Posted by C. Holland on Mar 31, 2010
One of the struggles I’ve faced being a missionary is the fact that my evangelical Christian parents don’t approve of my choice. At all. While their initial reaction was understandable, I thought and prayed that perhaps their stance would soften over time. It has not. In fact, year by year they have increasingly rejected most contact I’ve tried to make. Conversations have become few and far between, and any mention I make of ministry here is met with stony silence and a quick topic change, so there’s not much to talk about after a few minutes. I am no longer kept “in the loop” about even serious things, like my father’s recent surgery, until there was a complication afterward. I’m very close to being disowned.
In no way am I making a sympathy grab here, just trying to explain that some parents take this very, very hard.
Because of this situation, every time I read in the Bible, “Honour your father and mother,” there’s a little pang of thought: Am I? If you asked them, I believe they would immediately answer a resounding “No!” However, after a lot of consideration of the situation, I have to respectfully disagree. Read More…
Posted by C. Holland on Mar 18, 2010
As I recently listened to a sermon on the Parable of the Vineyard Labourers (Matthew 20:1-16) the focus was obviously on the aspect of some being rewarded unequally compared to the efforts of others. However, it was in the middle of the sermon (and the passage) that I realised a parallel between the workers hired later and the fundraised missionary: working without knowing exactly what you will be paid.
If you notice, Jesus explains that the first set of workers had an agreed wage. The second, third and fourth set of workers are told they will receive “whatever was right at the end of the day” in verse 4. The fifth set of workers are told to join the others in the vineyard with no description of an agreed amount. Essentially, they are working without a contract. And so are we.
I’ve mentioned before some of the things we’ve learned about living on fundraised support (we’re also tentmakers for two-thirds of it, thanks to the unfavourable exchange rate and the ridiculous cost of living). The biggest thing I’ve learned is that fundraised living is an extreme exercise of faith and probably one of the biggest reminders of our immediate dependence on God.
Here are a couple of concepts I see in the parable: Read More…
Posted by C. Holland on Feb 16, 2010
My church elder was talking about the latest conference he attended. As he described the speakers and the books he bought, his face lit up when he remembered something. “They’ve got this brand-new approach that they’re trying now, and it shows a lot of promise. People in some areas are really excited about it. Have you heard of a Coffee Shop Ministry?”
Sigh. Yes. Ten years ago in the States.
I’ve been involved in ministry and church planting now for almost half of my life. It feels like the whole time has been peppered with the next new book, angle, approach, tool, technique, item or worship style. Every idea has the aura of “this is the thing that will really work”. And it seems like more conferences are popping up every year, each with their own subtle twist or perspective on how to “do church” the best way to get the best results. I fear I’m at the point of programme overload.
I’ve come to this point in my life for two reasons: 1) the sheer quantity of programmes over a long period of time are too much to process, and 2) seeing ministry in a different cultural context has made me realise how culture-specific virtually all of these approaches seem to be. I have no doubt that, for each of the methods or techniques available in ministry today, there is a place or people group that have responded really well and have become Christians through this. Praise God! I’m honestly glad that this has happened in that situation. But I’m startled by the attitude that most Christians have: “If it worked there, it’ll work here!” Read More…
Posted by C. Holland on Feb 12, 2010
Over at TheBodyBuilders.net, the latest newsletter focuses on the Top Five Mistakes in Support Raising. I really identified with #5 “Jumped in Without Preparation” on the aspect of thinking I just knew who would give. Just because someone is a wealthy Christian who adores missions doesn’t mean God will provide financial support for me through them, and I’m wrong to pre-judge anyone’s desire to give—or not. #3 “I Asked Too Timidly” resonates more with me and God than with me and financial supporters. I think that our mission field is such a tough one both spiritually and financially, and I didn’t want to “get my hopes up”, so I’d ask God that just a few people would show for worship. Or I expected to not get access to the tools I needed for ministry or even day-to-day living, and God provided it anyway. I’m not suggesting the Prosperity Path, but I think sometimes we can get dejected and swing very far the other way as if God can’t do anything and won’t provide at all.
As always, would love to hear in the comments your input on this and additional mistakes you’ve learned from your fundraising experience.
Posted by C. Holland on Feb 10, 2010
Early in our fact-finding trips to our mission field, we kept getting the sense that the nationals held a bit of a reservation about working with us. They were certainly friendly and accommodating, but their comments and facial expressions held a barely discernible air of skepticism. We knew that their interactions with a large majority of American missionaries had gone very poorly for a number of reasons, so we figured they were understandably hesitant to interact with us.
Fast-forward to about six months into living in the mission field, and the real reason for their hesitancy began to crystalise in my mind. We had been here long enough to watch several short-term mission teams funnel in and out of the church, plus there were several other long-term missionaries attached to help. Watching the interactions from the sidelines, I began to see what the nationals saw: most missionaries would only do ministry at arm’s distance.
This is going beyond the unfortunate handful of those with bad attitudes; actually, the majority were polite, respectful, and generally good people who were willing to help and work in many ways. Yet even in the group of good-natured, well-intentioned people, there still existed a trace element of distance from the nationals. Read More…
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