godiznice's Xanga

Core Values

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:48:43 GMT

Several months ago, ITeams Minneapolis sat down together and laid the foundation in what would become our core values as a team. We spent considerable time praying and asking Jesus what it is we deeply value as a team. Two of them have become quite real recently:

Presence
Refugees often feel unwanted and isolated. We welcome refugees into our communities, our homes, and our lives. We offer them a safe place where they can come and know that they are treasured. We share meals, stories, and celebrations. We visit them. We pray together. We know their names.

Interdependence
While realizing the Christ-like attitude to give without expecting anything in return, we also recognize our deep need for each other. We welcome interdependence in relationships with those we serve, amongst our teammates, and between us and those with whom we partner. We strive to learn from and honor one other as we grow together in friendship and service.

We have several other values that I believe capture the beliefs and mandates of Scripture that fall more under the umbrella of traditional evangelism, but these two seem to easily push their way to the front every single day. Being with people and honoring them. I have so far to go.

This week my teammate Sarah fell and broke her wrist while visiting a Bhutanese family. She came in with the expectation that she was going to get a bunch of things accomplished and take care of this wonderful family. As she fell to the ground, the family gathered around her. They brought her something to drink and helped her back up again. They called later in the evening to say in their developing English skills, "I'm so sorry." Sarah, in this moment, absolutely needed this family. What a reminder. Interdependene.

I've been taking a new family lots of places by bus. Since I am visually impaired this is my natural way to navigate the city. Often times I can't see the stops all that well and entering a new builiding is typically like sorting through a maze for me. It was so interesting yesterday as I helped my friend fill out an application. I was explaining the details. While outside however, these two men were leading me - telling me what bus number was coming, explaing street signs that I couldn't see from a distance, making sure I didn't fall in a hole. I absolutely need them. They absolutely need me. Again, a beautiful picture of being present together and an acknowledgement of our deep need for each other.

I'm continually champing at the bit to share what I know, what I believe, namely, we call this theology. I'm learning to live this and express this in tons of different ways throughout the week. Demonstrating and proclaiming the Kingdom of God has never been and will never be a 50-50 balance. It always has been both/and and the motivation has always been that we are intoxicated with Jesus. Presnce, interdependence, Gospel - all these I'm trying to learn to value. I do what I want and I want what I value.

Christian-ISM or Christ-like?

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 20:22:27 GMT

I just had a conversation with a friend that has the potential to change my life forever. You've had these conversations, right? The ones that conclude by you saying, "Crap, there's just a whole other worldot there that I'm not seeing and understanding." My friend and I came to the conclusion that we don't really believe we need Jesus very much. We say it and we talk about it, but our very lives don't display that deep need for Christ. There is something wrong. When my friend left, I sat there stunned for awhile, staring straight ahead.

So often in this little Christian bubble I swim in, is the desire to say, act, live, react, etc. in terms of Christin-isms. I feel that someway, somehow we have reduced the person of Jesus down to "Christianism", some sort of theory or method about the Christian faith. Once a theory is memorized or put down on paper, it is pretty easy to know how to carry it out and look respectable. After my conversation, I started to wonder if half of what I do as a missionary is more Christian-ism than Christ-like. Speaking the Kingdom, taking time to be with people in need, intimacy with God - all these Christ-like qualities somehow don't make the cut when we're doing Christian-ism. Christian-ism makes all the other Christians think you're doing just fine when we know deep down our heart is in the wrong place. Playing the Christianism system has to be cast off.

Since I'm a Christian leader I get asked a lot of questions that pertain to practical steps to take in missions, church organization,etc. The general assumption is that we have mastered the "Christian/Christ-like" thing and we now need a good organizational method to carry it out. Tell me what to do next; I have the Jesus thing down. Pragmatics rule the day. I think actually the opposite is probably true for most of us. It is the Christ-like thing that we are in the fog about, and the pragmatic stuff that we give way too much attention. When is the last time I've touched a leper, calmed a storm, hung out with a demoniac? Christian-ism doesn't allow us to be Christ-like. . . it pushes hard for respectability wherein popularity and normalcy take high ground, not Jesus.

The beautiful thing is that Jesus is just as inviting as he's ever been, just as pure, just as worth to be followed. And He has promised that if we seek him, we will find him. Where there is a lack of need or desire for him, he can replace with thirst and renewal. I don't want to forget the conversation I just had.

Learning together

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 06:01:40 GMT

I've had the priviiledge to sit, walk, and talk with a guy from south Asia who is new to the country over the last several days. IWhat an honor to be with him in his first few days in the US. How clueless I am about where he came from and what he has experienced. . . I have so much to learn. He has been so patient with me in explaining the details and the majority of his life that he spent in a refugee camp.

I don't know about you but I feel pretty stupid ownplaining about traffic or the fact that public transportation isn't as fast as I would like when I hear my new friend's experience. It's so true that God gives us all incredible grace when we face the impossible. As we talk I sense that God's Kingdom has literally broken into our lives. We are stopping, listening, hearing. . . it really doesn't get much better than that. The kingdom of this world is flipped upside down in these moments. Something about God's power being expressed in weakness. Invaluable.

So I teach him about the US. He teaches me about his country. And we laugh a lot. We smile. Sometimes we sit and look staight ahead without saying anything at all. We share personal stories that are worlds apart. We say the words, "Say it again" a lot!! :) But we learn, grow, and keep moving on. . . listening, hearing, being. I just want to be.

Drunk guys at the park are not invisible

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 05:20:27 GMT

Today I was able to hang out with a couple friends of mine who I attended seminary with in the Philippines. Through an interesting chain of events my friend Steve who is 61, Rueben who is in his 40's, and I all live in the Twin Cities Rueben is a Russian man who taught seminary (and will be teaching at North Central University in the fall) and is in the US on medical referral. I hung out with Steve a lot when we lived in Baguio, Philippines and we studied together. So its so cool when I can catch up with them.

As many of you know, my neighborhood isn't the nicest in the world. I guess many people might be scared to live where we do or would never consider it as a place to raise a family. I believe God has divinely led us to live in our neighborhood and I love my neighbors. They bring a sense of diversity, perspective, and spunk to the city. I was hanging out with our team here the other day and said, "We live in a wild and crazy neighborhood. I like it!"

While we were chatting at the park today, two drunk guys started to get into a fight. They were going back and forth when Steve tried to break it up. Another man came on ths scene to split it up and he threw one of the men on the ground in the process. Drunk people are kind of lopsy-topsy already so the guy fell pretty easily Perhaps the most amusing part of the whole scene was that the guy who split up the fight took the liquor from the man he threw on the ground. I think the only reason he broke up the fight was to get some more booze. Crazy.

A few minutes later a cop car pulled into the park and took two of the guys away. I think there must have been some phone calls because one of the guys was pretty much passed out on the ground. A few minutes later another drunk guy came to the picnic table where Rueben, Steve, and I were sitting and was awfully confused. He didn't have his shoes on and had no idea where he was.

None of these guys would be classified as "refugees", meaning people I work with on a daily basis. But they are my neighbors and many refugees walked through the park as all of this transpired. These are people who live in my hood. I walked away today thinking that I don't want to become a person who ignores my neighbors. It is pretty true that there is little you can do to help a drunk person; at the same time, I want to continue to "see" my neighbors. I feel like so many of them aren't even seen. It is pretty much as if they don't even exist to the general population.

I have noticed that since I returned from overseas that I have no problem relating and talking with people who are quite diferent from me, of different ethnic background, etc (all of whom were today at the park). I get a coment almost weekly about how large of a cultural distance there is between "us" and "them" . . . and perhaps I just don't understand because this is my life and has been for 7 years now. I sometimes take for granted how living in the awkwardness of a different culture is normal by now. I can't document this but I feel like many people have drawn an imaginary line around my neighborhood and labeled it "Invisible," at least to the down and outer. I can't expect very many people to even want to do what Charity and I do on a daily basis; I just wish that imaginary line could be erased. My neighbors aren't invisible. I talk to them and know their names. They are very, very real.

So many of the students I tutor feel invisible. To their family they are valued, but to the average American they are just a stupid person who can't learn the languge fast enough. The seemling slow our CEO world down. I ache for my students and my neighbors. I feel their pain. I hug them. I see them. I cry with them.

And any amount of care I have only scratches the surface of how visible my friends are to God. I can't comprehend that kind of love and presence. I'm so glad the we serve a right now, totally present God. He sees us and knows our names.

Intellectuals, Practicing Pentecostals, and the Low Class

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:06:35 GMT

Pentecostals have characteristically reached out to the low class of society. The Pentecostal/Charismatic Movement has seen astounding growth worldwide, often times in places among the poor and low-class. I think any Evangelical who has studied any form of contemporary church history has to take notice of what has happened within the Pentecostal Movement.

Here Stateside, however, we are stuck fumbling our thumbs back and forth, scratching our beards, wondering what has gone wrong. Unarguable Pentecostal practice has lost its place. I talked to a Bible college student today who attends a Pentecostal school (training Pentecostal pastors) and he said that he didn't think it would be a very large percentage of students who would consider themselves practicing Pentecostals. As we've grown smarter and made a valiant effort to be culturally relevant, there has been this uncanny movement away from teh inexplicable. We want to be respectable. So we may have won the relevant war but I sense we're standing around twidling our thumbs. Maybe I'm just a maverick out there somewhere and nobody really cares too much about the whole issue. I think we'd be foolish if we think we havne't "lost the fire" on several levels.

So we're smart. We're not low class. But we are culturally relevant. Clearly, altar calls and re-living the glory days isn't at all in my thinking. The expression of God's Spirit in this generation will have to take on new shapes and forms. The marketplace or over coffee may be the exact wineskin that God will use. I have no idea. But I'm not sure most people think that anythinng is wrong. I repeat: I don't want to relive the glory days. I don't desire congregational meetings where everybody works themselves into some sort of uphoria or frenzy. I just sense that this whole thing of missions and church work is pretty natural. If its just natural, what's the purpose of the Holy Spirit? Something about power, might, and vibrance seems to leap of the page when I read Acts. It ain't natural.

So, where do we go from here? I'm not much for labels but I'm still old-school enough to view myself as a practicing Pentecostal. Jesus saves. Jesus fills. Jesus heals. And he's coming again. None of those things are natural or ultra-intellectual. Yet, all people of all social classes can and must get in on the inexplicable. When I go with my friend to the park and he sees a man's broken leg get healed, he too will ask, "What does this meean?" Smart people must see stuff they just can't explain. Let's pray for courage and obedience.

Sorry for the silence. . . still swingin'!!

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:18:06 GMT

I cannot believe it has been over a month since I've blogged. Well, I'm back and hopefully I'll be more consistent. The pace of life and ministry here have seemed to accelerate quite a bit in the last month. I'll give you a "cliff notes" version and then on to other thoughts.

Cool Stuff Happening with our New Friends

We've had a chance to connect with lots of refugees this last month. For the first time since we arrived, I feel like most of our friendships and social interaction are primarily the people group which we are serving. As a "missionary" and person who wants to do everything I can to be in relationship with refugees, this is awesome progress.

We went to World Refugee Day out at Minnehaha Park with an E. African family and have gone to eat several times with students who John is tutoring. To us being in community and bullding relationshipos like this is like suckin on helium. . . you never want to come down from that manic mode. . . . we love it!!

In the US, we could easily have a bunch of white friends and do ministry from 8-5, kind of viewing refugees as our "project". Sick! We are pleased to see that the majority of our time is being spent with refugees. These are our friends, our joy, our family. We just keep inviting ourselves places, inviting others places, and attempting to stay present with God's presence with our neighbors. We have some wonderful American, white friends too, who we have gotten to know, which helps to bring an ongoing understanding to what it means to be American and missional at the same time.

This isn't to say that life is without struggles. We constantly are trying to figure out more ways to serve and struggle with the tension of hanging out and being present with refugees vs. seeing them propelled into God's Kingdom of Light. But we are very aware that the big, Kingdom stuff is God's business and we just want to keep being there. Charity and I are both convinced that if we are simply "there", simply involved at street level, then God will continue to do what he always does in radical heart transformation.

Tutoring and future plans for our work with ITeams

My afternoon tutoring with students has picked up quite a bit. Right now it seems like the majority of students range from age 18-25 and are recent arrivals in the country. Most have been here less than a year. The goal is to build relationships and prepare them to enter college or GED equivalency programs. This has been extremely rewarding and so cool to watch their progress.

Within the next month or so, ITeams hopes to start an International conversation club/program wherein the focus is on friendship and "talking". Many English programs are good about teaching the basic grammar rules but this will hopefully force people to talk and get immersed with speaking language, rather than learning about langauge. We'll keep you updated on how this moves forward.

Incarnational Living

Charity and I have told each other again and again how we love where we live. Many people would absolutely hate it - the traffic is busy, the parking is a troublesome, it's too dangerous, English sometimes isn't heard all that much. . . I guess many could go on and on about the inconvenience of it all. But for us, it rocks! We love the diversity and its pretty easy to start conversation with our African neighbors. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

With this however, comes the call of God to go deeper, be more involved, talk to more people, hang out with more students. We don't want to get comfortable. Each week I have one or two meetings with leaders of some sort wherein we come up with some clever ideas. Seminaries and ministry leaders call this theologicing or strategizing. I love talking theology, church planting, strategy, etc. . . but there is just absolutely no substitute for meeting and hanging out with the people your serve. At the core, this is missions. This is what God called us and sent us to do. We want to be very narrow on this focus.

I wish I had the time to tell you the many stories I've heard and the journeys of many of our new friends. They are extraordinary. This happens in real time with real people with real needs. We know that many of you who read this blog have prayed the exact words that I am typing now. We know that this type of stuff didn't just "happen" because we were clever or proactive. We treasure your friendship, involvement, and count it a priviledge to be serving with you in doing God's thing in Minneapolis.

Insomnia Tribune

Tue, 20 May 2008 08:07:13 GMT

Welcome to me being quite awake at 3 am. I can't sleep tonight and am not sure why. Today has been a day of getting news from all over the place - a call from my friend from the Philippines, called my parents in Missouri, and emails from S. Africa, N. Dakota, and Belgium!! I would say that is pretty neato. And most of them were quite random - just funny that I had all those connections today.

Aren't We Just Psychotic?

As usual, I'll probably blog about some form of culture or missions. Sometimes I think I need to apologize for having that theme but it's so much part of me and just natural for me to talk about the things that dominate my life.

I've been noticing that most of the Christians who I talk to are going through some level of emotional loss. I haven't taken one counseling course in my life so I'm not sure that's the correct term. But you probably get what I mean. They're struggling emotionally with some "inside" issue - frustration, discontentment, relationship is screwed up, can't get a job, can't find a cool enough college . . . and on and on the list goes. Let's call thie "Psychotic" Christian. It's really hard to identify sometimes. I have that moment where I completely understand and then in a purely John moment I just want to tell them to go away and get over themselves.

I'm starting to believe that a lot of this psychological stuff that Christians have on their plate everytime I see them is a pretty big reflection of American culture. This is not to say that other cultures don't have emotional problems but it is all rather relative. A few months ago, I was talking to a great friend of mine about how American pastors and pastors leading underground churches likely have very different journeys in how they live out being psychotic. The pastor here gets all emotional or discouraged because they might be feeling down because their congregation doesn't get what they do. The underground guy is just thankful to be alive and has this pretty big feeling that he could be taken out at any moment and leave his family behind. What a different life. We're all psychotic at one level or the other but sometimes I feel like a pansy when I think about the crisis going on in the persecutred church.

I was talking to my pastor about some of this last week and he raised a good point about how we often talk about how much faith we have in comparison to some other context (like people being persecuted for their faith for instance). We all have these huge moments with God when we were at the end of our rope and he delivers. Of course. We have no choice and all we can think about is Jesus. He comes and picks us up and keeps us from crying and we call this a "miracle". And it totally is, inspite of us. Can you imagine if I had this kind of relationship with Charity? She would hate me - only coming to her when I was desperate or only thinking I had a real relationship w/ her when something spectacular happened. Man my view of God is warped sometimes.

But as we talked we began to see that God is delivering again and again hundreds of times every day and each of those moments require some pretty intense trust if we are really to walk in faith. Sadly, we use those crisis moments as the measuring rod to what true faith or lack of thereof is. Maybe that isn't a very good idea.

He listens

So, the Christian complains about about their heart aching over a job search and rejected application. . . and God listens. A man today is getting his toenails ripped off because he refused to deny Christ somewhere in China. His family waits at home, hoping and praying. God listens. The kid in Myanmar hasn't eaten for a week now and he still can't find his parents after the quake. God listens. The rich kid from the burbs is upset because he younger sister gets all the attention.

And God listens.

This whole psychotic thing happens for me in the way people treat me because of my visual impairment or because of some of my limitations. I sometimes feel less than or like people don't think I could do a good of a job at something as the next guy. It feels like I've worked my butt off professionally and educationally only to have someone come along and act as if I'm a 3rd grader who doesn't know how to spell my name by myself. And to that God has the same response in listening, loving, and holding me close.

So the playing field is even. Jesus runs to all of us who are broeken no matter the intensity of the situation. This is not to say that Americans aren't a bunch of whiners. We are. Hands down. We complain more than any culture on earth. . . well maybe Europe has us beat. :) And this is essentially what amazes me about Christ: He's still listening and calling for us to draw near. That kind of patience is pretty amazing to me. Inspite of how psychotic or emotional I am in this man-centered culture, God's still sweeping me off my feet every time I turn around.

I'm gonna try to go to sleep now. Morning everyone.

Let's Help Myanmar!!

Tue, 13 May 2008 19:24:51 GMT

Myanmar got blasted with a cyclone about a week and a half ago and it has left thousands of people dead, homeless, and without anything. Guys, it's pretty horrible. Our minds can't really even conceive what has taken place. We watch the news and get sad for a brief moment and then grab another chip and sip more coke. It's not like we totally don't care; we just can't even fathom it.

One of the ways we can help is by giving money and resources. Here is a link where you can help:

http://www.worldvision.org/Worldvision/eappeal.nsf/egift-disaster-response-southern-asia-cyclone-relief?OpenForm&campaign=11365553&cmp=KNC-11365553&OVRAW=myanmar%20cyclone%20how%20can%20I%20help%3F&OVKEY=myanmar%20cyclone%20how&OVMTC=advanced&OVADID=31493393511&OVKWID=233314242511&ysmwa=9WbvSUn2qpYR733kA2voP8nNZ8J3wM_34FnIQgKbPOvC2WOWiTba_Bi0EJQVWHos

Myanmar as a country makes about $2,600/yr (just over $200/mo per person). That isn't very much. Some of us spend that kind of money on coffee and and snacks in a given month. I don't want to put anyone on a guilt trip but we have so, so much. Charity and I probably would fall in the lover 20 percentile in American income and we still have lots left over to give. We can make adjustments and give more.

I want to be a Christian who gives up "things" in my life to better serve Christ. When I confess that I'm willing to sacrifice my life unto Jesus but then I don't sacrifice the things in my life, it makes a huge statement. The things in my life actually are the ingredients that make my life. I want to give it away as Christ modeled. Greg Boyd mentioend this week that, "if the disciples who sacrificed their very lives for the Gospel were warned about becoming hypocrites and not sacrificing, how much more the American church?" We haven't really had to sacrifice anything in our life. . . this is my personal journey. . . welcome to my misery if you're in the same boat. :)

Don't be guilted, but give to Myanmar because the Lord lays it on your heart.

ITeams progress

Sun, 11 May 2008 18:51:05 GMT

Last night we met with the rest of the team to hear about our annual ITeams leadership gathering. Our new team leader, Sarah Miller, was able to attend the week-long conference in Manila. It is exciting what God is doing through people who are a part of International Teams. I think the most recent report was us having people from 65 countries serving in 49 countries. There are certainly other agencies doing much more on a broader scale, but we certainly are excited about the international flavor that is coming together on behalf of a lot of our teams around the world.

Our team has been forming in the last several months as new staff arrived and our team leader changed. Most of you know Charity is working full-time so her time has to be limited in terms of her involvement in refugee ministry. Sarah Miller is our new team leader (as of mid April). She severved refugees for 9 years in Germany and has worked the last 4 or 5 years here in the US in an administrative role overseeing ITeams refugee ministries in many parts of the world. She is now transitioning out of the global leadership role in becoming our local team leader. Linda Lang has been part of International Teams her ein Minneapolis for the last 4 or 5 years and has been the sole team member until this last year. She and her church have an ESL program that runs four days a week and is going strong. So at this point, the team consists of 3 full-time and Charity who is part time.

We also found out last night that Seth and Jeanie Prince who have been raising support for quite some time to join this local team will be stepping away from ITeams and moving into a paid pastoral role here locally. We hope to have a partnership with their church at some level.

So it is exciting that our team is finally coming together and we look forward to where everything will lead. Please be praying for our upcoming "TEmP" meeting where we will be getting together and nailing down lots of details on where we are going as a team. There are lots of ideas, vision, etc., but we obviously have to bring them all together. This meeting will be on Sat. April 24th and we really need to commit this to prayer. The four of us on the team are quite different - all from different denominational backgrounds and range from age 28 to our early 40's. It is a beautiful thing when very different people can come together and learn to build God's Kingdom together. So we invite you to join us in prayer for this.

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In other news, Charity and I got to help a 21 year old woman who is trying to obtain her GED. She has been in the country for 17 mths and is the first of her immediate family to get to the United States. She left her country and had been at a refugee camp in Kenya for 16 years! Sixteen years is a long time to not know what your future holds. Her English is exceptional for her brief time here (I imagine she learned a lot from the UN in Kenya) and she is a "go-getter". Charity and I are excited to deepen our friendship with her, help with term papers, teach her more about the computer, and watch "Law and Order" together. :) We found out that she and Charity have he same favorite tv show in "Law and Order".

Again, it's all about being in the right place at the right time. So often I get asked (when people know I have a plan to meet a refugee) "how are you going to help them?" Most times I have no idea until I sit with them what is going to happen. I think so many of us want a pretty structured plan of how we can measure effectiveness and make things nice and orderly. At this point, we are just trying to seize every opportunity to serve and quit making excuses. I could have easily dismissed the phone call to help our new friend w/ English and we would have missed a golden opportunity. Being a native speaker and knowing my own American culture is so key to helping refugees. Just by being an American, it raises our ability to help a lot higher than it would if we were in another country. We just want to be present and are thrilled that God lets us do this!

African Theology and the story of Joseph

Tue, 06 May 2008 06:14:30 GMT

I certainly haven't gotten very far on my study of refugee texts. I'm frozen at the story of Joseph after listening to a lecture given by Oscar Miriu, an African theologian from Nairobi. In his message, he presented the powerful force that African Christianity has played in worldwide missions in the last century and how little attention they have received. He argues that people say "Christianity is dying" because they refuse to 'look South' where you will find the church exploding and thriving. It's disgusting how little value is placed on listening to African Christian leaders. This continent is experiencing the biggest outbreak of God in history and we're still looking to the West, reading all the articles from Fuller, Yale, Princeton, and Dallas Theo Seminary. Maybe we should be paying less attention to what scholars are saying where Christianity is dying and mroe attention to those where it is thriving? (I think I'll get some comments on this post! ha)

Miriu notes the vast difference between how Africans and Westerners interpret Scripture. A group of Westerners got together to discuss the central theme of the story of Joseph in Genesis 37-42 and their conclusion was: "If you stay faithful to the Lord, God will raise you up."

I don't think any of us would argue that this message is a central theme.

What did the Africans conclude: "Never, ever forget your family."

Never forget your family. I'm challenged by their conclusion. What a wonderful perspective. Can you imagine being in a family like Joseph's? These are the patriarchs of the faith and the family straight up sells the most loved son into slavery. They cover it up with a lie. Daddy grieves and the brothers are forced to be sworn to secrecy for many, many years. Everyday of their lives they know that they brother might still be out there somewhere.

All the while, Joseph is duking it out in Egypt, eventually being "raised up" to become a man of great influence. Despite all the pain, all the joys, all the supernatural breakthroughs - Joseph remembers his family. He never forgets them and in the end treats them as such. And you thought your family was messed up?

I hear a lot of talk about community/sense of belonging but not much about family in the church in the West. I want to be a learner, not a fix-er as a Western Christian. While I believe the West still has a vital role to play in mission, I believe our days of fix-ers are over. We can't "fix" Africa. We aren't smarter and we certainly aren't thriving in our making of disciples. I know I've come alongside other cultures and acted as if I had all the answers. Gross. I want to be a learner.