Posted by C. Holland on Apr 28, 2009
A friend forwarded me a newsletter that he receives which deals specifically with missionary fundraising, both training and suggestions. The current issue suggests joining Facebook, if you haven’t already, then finding school friends or old acquaintances specifically to (in time) ask them to financially support your ministry as a missionary.
I’m not on Facebook, but I was on MySpace a couple years back and must admit that I tried just what they are suggesting. It didn’t work for me; perhaps it would work for others. Check out what the newsletter had to say below:
Facebook: The Support Raiser’s New Best Friend
Posted by C. Holland on Apr 25, 2009
One of our supporters showed up last week. We barely knew her, but she was planning a vacation to our mission field and thought it would be great to stop by and visit. Having gone through this before, we knew the drill what we would be asked and which areas would be key to show our supporter.
Because of the distance from where she was staying, an overnight stay with us made the most sense and we were happy to accommodate. We met up with her and began the tour. First we showed her the church that we work with, which is a Gothic-style, small building in need of repair. Despite the improvements and maintenance needed, it is a beautiful building, complete with stained-glass windows of angels and mortals looking up to heaven. Being American like us, our supporter was astounded by the church, partly because there aren’t too many like this in our home state.
After showing the surrounding areas and explaining the spiritual need of the country, we continued on to our house. As she walked through our place, it was then that she made the statement, with a smile, “I can’t call you a missionary!” Read More…
Posted by C. Holland on Apr 23, 2009
A good friend here in my mission field (a fellow American Christian who’s here for a secular job) recently had a great dialogue with me about why people find ministry so difficult in missions work. While our interaction was specific to our area, it did make me wonder if some of the following questions were posed to potential missionaries, either through their mission agency or their sending church.
No matter where your particular mission field may be, if you’re considering missions ministry (in the full-time sense), you might want to ask yourself the following questions.
In relationships, what if… Read More…
Posted by C. Holland on Apr 21, 2009
As we were preparing ourselves to enter the mission field, I was concurrently studying an unrelated topic at a secular university and was required to take an intercultural communications course. While the book and course were clearly aimed at the business student who may have to negotiate a deal abroad, I found that it helped me understand how an action or word usage so innocent in my culture could be interpreted by another culture as anything from rude to insulting to demeaning.
It was a broad-based book, covering multiple cultures by explaining how negotiating a deal in one particular culture required the first offer to be double of what you wanted because there was a mandatory first refusal. It was understood that your second offer would be rejected because culturally they would only accept on the third offer. Strange to someone from my culture, but if it’s explained and expected you could still be successful in the negotiation.
So when we were fact-finding in our part of Western Europe, we felt we had to ask the nationals’ opinions about what some missionaries had done wrong here to cause offence. And, boy, did we get a laundry list of slights, insults and other things, some of which were rude even from the States’ perspective, but much of it was lack of cultural sensitivity or understanding. As we were mentally keeping track of things not to do, most every person would always end their list with, “But don’t worry. Just be yourself.” Read More…
Posted by C. Holland on Apr 16, 2009
I’ve seen it before. Enter the new missionary to the field. As you get to know him or her, the conversation inevitably drifts to what they exactly intend to do here. “Just what I did back in the States,” he’ll say. “You know, I successfully planted X churches, several in some tough spiritual areas. I’ll just hire a Christian worship leader, run some ads in the paper and on TV, get some lights, run a few videos, and we’ll have hundreds the first week.” And they’ll have hardly anyone show, because this culture doesn’t respond to attractional events. With no other ideas than their usual formula, the shoulders shrug and they’re gone on the next plane.
Now, some haven’t had quite the swagger I described above (a few did, though), each one has had the same confused look at the end of their attempt. How could this not work, it says. It worked in so many other places. Why didn’t the people respond?
While I think we all wish for the “silver bullet” of how to win souls, I really don’t think it exists. Every situation is different, every group needs the Gospel in a way that they will understand. And if you’re not in tune with the needs of your particular area, an attempt by blind replication will fall incredibly flat. Read this review of “Sunday School Musical” from the blog Christ and Pop Culture to see an example of a non-Christian company trying to cash in on the Christian market by copying the wildly popular “High School Musical”.
So what’s a missionary to do in another culture when all you’ve known is how to do ministry in your homeland? Some thoughts: Read More…
Posted by C. Holland on Apr 14, 2009
After the Bible study, Marta asked to speak with me, away from the others. We’d been leading in this Baptist church in Western Europe for a few months now and were getting to know the regulars.
“I am confused,” she said in staccatoed English. “In Chile, I went to a Baptist church, too. And this is why I come to your church, because it is Baptist. But it is not like my church at home at all!”
Marta went on to describe the customs in her church in great detail, from the music to the worship style to the way the leadership evidently was heavily involved in the daily decisions that each member made. And she was right, it sounded nothing like how church was here. None of it sounded sacrilegious or wrong, just different and closer to how I suspect a Latin culture might praise God.
Her genuine confusion brought home the point that culture shapes our Christianity. Like Marta, I hadn’t anticipated how very different the Christian faith can look here in Western Europe compared to my West Coast experience in the States. I had expected perhaps a few minor changes, but melody changes to the same songs or traditions dictating when to stand to sing a song (here it’s about four beats before the group should sing, not immediately after the song is announced) had thrown me slightly.
Western Europe has seen a huge increase in immigrants, mostly from Third World countries. Many have little to no grasp of the English language. Because of all the prior mission work that’s happened in the 10/40 window, a good portion of these immigrants are evangelical Christians. And when they land here, they look for a church to join, which is a great thing. But it’s presented some interesting dilemmas in a country where less than 1% are evangelical Christian. Read More…
Posted by C. Holland on Apr 10, 2009
Finishing up Question Week:
What books/reading would you recommend to someone considering full-time mission work?
As referenced on our “So, You Want to Be a Missionary…” page, the book we considered invaluable to our journey was “Funding Your Ministry: Whether You’re Gifted or Not” by Scott Morton. We most certainly would have made several errors without it, and it includes honest talk about myths, mistakes to avoid, strategies, and a section for beginners. Especially helpful are communication techniques and money management ideas.
I’m curious about what book(s) have helped you on your journey (and we can all agree that The Bible should be on the list!).
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