Kingdom Come!

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• Proximity… nearness.  You;ve got to be close by to the people to whom you want to minister.  You’ve got to be nearby those whom you want to influence.  Phyllis and I did this when we did JoyFull Ministries 25 years ago.  We intentionally moved between the fraternity houses at VSU so that we were there.  We chose not to commute - on purpose.  Missionaries do this.  Or they used to… in order to live out the Gospel.
• Presence… You must create a presence within that proximity.  A presence of people, ideas, hope.  It must be a presence of an alternative lifestyle, paradigm or belief system.  Previously, in a different universe, we could create a presence simply by building a building and advertising that good stuff was inside.  Can’t do that so much now.  Presence is more about incarnation than edifice.  More about living it out in a counter-culture way of love and hope…
• Power… There are different kinds of power
• • The power of a life laid down - individualism, dreams, aspirations laid down in service to the King and His Mission
  • The power of community - people living for each other in a common purpose, fulfilling Jesus’ plan, purpose and dream - together
  • The power of the Gospel - walking out Jesus’ teaching, example and commands in every day life
  • The power of moral authority… having no allegiance except to Christ and His kingdom
• Proclamation… telling the Story, both mine and Jesus’ so that there is no doubt where and why I stand… Good News is always good news to the hearer, not just to the teller.  Proclamation is offering a solution, not just citing a problem..

Seems to me that this is how incarnation begins…  What happens along the way is the challenge.  Can I really do the stuff?

I’ve just spent a few days in San Raphael Costa Rica with DeLynn and Gloria Hoover and their fantastic gang of world-changers at Pura Vida Missions (PVM).  They are doing an amazing job of training and equipping young North Americans. (The groups participating while Zach and I were there were from Texas, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Iowa !  The staff of college-age disciples was from Canada and all over the US !)
 

We arrived on Thursday and spent the weekend watching the goings on, the preparation in drama, crafts and spirituality was great.  Up early with a “quiet time” and chapel, these kids were prepped to go out and do services to the church network that DeLynn has developed around Costa Rica .  More than just a “missions trip,” this is a model of discipling and equipping.

One of the things that DeLynn said that impressed me was, “I’m here being missional.  These guys come in and help me in my mission to come alongside the local pastors and churches and assist them.” 

You know, I’m such a critic of short-term missions (STM).  Such a critic!  And I’ve recently chatted about it here and here.  (Yes, chatted.  Not ranted nor raved.  Really.)  But I am a little embarrassed that when Gloria read my 21 July post she said to DeLynn, “Well, if that’s the way Glenn feels, why the heck did he come down here?”

And the answer to that is… to see it done right.  I’m on a quest.

My concerns about STM have to do with the “it’s-all-about-me” syndrome in the North American church.  It’s-all-about-me getting a missions experience.  It’s-all-about-me going and having the adventure.  It’s-all-about me doing my thing.  Even if it’s at the expense of the people I go to.  And this is just not Jesus.

And I’ve said that over and over…

But DeLynn and Gloria are striving to do it right. 

They are “there” in Costa Rica .  24/7/365.  They are integrated into the local indigenous churches and into the whole Costa Rican “scene.”  DeLynn has worked for five years to build relationships with several varied denominational communities both in the USA and in Costa Rica .  He sees himself there to help them.  And he’s (applause please!) committed to not developing dependency in the church.  You know – not having the local church look to the rich North American church to call the shots.  DeLynn’s about being missional in Costa Rica and is concerned about discipling the church, especially North American young people.

And PVM is basically a multi-tiered training/discipleship model.  Interns – usually college graduates – are there for 15 months.  These 15 months are spent in training and discipling.  The college-age staff is there for three months and the STM teams with their youth leaders are onsite for nine days.  STM groups arrive on Wednesdays and depart on Friday of the following week.  Of the nine days, 2 ½ are spent in spiritual and practical training.  The remaining days – except for one end of the week “vacation day” – are spent in work projects.  One team was rebuilding three houses of church members destroyed in a fire a few days ago!  Rebuilding houses!

So, I’m convinced about several things:

1. PVM is attempting to do it right.  DeLynn and Gloria want to make a difference without causing dependence.  They have a strong work ethic.  They have a high level of integrity.  They have a passion to see Kingdom-change actually happen.  They are open to correction and revision.  What more can you ask?
2. This is a “training model” of missions.  It’s OJT as well as spiritual challenge.  There is time in the Word, preaching and praise.  There is cultural sensitivity.
3. Costa Rica (CR) is a beautiful and different kinda place.  It was cold and wet the whole time we were there.  I had entirely the wrong kinda clothes.  I’d taken shorts and t-shirts, but needed jeans and long sleeves.  I thought it was Nicaragua but cool at night.  I was wrong.
4. I want somehow to be involved in PVM.  I was energized just sitting in the room – not with the high-schoolers (although they were loud and boisterous) – but with the college-age staffers.  Their commitment to Christ, their sacrifice (they pay their way to come and work 18+ hour days!) and their take-charge attitude was kinetic and infectious.  Made me long for the halcyon days of JoyFull Ministries between the frat houses in Valdosta a long time ago.  (How did I get so old?)
5. We – the North American church in general and Globe International in particular – need to assist the CR church in discipleship, church planting and missions sending.  We need to give them our gifts and receive from theirs.
6. DeLynn and Gloria treated us like royalty!  They fed us great CR food!
7. CR coffee is some of the very best I’ve ever had.  (Don’t tell DeLynn this.  He’ll adopt the whole I-told-you-so attitude and it will all go to his head.  I’m just thinking about his welfare.)

So there you have it sports fans… STM can be done right.  I’ve said.  Out loud.  On the interweb and you folks who think I’m just old and crotchety and can’t be pleased can now understand that I’m not and that I can!  (grin)

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It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood! Who strives valiantly, who errs, and comes up short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcomings, but who does actually strive to do the deeds. Who know the great enthusiasms, the great devotions: who spends himself in a worthy cause. Who at best know in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst if he fails while daring greatly knows that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt

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Finally, here’s an answer that answers… My Seabeck buddy Brad writes:

What makes “mission” and “missional” different? “Mission” requires “incursion” – people commute into the community, and then return to their home turf when they are finished; “Missional” requires “incarnation” – people root into the community, because that is their home and they never finish.

And the problem is that we get confused…  we can’t tell the difference in our head.  We figue an “incursion” is somehow as effective as being “incarnational.”  And that’s because we are confused about our goal - what we wish to acccomplish on the “incursion.”  Incursions cannot incarnate the Gospel or Jesus or show off “church” as God intends it to be. 

Incursions are costly, but incarnation cost us our lives.  So I’m in trouble now.  But remember Brad started it!