Living faithful, fruitful and fulfilled on the mission field
Have you ever lost your temper? Gotten upset with fellow team members? Differences in personality, culture, and spiritual gifting can drive us apart. Or, these differences can make us strong and effective as a missionary team. My husband and I are extreme opposites in many …
Paul Akin, of the Gospel Coalition, writes this. “The most common reason missionaries go home isn’t due to lack of money, illness, terrorism, homesickness, or even a lack of fruit or response to the gospel. Regretfully, the number one reason is a conflict with other …
Some flavors go together well. Others just don’t. Like lemongrass and coconut milk in Thai food. They complement each other and are delicious. Or palm butter and rice. Yum! But when you put minced chicken with ice cream it just doesn’t work, right? My husband …
When Jesus called His disciples, He called them to serve together as a group, not as individuals. He gathered a team of twelve men and sent them out two by two. Though most of them were fishermen, each of them was unique in personality, character, …
It’s a bit of a cliché, but it’s true. Wounded people wound others. When someone lashes out at you in an extreme way, it is likely more their issue than yours. We need the wisdom to know how to love emotionally unhealthy people. I wish …
One of my friends has a coffee mug that says, “I don’t like morning people- or mornings- or people.” It brings a smile to my face. Yep. I’ve felt that way before! Some people are terribly difficult to deal with. This can be especially true …
Ego-centric, direct, domineering, controlling, independent, critical…that list sounded down-right nasty to me. I didn’t want to be a “D” personality! I promptly decided I disliked personality tests. No one was going to put a label on me as to what personality type I had. Decision …
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. …
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 …
In our day, we frequently hear the words inclusion, diversity, and equality. Should missionary teams also be like that? Were Jesus and Paul ahead of their times in developing diverse, multi-ethnic, teams made up of both genders? Much of what we see in the world …