Suppose you were invited into a room with the leaders of six different mission agencies, and you were given an opportunity to ask any of them any question you would like. What would you ask? Seriously, post your question by clicking on the comments link below.
Last week I was in a meeting with the leaders of five other mission agencies: Greg Pruett (Pioneer Bible Translators), Rick Jett (International Disaster Emergency Services), Doug Lucas (Team Expansion), Tony Twist (TCM International) and Rick Wolford (Fellowship of Associates for Medical Evangelism). You can tell from the agency titles that many aspects of mission were represented: leadership development, church planting, relief, medical work, community development, Bible translation, etc.
We are a group who has gotten together once or twice a year now for about four years. We give updates on our lives, pray for one another, share answers to questions that we all encounter (do you do an external audit at your agency; how has the economy affected your ministry), catch up on one another’s lives. We have a lot in common (though I am the only avid birder in the bunch. But then, the other Doug is the only avid star gazer in the bunch).
So this is your chance. If you could ask us one question, what would it be?
Click on the comments link right below this post to add your question.
I would ask how they believe we could spur the hearts of Christians world wide to truly live out the gospel, and begin to get out of there comfort zone and suffer for the Kingdom of God(begin to carry there cross instead of forget about/ignore it and leave it behind)?
(with this question I do not intend to offend the many that do so, I commend them for following after Christ because I still lack in the commitment that I long for)
Hi Doug-
Deidra and I love your “Wandering Priest”–good to hear of your adventures and concerns and also to see pics of you and Robyn. One question I am sure you already ask: How can we complement each other?
Blessings!
Jim and Deidra
There are so many but how about: What makes your organization different from the others?
What do you appreciate most about each of the other groups?
What difference would it make if your group didn’t exist?
How could you pool resources and efforts to show the world Christ’s LOVE IN ACTION (they will know we are Christians by our love)?
How is what you are doing speaking to non-christians around the world as a testimony to God’s love and not just “doing good” (like Sean Penn’s camps for displaced persons in Haiti, just for example)? Does your rhetoric relate to regular Joes/Jills or is it too “Christian-technical” to translate into everyday people talk (like for CNN?…how could you translate what you are doing for a 90 second spot on CNN in a way that would make non-Christains take note rather than look for a church-talk translator?)
Jim and Diedre, good question, and one asked by another. I replied
with half a dozen instances of how these very organizations have ties
with one another and are working together. For example, FAME and
CMF have hosted a “Your Church and AIDS” conference now for several
years. The next one is this month in Oregon. After our meeting,
I noticed that a couple of guys were making some plans about a mutual
project. IDES and FAME and working together in Haiti, and CMF and IDES have partnered over the years in numerous ways, most recently
for famines in Kenya and Tanzania.
Thanks for writing.
Clark, I appreciate your response to the blog. You raise a really
good point. So much of our faith as it is lived out is directly
related to the contexts in which we live. If we are never hungry,
for example, it is difficult for us to empathize with those who do not know where their next meal is coming from. We all need to be more cognizant of the context where the majority of the world’s Christians live, and just as Jesus did, try to do something about it.
I applaud your desire for deeper committment and your desire to more faithfully bear the Cross.