I'm going away with my wife for a day or two.
The kids are being farmed out to grandparents. They'll have a blast. When we meet up with them, they'll have stories to tell. What they did. How they kept busy.
My wife and I will be happy for them. We'll be better able to enter into their joy because we've been away, all by ourselves. We'll have had carefree conversations, unhurried walks and the like. We'll have shared closeness like we did when we were first dating. I like my wife. I love being with her at home. I like being away with her even more. The time is fast approaching. I'm going away!
I need to get away with God once in awhile. I need to get alone with him. If I don't do that from time to time, I don't have the energy to enter into my friend's life, my brother's happiness, my sister's sorrow. It's been awhile since I've retreated from the world to be with God in solitude. I need it. I sense that. Maybe soon, I'll take the time. Maybe tomorrow I'll obey his voice as he calls.
"Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest."
What about you? Are you finding it more and more difficult to really be with the people you're with? Do you need time away? One on one with your wife? Face to face with your husband? Over coffee with a friend? In a quiet place with God?
Go...get away.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Short term missions...
The Washington Post [quotes in blue] had an interesting piece titled Teen missions being retooled. Here are some snippets.
WASHINGTON — Not long ago, the families of Fairfax (Va.) Presbyterian Church spent thousands of dollars to fly their teens to Mexico for eight days of doing good. They helped build homes and refurbish churches as part of an army of more than 1 million mostly Christians who annually go on short-term international mission trips to work and evangelize in poverty-stricken lands.
Yet even as those trips have increased in popularity, they have come under increased scrutiny. A growing body of research questions the value of the trips abroad, which are supposed to bring hope and Christianity to the needy of the world, while offering American participants an opportunity to work in disadvantaged communities, develop relationships and charge up their faith.
Critics scornfully call such trips “religious tourism” undertaken by “vacationaries.” Some blunders include a wall built on the children’s soccer field at an orphanage in Brazil that had to be torn down after the visitors left. In Mexico, a church was painted six times during one summer by six different groups. In Ecuador, a church was built but never used because the community said it was not needed.
I don’t see how people serving on mission trips on their vacations is a bad thing. Of course, non-value added activities like re-painting the same thing or building inadequate or unnecessary structures is ridiculous. But those things can be prevented with good planning.
I heard of parts of Mexico referred to as the “Methodist ruins” because many churches started projects and didn’t follow through. Just because you are doing a good deed doesn’t mean you don’t need wisdom, discernment, superior planning and organization.
The church is sending out smaller teams of experts to work on projects with partner churches. For example, it is sending information technology professionals who are fluent in Spanish to a church in the Dominican Republic to train members in computer skills so they can get better jobs, MacDonald said.
Despite the concerns with trips abroad, their popularity is soaring. Some groups go as far away as China, Thailand and Russia. From a few hundred in the 1960s, the trips have proliferated in recent years. A Princeton University study found that 1.6 million people took short-term mission trips — an average of eight days — in 2005. Estimates of the money spent on these trips is upward of $2.4 billion a year. Vacation destinations are especially popular: Recent research has found that the Bahamas receives one short-term missionary for every 15 residents.
At the same time, the number of long-term American missionaries, who go abroad from several years to a lifetime, has fallen, according to a Wheaton College study done last year.
The short-term mission trip is a “huge phenomenon that seems to be gaining in momentum rather than waning,” said David Livermore, executive director of the Global Learning Center at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, who studies the trend.
Participants care for orphans, hold Bible classes, evangelize, paint homes and churches and help AIDS patients, among other tasks.
But research has found that the trips tend to have few long-term effects on the local people or on the mission travelers. Some projects take away work from local people, are unnecessary and sometimes dangerous.
I wonder what groups they researched. That has not been my experience. Then again, we typically send teams to the same places over and over so that relationships are built and we can be sure we are making a difference.
“I really don’t think that most people are trying to be ugly Americans,” said Glenn Schwartz, executive director of World Mission Associates and author of When Charity Destroys Dignity. “But they’re misinformed and don’t realize how their good intentions can go awry.”
Mission groups also often bring their own experts and ignore local authorities on the ground.
In Monrovia, Liberia, three years ago, tragedy occurred when visitors built a school to their standards instead of Liberian standards. During the monsoon season, the building collapsed, killing two children, Livermore said.
Understanding the local customs and needs is crucial. We always defer to local building practices.
Critics also question the expense involved in sending people long distances. Short-term missionaries pay $1,000 each, or far more, in plane fare and other expenses to get to remote destinations.
A 2006 study in Honduras found that short-term mission groups spent an average of $30,000 on their trips to build one home that a local group could construct for $2,000.
“To spend $30,000 to paint a church or build a house that costs $2,000 doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” said Kurt Ver Beek, a professor of sociology at Calvin College who conducted the research.
I think that misses the point. Mission trips aren’t just about the physical property being built or repaired. They are about relationships with the people, helping them in ways that are meaningful and lasting, sharing the Gospel and transforming the lives of those who go. It changes how you view the world.
And practically speaking, I’ve found that people who go on short term mission trips write more and bigger checks to help these areas, and they encourage others to do the same. Who better to tell people of the needs than those who have been there?
All of the objections brought up in the article could be dealt with by applying more wisdom and planning.
- Guest Blogger, Neil
WASHINGTON — Not long ago, the families of Fairfax (Va.) Presbyterian Church spent thousands of dollars to fly their teens to Mexico for eight days of doing good. They helped build homes and refurbish churches as part of an army of more than 1 million mostly Christians who annually go on short-term international mission trips to work and evangelize in poverty-stricken lands.
Yet even as those trips have increased in popularity, they have come under increased scrutiny. A growing body of research questions the value of the trips abroad, which are supposed to bring hope and Christianity to the needy of the world, while offering American participants an opportunity to work in disadvantaged communities, develop relationships and charge up their faith.
Critics scornfully call such trips “religious tourism” undertaken by “vacationaries.” Some blunders include a wall built on the children’s soccer field at an orphanage in Brazil that had to be torn down after the visitors left. In Mexico, a church was painted six times during one summer by six different groups. In Ecuador, a church was built but never used because the community said it was not needed.
I don’t see how people serving on mission trips on their vacations is a bad thing. Of course, non-value added activities like re-painting the same thing or building inadequate or unnecessary structures is ridiculous. But those things can be prevented with good planning.
I heard of parts of Mexico referred to as the “Methodist ruins” because many churches started projects and didn’t follow through. Just because you are doing a good deed doesn’t mean you don’t need wisdom, discernment, superior planning and organization.
The church is sending out smaller teams of experts to work on projects with partner churches. For example, it is sending information technology professionals who are fluent in Spanish to a church in the Dominican Republic to train members in computer skills so they can get better jobs, MacDonald said.
Despite the concerns with trips abroad, their popularity is soaring. Some groups go as far away as China, Thailand and Russia. From a few hundred in the 1960s, the trips have proliferated in recent years. A Princeton University study found that 1.6 million people took short-term mission trips — an average of eight days — in 2005. Estimates of the money spent on these trips is upward of $2.4 billion a year. Vacation destinations are especially popular: Recent research has found that the Bahamas receives one short-term missionary for every 15 residents.
At the same time, the number of long-term American missionaries, who go abroad from several years to a lifetime, has fallen, according to a Wheaton College study done last year.
The short-term mission trip is a “huge phenomenon that seems to be gaining in momentum rather than waning,” said David Livermore, executive director of the Global Learning Center at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, who studies the trend.
Participants care for orphans, hold Bible classes, evangelize, paint homes and churches and help AIDS patients, among other tasks.
But research has found that the trips tend to have few long-term effects on the local people or on the mission travelers. Some projects take away work from local people, are unnecessary and sometimes dangerous.
I wonder what groups they researched. That has not been my experience. Then again, we typically send teams to the same places over and over so that relationships are built and we can be sure we are making a difference.
“I really don’t think that most people are trying to be ugly Americans,” said Glenn Schwartz, executive director of World Mission Associates and author of When Charity Destroys Dignity. “But they’re misinformed and don’t realize how their good intentions can go awry.”
Mission groups also often bring their own experts and ignore local authorities on the ground.
In Monrovia, Liberia, three years ago, tragedy occurred when visitors built a school to their standards instead of Liberian standards. During the monsoon season, the building collapsed, killing two children, Livermore said.
Understanding the local customs and needs is crucial. We always defer to local building practices.
Critics also question the expense involved in sending people long distances. Short-term missionaries pay $1,000 each, or far more, in plane fare and other expenses to get to remote destinations.
A 2006 study in Honduras found that short-term mission groups spent an average of $30,000 on their trips to build one home that a local group could construct for $2,000.
“To spend $30,000 to paint a church or build a house that costs $2,000 doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” said Kurt Ver Beek, a professor of sociology at Calvin College who conducted the research.
I think that misses the point. Mission trips aren’t just about the physical property being built or repaired. They are about relationships with the people, helping them in ways that are meaningful and lasting, sharing the Gospel and transforming the lives of those who go. It changes how you view the world.
And practically speaking, I’ve found that people who go on short term mission trips write more and bigger checks to help these areas, and they encourage others to do the same. Who better to tell people of the needs than those who have been there?
All of the objections brought up in the article could be dealt with by applying more wisdom and planning.
- Guest Blogger, Neil
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Graphic novel...
I'm about to start reading a graphic novel. I've been eagerly awaiting this book's arrival at the library. It came Monday, but I didn't get across town before the doors closed. So it's Wednesday and I'm drooling. Ted Dekker's circle trilogy was awesome and now it's out in extended comic book form - that's what a graphic novel is. I'm a little disappointed that the first book didn't arrive at the same time as books two and three, but I'll deal with it. I know the basic story, so I can read them out of order and not get lost...I hope.
So if you don't see me for a day or two...I'm lost in another world.
The last lecture...
I wasn't really meaning to sit in front of my T.V. last night and watch Primetime, but that's what I did. I'd never heard of Randy Pausch, but I found the story of his last days and the lecture that made him famous (I guess) to be irresistable. I couldn't turn it off. My girls and I were glued to the set until the very end. Please understand, I haven't viewed the entire lecture, nor have I read Pausch's book, but what I heard of it on the tube is pretty good advice for life. This Carnegie-Melon prof's purpose was to encourage his kids (and us too) to go after their dreams, to acheive what they want to acheive. They will have great guidance as they grow and mature because their dad thought through the things that really mattered...to him...for them.
Curious? You can watch the entire lecture on YouTube (it's 76 minutes long) or you can read an excerpt from Pausch's book, The Last Lecture, online. Hyperion Books, Pausch's publisher, has book viewer you can check out.
Enjoy! Dream! Live!
No one my age...
I was talking with someone the other day and they said, "...there is no one my age that wants to be as dedicated.." to the Lord as they used to be "back in the day." My friend was asking for prayer for a situation in his life and spoke sincerely of wanting God's direction and help. I promised to pray for him...and I have.
Here's something that came to me as I was thinking about my buddy's "no one my age" statement: There are few people of any age who want to be wholly devoted to the Lord Jesus. There are few who desire more than anything to follow his commands. That's the truth whether you're 23 or 46 or 97. Few choose to follow.
So if you're waiting for a crowd, you'll never start following. The crowd is going to follow their whims and their evil bent. But if you're looking for the greatest love that exists, if you're looking for a full life, choose to follow Jesus! Do what he commanded. Seek his direction every day and find the few others around you, whatever their age, who are attempting the same unpopular thing. You'll help encourage them and they'll keep you going.
Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (NIV)
To receive my once or twice weekly message via email, send a blank email to webmessage-subscribe@associate.com. Past messages are available at freegroups.net/groups/webmessage.
Here's something that came to me as I was thinking about my buddy's "no one my age" statement: There are few people of any age who want to be wholly devoted to the Lord Jesus. There are few who desire more than anything to follow his commands. That's the truth whether you're 23 or 46 or 97. Few choose to follow.
So if you're waiting for a crowd, you'll never start following. The crowd is going to follow their whims and their evil bent. But if you're looking for the greatest love that exists, if you're looking for a full life, choose to follow Jesus! Do what he commanded. Seek his direction every day and find the few others around you, whatever their age, who are attempting the same unpopular thing. You'll help encourage them and they'll keep you going.
Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (NIV)
To receive my once or twice weekly message via email, send a blank email to webmessage-subscribe@associate.com. Past messages are available at freegroups.net/groups/webmessage.
Praying for patients...
As an EMT... There are limits to what I can do medically for my patient on any given call. I can monitor his vital signs, administer oxygen, work to stop bleeding, assist breathing and a few other things. If I'm driving, I can drive quickly and safely to the hospital so he can get more advanced care. I joke with friends, telling them, "We put oxygen on people and drive really fast."
As a follower of Jesus...
I can do much more to care for my patient. I can bring God to the scene and into the ambulance. I can quietly plead for God's help and wisdom and protection - both for myself and my partners. I can silently ask for mercy and healing for every person under our care. I pray regularly for my patients when I'm called out to an emergency. (I've only prayed out loud with one person.) I pray for my friends when I'm not able to go with them to the scene.
As an EMT/follower of Jesus...
I urge you to pray to God when you hear sirens. Pray for the EMTs and their patients. Pray for firefighters who put their lives on the line to save people and property. And pray for the police as they serve the public. On behalf of all public safety officers, I thank you now for your support.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)