Struggling With Discontentment

I always enjoy being in my home country, but inevitably I feel unsettled and unhappy with my life. Recently I was with a couple of guys who were telling me about their homes, their vacations and their investments. There is nothing wrong with any of this, but then I begin comparing what I have, or more to the point, what I don’t have, to others. If I wasn’t a nomad, bouncing all over God’s planet, and would settle down in the US, perhaps I would be content. Then again…naw, I probably wouldn’t. But discontent in not being content drives me to write this blog.

The Scriptures (1 Timothy 6:6) tell us that having godly contentment is great gain. Random thoughts on contentment:



• Contentment is not something to achieve…it’s a process. The prayer of the frustrated, “Lord give me patience and give it to me NOW,” doesn’t work. Contentment and patience often work hand-in-hand.

• If one cannot be content in their present state they probably will never be content. Ask anyone who sought fame and found it, or fortune and became rich, most of the time they die lonely. Contentment is a state of mind, not a goal to achieve.

• Our culture is rooted in discontent (capitalism exports discontent). A thousand voices yell at me each day saying, “If you just had this, you’d be happy.” The genius of capitalism is that it markets a necessity that you really don’t need. It’s called an illusion.

• Interestingly, Hindu’s (dharma) and Muslims Inshaallah (the will of God) are a form of contentment based on fatalism. They are not happier, they are just resigned.

• Unchecked ambition pulls one off balance from being centered in contentment. Nothing wrong with ambition until one strives for the prize, which in the end, will never satisfy.

• On the other end of the spectrum is the idleness disguised as being passively content. You’re not content, you’re just lazy squandering God given ability.

Paul also says (6:8), having food and clothing we should be content. I may not have the best food or clothing, but I sure have it better than many of the people I work with every day outside the US. Wisdom plans for the future, but does not strive to attain that which will always be out of reach. If we work to seek first the things of God, the other things will take care of itself.

What Is Missions?

There is a lot of confusion in the American church when it comes to missions. First of all, what is missions? Which project listed below would your church fund out of the mission budget?

a. Vacation Bible School
b. Radio or television ministry
c. Youth camp
d. Christian crisis pregnancy clinics
e. Promise Keepers event
f. Starting a new church in the neighboring town or state
g. Funding mission or global outreach conference

If your view of missions leans more towards cross-cultural work, what projects does your church support (probably a combination with the list below, so what are the percentages)?

1. Church planting only
2. Church planting primarily in unreached countries
3. Social programs (orphanages, food programs or medical projects)
4. Training programs (schools, training material, trainers)
5. Literature (Bibles, tracts)
6. American personnel
7. National pastors or evangelists

What is your definition of missions? Last week I heard of a young couple that presented their ministry for Senegal. The mission committee responded by saying, “We would love to support you, but our short-term mission trips have depleted our budget.” Recently a “mission team” from Louisianaiana traveled to northwest Arkansas to conduct Back Yard Bible Clubs. Just what is missions?

Training In Ukraine

I met Sergey in Ukraine at a pastors conference hosted by Church Leadership Development International (CLDI.org). He attended my workshop on “Being a Bridge for God.” Sergey had a lot of questions, as everything I taught was new to him. English is not his first language, but I was delighted to receive this note from him.

"I want to tell you, that after that week that I had a possibility to attend your lectures I refilled my spiritual strength, and started to work even willingly at the God’s field. When I came back home from that conference I talked to my wife and we come to decision that my family will follow the Lord, and since that time our home belongs to God and we will serve him.

Please pray for a chance to start a service among Gypsies. If everything will be alright I am planning to start this in September. I wish I could visit you and learn more about correct missionary work. I am grateful to you once again that you devote your time for me."

Sergey, like most pastors in the former Soviet Union, serve bi-vocationally. I have great admiration for guys like Sergey and so many other faithful servants who work hard each day to put physical bread on their table but also work diligently to give the Bread of Life to those in their community. CLDI provides a great opportunity for pastors to get training. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to be a part of this year’s conference and to get an chance to encourage and help people, like Sergey, in their ministry.

Role Model In Dying

Malcom is a guy who works in Taiwan. I’m not sure if I’ve personally met Malcom, but we have interacted several times over email. I think we probably don’t see eye-to-eye on some missiological issues, but we have more in common than disagreements.

Malcom is dying. He has cancer and, according to a recent post by his wife, probably doesn’t have long to live. Malcom sent a post today to his friends saying that he is too weak to continue much dialogue and gave a farewell to those who know him.

I’m writing these thoughts about Malcom because he is a bit of a role model to me on how to die. Even though his fate is sealed with an incurable disease, he hasn’t made a big deal about it. Instead of dwelling on the inevitable, he has been trying to carry on with life as usual. I know he is concerned about his families welfare after he’s gone, but the tone of the way he is winding up his days on this earth seems to be one of quite resolve and bit matter-of-fact. That’s what I admire about Malcom’s dying.

I contrast Malcom’s situation with others I have known which have faced the expected. Their letters, unlike Malcom’s, is a weekly medical update and prayer for deliverance, that God will miraculously intervene. Malcom has also asked that people pray for him, but more for grace as he nears his end as well as for those who he will leave behind.

I have no idea how I would react if I was told I had cancer and may or may not live for another year. But as a Christian, who claims that my hope is in Christ and to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, I should see death as a spectacular transition to the fulfillment of my purpose of existence. I would like to think I would seek all the medical help possible, as I don’t think we are to foolishly hasten our own demise. But when it becomes crystal clear that my days are few, I hope that, as much as my ailing body will allow, I will carry on with life as usual until I can’t wake up.

Thanks, Malcom, for a great example on how to die. We will see you soon.

So You Think Your Church Is Missional?

My wife, Sandy, has a theory about churches and their understanding of world missions. If in the Q and A they ask questions beyond, "What do the natives eat?" they are probably above average.

I thought about that theory when I received this cartoon from a friend of mine.

I'm Back

After one week in Colorado and this past week in Ukraine, I am back to the world of blogosphere. Things I learned while away from my computer:

1. I still can’t fish. I like the concept of catching trout with a fly (seems more organic), and it’s more fun slinging the fly-line back and forth…but I still don’t catch fish.

2. I’m not in as good physical shape as I thought. The mountain I climbed at Crested Butte three years ago I gave up on before reaching the top this year. The route we took was steeper than before, but the reality is my legs gave up on me.

3. I hate to drive. The reason God created airplanes was for trips over six hours. Even with my son-in-law sharing the driving load, 16 hours in a van is not an enjoyable experience.

4. Even though they are grown and we lived in the same house for a week, I still love my kids and grandkids.

5. People who share their wealth are a rare treasure. The people who provided the lodge we stayed in built it specifically to give people who live overseas a place of retreat.

6. Russian food is still my least favorite. Hot dogs and potatoes for lunch or supper is not a hardy meal.

7. I hate flying in the summer. Way too many tourists.

8. Charles de Gaulle is the most inefficient airport in Europe. If you have an hour or less to catch your connecting flight, forget about it.

9. Good cheeseburgers can be had at TGI Friday’s in Kiev.

10. The world keeps on moving, whether I have Internet access or not.

Gone Fishin

In a couple of hours we travel to the backside of God's Rockies for a week of vacation. Along with our kids and grankids, I don't plan to post anything. Actually, I'm not sure, where we will be, that I will even have access to email. I do my most of my writing, not at the keyboard, but while I am driving or walking. I suspect that as I try my hand at fly fishing I will have plenty of time to write several blogs. I might even write another book.

From Colorado I travel to Ukraine. Somewhere in-between I will touch base.

Be Slow To Speak

We all know that words can be emotionally and intellectually compelling. A phrase, a sentence, an intentional pause meant to capture the attention of the audience before unloading a specific point, represents the power of verbal communication. This past week, listening to testimonies of newly appointed missionaries, two stand out.

“I fell in love with Panama…after the eighth day,” said one young woman recounting her two-week fact finding trip to Central America. The weather was hot and humid when she first arrived, but she obviously adjusted and in the remaining six days, allowing her to fall in love with the country she and her husband were called to serve. After six months on the field, with the humidity a constant reality, the foreign language that will be the enemy before it becomes a friend, the realization that going home is more than a week away, time will tell if they will still be in love with their adopted country of service.

“I hated Mexico,” another woman confessed. “I hated it so much that I actually prayed that God would do something to remove me from the field. I even prayed, I embarrassed to admit, that God would give me cancer so I could come off the field.” That was over ten years ago, and now this lady, who really does love the field she has worked in, is battling ovarian cancer. She and her husband will return to Mexico City in a few weeks, to spend as much time there before her health deteriorates to the place that she must come home.

We all say things that years later we wish we would we could retract. I guess that is why the scriptures reminds us "to be slow to speak."

Book Release

For years people have been asking me to write a book. I’ve joked that if I did it would be entitled, “A Case Study On How NOT To Do Missions,” or “The Top 1000 Mistakes I’ve Made in Ministry.” I’ve compromised and have written a book that is a mission guide called, The Journey of a Post-Modern Missionary: finding one’s niche in cross-cultural ministry.

The Journey Of A Post-Modern Missionary

The success of one living overseas is finding job satisfaction. The importance of occupational contentment is true with any person anywhere in the world, but it is particularly true with missionaries. This book demonstrates that finding one's niche is a process. Happy is the person who discovers their niche early in life. The discovery of giftedness, for many of us, however, is usually long and uncertain.

Though this book is autobiographical, at the conclusion of each chapter are journey niche notes, which are practical applications of lessons learned. Niche notes also answer some of the common questions I’ve received from over thirty years in training and coaching missionaries in over twenty countries.

There are three ways you can order this book. (1) A signed copy through our website, (2) Through our publisher, Xulon Press and Amazon.com,(3) Through our office mailing address.

I See Dead People

How many movies can you identify from a phrase?

“Truth, you want truth? You can’t handle the truth.”

“Look up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s ….!

“I am the patron saint of mediocrity?

“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

I was reminded of great movie lines from listening to sermon this past week when the pastor said, “I see dead people. I see them all the time.”

Of course that line was from the movie the “Sixth Sense,” the little boy who saw the dead walking around, and who helped Bruce Willis understand that he, indeed, was dead.

The pastor made a wonderful application using that phrase, suggesting that it would be a great to have a t-shirt with the words printed on it, “I see dead people.” It certainly would be a conversation starter. I’m not big on T-shirt evangelism, but that is one that I might embrace, if I was a visiting professor at a secular university.

In reality, we are all dead-men walking. No one knows the time of our demise, but each day we not only live, but we are in the process of dying. Today the cancer (or heart disease, diabetes, etc.) may not yet be detected in my body, but somewhere, sometime, the inevitable will be revealed. Of course, there are other dynamics in this world that may determine my end, like war, accident or maybe the pandemic bird flu. Morbid, I agree, but reality, nevertheless.

If you feel good physically and don’t know you’re sick you’re probably feeling pretty good. We go out to dinner, make plans for weekend fun and even plan toward retirement. Yeah, we know we will die some day, but the doctor has given us a clean bill of health so we’re not thinking about the reality that each second we go further into physical decay, one second closer to eternity.

Beyond than physical, I see the spiritually dead. People, young and old, of every nation are physically able but spiritually dead. Like their physical condition, people may be moral, even religious. They are not murderers, thieves and they even try to help people in their community. Some go to the temple or church everyday to pray, they may even give money to the poor. And yet, with all that seemingly healthy spirituality (the new term today…"I'm not religious, but I am spiritual") they are in reality dead.

“There is a way that seems right to man,” the ancient preacher said, “but his way leads to death.” Most people think that that way they are following, from a religion to good works, will lead them to God, but not all roads lead to heaven. For the followers of Christ we were dead, yet we are alive.

Why do I do what I do, living overseas away from family to teach others how to present the message of Christ and salvation? It’s because I see dead people. I see them all the time.

Intellectual Transformation

In one of my classes I talk about the importance of epistemology, which is a branch of philosophy in the study of knowledge. My question before the students is, “How did you come to know what you know, and how do you know what you know is right?”

I contend that most of a person’s personality is determined at birth, i.e. the culture in which we are born with all its implications (race, gender, socio-economics, ethnicity, religion etc.), and therefore accounts for most of how we come to know what we know. Somewhere between eight and ten years of age, at least in my case, we begin to think more about what we were taught and slowly move toward independent thought and eventually our philosophy of life. I maintain that the epistemology of most humans is extremely narrow and what we know is both limited and limiting. It’s an interesting study to think about, how do we come to know what we know.

This morning I listened to the teaching of an old Bible teacher that I have been listening to, off and on, for at least forty years. As a child growing up in Los Angeles my Mom would regularly listen to Dr. J. Vernon McGee and his mid-day Thru The Bible broadcast (www.ttb.org). Dr. McGee has an unusual voice, which he described as a bit like Andy Griffith (an American television personality with a deep southern accent.), which can either be captivating because of his folksy presentation, or hokey and a bit grating to the ears. Perhaps it’s due to my southern roots that I find his tone engaging.

The two main reasons I have listened to McGee all these years is because, first, the program is built on a five-year verse-by-verse study of the Scriptures. Though topical sermons are helpful, they lack the holistic hermeneutics that expository teaching provides. I prefer learning what God has to say about finances, prayer, Divine intervention and prophecy through a holistic approach rather than picking one passage of Scripture in which to build a doctrine.

Secondly, Dr. McGee is a great storyteller. As I remind my students, context gives meaning and presenting real life applications, as illustrations, are the most effective way to teach any subject. Jesus was a great storyteller. J. Vernon’s teaching comes alive with his stories and illustration (granted, some of them are dated and a bit corny, but they are still interesting).

Over the years I have come to disagree with Dr. McGee and his interpretation on some doctrinal issues. He is from a Reformed tradition that makes him more of a determinists than I am. I’m pretty sure he would be less tolerant of a postmodernist that I have become. I confess, however, that Dr. J. Vernon McGee has shaped and influenced a part of my epistemology. I have come to know what I know about God through many influences, but none that has been more consistent than the teachings of a man from Texas who gave his life to teach Thru The Bible.

How do you come to know what you know? Who are the teachers who have guided you? What books have you read that have shaped your present day thinking? Happy is the person who learns from many and finds those few can guide them in consistently in their intellectual growth.

The Agony Of International Travel

Jetlag is more than a bit inconvenient; it’s painful.

We arrived back in the states Monday night after a grueling thirty-six hour journey. Most of the trip was sitting in airports (Delhi, Milan, Toronto, Atlanta) waiting for the next flight. After sitting on a plane for eight hours or more, it’s wonderful to stretch your legs and walk around the airport terminal. However, one can only look in the gifts-shops so long and you begin to wonder what you are going to do with the next two hours of the layover. Airport seating is rarely comfortable and all the time the body just wants to lie down. I passed my time looking at people, thanking God that I’m not the mother who has to corral three unruly kids, or grateful that I’m not (yet) the old man who is in the wheelchair and needs assistance to get on the plane.

In air travel there is a hierarchy of people I would prefer not sitting around me. The first is crying babies. I feel sorry for the tiny ones because their little eardrums hurt because of the cabin pressure or they are stuck in a portable crib. It’s not their fault the only way they can express their unhappiness is through crying…non-stop. Though I do feel for them, I don’t want to share their pain by listening to their misery throughout the flight.

The second group I don’t want in my seating area are teen-agers. They are actually louder than babies and much more unruly, ranging from irritating to rude. I realize I sound like an old fuddy-duddy, but it’s just embarrassing to see the ranging hormones of adolescents as they try to impress the person of the opposite sex through giggles, punches and horse-like sounds that is meant to be human laughter. With babies all you can do is plug your ears; with teen-agers I want to say, “Hey, shut-up…I’m trying to sleep!”

Ah, the joy of the first night to actually lie down on a bed. The mattress is what I might imagine floating on a cloud would be like. My body sinks into the mattress, not merely resting on top. My legs whisper a “thank you” that it can stretch without the weight of the rest of my body. My tush is so grateful that I can rest on my side or stomach through the night. I wake up in my new surroundings refreshed, ready to seize the day, my first day back in my home country.

By three o’clock in the afternoon my body begins to run out of steam and by four I’m stopped by the side of the road completely out of gas. I try to stay awake, but can’t and fall into stage number five REM, just slightly above comatose. Now it’s Wednesday, 2 a.m. and I’m wide awake. I will continue this pattern for another three days. Though painful I realize it’s the price I must pay in world travel. I figure the reason God created Wal-Mart was so I would have some place to walk around when my body is in the U.S., but my time clock is eleven and half hours on the other side of the world.

Authentic Status

The other day we had lunch with one of our friends. She is a very talented person, extremely gifted in organization. Recently she directed a school play, a musical on the Book of Esther. The reviews in the paper commented that it was so well done it could have been “professional” theater. Our friend is an accomplished vocalist and has been asked to direct a couple of concerts this year. She told us that when people ask her what she does she replies, “I’m a mom.”

This blog is not about motherhood or working women. I believe in both. My thoughts are about two other things, humility and status.

Unless you have spent much time in this culture you can’t really appreciate the importance of status in this society. Everyone is forever dropping names, offering their credentials, analyzing your name to determine your caste, examining your clothes to see where you rank socio-economically and even how fair your skin is to determine if you are from the north or south. Our friend has the pedigree, credentials and contacts that could really impress, if she was into that. In fact, if it wasn’t for her personality she could use all that status stuff to really be obnoxious. Instead of turning to a professional status, she says simply, “I’m a mom.”

People of this world system really don’t respect humble people. They see humility as weakness, maybe even false. I find our friend and her husband’s humility so wonderfully refreshing. Arrogance is such a trap and I feel it in my own life. I see it in others as well, who are obsessed with the things they buy or the house they live in. I know others who, in attempt to be humble, make sure everyone knows the sacrifices they are making. Our friend’s house is nice and very comfortable, but not extravagant. They dress well, but their wardrobe doesn’t scream, “Look at me.” (Actually, the husband is so laid back there may be times when he could ratchet it up a notch. But, that’s why we’re such good friends as I am a bit of a frump). Humility is a Christ-like character, as Jesus displayed humbleness from the cradle to the cross, yet He was the King.

What our friend’s have taught me is that one does not need to sell yourself to make it in this world. That is a Western capitalist free-market economy concept. My favorite verse is, “See a man [or mom] skilled their work? They will serve before kings, not serve before obscure men” (Proverbs 22:29). The Master told us the meek will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5). Good reminders…do your work well and walk with humility. You won’t have to tell others how great you are, they will know it.

Mama Njeri

Last week Jecinta passed away. It came as a shock when I received the news from her husband, Paul, that she was in a Nairobi hospital after suffering a stroke. As I write this note her body is still in the morgue and won’t be released until the hospital bill of $8,500 is paid. In Kenya, bodies left in the morgue for long periods of time is not unusual. There was a politician whose body remained in the cooler for over a year until the dispute, between his wives, was resolved on where he would be buried.

Paul Gichuki was one of the first men who became a believer in our ministry in Kenya back in 1977. He became pastor of the church nine months after it was established. A couple of years later he and Jecinta got married. We always called her Mama Njeri, after their first child, Njeri, was born.

Jecinta was not an overly friendly person. While she was always kind to my family, and me, she wasn’t warm. She would sit and laugh and engage in discussion when she did sit down to visit, but it wasn’t natural for her. I think she was always shy around us, maybe a little intimidated.

Paul has been pastor of the Makutano Baptist Church for over 25 years. A bi-vocational pastor, Paul has been a farmer, a merchant, a Bible teacher, all at the same time. He and Jecinta, who are Kikuyu, were forced out of West Pokot District a few years back because of sectarian violence. Though he now lives thirty miles away from his church, several times each week Paul makes the trip to Makutano to lead his flock.

The Gichuki’s and Lewis’s are forever linked. Our children grew up together. Paul and I pioneered the work in West Pokot together. I buried his father in 1979 after Masai cattle raiders killed him. We watched four of his six grow before we left Kenya in 1989. Pastor Paul is one of the most deeply godly men I have ever met, so it does not come as a surprise to me that he has accepted Mama Nejeri’s early home-going as the Sovereignty of God. My prayer goes out to Paul. My thanks to all of you who have helped him financially and for those who are praying for him. Jecinta will be buried May 5th.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:3).

No, He Didn't Kiss The Bride

Another wedding, another experience. This one was the sister-in-law of my lawyer friend. I figured since he soaked me for legal services the least I could do was take advantage of the reception supper. I ate as much paneer, gosh, rice, fish, and roti as I could handle, but I’m still far from making a dent in my legal bill.

A mutual friend picked us up and we arrived at the church fifteen minutes early. Even our Indian friend wasn’t certain if the service would begin at the stated time of 5:30 p.m. The family are professionals, so there was a chance they would operate in “time orientation.” However, it was no real surprise to any of us that the bride began her walk down the aisle at 6:40. It’s a law here that one must be married or buried before sundown, so by the time we got to the “I now pronounce you…” they just got under the wire.

As the pastor cited the familiar phrase, “Do you promise to love and honor..” I wondered if the bride and groom would lie? Love? This union, like ninety percent of the marriages in this country, was arranged. After the relatives made the match, this young couple perhaps had a cup of coffee together to give a quick analysis on whether their parents had made a good choice. American speed dating has nothing on this society, how about speed engagements! A quick review of educational qualifications, and her willingness to immigrate to Canada and the deal is done. When will they learn to love one another? Maybe after a year, perhaps after their first child, maybe never. But they signed a contract, so the chances of them not honoring their vows are considerably less than the emotional drip ("But, daddy, I just loooove him so much") that is in my country.

There were more video cameras at this wedding than a Bush Rose Garden press conference. They even had one guy who was panning the congregation that was then projected on a screen in the front of the church. I felt like I was at the Texas Rangers stadium and when I saw my face was on the screen I had an incredible urge to wave and yell, “Look! It’s me! Hi mom!”

After the service the bride and groom stood on the steps of the church for photographs. About ten eunuchs (transvestites) showed up, clapping and being obnoxious. They show up at all weddings to harass the guests for money. Some Hindu’s believe they have the power to bless or curse so they would rather give into their demands than beat the crap out of them. (I have low tolerance for rudeness, whether it is a he, she or "I'm not sure?").

Five and half hours later, we made it home. We left very early so I am supposing the reception went on for another four hours. My comments reflect my “time” worldview. For this culture it was an “event,” which is to be enjoyed by all. And, no, when they were pronounced husband and wife, the groom lifted her veil but did not kiss the bride.

Be Transformed

This past month I taught at the South Asian Institute for Advanced Christian Studies (SAIACS). As a consultant I work in different training environments and SAIACS asked me to teach a doctoral class in cultural anthropology. As I’ve stated before, my training focus is with the people of the future, its leadership. Eight men, most of them holding significant positions in their own denominations or non-profit organization, were in this special class.

Because of time constraints and because of the makeup of the group, I did not teach my standard course. Instead, we had a one-week workshop analyzing their organizational workplace environment. Using anthropologist Mary Douglas’ grid and group social theory model (Cultural Bias 1982), they worked to identify if their organization were franchiser, bureaucratic, hierarchical or facilitator. I was not surprised with the outcome. Seven out of the eight work in a high grid/high group hierarchical work environment. The odd man out is a guy who has his own consulting business and he, like myself, works as a low grid/low group franchiser.



At the end of the analysis the question is always, “So what? What good is it?" That’s a bottom line question for everything we do in life. It’s one thing to understand what happens, it’s entirely a different matter to know why things happen and, even more importantly, what to do with the findings. So how does this workshop help in planting churches or reaching the world with the message of Christ? It’s through, as my friend Sherwood Lingenfelter (Transforming Culture 1998) says, finding transformation principles.

Organizations are often ineffective and inefficient because they function within the boundaries of their cultural prescriptions, but they do not operate with Kingdom principles. The organizations that are hierarchical are notoriously closed to outsiders, to innovation, as well as sound discipleship principles. There are no “ideal” or “biblical” structures, though Americans are forever trying to make other cultures operate as franchiser’s or facilitator’s, because that is how they function. All work place environments need Kingdom transformation if the goal is to grow and be an effective witness.

Confused? So were my students, at the beginning. But as they grew in their understanding of how systems work, they saw how God can use them and their work place environment for greater impact when they apply the scriptural principle, “Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2,3). As a cross-cultural worker my role is not to change culture or organizations, but help people see how they, corporately and individually, can be transformed to serve Him better. My belief is that when people and work place environments are transformed, the foundation for people movements and, ultimately the transformation of a nation, are in place.

Manager Wanted

For me, management is like art. I may not know how to create a masterpiece, but I know it when I see it.

I think the worse thing a company could do is hire me as a manager. To be a manager means being someone who can organize and coordinate. A manager is someone who can take the vision and make it function. As one who can conceptualize how it should be done, I can get it started, but if it’s going to be efficient in the long haul, it will need someone who can make the pieces fit. In the thirty years I have been in ministry I have started a number of projects including church planting among tribals, non-formal training programs in the US and in other countries. But in all that time I have never managed any program beyond its initial launch. I’ve given up more titles of responsibility than you can count…pastor, head of training in Kenya, Overseas Director, Asia Director, VP of Training, all were positions I held at one time. I gave them up because I know, as an entrepreneur, how to create, but I don’t have the gifts to manage it.

Miller, in his book Barbarians to Bureaucrats. Corporate Life Cycle Strategies: Lessons from the Rise and Fall of Civilizations, identifies well the differences between a leader and a manger:

"Managers must understand the difference between leadership and management. Leadership provides the vision, values, and purpose that creates motion. Management channels the energy leadership creates."

In America, there is usually a clear line between the visionary leader and management. This is not true in India. In Asia, the leader and the manager is all-in-one. Nine times out of ten institutions (be they business or church) are a high grid/high group hierarchal structure with those at the top of the extended family calling the shots. The problem is that those who are at the top many times don’t know how to manage anything and as a result the organization does not function well. It survives only because the core group of family isn’t going anywhere (look for another job or go to a different church), but it does not grow because outsiders are not included except for what they can provide to the group.

My wife and I have been attending a fellowship in the city for over two years. We go there primarily because the pastor is a marvelous expositor of the Word. We attend church, not to have an emotional encounter, but to be spiritually fed. However, attending this church is often an exercise in frustration as the service, prior to the preaching, is an excruciating experience. The worship team doesn’t know how to lead the congregation in singing, most of the time the tech team can’t get the choruses on the overhead screen, microphones squeal, offering is a last minute scramble to find the offering baskets and ushers to pass the plate. If the pastor is out of town, which is often, the substitute speaker is woefully inadequate in his presentation. We continue to attend this fellowship because of the friendships we have built and for what it is, in spite of what it isn't. Because of our commitment to the assembly, we support its purpose, but are saddened by its loss of potential. With a little management, it could be more effective and has the prospect of having even more of an impact in the community.

Apart from this blog, which I am certain no one in the congregation will read, I would not, I cannot, give suggestions on how to do things better. Why? Because in a high grid/high group social environment it’s extremely difficult for change to take place and besides, as an outsider, I have no role.

Our local church is just one example of the how organizations operate in this country. If we went to another fellowship it would likely have the same structure. I am not suggesting that the high grid/high group structure is inherently wrong nor that the low grid structures are superior (explanation in the next blog). However, those in the West, who hope to do business or ministry in this country, need to understand that things work here based on the hierarchical (chief, extended family) system. If it works well it’s because the hierarchy possess both vision and management gifts. It’s a rare combination indeed.

Death and Resurrection

I was told I could get a really good hamburger in Bangalore. I even had a friend in the states who wrote and said it was a treat, on him! Can’t beat a deal like that. But alas, it never happened. The reason, Raj Kumar passed away and the whole city shut down, even the five star hotels where I was to go for my treasured beef between the bun.

Rajkumar was an old time movie star from the area, a poor kid who made it big on the silver screen. As many of you know, India makes more movies, I think an average of three a day, than any place in the world. Bollywood (from Bombay) stars are not just admired, they are worshipped, and so it was with Mr. Rajkumar. The day he died until they buried (not cremated) him the next day, there were riots in the street with over 100 vehicles burned and at least eight people killed.

We were in Kenya when we heard that Elvis died. An American friend of ours cried that day in 1977, and was in mourning for a period of time after that. Even today, Graceland is visited by thousands each year. I would suppose that some even pray at the grave of Elvis as it is some kind of a spiritual experience. In this country, where almost everything can be considered a diety, Rajkumar's death was, for some, a loss of a demigod. The riots, in reality, was more political than anything else, giving people a reason to vent their frustrations at the local government.

I didn’t mind not getting my hamburger, it wasn’t that important. I am saddened, however, with the misplaced devotion of people to a man who, like us, was just human. Yesterday, Christians around the world remembered the Son of Man who was like no other who has ever lived on this earth, and His death 2,000 years ago. Sunday, we will remember again that He conquered death and rose from the grave. To those who have put their faith in Him, we, too, will one day live again. Our hope is not in a movie star, a prophet or guru, our hope remains in Christ.

Spiritual DNA

This week my wife and I are in Bangalore. It’s a nice break from Delhi, though surprisingly the temperature here is the same as in the north. In spite of the summer heat, the one thing that we revel in is the quiet of the campus. We can actually hear birds singing and when they sleep through the night, there is not a sound.

Everyone needs physical refreshment. Though this setting is not a resort and I still have to teach six hours each day, it’s a time where the change of scenery is as welcome as a day on the beach. We end our day with an evening walk, perhaps watch a movie on our computer, or just read. Sandy found a delightful autobiography of Essie Summers and we are now both trying to finish it before the end of the week. Essie, married to a minister, was a romance fiction writer and, from what I read by searching for her on Google, was quite well known. As a guy, who has not, nor ever will read a romance novel, of course I’ve never heard of her. My interest in her is the life she lived as a writer in New Zealand in the ‘50’s until her death in 1998.

My thoughts are on all the people who have graced this earth in the nearly sixty years since I arrived; the people who once lived, who shared this planet with me for a brief period of time; for those who are now gone or who presently share this globe with me who are in physical and spiritual formation. As The Preacher writes in Proverbs, "man’s days are like a shadow, like a vapor." And yet, within this brief moment we call life, God is touching the lives of people who will touch the lives of others, maybe even my own. I believe heaven will be fascinating, as we will have eternity to map our spiritual DNA. That person who lived a thousand years ago who, whether peasant of king, gave birth to a witness who, over the centuries, lived and gave witness to another, which eventually led to that event in a little Baptist Church in Gardena, California where I accepted Christ as my Savior.

Our lives are unique and not, as the Hindu believe, a repeat of a former life. My creation was no accident, as the humanist would suppose. Created for Him, my arrival into the Kingdom will be due to those that preceded me. Who are these people that not only shared this planet with me, but whose existence had direct impact on mine? When time is no more I will learn that my spiritual “kin” were noble and ignoble, rich as well as poor, righteous as well as wicked. My spiritual lineage will be much more interesting than my family lineage, I am certain. I look forward to meeting those who lived their lives in submission to Christ and because of their faithfulness they had eternal significance on my soul. I pray that I, too, will have such significance and perhaps in eternity someone will come up to me and reveal that my presence on earth was a link to their salvation. Could there be a greater reward?

Organizational Failure

Last December (12/22 post) I predicted that Jimmy would quit the team. I learned this past week that, indeed, Jimmy and his wife were on their way home after only four months on the field. I have little first hand knowledge of the details, but I’ve been around long enough to read the tea leaves.

Jimmy and Joline (obviously not their real names) were setup to fail. They had their first child three months before their arrival and, because they are first time parents in their early 40’s, this miracle child became the center of their world. Nothing wrong with that, every parent should feel their family is the most valued possession God has given them. Jimmy wanted to wait for another few months to come over, but the organization insisted they get to their field immediatley. They arrived at the worse possible time of the year as the weather is atrocious in December. They had to immediately find an apartment, buy furniture and enter language school. All the time Joline is hating every minute, probably hating Jimmy for dragging her to a place she did not want to be. It’s my guess that it isn’t this country that’s the problem, any field would have been every bit as unacceptable.

Jimmy and Joline will now go to counseling for a month to assess their situation. After a month they will make their decision on whether to return or not. I’m not a prophet nor a counselor, but my guess is that the therapist will suggest they not return. I am certain counseling will be helpful, but the counseling is partly a face-saving measure for J and J, but mostly for the organization ("we did everything to help them"), before they resign.

I got into the business of training people for overseas work because of people like Jimmy and Joline, so I am obviously interested in the why people who do not make it on the field. I do not believe this couple are victims and they indeed bear some of the responsibility for leaving the field. Before they moved here they had made a short-term visit and seemed excited to live here, though I doubt that Joline was as excited about it as was Jimmy. After the baby was born everything changed, and this is where I believe the organization failed this couple.

When situations change it’s important for all parties to recognize it and be honest. J and J probably should have been asked to reevaluate their “calling” when they found out that Joline was pregnant. If J and J insisted they still wanted to be fielded, the organization should have done one of two things. One would have been to say to them they would not be fielded for another six months to a year. This is what J and J wanted, but they were denied. The other option would have been just to tell them that their situation had changed so much they would not be fielded. This is tougher, but someone needs to have the courage to say no to people rather than try to hope for the best.

Discernment is a rare gift. An even greater gift is having discernment and then making the hard decisions. Jimmy and Joline had little chance of succeeding on the field, the leadership knew it before they got on the plane.

My guess is that, in time, J and J will be fine once they get back to the states and settle into the surroundings they are both comfortable with. They will for years carry the stigma of a couple who raised a lot of money to get to the field but didn’t last. I’m sorry for that, because it didn’t have to happen. Some people are just not cut out to live overseas. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. The greater issue is the process of their failure. I hope the organization will not scapegoat this incident and take a hard look on how to do things better, for the sake of people, for the sake of Christ and His work.