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Why We Do What We Do?

February 17, 2011 in church planting, missional, Sending Church with 3 Comments

Questions, Questions, Questions.

I’m a person that questions just about everything. Why is something the way that it is? Why are we doing what we are doing? Could there be a better way? Is this the right decision? Are we going about this in the right way? You get the picture. In fact some of you have been in settings with me when I have asked these questions.

One of my roles as a staff member has been to ask clarifying questions of our organization and team. These questions are to help us make sure we have thought through how and why we were making a certain decision and if it best for the church body. There were times when the questions were viewed as not being for a particular idea or direction that was proposed by a staff member or ministry division. When in reality I was fully supportive, we needed to think through the ramifications of how our actions and decisions would affect a large amount of people. Other times, I wasn’t for the idea being presented and rather than just say “NO” I wanted the person to come to the conclusion the idea wasn’t the way we needed to proceed. So many questions to be asked.

Well, the questions are still asked today. It seems that I am now on the receiving end of more and more of these questions.

Why did you leaving your position at LifePoint?

Why did you go to another country at this time in the lives of your children?

Why do you think you can make a difference in another country?

Do you really think that will translate here in this country?

That has never worked before, what makes you think it will work now?

Why is the/your church spending so much money to send people to other countries?

All of these questions need to be answered to make sure we are doing the “right thing the right way.” I ask myself many questions each day about what I am doing and why I am doing it. The Holy Spirit challenges me each moment with questions of importance, significance and motivation. Each of these questions has to be answered to make sure we are doing the “right things in the right way” with the “right motivation.”

Global Engagement

February 6, 2011 in Leadership, Mission, missional with 0 Comments

Desiring God had a really good post recently entitled 30 Ways to Awaken Your Congregation for the Cause of Global Engagement.

Points #7, #8, #9 of the blogpost ring true with me these days so I wanted to see them.

Incorporate world-aware prayers into your worship services, and encourage the formation of an accessible, missions-focused prayer group in the church (perhaps based on the book Operation World).

Visit your missionaries. Have people help them move, and regularly send teams to minister to your missionaries and potentially aid in the work. Missionaries are usually more inclined to share needs with a visiting church member than their field supervisor.

Commission individuals and teams when they go, and set up an avenue for them to report on their work to the rest of the church.

Check out the entire post here.

Updating and Changes are Coming

February 5, 2011 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Please excuse our dust around here. We are obviously undergoing some changes to the blog. Hopefully it will have a better appearance in a few days.

Brussels Life – Outdoor Markets

February 4, 2011 in Brussels Life with 2 Comments

I have been blogging a series of posts entitled Brussels Life. I am attempting to let you in a little bit of what life in the city is all about. I have blogged about the Metro system and man’s best friend previously.

Today, I want to let you experience one of my favorite things about Brussels life, the outdoor market. There are different markets scheduled and available for people to browse and shop in each day. In these markets you can purchase clothes, shoes, fruits, vegetables, meats and many other things you might want or need.

My family utilizes one of the markets in our community, Etterbeek. It is a wonderful market and full of fresh vegetables and fruit. I like to go there because you can observe a slice of life in the community and begin to get a feel for who lives in your community. It has been interesting to see the same vendors each week and imagine how and where they get the goods they sell. I am hoping to connect with a couple of the merchants in the days to come. This is a huge reason for our family going consistently to the same market.

Lots of pastries…

Fresh eggs…

Flowers….

Cheeses of all kinds…

Wonderful fruits and veggies…

Bon Appétit!

Brussels Life – Gone To The Dogs

February 2, 2011 in Brussels Life with 1 Comment

Dogs are almost an essential to life in Brussels.

Notice that I said “almost an essential,” because I do not have one and I am not looking to get one in the near future.

It appears that everyone has a dog of some sort and they love to take their dogs with them wherever they go during the day. I have seen dogs in the supermarkets, in the outdoor markets, in cafes, at the bank, in the mall and many other places. Most people are very friendly when you ask about their friend on the leash. It seems to be a good way to initiate a conversation with someone. But, by all means you must ask before petting or feeding another persons dog.

The dogs are mainly inside animals here in Brussels since there aren’t many homes with large backyards for their animals. So, when someone is out and about town you must watch where you step or you could bring home some of the after effects of your neighbors pet. Dog poop on the sidewalk and on my shoes is something I am not accustomed to seeing.

Man’s best friend is alive and well in Brussels.

Friday Fun Nights

January 30, 2011 in Belgium, Brussels Life, Family, Sending Church with 2 Comments

What does a family on a limited income and new to a city do for fun? This is a good question to ask.

We have been in Brussels for a short period of time (60 days) but we have tried to find inexpensive things to do on Friday evenings as a family. We have set ourselves a budget of 10 euros or less. Our family prefers free these days, but we know getting out and having a Coke or a coffee cost euros.

Here are a couple of the Friday night fun times we have had together.

Go to a local Christmas fair and walk around observing new cultural goods.

Going to IKEA and having .50 euro hotdogs and looking at all the compact living paraphernalia.

Ride the Metro to see local attractions at night. This trip was to see the Atomium.

Eating frites at a local stand is a hit with the family. (My mouth is full.)

Getting 2 desserts and a large bottle of water and sharing between 5 people. (I caught Peyton off guard.)

All in all, it is about our family being together and moving around the city that is the most fun. Friday night has already become a favorite time and something to look forward to after a hard week of language study.

What does your family do together that is inexpensive and leads to great memories?

It Can’t Be Done

January 21, 2011 in church planting, missional, Sending Church with 1 Comment

…Alone.

In this new (old) model or paradigm called Sending Church it is easy for people and churches to fall into the faulty thinking of “going alone”. Just as Paul traveled with Barnabas, Luke, Silas and others on his journeys, the church and the one(s) being sent do not go alone. Some people and some churches could look and think, “They (church x) have enough money to send people on their own.” Others might say, “If our church was that big….”, still others might say, “They are so brave to leave all they have.”

When in reality there isn’t a church with enough money to accomplish the task. There isn’t a church big enough to go alone and bravery will get you into trouble if that is all you are depending on to send or be sent. The Sending Church must have partners that work in concert with each other to accomplish the task given to them by God. The ones being sent must work together with others who are already sent to the same area to accomplish the task of seeing God’s glory made known to people who are far from Him. Organizations must share information, knowledge, wisdom and resources if the goal is to be reached.

In working with others we should hold true to the differences between our tribes (denoms), mobilizing organizations and fellow sent ones. But, we should also raise high the areas where we share commonality for the sake of the Gospel. We maximize our shared beliefs so the community will know we have a shared goal of seeing the gospel spread through a country.

I can not do it alone. I must partner with others.

Our church can not do it alone. We must partner with others.

I am so thankful for all the partners (US and International) that He has brought together to see His purposes accomplished.

Learning to Speak #*&@(!&$%!

January 17, 2011 in church planting, missional, Sending Church with 1 Comment

Actually, I want to learn to communicate.

I have found it hard to communicate in a world that uses a different language than the one I learned as a child. I speak a lot here in my new city, but I communicate very little. I have resorted to hand motions, miming (almost) and then writing out what I want to say only to realize I am writing in English. I haven’t felt this clueless in quite a while.

Everyday is getting better though. I continue to go to my language class and attempt to study so as to retain the information from that day. It is becoming evident that it takes a couple of days for the sounds to sink into my brain. Thus a pattern has emerged in my retention process. What is taught on Monday is becoming clear to me on Wednesday or Thursday. The only issue with this pattern is the class continues learning new words, sounds and concepts on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. So as you see I am running a few days behind in my acquistion of new material. I am grasping (quite literally sometimes) new concepts, sounds and words each day.

There are a few components to my language quest you might find interesting.

1. I attend language classes everyday (M-F, Monday through Friday…not masculine and feminine).

2. The language school has given each student access to an e-learning module to compliment the in-class work.

3. This week I will begin working with a language exchange partner. I am hoping the extra conversation will allow me to practice what I am learning in a more concentrated time frame with a natural Francophone.

But, I do all of this in hopes of one day being able to communicate the most life changing story known to man. Until then I will be miming at a corner near you very soon.

Language Smanguage

January 11, 2011 in church planting, missional, Sending Church with 3 Comments

Hi, Hello, Hey Y’all, What up, Check it out.

I have trouble speaking English correctly. Sure, I can speak and get my point across in English but there are times it is less than pleasing to the ears of grammarians.

I started French classes this week and I am way over my head humanly speaking. As someone who has trouble speaking in their “native tongue” and now trying to learn a “foreign tongue” seems a little odd I’m sure. But, it is very important for me to be able to communicate on a basic level with the people I am trying to live among. After all, shouldn’t we learn the language of the culture we live in so we can effectively communicate who we are and what we are about in life. Even in the United States where I could speak the same “heart language” there were different dialects, slang and cultural cues I needed to learn to effectively communicate myself to others.

Please remember our family as we learn new sounds, words and phrases that will surely help us communicate more effectively what we are about and who we are.

Au revoir! (That’s good-bye in French for all my southern friends)

Brussels Life – Metro

January 6, 2011 in Brussels Life with 3 Comments

Today, I am starting a series of posts I am calling “Brussels Life.” Each post will consist of pictures and a short explanation of how each subject is a part of life in the city. My hope is each picture and post will give you a small glimpse of life in Brussels.

The Metro is vital to life in the city. It is the main form of transportation for thousands of people commuting to and from work each day and for moving around the city. The subway system is a safe, clean, efficient and usually reliable form of transportation for a family. There are usually signs similar to this one at each entrance to the Metro. The blue sign signifies transportation is near.