Youth Ministry, Discipleship and Short-Term Missions

I write a little about short-term missions over at another blog called "notes from dave." Last month I posted on the lack of training many youth pastors, and by extension, youth ministry participants receive prior to participating in short-term mission work. You can read that post here. As a result of that post, I have been asked to expand my thoughts and submit an article to a major U.S. Christian magazine. It will be published, I hope, in January, so I am now in the process of some final research. One of the people I have asked for input is Seth Barnes of Adventures in Missions. Seth has been involved in short-term mission at many levels in his more than 20 years AIM. Here is what Seth had to say. And yes, I am the unnamed guy who is "going to write an article." I got an email from a guy who is going to write an article about how training for short-term missions is inadequate. I replied,"The problem is not that youth leaders don't have access to training, but that they don't value it, have time for it, or have pastoral support for it." He wrote back: "How do we break the cycle as it applies to youth ministry?" Well, that question opens a can of worms. To see into his can of worms, click here. And then let me know what you think.

The Famous Pumpkin Pie

I came across this fantastic pumpkin pie recipe for the holidays. Provecho! [hat tip to rich peil of abound fundraising for the picture.]

Language and Culture, Opening the Window

Many people set out to learn another language. For me that language was Spanish. It was never something I had thought much about when I was young. In fact in high school, I followed my brother and took 4 years of French. But then somewhere in the middle of life as a young adult, God grabbed hold of me and I was sent in a completely new direction, to Mexico. Kicking and screaming I went and after time, finally decided I needed to learn the language. Unfortunately, many believe mastery of a language ends when they are technically proficient. Which means I will never get there, but I believe there is more. I think to really understand a culture, you need to get to a point where you understand the inside stuff. Like the jokes and those pesky sayings. You know what I mean. Stuff like "A stitch in time saves nine" and "A penny saved is a penny earned." The sayings that those on the inside know, and which can give you a window to understanding the culture. One of my favorite books is titled "Folk Wisdom of Mexico" by Jeff M. Sellers. It is a collection of proverbs and sayings from Mexico. I've included a few of those here for you. Think of it as a small opening of the window, and enjoy the view. En boca cerrada, no entran moscas. Flies don’t enter a closed mouth. Cuando hay menos burros, hay más olotes. When there are fewer donkeys, there is more to eat. Guarda tu ayuda para quien te la pida. Keep your counsel arrested, until it’s requested. El que nunca va a tu casa, en la suya no te quiere. He who never goes to your home doesn’t want you in his. La verdad padece, pero no perece. Truth suffers, but never perishes. Dios habla por el que calla. God speaks for the man who holds his peace. Sólo lo barato se compra con el dinero. Money only buys what is cheap. Cuando joven, de ilusiones; cuando viejo, de recuerdos. While young, it’s all dreams; when old, all memories. El sueño es alimento de los pobres. Dreaming is the food of the poor. El sol es la cobija del pobre. The sun is the blanket of the poor.

Just Sayin' Thanks...

Over at notes from dave, I write on some of the issues facing the short-term mission world. The other day I was reading through an old blog post of mine and decided to look again at the comments. It was there that I saw that one of those people commenting spoke of how a pastor had had a positive impact on his life. I thought about that for awhile and then, since I knew both people pretty well, passed the comment along. Being in ministry, we frequently never get to see the results of our ministry. Especially if you are involved in youth ministry. Often times any change that someone may experience will come years after contact has been lost, and with it a chance to say thank you. Within a few moments of passing that comment along, I received a note back from that youth pastor saying thank you. He was going through a particularly difficult time in ministry, was discouraged, and the comments I sent him were a well received and appreciated encouragement. I wanted to take a few moments today and say thank you myself. To a long time friend with whom I worked almost 20 years ago. I was a sorta young youth pastor and the church where I was serving was scheduled to go on their annual mission trip to Mexico. Now for me this was something totally new. But I soon found out I was supposed to be in charge. Think about that for few seconds. A guy barely thirty years old, in charge of a group of high school students, in another country, where they didn’t speak English. I was scared to death. But there right beside me was Dr. Dave, our Minister of Christian Education. Now as I look back, with the benefit of 20 years experience serving in Mexico, I can tell you we made a lot of mistakes. But I can also tell you this. Dr. Dave Gallagher helped plant the seeds for cross cultural ministry in me. Over time those seeds have been watered by many great people, but were it not for that initial investment of time and energy, and Dave pushing me into what was then a pretty new style of ministry, who knows what I would be doing today. In just a few days I will be going to Green Lake Conference Center in Wisconsin to help plan the 2010 National Conference for the Fellowship of Short-Term Mission Leaders. Dave has a home there now after many years of ministry. Unfortunately, while I am there, he will be on the road and we will miss each other. So Dave, if you get a chance to read this, and through facebook, I am guessing you will, even though we did not always see eye to eye, thank you. You planted the seeds that have forever changed my life. Hermano David, Dios le bendiga!

A Couple of Attention Grabbers

I thought I’d share a couple of items that have caught my attention that last couple of days. First up is a news item from Reuters: Iran demands UN Security Council condemn bomb attack. Really? Is this the same Iran that in the past has supported the taking of hostages for political gain? Was that not terrorism? Is this the same Iran that has supported similar suicide type bombings in Israeland other countries for years? Was that not terrorism? Hey Iran, did you support action from the UN Security Council then? Isn’t it a little disingenuous for Iran to now call on the international community to condemn terrorism when they themselves have been guilty of the same type of behavior for years? I'm just askin... Last night I was watching the television when a commercial came on selling phone cards to call India and the Philippines. You know, even at a penny a minute it is too expensive. I call those countries every week and don’t pay anything. It’s called customer service for Dell, Sprint, or any number of other companies from the U.S. intent on saving a few coins by outsourcing their customer service. My beloved Angels from Anaheim are about to be eliminated in the ALCS by the Yankees. Last night when they were down 3-0 I told my wife it was over. Chelle tried to cheer me up by reminding me of the comeback of the prior night. One thing you learn if you are an Angels fan. They are going to find a way to lose. I know they won the World Series a few years back, but that was a fluke. There are not many teams in baseball as stricken with bad luck as these guys. Finally, I first saw this over at James’ Blog, but I suspect he pulled it from the Mexico City News. It seems that Mexico City wants to put their cops on a diet. Here’s the news story complete with the admonition of the city's Public Safety deputy secretary for citizen participation [that’s a title, isn’t it?] to eat more vegetables. Doesn’t she know that every taco comes with onion, cilantro, salsa, and usually avocado and a radish? Last time I checked, those were some pretty tasty vegetables.

Whatever You Have Done...

I was talking to a friend last week who lives and serves in Perú. After a few minutes of sharing like stories about being Americans in other countries, we got into some of the nitty-gritty of life. She told me about the street where she lives in one of the poorer areas outside of Lima. About how there are incredible numbers of homeless people, street children. She shared how for many, there is no work, food, or hopes for as better life. I listened as she shared about one man who makes his living daily by walking her street and rummaging through garbage cans. Looking for empty plastic and glass bottles. Looking for discarded soda cans, and anything else he can sell to the scrap yard for a few Perúvian coins, or soles. He also looks for any discarded extra food that he can take to his family. I then asked her the $64,000 question. I asked her if she made sure to “throw away” some extra food for the guy on a regular basis. My question stunned her and she looked around, as if to make sure no one would hear. When she was sure we were alone, she said that yes, she did, and then asked if I thought it was weird. She went on to tell me that sometimes she would even go so far as to make extra and wrap up those “leftovers” just enough to keep them clean. But not so much as to be obvious. The bible teaches that “whatever you have done to the least of these, you have done unto me [Jesus].” While many of us spend our time trying mightily to define what it means to live a life pleasing to God, I think my friend has a good idea.

Bend Over

Monday is a big day for me. I am going in for a colonoscopy. Yep, I am heading to the airport where in just a few short moments, someone I have never met will ask me to strip, x-ray me, and run their Star Trek Tricoder over my body. The process is much like the dreaded colonoscopy, only without the drugs. And not nearly as effective. You see when the doctor takes a look, he may be saving your life. When these guys take a look, they are supposed to be saving lives, but more often than not, it is just busy work. How else can you explain my adventure a few years back traveling around the US? Answer me this. Haven't you ever wondered if these folks are even paying attention? Especially the people watching your bags go through whatever that machine is. I mean, how vigilant can you be? Hours upon hours of seeing nothing but bags full of junk passing in front of you. Talk about needing cable to avoid reruns! I'm surprised when they find anything. But let's look at this logically. Since the FAA has determined that we must turn off all of our electronic gadgets for landing and take off, they must believe there is a real threat to the avionics of those planes in which we travel. Otherwise, they would never have that ban. So why do we get to take these electronics on board at all? It's simple. Money. I have a good friend who says all you have to do is follow the money. And in this case, it is business interests. Can you imagine the havoc if we banned these potential weapons of terrorism from airplanes? Anyways, I digress. I am flying this week because I am part of the Fellowship of Short-Term Mission Leaders. Each year we get together to pray, dream, worship, and try to improve how we serve Christ, and others when we go, and take teams with us on short-term mission trips. I've posted some of my thoughts on this over at my other blog titled "notes from dave." I have learned a lot from this group of leaders and cannot imagine missing this annual gathering. It has really, in the words of Chuck Swindoll, improved my serve. Now until I return, all kidding aside, guys, go get your colonoscopy, ladies, your mammograms. These tests really do save lives!