Getting Perspective on The Grand Trunk Express

There is not much reason to take the train these days. If time is a part of the financial equation, then taking a two and half hour flight makes more sense than a thirty-two hour journey to the same destination. But, not everything in this world has to be gauged by dollars and cents, or maybe shouldn’t. So I boarded the Grand Trunk Express from Chennai to Delhi, knowing that the two-night one day excursion would be long but certainly more interesting than sitting on a plane just looking at the back of the head of someone sitting in front of me.

As we pulled out of the station the first evening, the weather outside was hot and humid. Inside the compartment it was so cold I had to close the overhead vents. The porter came in and made my bed while as we passed a number of people sleeping on railway platforms and on the side of the busy roads. My fellow travelers were upper middle income as we journeyed through the countryside of people who live on less than $2 a day. The contrasts in this country are so prevalent that few people even notice. Imagine, on the same train there are those who paid $100 for a first class coach, while in the back of the train, which is the largest section of travelers, they paid less than $10 for the same trip, but had to sleep on flat bench, if the are lucky, on the floor or, more likely, sitting up, leaning on others in a the overcrowded bogies.

Throughout the day I gazed outside my window and thought of this interesting country. My mind, of course, thought about the people who live in the villages along the rail lines. I watched a woman drop a bucket in a well to draw water, little children flying kites near a polluted swamp and wondered what the old man was thinking as he watched the lumbering train pass not more than 20 yards from his house? The further we traveled north I saw more Moslem mosques, big and small Hindu temples but very few churches.

I’ve been in this business a long time, perhaps too long. I no longer get emotionally sappy about the poverty or spiritual needs of the masses. The years and miles have moved me from being naïve idealist to a critical realist. I rejoice with every mouth that is fed, every child that is educated, every sinner who becomes a saint. But the reality of this country is that, statistically, the percentage of Christians ten years from now will be less than its present. A population steeped in superstition and whose highest goal is achieve higher status, if the Indian changes his/her faith, it will be more likely to the gods of multi-national corporations, not the God of heaven. The foreign God of Christianity may be the stated offence of Hindu’s, but the foreign god of wealth and material goods is most certainly a faith they readily embrace.

The Almighty, fortunately, is not limited by my skepticism or the hyperbole of those who think they are making an impact on the society with their uncritical outreach programs. God will do what only God does -- use the good, the bad and the silly to bring honor unto Himself. Perhaps more people should take a ride on the Grand Trunk Express to get perspective on the reality of life and to reflect on how He can best use us in the grand scheme of things.

The Challenge of Conversion

In training cross-cultural workers in India, I always ask a new class this question: “How many of you come from a Christian background; your mother and father were Christians?” Without exception, 95% of those I teach people grew up in the church. Occasionally there will be a student who came to Christ from a Hindu background, but it is rare. This month one young man in my class told me he came to Christ out of a Buddhist family. Very rare indeed.

Why is this important? Because most of those I teach have never struggled through the issues of changing their belief. While they are being trained and sent to take the Gospel to those who do not know Christ and to convince them that Jesus is indeed the “way, truth and the life,” they themselves have never experienced the trauma of conversion.

It is no easy thing for someone to leave a cultural/religious belief and embrace another faith. In many cultures to accept Christianity is deny your family and cultural heritage…punishable by ostracism and even death. In some societies, for a person to embrace the Gospel is seen as an act of disrespect to parents, an offence that is greater than murder. I asked my Buddhist background student what his family thought of his conversion and he confessed that he made the decision after his father and mother had passed away. For some cultures, which have a strong family consciousness, to convert may even cause the death of their ancestors who live in the spirit world.

Conversion is challenging worldview assumptions. It is the greatest challenge any witness of Christ will ever face. I contend that, while the Gospel is simple, the presentation of the Gospel cross-culturally is not. We dare not be glib as we tell others to forsake all others and follow Christ. Accepting Jesus as Lord is through faith, but many times that faith is greater than a mustard seed.

Reaching The Other 87%

R and S are a couple who live in Delhi. He is an educator; she is a stay-at-home mom who is also a great vocalist. S grew up in a upper middle income, high caste family and through her many contacts and network, presents musicals to the elite class of India, including political figures Though they have both lived and worked in the U.S. they made the decision to remain in India.

R often reminds me that, though he makes his living as a teacher, his ministry is doing what he can to reach out to unbelievers as well as disciple new followers of Christ. R is now working for a group of investors, none which are Christians, in establishing an English medium school. Though R is an accomplished teacher and speaker, his pulpit is not in a church, but in the board meeting with investors and his interaction with the local community where the school project will be launched.

Recently a friend of S fell seriously ill, to the point of death. A young woman in her thirties, this Hindu friend is out of ICU, but her prognosis and recovery is still tentative. It’s during this time that S has been with her friend, sometimes all night at the hospital. As S ministers to her friend, through kindness and prayer, S hopes that the crisis of life will be an opportunity for her friend to really hear and understand the Jesus she has been talking to her about all her life.

Eight-seven percent of the 3.6 billion people who live in Asia do not personally know a Christian. How will they be reached? Not by another strategic missionary plan, or having a conference on how to have a people movement. The task seems impossible. However, if every believer in their workplace and community would just get to know non-Christians and be friends with those who do not follow Christ, those who have never heard the Gospel will at least have a chance to understand our faith. R and S are neither passive nor militant in their service for Christ. They merely serve Him faithfully each day where they are and in what they do.

How to Reach the Unreached

A recent survey, published in Evangelical Mission Quarterly, reports that 87% of Muslims, Buddhist and Hindus living in Asia (3,624,484.000 people) do not personally know a Christian. By regions, in Africa 26.2% of unbelievers, people of another religion or have no religion at all, know a Christian; in Latin America 89.9%, Europe 75.3%, North America 78.8%. The study concluded what we have read before, that 90% of ministry resources, people and money, are directed to those who have already heard the message of Christ, and a great deal of those resources are dedicated to those who have already accepted the Gospel. Interesting study, what does it mean?

For me, first, it means that we, the Church, need to continue to evaluate our outreach strategy. As we look at missions within our local congregation, how much of our mission dollars and people are going to those 3.6 billion people who have never even had a contact with a believer? While Gospel literature, schools, orphanages and youth camps are important; do those activities and programs actually translate into believers coming in contact with non-believers? These statistics suggest that missions and missionaries are more inclined to be occupied in a project of outreach rather than actually being involved as a personal witness.

Secondly, it is a challenge for people, like me, who work with national missionaries and pastors, to teach them to understand the importance of building relationships with non-Christians in their communities. This problem of ecclesiastical isolationism is universal. Throughout the world the church continues to be a “holy huddle,” spending more time with people of like-faith rather than developing a personal relationship with those who have no understanding of who Jesus is. Giving a tract, showing the Jesus film to the masses are okay, but those efforts pale in comparison with the power of personal relationships, which is how most people of this world come to a real understanding of Christ and His salvation.

Question? Do you personally know a Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist where you live? Are they a part of your network of friends? Indeed, for those who live in the U.S., in your network of friends, do you know non-believers? The hope of the world lies in the hands of each one of us as we live and work each day among those who have never heard.

CBMT #3 -Training for the Long Haul

Though the number of career North American missionaries will continue to decrease, due to the expansion of the national church as well as the high cost of Western missionary personnel living overseas, people still do commit themselves to long-term service. Many of these folks end up going to Bible Colleges and Seminary for ministry preparation, but there are few specific areas of training that I believe needs more focus before they sell their worldly goods and move to a foreign country.

Family Life - In the studies on attrition one of the main reasons career people quit is because of family issues – stresses within the marriage, children’s lack of adjustment, school problems and the lack of feeling at home in a country where you are always an outsider. Raising a family in your home country is tough enough. Magnify those stresses of those living overseas and it becomes even more of an issue. CBMT should invest a great deal more time with couples discussing expectations and realities on the field. Where will the family live? What will be their lifestyle? Will the kids be home schooled or attend a national school? (And if home schooled, are the parents equipped to be both teachers as well as parents?). In the past year in Asia I witnessed four families, all from the same mission agency, crash and burn. Two of the families left within six months of arriving, one couple switched fields of service and another is just returning from three months of counseling. To raise a family in a foreign country is not easy, and the turnover among expatriates, whether in business, government or ministry, usually hinges on how well families are prepared for field assignment. CBMT should screen their long-term families well before commissioning them for service.

Spiritual Formation - In every field I have lived, the one area of concern that I’ve observed, for me personally as well of others, was spiritual vitality. Living among a people who have poor education, speak a different language and who are, for the most part, not yet spiritually mature, makes it difficult maintaining personal spiritual growth. Just because someone is “in the work” everyday doesn’t make them spiritually developed. In a recent survey, conducted by a friend of mine, he received over two hundred anonymous responses as it relates to spiritual health. Forty-eight percent of the respondents confessed they had visited pornographic websites. I was surprised to learn that one in three of those who visit adult websites are women. One of the greatest challenges of every Christian is their own spiritual well-being. There seems to be little guidance or tools to help missionaries on the field to feed themselves spiritually. More people come home off the field because of spiritual problems than not being able to adjust to a foreign culture.

Finding One’s Niche - I know this point is redundancy as I have talked about it often. However, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of knowing what to do before going to the field. One of the reasons people do not last on the field is because (1) they are doing nothing because they don’t know what to do or, (2) they are doing busy work just to remain on the field. Passion for missions has its place, but zeal without knowledge is a sure recipe for failure. Pre-field training can help a missionary family understand what credible role they can play in a cross-cultural context. Even if a person is not 100% sure of their role before they leave, pre-field training will guide the person in how to discover their niche.

My challenge to those churches that have decided they are going to send their own to the mission field, either through short-term projects, partnering with nationals or sending career people from their congregation, that they be passionate about equipping people properly for cross-cultural ministry. Obviously, if I can help with your CBMT, I would be delighted to do so.

Level Two - Church Based Missionary Training

Level two mission service has the potential for being the most profitable, for both the national church as well as the intern missionary. Committing to a one or two year service shows a stronger sense of engagement in world missions than just a one or two week visionary trip. But, like all levels of cross-cultural ministry, pre-field training should be a part of equipping process.

Because the field assignment is longer, obviously the training should also be more focused as well as thorough. The subjects covered for short-term people, worldview, ethnocentrism, mission economics, x-cultural communication, interpersonal relationships, should certainly be taught, but in greater depth. In addition to these basic courses, the following should be a part their training program:

Cultural Anthropology - A missionary intern truly has an opportunity to learn while on the field. Though they will have ministry responsibilities, it would be ideal if they could use their time to learn about culture, not just experience it. Pre-field training in basic cultural anthropology provides tools for learning culture. People often say to me, “I’d like to study and learn culture, but I don’t know how.” One area of my teaching is helping students learn the questions of culture and helping them understand how to apply what they have learned in presenting the Gospel. I’m not objective on this issue. I believe the study of culture is absolutely imperative.

Working With National Leaders – Style of leadership is a popular topic in America. There are more books written about leadership in business and the church than most any other subject. The challenges of working with leadership across cultures can be even more demanding. I have known interns who after a year on the field completed their assignment with satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. I’ve also seen the other side of an internship that left both the intern and national host unhappy, bitter and negative. The study of cross-cultural leadership will insure that time on the field is a positive rather than a negative experience.

Learning Your Role - The sub-title of my book, The Journey of a Post-Modern Missionary is, Finding Ones Niche In Cross-Cultural Ministry. To me, job satisfaction is a key to whether a person or family will be effective in their service for Christ overseas. One of the advantages of a one/two year internship has is they can use that time to find out where they are gifted and how they can fit on the field. However, before they go on a field assignment they should be coached on the role of an intern. Assumptions are usually the cause of misunderstanding as well conflict. A good pre-field study of status and role will be invaluable before launching out to regions beyond.

Having a coach or mentor on the field to guide the intern would be ideal. Unfortunately, there are not many situations where there are people on the field who can or will take on the task of a teacher. This reality makes pre-field training even more essential.

Though the day of the career missionary is almost extinct, if someone goes to the field and remains over 10 years it is an accomplishment. I still believe the most effective cross-cultural worker are those who make a long term commitment, and for those people there needs to be training for the long haul, which will be the subject of the next post.

Church Based Missionary Training: Make A Plan

Stanley Davies writes, “The fundamental meaning of effectiveness is the achievement of planned results.” So, the question is, what’s the plan for Church Based Missions (CBM) and Church Based Missionary Training (CBMT)?

In this discussion series we acknowledge that the trend of missions in the U.S. today are local churches depending less on denominational and para-church mission organizations in sending missionaries and instead sending their own. Whether the mission project is a ten-day excursion or sending out career missionaries from their own congregation, CBM continues to grow in popularity. It’s estimated that between 2 and 4 million American’s go on mission trips each year. It’s important that there be a plan for CBM, but setting that issue aside, today’s topic is developing a plan for CBMT. Though not exhaustive, the graphic above is a starting point in addressing what should be taught through Church Based Missionary Training.

Short-Term Missionary Training - Even if a person is going to a field for a week or a month, there are certain things everyone should be aware of before landing in a foreign country. First, a crash course in cross-cultural communication is imperative. Issues of male and female interaction, touching, tone of speech and even eye contact has cultural implications. Second, understanding how other people see their world is vital. Though on this planet of over 6 billion, we humans share common experiences, not everyone sees the world as we do in the West. How do others see their world and what difference does it make? Third, the problem of cultural bias is an important issue to address before going to another country. Ethnocentrism is a subtle attitude of superiority/inferiority. It’s a problem with career missionaries and therefore important to talk about if one is only going to visit a country for two weeks. Fourth, the issue of money is always a concern, especially if the short-term project is in a developing country. Should American’s be open handed in giving clothes, food and/or money to a national church? Can generosity be a bad thing?

Good training goes beyond a study of behavior. It’s not what people do in other countries that’s important, but why they do it. Good CBMT for short-term groups should be at least a 20 hour classroom intensive, spanning at least a month, with reading and research requirements. For the best CBMT find a trainer who has lived through the experience of field missions and not just a short-term expert.

The longer the period of time on the field, the more training should be required. We will look at the second level of training next time. In the meantime, I invite readers to weigh in on this topic. What training do you think is important for short-term missions? What model have you seen that works?

Church Based Missionary Training

Most of us in the U.S. are familiar with the Holiday Express commercials. A man enters the operating theater wearing the scrubs of a surgeon and dazzles the nursing staff with his expertise with a knife on the patient on the table. When asked about his credentials he confesses that he’s not a doctor, but he did sleep at a Holiday Express the night before. The commercial implies that if one gets a good nights sleep at the their hotel they will feel so good the next morning that they can perform any task.

Sometimes local Church Based Missions (CBM) reminds me of the Holiday Express commercials. Feeling good about taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth is not enough to qualify people to server cross-culturally. Surgeons need to be trained to cut open a body cavity, so too, does a missionary need training in presenting the message of Christ in a different cultural context.

For those who have read my book, The Journey of a Post Modern Missionary, you will remember my story that I entered the mission field without any cross-cultural training. I, like probably 95% of my colleagues, were trained in pastoral ministry, i.e. how to exegete the Scriptures, a few tips on evangelism (from a mono-cultural Western perspective), but with no idea of how to take that message and make it relevant to Hindu’s, Muslims or Animist’s. It is shocking to me that still today there are people sent out with little to no training in cross-cultural studies. If the trend is CBM, then there needs to be a concentration in Church Based Missionary Training (CBMT).

The standard questions of, Who, What, Where, Why and How is a good place to begin in this discussion of CBMT. We’ve briefly discussed the Why, now let’s look the other elements of CBMT.

WHO needs training? Everyone who is going overseas for a cross-cultural ministry. Whether a person is going for one week or as a career, everyone benefits from training. Obviously the longer time commitment for overseas work will necessitate more training, but even teen-agers and college students going out for two-week excursions need training.

WHAT should a training curriculum look like? Understanding culture, basics of cross-cultural communication, tips and taboos when going overseas should be the essentials. Other subjects, depending on the focus of the trip would include, the role of short-term missions, dynamics of religion, and interpersonal relations. For a church that is serious about training, a college level curriculum (semester or modules) can be developed which would include an in-depth study of social organization of a particular people group, epistemology and how to live overseas.

WHERE should training take place? Not all people want or need to attend seminary or Bible College. The time and expense of second-career people going to the few training missionary centers in the U.S. are often cost prohibitive. If a church is committed to CBM, they should also be committed to CBMT and need to develop a structure for equipping those they are launching into cross-cultural work.

HOW can it be done? Find the right people to do the training and create a budget to provide the needed training. Bring in experts in for a weekend, a week or two weeks for intensive training. It’s a great deal more cost efficient to find qualified teachers to do training in-house than require members to enroll in a program where the subjects are irrelevant or necessitates the family to leave their jobs and home for three months.

The main thing is DO SOMETHING in training for those going out from your local church. Missions is serious stuff and it requires more than sleeping in a Holiday Express to be qualified for the task.

Church Based Missions

Talking with a friend of mine last week, who has been a mission/church mobilizer for thirty years, the issue of Church Based Missions (CBM) came up. The traditional model of missions is a local congregation partnering with a denominational or para-church sending agency. Since the time of William Carey, sent out by Baptist’s in England and Hudson Taylor, who started the China Inland Missions, the model for missions for nearly three hundred years has been a top/down structure. Jungle pilots, Bible translators, church planters, medical doctors go to the regions beyond through the structure of a sending structure backed by local church funding. It’s a model that is slowly dying.

In this day of high mobility, easy travel, a sense of adventure and discretionary funds, the trend in missions today is for the local church to be their own sending agency. CBM are, in many ways, the Antioch model, which famously sent out from their own ranks Paul, and Barnabas to take the gospel to Asia. The “adopt a people movement” has been a catalyst for CBM as the local congregation targets a region of the world where they want to invest their global outreach endeavors. The characteristics of CBM is partnering with national church leaders and sending out short-term teams to directly be involved on the field. Is CBM a good idea?

The answer to the question of validity of CBM is a mixed bag. The sense of participation through ownership is a strong argument for CBM. For too long the local church has farmed out their Great Commission responsibility to sending agencies. Missions is easy when people can just give money to a cause without being personally involved. The CBM trend generates interest within the local congregation to get personally involved through prayer, focused giving and even going. Sending agencies, the old paradigm of missions, don’t have all the answers, are not always strategic and because of overhead are not always efficient. More than anything else, sending agencies are distant from the local church. The CBM model makes the task of world evangelism personal, and this in itself makes CBM very attractive.

It’s argued, by some, that CBM is more biblical. Perhaps, though I’m always hesitant with those who site biblical circumstances as patterns for today’s reality. Paul and Barnabas were exceptional individuals sent out for a unique task. If a CBM is going to use the Antioch form for their model justification they need to follow the other components of that model. For example, Paul and Barnabas were well trained and tested before the Antioch church commissioned them for service. Paul was a Jewish scholar and Barnabas was a seasoned and respected church leader. Before launching their boat for Cyprus and Perga, these men were already battle scarred in ministry. They were not weekend warriors and their commitment was not just a vacation with a purpose.

My moblizer colleague lamented that there is little thought among the leaders of the CBM movement on preparing people to serve cross-culturally. Whether the overseas initiative is one week or one decade, people need cross-cultural training. While it is laudable for churches to take ownership of their mission involvement, one component the CBM should institute is CBT, i.e. Church Based Training. My thought on CBT is the subject for the next post.

Not Despising Small Things

The trip to Kansas seemed longer than usual. The flat landscape looks more monotonous in the winter without the prairie grass, wheat fields and sunflowers. I knew that it was important for me to visit this supporting church, four hundred miles from home, but it seemed like such a long trip to speak to a congregation of no more than fifty. Though they have been supporting our ministry for over thirty years, I wondered if my visit was really vital in the grand scheme of things. I’m not sure what the grand scheme is, but talking to a group of people in a city of 2,500 with one church for every 300 people is certainly different than living in Delhi, where there is one church for every half a million. To say I wasn’t “pumped” to speak at this church is an understatement. However, over the six-hour drive, my attitude changed. As I made my way on I-35 my mind went back to a period that seems, now, another lifetime.

Thirty-seven years ago I pastored a church on the border of Texas and Mexico of less than one hundred people. It was my first pastorate and I tried to lead that little flock as though it was the largest church in town. We had revival meetings, VBS, pastor conferences and mission conferences. It was a full-service congregation with a budget that could barely pay their pastor, but we tried to compete in the religious marketplace in spite of our handicap.

I don’t remember every missionary that visited who us in Del Rio, but I do remember that anyone who visited had to make a special effort to come to our church. Del Rio is 150 miles west of San Antonio with little between but mesquite brush. No one passed through our town; it was a planned and deliberate journey. Though we didn’t have much to offer, in ways of accommodation, big honorariums or profound monthly support, those who came were appreciated. In hindsight, I’m embarrassed that I didn’t have more of a clue how to take better care of those who made the effort to minister to our little church. Sleeping in a camping trailer parked at the rear of the church was better than staying with some of the members of the church, but it was still hardly adequate accommodations for a visiting speaker.

As I pulled into the parking lot of the little Kansas church I noticed my attitude had a radical transformation. World evangelism is not just for the large and powerful churches with slick programs and big budgets, but for even the little churches stuck on the backside of the state…like the one I pastored in a dusty Texas many years ago.

Ethnic Cleansing and the Church

The battle between brothers is as old as Cain and Abel. Though the issue was not ethnic disagreement, the root motivation that caused the elder to kill his younger brother is with us millenniums later – jealousy, pride, and disobedience of the creation to his Creator.

I have personally observed the dark side of ethnocentrism for years. Idi Amin expelled the Asians from Uganda in 1977 because he felt the Indian population drained resources from the country. The minority Brahmin population in India subject the Dalits (untouchables) to bonded slavery because of a sense of superiority in a hierarchal caste system. In Bolivia Spanish church has hardly reached out to the indigenous Indian people, the Quechua, as they perceive them as inferior people. At long last, the Estonian’s have rule of their own country and can now oppress their former masters, the Russians, as they did to them for seventy years. The Shia and Sunni population of Iraq slaughter one another for no other reason except of ethnic/religious identity. My own country continues to suffer with racial tensions between white, blacks and now those coming into our country from south of the border. The snapshot of today’s ethnic hostility is just a carryover of centuries of brother hating brother.

When I first moved to Kenya in 1976 I quickly learned the lines of ethnic hatred. I worked with two tribes, the Pokot and Turkana, which historically have been enemies for centuries. The greatest ethic tension, however, was between the Kikuyu’s, the largest tribe, and the second largest tribe, the Luo’s.

When Kenya gained independence from England in 1963, it was a Kikuyu by the name of Jomo Kenyatta who became the first president. Kikuyu’s are, for the most part, industrious. Part of the reason for the success of Kenya as a nation is attributed to their work ethic and capitalistic market economy. Kenyatta’s rival, and the first vice president, was a Luo by the name of Oginga Odinga. Odinga wanted to fashion the Kenya government, as did Tanzania, after the model of Chinese socialism,. The present crisis in Kenya is due to this old ethnic rivalry. President Mwai Kibaki, is a Kikuyu and Raila Odinga (Oginga’s son) is a Luo. (Many Luo’s surnames begin with the letter “O.” Barak Obama’s father was a Luo.)

Kenya is a “Christian nation,” with eighty-five percent of the population claiming to be followers of Christ. In spite of their common faith, the clash between brothers is along tribal lines. Reminiscent of the tragedy in Rwanda, brothers and sisters were burned in church two days ago, (in a city I lived for four years) for no other reason than because of ethnic contempt.

Why do these ethnic clashes continue? The short answer is because of sin in men. The situation of ethnic hatred will never be eradicated, but I do believe the church needs to do a better job working with cultural diversity. Historically missions in Kenya, and many more places throughout the world, have concentrated on “church planting,” -- getting people saved, baptized and on the church membership role. Kenya is one of those places in the world where planting churches is relatively easy. What the church has not done well is crossing cultural barriers and discipling the church on how to serve Christ among their brothers. While ethnic bias and prejudice is a chronic disease that will never be totally abolished, the church should focus, not just on getting people into the kingdom, and spend more time teaching others that indeed, they are their brothers keeper.

I WISH You A Happy New Year

The phrase, “Happy New Year,” is a wish rather than a statement of fact. New Year’s celebration is primarily a middle-upper class event as, for the poor, it’s just another day of labor working for their daily bread. The homeless in Delhi will huddle around makeshift fires as they watch the elite class drive to their parties; the farmer will go to his field knowing only that yesterday was Monday and, though the calendar page has changed, it’s really just Tuesday.

Those who mourn the death of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, will have little to celebrate this night. Last week they could anticipate a happy new year with the hope of a victorious election, now, even if their party make political gains they have lost their leader, the one who they trusted would bring them into a brighter future.

I received a note from one of my former students in the state of Orissa this morning. She tells the story of the Christmas Eve attacks in her area where six churches were burned, two pastors killed and countless other Christians brutalized by Hindu fundamentalists. The new year for them will be the on-going struggle against persecution.

My beloved Kenya will begin their new year with demonstrations and avoiding the riots throughout the country because of a presidential election that many feel was rigged. My friends in the country write to ask for prayer as many of them live in volatile areas where often the innocent are caught in the crossfire. In times like these I think of the Kenyan proverb, “When elephants fight, the grass gets hurt,” and pray for the safety of the harmless.

Of course I look forward to a new year and even the events of New Year’s Day. Like millions of my countrymen I will watch the football games and enjoy being with family. It is a part of my culture to celebrate marking the end of the old and hoping for the new. For my family and me, ’07 was indeed a good year. We all have good health, have a roof over our heads and have no foreseeable reason not to look to ’08 with great expectation. I thank God for His blessings and protection over the past 365 days and pray that He will do it again for the days and months ahead.

To my faithful colleagues around the world, I am not glib when I say to you, Happy New Year. I’m praying and hoping that you will have a blessed new year as well. As servants of Christ, we indeed have hope that transcends circumstances. May He protect you and encourage you and may you know that you are not forgotten in your service for Him.

Is Good, Good Enough?

Yesterday reminded me what a difference a day makes. The day before, and the week leading up to it, had a subtle pressure about it. The countdown before Christmas is a bit like the controversial method of interrogation, “water-boarding.” There is a sense that the whole world is drowning, with shopping, fighting traffic and making plans for the big day, but the feeling of doom doesn’t quite happen, we just think it might. Of course some people do crack and thus take their own lives because of despair, but for the majority, people cope with Christmas. A few actually celebrate it.

Ahh, the 26th. What a relief the day after is. The pressure is off. The only thing we have to do now is wait around another week before we can begin life again. The seven days between Christmas and New Year’s is no-man’s-land. Schools are closed, businesses are on hold until after the 1st. The whole world moves forward slowly, but like the stock market, no real deals will be done until after next Tuesday.

In the run-up to Christmas the daily news was dominated with reports on retail sales. Though sales were good, we were told that economists were worried because stores were not reaching their goals. Instead of 4% sales growth expected, consumers were only spending 2.5% more than they did last year. The after Christmas sales are now being closely watched to see if bargain hunters will “save” the holiday season. No one is really losing money, they just aren’t making as much as expected.

In the world of capitalism, consumerism and competition, it’s no longer a matter of winning, but by what margin? Stocks value falls if a company doesn’t meet its quarterly expectations, though they turned a profit. Presidential candidates who come in third are thrilled, because they beat expectations. The world of sports is not the only game where success is measured by “the spread,” but has now become the standard in every aspect of life.

The “Good To Great” philosophy lends to this attitude that we are a failure if we don’t beat expectations.

“To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence [emphasis mine]. It requires the discipline to say, "Just because we are good at it- just because we're making money and generating growth - doesn’t necessarily mean we can become the best at it. The good-to-great companies understood that doing what you are good at will only make you good; focusing solely on what you can potentially do better than any other organization is the only path to greatness.”

I’m certainly not advocating mediocrity, but, like all things in life, there is a balance between achieving and being great. Odd that we live in a world where one can be considered a loser because they are good, but not good enough. The coach loses his job because he went 10 – 2, but didn’t win the division. The anorexic lives in torment because, in spite of all the weight loss, they are still fat and, the student bows his head because he graduated with honors, but not highest honors. Performance is not measured by how well you did, but how much better you could have been. Some give up early, because they know they will never be smart enough, pretty enough, wealthy enough or just be plain good enough. And those who do rise to greatness often suffer because, in their own mind, they didn’t meet their own expectations.

And how does God see all of this? The old gospel hymn, I am Satisfied, talks about being satisfied in Jesus. The closing refrain adds, “But the question comes to me, as I think of Calvary, is my Savior satisfied with me?” In the process of working out our own salvation we are to be diligent, disciplined and certainly to strive be the best we can be. But is good, good enough for God? Will I enter into the joy of my salvation in that last day, having been faithful over a few things and rewarded for being good, but condemned for not being great? Or, will I fall short of hearing “Well done, good and faithful servant,” because, though I served Him I didn’t beat expectations?

There is indeed a fine line between performance and expectations. We strive, for it is our reasonable duty. We remain confident, that in spite of our shortcomings, the Judge will measure us based, not on what we could have accomplished, but what we actually achieved. In the sight of God, perhaps good is good enough. If we have to beat the spread, we are all men most miserable.

Immanuel - God With Us

Written 700 years before Jesus was born, Isaiah the prophet wrote in the Old Testament, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). The Gospel writer, Matthew interprets the name Immanuel as meaning, “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). What does that phrase mean, “God with us?” Does it mean literally that, as many Christians believe, that God became flesh and lived as a human? Or, does it mean that Jesus, the Christ, was sent by God to live among mankind?

I grew up with the Christmas story. My earliest recollection as a kid in California was my mom reading the story of Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem where Jesus was born in a barn because there were no accommodations in a local inn. After 2,000 years the story is still being told, quite a record for such a humble beginning. As a missiologist and teacher in cross-cultural communication, I try to hear the Christmas story through the ears of others. What does Immanuel mean to Hindu’s, Buddhist or Muslims?

At a photo studio in Delhi I had a disagreement with the owner on some work he had done for me. Our discussion was not heated but I was firm in my position. The shopkeeper, seeing I wasn’t going to give in my position suddenly said, “Okay, you are my customer, you are my god.”

In a land where just about anything and everything is a god, I quickly told him that I certainly was not a god, but would be happy to tell him about THE God in heaven. He wasn’t interested and quickly changed the subject, but his comment gave me pause. How would this man respond to the story of Immanuel, God with us?

Fifty years ago D. A. Chowdhury, a Muslim background believer wrote that the phrase, “Son of God,” is a taboo term for Muslims:

“…That Jesus is the Son of God raises in the Moslem mind the picture of God as husband and Mary as wife. The title thus, a Moslem thinks, at once destroys the unity of the Godhead. It never raises in his mind a noble and sublime thought but it has unpleasant associations which are quite repugnant to him.”

In a recent Evangelical Mission Quarterly article Rick Brown adds,

“[Muslims] regard the term [Son of God] itself as an insult to God, and they fear that asserting it of Jesus or anyone else will bring upon them God’s wrath and eternity in hell, no matter what the term means.”

In light of this cultural and religious predisposition, is it possible that the Christmas story and the birth of Immanuel is more acceptable than the phrase, “Son of God”?

I read this morning a portion of Max Lucado’s book, 3:16, The Numbers of Hope, and the emphasis, in perhaps the most important verse in the Bible, is that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, and whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. Do we do injustice to Scripture if we translate the passage, as the Amplified Bible inserts, that Jesus is God’s unique Son, avoiding the taboo expression “Son of God”? The issue in communicating the Gospel to unbelievers, for me, is not theological, but rather overcoming cultural preconceived notions and false impressions.

This year, as I listen to the familiar story of wise men, shepherds and a baby wrapped in swaddling cloth, I remain awestruck of this tale as when I first heard it many years ago from my godly mother. I am grateful that I can comprehend the Christmas story without jumping over cultural obstacles. Our greatest challenge, as servants of the Prince of Peace, is telling others this great and wonderful narrative in a way others can understand the significance of His birth -- this one called Jesus. Immanuel. God with us.

Another Religious Holiday

The Christmas season in New Delhi is always interesting. Because the Christian community is a minority, less than one percent in a city of 12 million, it seems as though the senses of the meaning for the season is heightened for believers. In the states, though there are more overt signs of Christ’s birth, the meaning somehow seems to get lost with other activities. Shopping for gifts, preparing for the Christmas meal with family has a tendency to cast a shadow over the purpose of the day. However, when you are a religious minority, Jesus and the celebration of His incarnation takes on an acute meaning.

A couple of weeks ago my wife and I attended a Christmas play at a local Catholic school. Not all students who attend these private schools are Christian. Some of those performing the dance or in the choir are Hindu’s. The Minister of Education, who is a Sikh, attended as a special guest. I wonder what he thought of the play? Did he even understand the message? Probably not. To those who are not familiar with the story of Christmas it’s just a day in which Christians celebrate the birth of our Great Guru and nothing else.

The following Sunday we went to church along with two Muslims. One is an Indian from Toronto, the other a student from the Ivory Coast. The Indian is more of a cultural Muslim who has relatives who are Christians. She actually likes Christmas -- the music, food and even being in church. The African said it was the first time he had ever been in a church. As a student in a foreign country and away from his culture that would frown on such activities, his introduction to the message of Christmas was new and no doubt confusing.

As I sat there listening to the sermon I couldn’t help but think how the message of God becoming man, born over 2,000 years ago, must sound incredibly farfetched to non-believers. How difficult it must be for them to comprehend the significance of Jesus’ birth. An incredible story told in a land where the story is just incredible.

For those who are followers of Christ, Christmas marks the beginning of the salvation story. Christ did not become man just to be a good teacher or set an example of how to live, but He came for a purpose…to die for the atonement of man’s sin. When Christians see the scenes of Christ born in Bethlehem, they also see Him crucified on a cross outside of Jerusalem.

On Christmas Day most of the world will have a holiday. A day, that once was exclusively a holiday for Christians, is now a global holiday celebrated with gifts and parties by Hindu’s, Buddhist’s and Atheist’s. While the majority in this great country will recognize December 25th at as merely a Christian religious holiday, for millions in the minority Christmas Day will mean much more.

Study Program

People visit other countries for different reasons. The main agenda for the holiday tourist is to see another culture, visit historical sites, shop and eat. I have never been attracted to site seeing, probably because I’ve seen enough sites that I’ve lost the curiosity of seeing just another country. If I were more of a history buff I am sure seeing the ancient ruins of Rome, visiting the Great Wall of China would be worth the time and money.

Short-term mission trips are popular in the American church as it gives them an opportunity to be tourists with the additional benefit of doing ministry. The “vacation with a purpose” is a Christian marketing strategy that appeals to the best side of Americans, i.e. making them feel as though they are contributing to Kingdom while at the same time seeing being exposed to the rest of God’s world.

Overseas study projects are generally available just for kids in college. These exchange programs allow American kids to go to Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa and study for a semester, get exposure to another culture and get college credit at the same time. The goal of these academic programs has one main focus -- to learn. Sure the kids also get to see the sites and sample the local cuisine, but the purpose is to grow intellectually in a foreign environment.

As I mentioned in my last post, I am making myself available to be an escort, of sorts, to interested parties who want to tag-along and learn cross-cultural studies within context. For those interested in such a program, here is what to expect.

1. I usually fly on Continental Airlines from Newark to Delhi, as COA is usually cheaper and it’s a direct flight to the capital. From Delhi we will then fly to the next destination where I teach.

2. On campus you will take the same course I am teaching to MA students; a three-hour module in cross-cultural studies. You will eat with the students, study with them and be housed on campus.

3. The costs will vary, but expect to pay between $2,500 to $3,000, which will include airline costs and accommodations while in the country. You will also need a tourist visa. If you can get your university or college to accept the course to apply to your credit hours, a syllabus can be sent to you for their evaluation.

4. The purpose of the trip is to learn within context, so this opportunity is not just for college students. Pastors, mission’s committee members and those who are thinking about serving cross-culturally as a career are encouraged to be a part of this program. The program is not exclusive to men but there must two or more women to make the trip together.

5. Like other overseas trips, participants will have an opportunity to shop and eat the local food. It will not be rugged conditions and it will be safe, but it will also not be a five star experience.

If you are interested in any of the trips planned (see dates of last post), please write and let me know of your interest and any other questions.

Take One - The Discipleship Principle

The other day a colleague told me that years ago a friend of his always encouraged him to take someone with him. Any time he traveled to do ministry, to teach or attend a seminar, he should always take a companion.

On reflection I realized that I have intuitively been practicing the buddy system in my work for most of ministry. Whether it was working in the bush of Kenya or teaching in different parts of the world, I usually ask someone to go with me. Ten years ago I invited my brother, Bill, to go with me to Senegal. It changed his life and now he travels around the world more than I do working with missionary teams. (As I write this he is in Greece and the week before he was in Ukraine.) My first training session in India I took a group of 15 adults and the following two years I took over 20 people to Russia. I instituted a three-year training project in India in the late ‘90’s and I not only recruited a US church to help in the training but also a team from Russia, Romania and Tanzania. Recently I taught a three-day seminar in Punjab and asked a colleague of mine to tag along. What’s the importance of taking someone with you when doing ministry? Two reasons.

First, it’s Scriptural. Barnabas, the great encourager, was the person, who asked Paul to join him in Antioch. When no one in the first congregation in Jerusalem would touch Paul because of his reputation of persecuting the church, Barnabas took a chance on Paul because he believed in the transformation of his conversion. Believing Paul could indeed be used in Christ’s Great Commission, Barnabas encouraged Paul to join in him in the work. The church at Antioch subsequently sent Barnabas and Paul (notice it was Barnabas who led the team) to Asia. Paul followed that principle of taking one by recruiting, Silas, Timothy, Luke and many others. Barnabas, seeing the potential of a young man named James, took him to Cyprus after he and Paul separated.

Secondly, when one takes another person for cross-cultural work it provides the learner with hands-on experience that cannot duplicate in a classroom or by reading a book. Of course Jesus always took people with Him as He did ministry. He sent His disciples throughout Judea, two-by-two. Jesus understood that a person learns best when engaged in the work. Life is better caught than taught, when people are actively involved in the work.

Knowing the importance of this teaching tool, in 2008 I am actively opening the opportunity to take one (or two or ten) with me as I teach overseas. All of these trips will be between two and three weeks in length. The training will be done in India and Kenya. The subject will be training in how to serve cross-culturally (whether it is in church planting, youth ministries, social work, administration, the subject matter will be relevant in each context). I will give more details later, but here is the tentative schedule.

January 24 – February 14 – Chennai, India
April 4 –16 – Bangalore, India
August (dates yet to be determined) Kenya
September 19 – October – Hyderabad, India

I will give more details in the next post, but basically those going with me will be part of our training program, interacting with national pastors and workers. In two weeks you will learn more about missions than a lifetime of reading about the subject. It’s possible you can even earn college credit in the process.

Take one. Write to me and learn more.

The Challenge of Grace

One of the hallmarks of the Christian faith is “grace.” Grace seems to be a foreign concept to other religions and I believe the lack of grace can influence the behavior of culture.

One of the classic definitions of grace that I grew up with is, “Grace is the granting unmerited favor.” The recipient of grace does not earn favor, reward or benefit, it is given without warrant. I am gracious to my kids, not because they meet my standards of behavior, but because I love them as my children. Not all people who say they have love are gracious. I know some parents who are pretty hard nosed toward their kids and show little tolerance for their actions. They call it “tough love.” I know others who are more than gracious to their children, to the point of spoiling them and do not hold them accountable for anything. I know one dad who has grown children who have never had a job, live at home, watch TV all day and expect dad to provide them with everything. That’s not grace, that’s irresponsible parenthood. Grace is hard to define, but you know it when you see it.

One of the fascinating things about India is how little grace there is in the culture. Whether one is talking about business, driving on the road or simply standing in line to buy stamps, everything is push, shove and get out my way. I don’t have a car in Delhi and so I do a lot of walking. Walking is very much like driving in this city. You never yield to someone; you cut them off, step in front and pretend other people are not there. Seldom do you hear “excuse me” or “after you.” Sometimes in the market I feel as though I am in a rugby match in the middle of a scrub. Perhaps Delhi is just uniquely assertive, much like New York City, aggressive, rude and without grace. Delhiites will tell you that people in the south are much more gracious.

Certainly Americans are not always a gracious people, especially in the midst of Christmas shopping season. What is interesting in America, at least where I live, if a shopper tries to step in front of the check out desk someone will tell them to go back to the end of the line. Honking ones horn in the states is considered rude, whereas in India one can hardly drive without honking every thirty seconds.

Mr. J., my landlord who I dearly love, is personality without grace. Even though he is dying and whose next great event in life will be his temporal demise on this earth, he demonstrates no grace. The other day I went down to see him about our rental contract and there was a genuine dispute in our agreement. Even though the issue amounted to less than $100, he was adamant I owed him that amount which I clearly disagreed. I yielded to his demand because I wasn’t going to quibble about money to a dying man. On the one hand I want to be gracious, the other part of me doesn’t want to be considered a fool. I swallowed hard, gave way to his demand and wondered which part of the coin I was playing, fool or grace? If he was a younger man in good health I would’ve played hardball, but in the end I decided grace was far nobler than playing the game of who gets the better deal.

I walked away from Mr. J. sad. Not because I had been gouged, but because of a man I love who has lived his whole life without grace. Even his own family members avoid coming around him because of a life that has always been bitter, judgmental and intolerant. He will exit life as he has lived, without grace.

It’s impossible to talk about grace and not think of Jesus. The Scriptures say that, “Even though we are sinners, Christ died for us.” Salvation is not provided for those who are good, who deserve to go to heaven. The truth is no one is worthy of God’s love; it’s something He bestows on us in spite of our rebellion to Him. Is He a fool, a Cosmic sucker? Not at all. Even though He is a gracious God, He requires men to do one thing, believe in Him as the eternal God and accept His free grace. “By grace are you saved, through faith,” the Bible says. “Not of works, less any man should boast.” His part of the deal is to provide salvation freely; my part of the deal is to accept, embrace that grace He has extended to me.

We live in graceless world and to me that’s why we live in a world of hate, violence and greed. The pushing and shoving we engage in each day may be the way to get ahead in this world, but it's not the way to God's heart. There are a lot of things I need today, but my prayer is that God will grant me more grace; both on the receiving and giving end of things.

Life of a Nomad

I’ve always been intrigued with nomads? What is it in their makeup that they can’t stay in one place for a long period of time, always on the move?

I’m not talking about the tribal nomads roaming the deserts. I worked with those people for fourteen years in the bush of Kenya, and I know why they move about…they are in search of grass and water for their herds. I remember the first time I walked into one the Turkana compounds and being struck by how little stuff they have. Their little huts are not more than five feet high and wide. They find just enough sticks and brush to provide shelter from wind, sun and rain; nothing else is needed. They have no beds, a few pots that could fit in a small suitcase, no extra clothes, nothing to weigh them down for their next move in a few days time.

The nomads I am thinking about are people, well, like my wife and I. My folks have lived in the same county for over forty years. My two brothers have never lived outside of Arkansas since we moved there in the early 60’s. My in-laws also haven’t lived out of Benton County and my father-in-law has lived on same corner of land for at least 60 years, maybe longer. So what’s the deal with Sandy and I?

The best my memory serves me, in the 39 years we have been married we have lived in at least 17 different houses. These are the times we physically moved our stuff into new dwellings and doesn’t include the many times we stayed in guest houses, homes and apartments for shorter periods of time. Along with that tally we have lived in six different states and foreign two countries.

Not all people in my profession are nomadic. I know several colleagues who have lived in their adopted country for thirty years. In fact, those who do stay on the field for any length of time usually put down pretty deep roots. Being a cross-cultural worker doesn’t automatically mean that they will be nomads.

I realize there are other professions that are inclined to nomadism. Military personnel come to mind, but also people in sales, who often get transfers. Even in these occupations people do not have to move around as they can ask their companies to give them permanent assignments. But some, like us, are forever packing up and moving to new destinations.

Every time we have a sale, selling our stuff for pennies that we bought with dollars just a few months before, I think about how nice it would be to just stay with our stuff in one place for a long period of time. Oh the joy of being attached to a worn out and outdated chair! Every time I wrap a box of stuff to send to my next destination I think of my African desert friends and how they never have to think about storing, saving, sending or even preserving their things.

At my age you’d think I’d be ready to settle down. I realize that social time will eventually catch up with me, but until I physically can’t move, I can't say for certain when will be our last stop. When I’m in my 70’s it’s entirely possible that I will say to Sandy, “What do you think about living in Macau for a few years?” Yo-ho-ho, it’s the nomadic life for me.

When The Days Get Shorter

It’s been one of those weeks when everything is abnormal. Routine has its place and this week has started out uneventful with a twist.

First, the weather has turned cold in Delhi. My friends in Europe or U.S. sneer at the thought of a climate that plunges to 50 overnight and finds its way up to 80 by mid-afternoon being late Fall. But may I remind you that (a) the buildings here are block – no insulation -- so the bricks in the house never warm up; (b) fires compound the pollution in the city at night by those who must live/work on the streets. The mood in the city is no longer as festive as it was just two weeks back during Diwali. The city, which has over a 100 degree heat more than 250 days of the year, has settled in, just waiting for the mini-spring that will happen sometime late February.


At 4:46 a.m. Monday we were jolted awake by an earthquake. Okay, a tremor, 4.6 or something like that, but if it’s strong enough to shake the bed and wake me up, it’s an earthquake. As I held on to the side of the bed I wondered when the time was right to start running downstairs? Before the (cold) bricks start falling, or do I just take flight immediately? If a major one ever does hit this place I can’t imagine the extent of the damage and loss of life.

My dear friend, Mr. J. turned 87 yesterday. Sick, malnourished, helpless, he just wants to die but doesn’t know how. His only words to me as I wished him happy birthday was, “I’m so sick of myself.”

Well, isn’t this a cherry post? I did receive a note from a guy who lives in Colorado. He said he reads Blue Passport often but seldom responds. He writes, “Your Blogs are something I always look forward to reading because they are food for the brain. An anonymous wise man once said there is food for the eyes, food for the body, food for the soul, and food for the brain; and to me that is what your blogs are, food for my brain.” Thanks, Bill, hope this one doesn’t give your brain heartburn.

Charitable or Foolish?

Standing on the railway platform my friend noticed a coolie carrying bags for a European. The going rate for such labor is about $1, but the coolie asked for $10. The visitor didn’t have the change in the local currency so he gave him the equivalent of $12 and told him “keep the change.”

As the coolie walked away he said to his friend, “God blessed me with a fool early today.” My friend, overhearing the remark, rebuked him and told him he should be grateful for other people’s generosity and not make fun of them. The coolie sneered at my friend and went his way.

Last week my friend and I took a cycle rickshaw to have supper. My colleague, who is a very compassionate fellow, ordered for our driver “take out” so he could eat as well. When the rickshaw walla took us to our final destination we paid him more than a fair fare. Instead of being grateful, he asked for more with an attitude that somehow we had insulted him by offering him less. My friend sighed and said, “Sometimes guys like that make me not want to be generous.”

There is always a tension between the rich and poor, generosity and ungratefulness. The European hardly will miss being overcharged twelve times the rate. The coolie, whose lot in life is one of carrying other people’s bags, no doubt can use the extra money. However, if a foreigner thinks for a minute that his generosity will be seen as an act of charitable kindness, they are sadly mistaken. Not all poor people see the rich as fools in which to manipulate for as much as they can get out of them, but the truth is there are more with the attitude of the coolie and the rickshaw driver than we imagine. My take on tipping in a developing country is to learn the rules of the game and behave from those cultural rules. Its okay to be generous, but try to do it within reason of the local economy. People will respect you if you are kind and charitable, but they have a disdain for rich fools.

Having just completed Thanksgiving, I am reminded of the twelve lepers who were healed by Jesus. Only one of them returned to thank Him. The lesson of the coolie and the leper is a reminder that the motive of the giver should always be with honest compassion and the receiver would do well to have enough integrity and gratefulness to say thanks.

What About Bob (Singh)?

I was on a night train last week with Bob Singh. Bob (a name I’ve given him) is an American WASS (white Anglo-Saxon Sikh) who lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He wears a white kurta, turban and sports a long white beard. I’m guessing Bob, who seems like a good-natured fellow, takes on the roll of Santa Claus in his community around Christmas time. He is sitting one row in front of me so I can’t hear all of his conversation but, like all Americans, he talks loud and constant. I piece together that he has been a Sikh convert for over twenty years. Being from Santa Fe, a city known for their ethereal cosmology, Bob probably hardly gets a second glance from the citizenry. Bob has found a truer path to peace and tranquility and he proudly wears a silver medallion around his neck in honor of his guru.

What’s interesting to me about Bob is he’s traveling with Indian Sikhs and one young man is interested in what other people in America think of his conversion? I can’t hear Bob’s reply, but what strikes me is Bob’s ignorance of his enlighten experience. It’s okay for him to discover the truth, if that’s what he believes, but does he know that most of those around him do not share his faith out of conviction? Ninety-nine percent of Sikhs are of that religion only because it is a part of their cultural identity. That would be true of most Muslims, Buddhist and, though to a lesser degree, Christians. Those Bob proudly identifies with are a people who, if they did want to follow a different faith, would probably be barred from doing so. The few Sikhs I know who are followers of Christ tell stories of disinheritance, ostracism and persecution. The people Bob glibly is sharing his testimony with are citizens of a country that has anti-conversion laws. For a Sikh to take on the faith of Jesus would mean a loss of status in their society, which would be changed to OBC (other backward caste), which is one of many reasons why they are not open to the Gospel.

We are all in search of truth. Bob, and a lot of other Americans who embrace eastern religion, would do well to understand that the shining path to nirvana is seldom chosen freely. Bob should thank God he lives in a country that allows him the opportunity to seek truth unconstrained. It’s a privilege that his new brothers and sisters will never experience.

What's The Difference?

As I write I’m taking the night train back home. It’s time for assessment. I spent three days and about three hundred dollars for transportation, food and hotel. The class was not thirty pastors working where the Christian population is less than one percent. I was delighted to speak to those assembled on the theme, Reaching Your Community For Christ. The sessions went well; those in attendance seemed to appreciate the new concepts presented to them.

Before I left, my national friend and I discussed the challenges of being in ministry, especially since we both have to raise funds for our work. The Great Commission system is out of kilter as the only thing our Lord said to His disciples was to go into the world, present the message and make disciples. He didn’t say anything about church buildings, bible schools, holding seminars, raising funds to travel on a train or renting a place to live in a foreign country. Some of the best work for Christ is everyday people who live in their everyday communities telling family and friends about the joy that have in Jesus. Even more impressive are those Hindu’s or Muslim’s who are now followers of Christ that quietly, but faithfully, work out their salvation in their own context. They publish no prayer letters, they solicit no funds. They are the unseen church, though not invisible.

And then there is the mission industry, which is a branch of the market driven church. Missiologist write about and opine on the need to target UPG’s (unreached people groups), do statistics on the most UPG’s, but know that if they don’t quantify the ROI then the ecclesiastical venture capitalist (foundations, churches and individual donors), won’t be forthcoming in underwriting the foreign enterprise. The vicious cycle that the capitalist church finds itself in today is one of counting noses so the nickels (pennies actually, compared to the dollars that remain in America) will continue to make it’s way to those who have never heard His name.

As my train rolls on down the tracks, my mind swings back and forth, keeping rhythm with my swaying coach. What good is all of this traveling, teaching and begging for support? If I really were a gospel entrepreneur I’d package these seminars so that people in states could buy “soul shares.” For $50 a month they could support one national pastor which will baptize roughly ten people a month, which means their ROI is a mere $5 a soul. If more souls are saved there will be, of course, more bang for the buck and the initial investment will result in higher dividends. If the national doesn’t produce we can always close his account and give to the servant who took ten talents and doubled the initial investment. While this idea sounds economically and strategic viable it’s just another market scheme generated with a view of the bottom line but often does not make missiological sense.

Larry King asked Billy Graham, in his last interview, what difference he thought he made in the world? Is the world better today than when he first began his ministry? Graham replied that he didn’t know what difference his life made. On the surface the world doesn’t look a lot better than when he began his ministry in the ‘50’s. His answer was that “only in eternity will anyone know what difference they made on this earth.”

I have no idea the outcome of my time this past week, whether it will make any difference in the grand scheme of things is something won’t be revealed until the universal clock stops. I will always struggle with my role in a system that seems to have lost its way. I can’t quit, though sometimes it’s a temptation. I won’t because, in spite of all my reservations, I’m a bit-player that still has a role. Perhaps that’s what Christ had in mind for all of His followers – to do the best we can with the gifts He has given us, keeping our eye on Him and not the ROI.

Dogs, Goats and Seed Offerings

“I noticed you are getting up early these days and opening the front gate,” I said to my landlady, Mrs. J.

“My brother-in-law told me if I would feed the [stray] dogs each morning it will help Mr. J. feel better,” she replied.

How strange, I thought. How can a person who is as educated as Mrs. J. believe in such absurd superstitions? However, in the four years I have lived here I have come to the conclusion that Hindu’s are some of the most superstitious people I have ever met. How else can you explain giving sweets to a cow, dipping money in yogurt for prosperity or hanging a sandal on the back of a rickshaw to ward off the evil eye?

All superstition is a form of animism. Edward Tylor, who coined the word, define animists as people that believe non-living objects have life, personality and even souls. In Tylor's opinion, the belief in spirits and gods arose from man's experience of dreams, visions, disease and death. Hinduism indeed has a strong animistic base, but so, too, does folk Islam, folk religion and some Christians.

Attending a funeral in the bush of Pokot years ago, the people sacrificed a goat at the end of the ceremony. After gutting the goat the people washed their hands in its stomach of the slain animal. Their belief that through this ritual they were cleansing themselves from the disease that took the life of their loved one.

Tibetan Buddhist’s hang prayer flags over their house believing that through these pieces of cloth the spirit of good wishes and positive energy is carried throughout the community by the wind.

To non-believers these practices seem bizarre and even primitive. Yet I also observe Christians praying to image of a "saint;" buying anointed prayer clothes for healing and hear preachers tell their flock that if they will just give money to the church as a “seed offering” of faith, they can expect a heavenly ROI (return on investment).


Superstitious ritual is an attempt to coerce god(s) and spirits to act. Functionally, irrational rituals of the Hindu and the Christian are equal. All animism is born out of ignorance -- not knowing or understanding God. All people, with “eternity in their hearts,” long to appease the higher powers so he or it will grant favor to them. Superstition is an attempt to bridge the void between the physical and metaphysical, and it is a universal phenomenon. One can judge such practices as foolish, but to assume that the rituals of others are different from our strange behavior is as absurd as feeding stray dogs for healing.

Happy Diwali

The night sky in New Delhi on Diwali reminds me of the images of Baghdad the night the U.S. invaded Iraqi. The fireworks begin at dusk and goes on throughout the night. By the fourth hour smoke hovers over the whole city. By the sixth hour we go to bed, with earplugs.

Diwali is the most festive of all holidays in India, primarily in the north. The celebrations focus on lights, lamps and fireworks. Celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains, there are varied versions of legend and myth. The most common is the homecoming of King Rama after a 14-year exile in the forest after defeating the demon King Ravana (pictured below). Thus on this night people welcome him back by lighting up rows of lamps.


Another popular myth is the lighting of lamps to invoke Lakshmi Pooja, the Goddess of fortune and wealth. People believe that Lakshmi brings prosperity, which is denied, to those who leave their home unlit on the day. The goddess Lakshmi is worshipped at this time and her image and coins of are washed with yoghurt.


Sikhs associate this festival with the laying of the foundation stone of the Golden Temple at Amritsar by their fourth Guru, Ram Das. They also associate it with the release of Guru Hargobind from prison by the Mogul Emperor Jahangir. Jains celebrate Diwali as the day when Lord Mahavira attained Nirvana.

Those are the legends, but in practical everyday terms it marks the time of the Hindu New Year and a time when family and friends buy gifts for each other and visit. In spite of the religious overtones, few people see it as a holy festival, except for the superstitions that accompanies much of Hindu ritual.

Some Christians refuse to recognize the day and would never greet another person with “Happy Diwali.” I’ve never understood the resistance in being courteous to another’s person’s holiday, even if you don’t agree with the meaning behind it. When Hindu’s and Muslims wish me a Merry Christmas or Happy Easter, I don’t think they feel they are compromising their faith. I am assuming they know little to nothing about my faith and if they do, to say Merry Christmas to me is a sign of respect to me as a person, though maybe not my beliefs.

So, to my Hindu friends, Happy Diwali. Let’s indeed talk about the triumph of good over evil and about the One who said, I am the light of the world: he that follows me will not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Church Planting: Defining Terms

Last week one of my students asked a pointed and challenging question.

“Is church planting the only method to reach a community for Christ?”

His question was born out of the reality that he is working in culturally restrictive community. People in his region are identified by their religion, not as a faith but as a part of their cultural distinctiveness. Even if people become followers of Christ they will not openly declare their faith due to the prohibitions placed on them by society. Acknowledging openly that they are followers of Jesus does not just affect the convert but brings shame on the family which can lead to ostracism, financial ruin, even death. With the reality of such circumstances perhaps the emphasis on church planting within evangelical circles should be revisited.

Church planting, of course, is not a biblical phrase. Putting the pieces together of the Great Commission, i.e. taking the Gospel to all the world, make disciples, baptizing, teaching, meeting as a community of believers, over the centuries a model, called church planting, has evolved. Pentecost produced a hierarchy of apostles and deacons; Paul throughout Asia left leaders in the wake of his evangelism and then he wrote letters to local congregations (Ephesus, Corinth, Philippi, etc.). No one I know believe these early congregations purchased land, erected places for meetings, started schools, orphanages or became organized in faith groups (denominations or fellowships).

The evolution of Christianity is a mixed bag of believers who took their faith throughout the world through the circumstances of war, famine, persecution, commerce and organized proselytizing. Protestants became active in the GC a little over 300 years ago. Most of the early workers were translators, explorers, medical workers and educators. From their efforts indeed people did come to faith in Christ and congregations of believers assembled. Most evangelicals today wouldn’t have supported the pioneers of the past, like David Livingston, Hudson Taylor, William Carey, because they weren’t church planters as we think of presently.

So what is church planting today? They are perceived as people who go into a city or village, preach, baptize and disciple followers of Christ. They also buy land, build church buildings and, theoretically, turn over the local leadership to nationals. This model works well where there are no restrictions on expatriates and there are no religious constraints on national church workers.

But what if a national or expatriate Christian is unable to serve in the traditional model of church planting today? What if they are living in a religiously restricted area and must work as a teacher or is contracted to do social work with a NGO? And, what does the traditional model have to say about those who hear the Gospel but are not yet ready or able to be incorporated in a traditional church plant?

Perhaps it’s time for us to revaluate our terms. While the function of church planting may be the same, the form, method and model should be as contextual as our message and discipleship. A church planter, as well as the convert, will look different in every context. Church planting is not the issue, but rather how we perceive what that means in today's complex and diverse world.

Challenge of Trust

Reading MA research papers this week, one of my students working with a minority population of Tibetan Buddhist in his city discusses the challenges of trust. His observation is that one of the problems is that people just don’t know one another and, quite frankly, don’t take the time to get acquainted. Though the Tibetan’s have lived in the community for decades and are involved in commerce and marginal public activities, no one has really reached out and tried to get to know them well. As his scale of trust indicates, no one can really value another a person until they go beyond just knowing them.

Working with Tibetan’s, this student must make a conscious effort to learn as much about them as a people as he can to establish a relationship with them individually and collectively. He should not build a rapport with them with an agenda to “evangelize,” but truly learn to like them as people before presenting the Gospel. If he is successful in cultivating a relationship with the Tibetan’s, in the process of building that trust he may one day be able to enter into the dialogue of faith. In every context of association the prior question of trust, as my professor, Dr. Marvin Mayers use to say, must be paramount.

Recently a pastor of a supporting church has been writing to ask about our ministry. Though the church has been a part of our ministry for over 20 years, he is new and therefore is questioning what we do and its value in church planting. I’ve written about donor attrition before on this blogsite and outlined the dynamics of new leadership and the precarious nature of faith based missions. My student’s scale of trust is a good reminder that until someone really knows you they will never like you enough to partner with you. When a person or church has confidence in your ministry then, and only then, will they value and trust the ministry you are involved in.

Whether one is talking about ministry, business or even marriage, nothing positive happens until we value the other person. If a husband and wife don’t like each other they will never value their spouse. Value translates into trust. Trust does not happen overnight or quickly. Sometimes it takes years of getting to know one another before a foundation of confidence is accepted. Moral of the story -- be a friend first and from that relationship one can move up the ladder of value and trust.