions before anyone from my husband’s family visited us. We longed for them to come to Nepal and India. Finally, they did. How fun it was to have them meet those we’d discipled and invested in! It’s a joy to …