Short Term Missions

I'm a fan. What can I say?

"How about WHAT you're a fan of," a random surfer could ask.

Well, random surfer, let me tell you what I like.

I like it when people take a period in their life and dedicate it to the Lord.

It is no secret that I support mission work. Today is Mission Monday if you needed any other hint. I've blogged frequently about Youth With A Mission (YWAM), a non-denominational mission organization that I did two training programs with in the 90's. (Yeah, way back then.)

When I was 18 I attended their Discipleship Training School (DTS) in Lakeside, MT. Even though they have these programs all over, the rustic mountain location was a great place to get away from distractions and spend time with God. We spent three months learning about God, His character and ways, His word, prayer, evangelism, and missions. This time changed my life, from letting me see the depth of the Father's love for me to His heart for the whole world to come to know Him.

Our school then did a two month outreach in Asia, with my team going to Thailand and the other to Taiwan. Now we put our newfound knowledge and experience to test in the real world. We went to parks and prisons to share about His freedom. We did acts of service and prayed for a demon-possessed man chained to a bare-bones hut in a remote village. We tried to love as best we could. We even played Christian music in a Thai disco on New Year's Eve. 

This changed my life forever in so many ways. I not only knew more about Jesus, I had experienced so much of Him. I got away from the small town in Idaho and saw the big, bad world. I learned that we are incredibly blessed in the West, and that there are tremendous needs around the world. Even though I have not been called (so far) to work overseas, my heart has been to shine a light on these needs to people here at home since going.

But this is not the biggest way that my life was changed by a short term mission trip.

My older sister, 15 years older, was often like a second mom to me. She got active in Campus Crusade for Christ while in college. She served a couple of summer outreaches with them, and became dedicated in her walk. At the time our family was not going to church back home. When my sister moved back for a while, she started taking me to the local Southern Baptist church where I got saved and ended up becoming a true disciple in my high school years.

If it weren't for her influence, and the influence of her short term trip, I may not be standing here today. (And I'm literally standing - I have this cool desk that elevates and...never mind)

This is why I'm an advocate for people to do some kind of trip or service to the Lord where they get away for even just a few months and dedicate it to Him. The rewards are more than you can imagine - IF you let it transform you, and you stay with the Lord.

It isn't a panacea to all problems. I have had friends who have done these trips and have not continued leaning on God afterwards, and they have had trouble in life. I've had my share of trials too, but by trying to stay close to Him, I have by His grace weathered every one so far.

YWAM is awesome, but it is not necessarily for everyone. There are many ways Christians could partake in the type of experience I am talking about today. I encourage anyone reading this to consider taking a similar opportunity if possible.

It may just change someone's life. Not just your own.

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Culinary Missions

I like hanging out with missionaries.

I admire anyone who puts their life on the line for what they believe. Now, they may not be risking life and limb directly, but the temptation to live the typical American (or Western) life is so great that they are making a distinct sacrifice. It encourages and enlivens me in my walk with the Lord.

Now, before this post gets off on high and lofty ideals, let me change directions.

Missionary stories inevitably end up talking about food.

There is a wide world out there, and there are so many foods throughout the world that every person with cross-cultural experience eventually has a food story.

These are some of the most entertaining stories you will hear.

They usually deal with some outrageous culinary item that a Westerner can't fathom eating. The classic story involves balut, a fertilized duck or chicken egg that has been left in the sun for several days before serving. It is common in the Philippines especially, but I haven't had the honor.

This will probably be the grossest picture ever on this blog

I spent two months in Thailand, so we did have our share of food adventures. The street vendors made wonderful fresh smoothies, but we could only drink them if we ordered them mai sik glua, "no salt". They packed them with so much salt it was undrinkable to our taste buds. Why? I don't know. This was a tame one, to be sure.

Australia promised to be calmer, despite the reputation of Vegemite. But I made some Filipino friends there, and those sneaky guys got me eating fermented shrimp eggs. Bagoong if you're curious.

My mission experience was all with Youth With A Mission (YWAM), and if you get some YWAMers together, we will eventually come around to the various horrendous/unbelievable/crazy foods we encountered. Usually during dinner. Non-YWAMers in the group didn't finish their meals, typically.

It is fun to talk about it, but it does come back to humility and laying down our rights. When we are willing to accept someone else's hospitality and try something that doesn't come naturally to us (some things were most unnatural!), it is a dying to self. Missionaries risk offending the very people they came to serve, so more often than not, it is down the hatch.

So here's a light-hearted Mission Monday. To all the missionaries who have had to swallow something they never thought should be made into a food product - you are showing in a small way sacrificial love.

And guts.

By the way, that probably was what you were eating...
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A Guide To Prayer

 Many people would like to pray for missions, other countries, and different prayer needs. Where can you find such information?

One tool I know about provides this and a whole lot more.

Youth With A Mission produces a Personal Prayer Diary each year. It comes in a nice day planner with areas for notes, calendars, articles about Kingdom issues, as well as information about every country and specific prayer highlights each month. The diary also has a Bible reading plan that takes one through the Old and New Testaments once and Psalms and Proverbs several times.

The diary also includes an encouragement to pray for the Seven Spheres of Influence that I've talked about before. Each day of the week is reserved to lift up concerns regarding Church and Religion, Family, Government and Law, Education, Science/Health/Environment, Business, and Media and the Arts.

I've used this for years, although often sporadically. This year I am committed to diligence in praying for the daily topics. I know many people are tied to their electronic devices, but this slim and durable book is a more than a planner - it has the potential to impact the world if people use it to pray for the nations.

Right now they're only $11.89 at the World Christian store, and I've seen it listed on Amazon as well. Check it out if you'd like a simple way to make a difference!
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Holiness and Leslie Nielsen

"Surely you can't be serious!"

"I am serious. And don't call me Shirley."

The Net was abuzz this week with the sad passing of Leslie Nielsen, the actor who defined the slapstick genre of movies with Airplane!, the Naked Gun series, and numerous other movie spoofs. What a great story. The guy was in the movie machine back in the 50's as a standard handsome leading man, and then was able to find success in his love of comedy after Airplane! took off (groan) in 1980. My mom's name was Shirley, so we always loved that joke and played off of it and the irony for her saying it.

A child of the 80's, I really enjoyed these movies. The slapstick and play on of words were great, but there were lots of things I didn't get watching them initially as a teenager (I was rather naive, thankfully). There's a ton of sexual innuendo, but I didn't understand much of it. I thought they were harmless movies.

In 1991 I went on a Discipleship Training School with YWAM. We had three months of training in Montana, learning about the character and ways of God, the Bible, prayer, evangelism, worship, etc. Then we had a two month practical outreach in Thailand. It was a such an investment for me to make, right out of high school. It really changed so much of my perspective, from learning so much about God and who He is, to seeing the bigger world and all the needs out there. Quite a perspective for this Idaho boy.

What does this have to do with Leslie Nielsen? It's not a cheap attempt to draw search engine traffic here. On the flight back from Thailand the movie was The Naked Gun 2 1/2 (gotta love the 1/2!). I had watched it prior to the DTS and thought it was hilarious. Something was different this time. I saw so much that went against God's standards and ways. It was like I had a different lens to look through, and there was so much junk in it. Maybe it was that my internal lenses were cleaned, and I could see garbage for what it was.

I didn't enjoy it the second time, and I think I ended up not watching the rest of the movie.

Leslie Nielsen was a remarkable comedic actor, with great timing and funny faces galore. Still, those movies too quickly went for lowest common denominator humor. As an immature 17 year old, it was awesome. After spending 5 months pursuing the Lord in a concentrated manner every day, it was repulsive. The show didn't change. I did.

I think of that experience sometimes when I see what goes on in popular culture. I wasn't trying to be holier-than-thou about it, but it was a natural response after getting close to Him. I'm sad to say that I probably am not bothered by a lot of things I watch anymore, because I have to live in "real life" and don't have the time to dedicate to Jesus like I did in those days. When you get to live like that, then your spiritual sensitivity naturally goes up.

I have no excuse for not being there now. I could do a lot better in my relationship with the Lord, even though the DTS was a special time that is hard to replicate in the day to day of living.

So strange as it may seem, when I think of Leslie Nielsen, I think of holiness. I am reminded of such a wonderful time in my life. And I think of Shirley. A laugh, a tear, and a sigh mixed together.

Thanks for the chuckles, Mr. Nielsen, and for the memories. Here's hoping God's grace finds you.
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Book Review - The Book that Transforms Nations

My friends and regular readers of this blog believe that the Bible is a special book.

If we only knew how much...

I recently finished The Book That Transforms Nations, the latest book by Loren Cunningham. He is the founder of Youth With a Mission, and if there's anyone who is qualified to write this book, it is him. He has ministered in EVERY country on Earth, as well as numerous territories that don't count as countries but are distinct areas nonetheless (how many of you have been to Pitcairn Island?).

The book has a straightforward structure. The first part of the book explains the problem, especially in the West, of our turning away as a society in general from God's Word. He then spends a majority of the book describing ways the Bible has been used to transform cultures, from whole countries like Norway and South Korea to Calvin's Geneva and yes, Pitcairn Island. Third, he describes how what we believe about God affects how we act in life, and shows how exceptions to the rule actually prove his point, with examples such as Japan and Latin America. Finally, he casts a vision on how we can get the Word out there.

We don't hear stories anymore of the way God has transformed societies. I was impressed by Hans Nielsen Hauge, the Norwegian who skied to much of Norway spreading the Word, and the difference it made in that land. We may know a little about William Carey and his ministry in India, but I didn't realize the extent of work done there.

Some of this information isn't all that new. The idea that how we believe about God affects our culture comes admittedly from Francis Schaeffer (and it isn't necessarily original with him). Loren touches on the various areas of culture that shape it, the Seven Spheres of Influence, which I have blogged about (after learning them from YWAM). There could be more practical information about how to do what the book is trying to promote: getting the Word out to people and let it transform hearts.

Still, Loren (and his sister Janice Rogers, who has written other books with him) has an easy style to read, and he excels at getting the reader excited about the proposition in the book. I finished and was immediately ready to start tossing Bibles on co-workers' desks (however, I believe I would better serve the Lord by staying employed for a longer term basis).

What really challenged me was page 198, where he talks about how easy we have it to finish the job, as previous generations had to hand copy the Bible, and travel by foot or animal to get it anywhere. Modern technology puts reaching the whole world with the gospel as a doable goal in our lifetime! His challenge is that "our willingness to obey the Lord and move out is the only real limitation" (p 198).

I encourage anyone who has a love for Jesus and His Word, and a desire to see our country and the other nations changed to check out this book.

Bible Study Resources

The best 9 month investment of my life was spent reading a book 5 times.

Back in 1995 (getting farther all the time...) I was privileged to go to the School of Biblical Studies through Youth With a Mission in Canberra, Australia. Yes, we basically read the Bible five times through those nine months.

We learned the Inductive Bible Study method, which places an emphasis on learning the literary and historical context for the book of the Bible one studies, and reading the text and listening to what it says. It is contrasted with Deductive Bible Study, where one goes to the text with a preconceived idea and tries to find support for it in the Bible.

Those nine months did more for me in grounding me in the Word, and was invaluable to this day. Now I have found that it can be a resource for anyone.

There is a website entitled "The SBS Podcast" that gives downloadable teachings from some of the key leaders in the SBS system. You can download them directly from the site, and you can also subscribe to it through iTunes.

I highly recommend this resource for foundational Biblical study. There are topics from the Trinity, to Israel in New Testament times, to specific teachings on books of the Bible. I have a longtime personal friend as one of the teachers, and Ron Smith, who runs the SBS program within YWAM, has been a Bible teacher and author for years.

Oh, and the best thing: it's free.

I encourage anyone interested to check out this great free resource for the Body of Christ. YWAM's motto is, "Know Him and make Him known." One of our best ways of knowing God is through His Word.
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The Land of Smiles

I can't believe that it was almost 18 years ago that I spent 2 months in Thailand with Youth With a Mission. It was an amazing time of formation for me, being fresh out of high school. I changed from a wide-eyed Idaho boy to a wide-eyed Idaho boy with a sense that there is a big world out there that needed Jesus. The Thai people were incredible to be around, and I've never forgotten the experience.

A couple from our outreach team showed true sacrificial love by staying behind in Thailand on a long-term commitment. In that time they've just become the directors of YWAM Thailand. Thanks to Facebook, I've been in a little contact with them, and I'm so excited how far they've come in their ministry to Thailand. God has kept me State-side for the time being, but that doesn't mean I can't support them from afar.

Thailand is about 95% Buddhist, although for them it is very much a cultural identity. To be Thai is to be Buddhist, it is said. However, there is a strong mix of ancestor worship and spiritism as well. There is a sizeable Muslim population in the south, with some occasional breakouts of violence, and few Christians. Thailand has been a hard place for missions for a long time.

It is known for its beauty and its corruption. Thailand immediately conjures up images of beaches, the tsunami of 2004, and human trafficking and red light districts. There have been frequent governmental upheavals. It is know as the "Land of Smiles" because the people are very friendly and hospitable, but it belies a deep need under the surface.

My YWAM friends have called for 40 days of prayer for Thailand. It started at the beginning of this month, but it is never too late to pray. I'm asking for my friends and interested people to remember Thailand in your prayers for the next month or so. God can speak prayer needs to your heart. If you are still wondering about how to pray, a suggestion would be to pray through the Seven Spheres of Influence that shape a society:

Family/Home

Church/Religion

Government

Education

Arts/Culture/Entertainment

Business/Commerce

Media

I was also referred to Bless Thailand, where they are slowly translating a prayer guide into English. If you've been to another country, you know that it sticks with you. I want the Father's heart for Thailand, and I hope the people there will open their hearts to the love He has for them in this season.

Thanks for praying! Bless you.

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My Treasure

I came across this while cleaning out some files. I thought I'd share it, rather than have it sit around. I wrote it in 1995 while I was in the School of Biblical Studies with Youth With a Mission in Canberra, Australia.

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Lord, where is my treasure? It is not where it should be. I had it all in hand, so that You would not have to worry about me.

I considered, "What will be the best? I do want to take care." Perhaps it would be wise to spread my treasure around. "Diversify," the money-man says. And if some disappears, I will have the rest to come back to, in my need of the days.

So I proceeded with my plan. I looked about, and I saw people cross my gaze. What a beginning-my fellow man. I then gave of my treasure: a man, a woman, relationships special and dear. But when I came searching, there was none to be found. Portions were gone, not to be returned, others strewn on the ground. "I am fortunate though, I have more." So I moved to my next trove.

What will make a mark in this world? What I can do, my knowledge, my talents, my potential. Of course I deposited a cache there. It was all in my power. But treasure was lost in each dream unfulfilled. Who can reach all their expectations? Not one, I'm afraid. More treasure in ruin, and less to get me by.

"I must take care of myself," was another consideration of mine. We only have one body to carry us through. It made sense, therefore, some treasure would stay with me. My strength, my mind, my pleasures were investments of sure benefit. Yet I am just flesh and mortal, no force in my own. The tears and the years each steal their own share. And from all of my efforts, my treasure was gone.

Lord, please tell me what happened! I thought my treasure was so secure. This was not supposed to take place; now all I am is broken.

My Lord spoke to me, "My child, now you will see. It is not in yourself that your treasure is protected. You were never asked to defend and stand your ground. My heart, My hand has always been available to cover what is precious to you. But only in your point of loss would you realize your fraility.

Now your treasure will be laid up in heaven-from My throne it will be guarded. It was never a burden for me, to be the watcher of your soul. Now you can rest in My delight, and know that you will find My inheritance for you!"

Inspired by the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verses 22-34.

Donations for YWAM Arvada for Shooting Victims

Here is a note from YWAM Arvada's accounting department. I asked them how we could give to support YWAM and the families in this tragedy. I want to remind people that YWAMers all serve as volunteers, raising support from their churches and family to go on these mission trips or to be on staff. I'm sure that there have been extra costs the Arvada center to deal with issues from this event. The families of the victims have extra bills, and there is a scholarship now established in the name of Phillip Crouse and Tiffany Johnson. See the note below. I know there are so many financial obligations and possibilities to give at this time. I only ask you prayerfully consider joining me in donating.

Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers at this time. We are grateful for your desire to pray for us and to also help meet some of the immediate financial needs for the families. We have established three separate funds that you can give towards:

1) Victims Assistance Fund (to help family needs in re: to burial, etc.)

2) Phil & Tiffany Scholarship (for future students wanting to do missions)

3) YWAM Denver Emergency Fund

If you would like to give, you can do it in the following ways:

1) Check

Please make all checks payable to “Youth With A Mission Denver.” Mail the checks to 12750 W. 63^rd Ave/Arvada, CO 80004 with a note designating it to the fund you would like it to go to.

2) Credit Card

We take Visa, Master Card, and American Express

You can call our accounting office at (303) 424-1144 or via email at accounting (at) ywamdenver (dot) org.

Thank you for standing with us at this time of need. It is deeply appreciated.

Service for YWAM Arvada Staffers

So much focus goes on the killer in these type of things, and I despise that. Denver Post has a touching article on the two YWAM staff members who were senselessly killed this weekend. Here's to Tiffany Johnson and Philip Crouse - may you always rejoice in your Creator who loves you and will never leave you. We'll see you soon.

More on Colorado Christian Shootings

Since I first blogged about this, there was a second shooting, this time at New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Two more victims died at the church shooting, while the gunman there was shot by a security guard. The authorities are investigating to see if the two events are connected. More information is from this MSNBC link.

I've had an amazing number of hits on this blog since news broke. To fellow YWAMers, I offer a heartfelt greeting and hope you are encouraged wherever God has you at this time.

I was thinking this morning that there may be a lot of extra things going on at YWAM Arvada. If any reading this is not familiar with Youth With a Mission, it is a volunteer organization where all the staff and students pay their own way to serve. There are always "adventures in faith and finances" at YWAM due to this policy, as many times people are following the leading of the Lord and walking in faith. So many people have stories of God's faithfulness in finances and His provision.

I would encourage anyone who feels led to consider contacting YWAM Denver to donate to the mission organization to help them with extra costs incurred in this tragedy, and as a way to honor the memory of Tiffany Johnson and Philip Crouse. As I get more information, I'll post it here.

As an aside, an AP article about YWAM was posted. I think it is pretty fair and explains things well overall. Having been misquoted in the media a couple of times, you always wonder how things will come out in print.

Pray for Victims of YWAM Colorado Shooting

"Once a YWAMer, always a YWAMer."

Many groups can say this, but attending a program through Youth With a Mission is always life-changing. This is why my heart is so heavy today as I read about the shooting that occurred at a YWAM training center in Arvada, Colorado. It happened early in the morning of 12/9/07. So far there are two staff members confirmed dead, and two others wounded. One of the wounded is in critical condition and is slated for more surgery today.

It is always a tragedy when innocent life is taken, no matter the circumstances. I have prayed for the families of the Omaha mall incident earlier this week, and I also grieve for those who go missing in large cities anonymously every day. It is unavoidable that some situations hit us more as individuals than others.

I was just looking over pictures of my own time in YWAM, so the thought of what those young people were doing when this happened is very fresh in my mind. As of this writing, the killer has not been apprehended, and there is little information as far as motive.

Please pray for the families of those who were injured and killed. Pray for the healing of the wounded. Pray for justice. Pray for those who have survived and the people in Arvada. Pray for YWAM, as a global family they will be grieving as well.

Lord, we don't know why these things happen. We don't understand. But we can trust in Your great faithfulness, grace, and mercy. I pray for the wounded to be healed by Your touch. I pray for those who died, that they will realize the reward You have prepared for them. I pray that Your strength will be evident to all those at the YWAM Arvada center and for YWAMers around the world.

In Your great name Jesus, Amen.

For more information, see the MSNBC link, and YWAM has limited information at this time.