From IHOP to Chengdu

Recently, I visited with Jeff McNair, an old friend from Redlands, CA.  For over ten years, Jeff and I participated in a group of four guys who met every other Tuesday morning at IHOP to eat a short stack of pancakes and encourage each other in our personal and professional growth.

During those years, we watched Jeff’s commitment for the disabled grow from a teaching job at Cal State San Bernardino into a passion for promoting a Christian view of disability on a worldwide scale. Today, Jeff is a tenured professor at California Baptist University in Riverside, CA and one of the world’s leading voices of hope for thousands around the world who have been ostracized from society due to being physically or mentally handicapped.

It began 20 years ago when he and his wife, Kathi, started the Power & Light Sunday School class at our church to reach out to the needs of the disabled in our community.  That class grew into having a weekly attendance of sixty to eighty. Next, Jeff launched a website focused on helping other churches understand their role in serving the disabled. That, in turn, led him to writing books and articles on the subject leading to extensive speaking engagements at conferences and national events.

Now, I’ve learned that Jeff is significantly involved as an advisor with Joni and Friends, the ministry to handicapped people developed by Joni Eareckson Tada. Together with several other renowned authors, including Chuck Colson and John MacArthur, Jeff helped create an outstanding study course called Beyond Suffering, A Christian View of Disability Ministry and is one of the master trainers teaching the course throughout the US and around the world. Whether in Seattle or Serbia, Jeff is finding church leaders absolutely stunned by all that the Bible has to say about a theology of suffering and disability.

When we met a few weeks ago for a delicious chicken dinner at the home of another one of our famous Tuesday morning pancake guys, Jeff informed me that Joni and Friends had been approached by top officials in the Chinese religious bureau, asking if training on disability ministry could be extended to the church in China. So, for the past several weeks, Jeff has been part of a delegation hosted by national leaders of the Chinese Three Self Church, conducting training workshops on the subject all across that country.

What a thrill it is to see how God has taken a guy who is fond of blueberry pancake syrup and thrust him into a worldwide ministry of such significant challenge and encouragement for His people.

Here are links to Jeff’s personal website: http://jeffmcnair.com/ and the Beyond Suffering course:

http://www.joniandfriends.org/store/product/beyond-suffering-christian-view-disability-ministry-study-guide/.

Doing Something Right

In his famous little book, The One Minute Manager, Ken Blanchard encourages leaders to “catch people doing something right.”  I think the same principle should apply to the mission world--which is just what this blog post is about.

Orphan children from the Seeds Children's Home in
Kitale, Kenya (courtesy of The Gathering, CO)

Recently, I was asked to provide some consulting advice to an elder from a Colorado church that has had an emerging relationship with a national ministry in Kenya.  Richard Makani and his wife, Hellen, both native Kenyans, were so moved by the plight of the poor in the slums of their city that they dropped everything to start Seeds, a group of outreach ministries responding to the needs of those slum dwellers. As I listened to my new friend describe both the local Kenyan ministry and the subsequent response from a group of caring US supporters, I was impressed by how much seemed to be right about what I was hearing.  Here are some examples:

• The vision for responding to this need came from a local, national couple, not one imposed by an outside foreign mission.
• Seeds has developed a balanced ministry approach of preaching/teaching/healing—just what Jesus modeled for us in Matthew 9:35.
• The US donors have been very careful to develop a relationship with Seeds that would not lead to an indefinite dependence on foreign funds.
• My friend has already read the book, When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, one of the best publications available on how not to ruin national ministries by overwhelming them with too many “good intentions” from the West.
• The US donors are ready and willing to create a unified advisory group so as to provide more consistent and helpful input to Seeds as well as streamline and simplify Richard’s need to provide project reports.

So what more advice could I offer someone who is already doing so much right?  Here’s what I shared:

• Encouraged to create a partnership agreement with Seeds that is based on the new Lausanne Standards recently created to help set accountability guidelines for missions (www.lausannestandards.org)
• Explained how to build a cross-cultural relationship based on Servant Partnership as opposed to the typical business model of partnership based on mutual benefit. (See my chapter on Servant Partnership in Shared Strength, Exploring Cross-cultural Christian Partnerships, Birmingham and Todd, p.55)
• Suggested that the US stakeholders help Seeds develop stronger organizational capacity using something like my Organizational Capacity Assessment Matrix tool to determine where and how they should improve different ministry areas, especially their board governance function.
• Recommended checking out the website on Cultural Intelligence (http://culturalq.com/) and learning more about the differences between American and Kenyan cultural values.
• Advised developing an agreed-upon annual partnership strategy based on the model that Partners International uses with their PDPs—Partnership Development Plans.

What a pleasure to be able to “catch” so many things going right in a single mission relationship.  Now, if more cross-cultural ministry endeavors could follow suit, I believe we would see significant acceleration in the advancement of God’s Kingdom around the world.

From Jungle Pilot to Tundra Maytag Repairman

For the past three days, I’ve been hanging out with a bunch of pilots.  Mission pilots, to be exact. Even more correct, leaders of mission pilots.

Each year, the International Association of Missionary Aviation (IAMA) gathers key representatives of its member organizations for an annual conference. This year, the event was hosted by Mission Aviation Fellowship at its headquarters in Nampa, Idaho. Since leaving the ranks of MAF back in 2003, I have been somewhat disconnected from this special world of men and women dedicated to providing air transport for missions, so it was a real privilege t to be invited as IAMA’s keynote speaker.  Asking for my thoughts on the state of the mission world, I’ve presented three plenary sessions on the following topics:

My Talks	Translation for non-pilots
1.       The Mission World’s new “C.G.” (Center of Gravity)	Describing the major shift of Evangelical Christianity from the Global North to the Global South
2.       Calculating a new “Weight and Balance” for the Mission Aviation Enterprise	Implications of this major shift in the mission world on mission aviation organizations
3.       Possible Models for Future Mission Aviation Service	Suggestions of ways mission aviation might re-invent its service ministry to thrive in the new mission world context

Judging from the feedback I’ve gotten plus the number of invitations to share these talks elsewhere, I think I’ve succeeded in scratching a few folks where they’ve been itching. Clearly, the significant way in which mission work is now happening in the world has forced mission aviation leaders to wonder how to continue being relevant.

One thing that has surprised me was just how many organizations are now part of the IAMA family.  From one-plane/one-pilot operations to multi-national ministries with sixty-plus aircraft; from helicopters to pressurized, mini airliners; from the steamy jungles of Papua New Guinea to the tundra of northern Canada, these agencies truly cover the globe with their service ministries. Here is a list of member agencies mentioned in the conference handout. Even without knowing all the acronyms, I think you’ll be impressed.

Air Calvary	MAF – USA	New Tribes Mission Aviation
Covington Aircraft	MARC	Proclaim Aviation Ministries
Fellowship of Christian Pilots	MMS Aviation	San Diego Christian College
Flying Mission	Mission Padamo Aviation	Spokane Turbine Center
JAARS	Mission Safety International	SEND North
LeTourneau Flight School	Missionaire International	SAM Air
Liberty School of Aeronautics	Missionary Air Group	King’s Engineering Fellowship
MATA	Missionary Flights International	SOAR International
MAF – Canada	Moody Aviation	SMAT

Mission Aviation service in western Alaska
(Picture from the MARC website)

 A couple of programs that particularly impressed me were those based out of Soldotna, Alaska. MARC and SOAR International are working together to help local pastors in remote churches located throughout the vast region of Western Alaska as well as in eastern Russia. Touching communities with no roads at all, and therefore no ground transportation to speak of, these aviation groups are regularly transporting people, supplies and equipment throughout the year to these isolated locations as well as bring teams who come to offer special conferences, programs and training. In many cases, the pilots are the only outsiders these pastors interact with for months on end. So the pilots have become self-appointed pastoral counselors and encouragers, not to mention repairmen for washing machines, snowmobiles and whatever else the church communities need to have fixed.

I’m delighted to have this chance to link back into to the world of mission aviation and hope that I can both represent it well to those needing to use their service as well as provide occasional help and insight to the leaders who make up the ranks of IAMA.

Bible Mobility in West Africa

Eighty-five percent of those who call themselves American Christians are biblically illiterate. They do not engage with the Bible in a way that makes any difference in their lifestyle from those who are not Christians.

James and I at the most western point of Africa

As James Kanaganayagam, International Director for Back to the Bible (BTTB), made this statement, heads around the room nodded in agreement. “It’s the very same here in our own country,” said one  ministry leader. “We have good success in leading people to Christ, but very poor success in getting them to grow and be discipled in their faith.”

This past week, I have been hosting James on a whirlwind trip to the countries of Senegal and Gambia in West Africa, introducing him to key national ministry leaders in these two countries. This trip is an exploration by BTTB to find local ministries that could be partners in a new outreach that utilizes cell phones. Called MoBible (intended to sound like “mo-bile”), BTTB has already proven that sending people a daily phone and/or text message that meaningfully engages them with a passage of Scripture can have huge success. In two test cases since last summer, there are already 15,000 subscribers in the US and 20,000 in the country of Sri Lanka. (Check out  https://gotandem.com/ )

Meeting with Gambian ministry leaders

During this trip, we have learned just how far cell phones have penetrated the cultures of these two countries. Competing telecommunication companies have kept call prices low enough so that virtually anyone, even in remote villages, can afford to use them. As we discussed possibilities with church leaders on this trip, I was impressed with the timeliness of this ministry outreach. “This is truly an answer to prayer,” said David Jatta, director of a key youth ministry in the country of Gambia. “We were already trying to figure out how to do something like this, and now we can simply join hands with Back to the Bible to make it happen.” Before our meeting was over, he and his wife agreed to head up a national task force to make the partnership a reality.

Meeting with Senegalese ministry leaders

In Senegal, more than a dozen national leaders agreed that MoBible could have tremendous impact in their country. After hearing how non-Christians in Sri Lanka, including Muslims and Buddhists, had also signed up for MoBible simply to get a daily word of encouragement, these leaders expressed their belief that MoBible could impact evangelism in their country as well as be a discipleship tool for Christians. They, too, have now formed a group to dialogue with us about how to bring the MoBible concept to Senegal.

As I begin this consulting relationship with Back to the Bible, I’m pleased to see such success during our first exploration trip for MoBible.  I look forward to discovering what other key national ministries around the world could be potential partners with BTTB in this strategic ministry endeavor.

Worshiping with Muslim Background Believers

There’s a lot of discussion going around in mission circles about what is the appropriate inculturation of Muslim background believers into the Christian faith. What is called the “Insider Movement” that proposes it is OK for new Muslim Christians to remain inside their traditional Muslim culture even after professing faith in Christ is heralded by some and condemned by others. Certainly there are critical aspects of both theology and missiology that must be considered in this important dialog.

But, regardless of all that dialog, I experienced worship this Sunday morning in a way that I have never experienced it before. Being a guest at the House of Wisdom, here in Gambia, I felt privileged to participate in what appeared to me as an appropriate yet balanced expressions of worship for a small congregation comprised totally of Muslim-background believers.

The House of Wisdom is the vision of Pastor Modou Camara. Once an Islamic teacher himself, God transformed his life when he got a hold of a Christian Bible for purposes of proving it, once and for all, to be a book of lies. Instead, he gave his heart to Christ and has never turned back from his passion to show other Muslim friends the Truth he discovered.

Pastor Modou (center) in front of the House of Wisdom

Modou designed the House of Wisdom to be a place that would be comfortable to People of Muslim background without compromising anything essential about the Christian faith. The worship center itself is a small round room lined with woven mats on the floor. There were a few chairs for us visitors and some nursing mothers, but most sat cross-legged on the floor. There was no alter or pulpit or any front to the room at all. When we sang songs, they were all sung accapella in the people’s native Fulani. At least a half an hour was devoted to people sharing spontaneous testimonies. The sermon was done in a creative storytelling fashion that kept every single man, woman and child riveted to what was being said.

But what was most unusual of all, was the special prayer time at the end of the service when we all progressively knelt and bowed down in Muslim fashion. But, instead of some Islamic rote prayer, we recited the Apostles Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. Another significant difference was that the prayer time was shared equally between men and women and no one was concerned about being pointed toward Mecca.

I come away from this worship experience feeling both refreshed and inspired. I don’t know all the right answers about the “Insider Movement” but what I saw today seemed to be both spiritually appropriate and creatively contextual. I praise God for men like Pastor Modou who I believe are following the prompting of God’s Spirit to craft a means for many new Muslim background believers to learn the Truth about Christianity, accept the claim of Christ on their lives and become our brothers and sisters in the faith.

Godly Recklessness

“A godly recklessness!”

That is the way my good friend, Alex Araujo, described the type of boldness we are seeing these days coming from mission initiatives emanating  from the “Global South,” or the non-Western world.

And that is what I say is also a good description for Nigerian Christians, especially after spending the last five days there.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my venture to this amazing West African country which was focused on consulting with the Nigerian Bible Translation Trust, the one and only national entity occupying itself with the task of translating God’s word into the remaining 300 plus languages that still do not have a Bible. At first when you meet Sule Auta, Executive Director of the NBTT, you would not immediately guess he was in charge of such a major enterprise. But after a couple hours’ interview, learning of the complexities of staying on top of 40 different translation initiatives, managing a 20 acre property with all the headaches of providing power and water when the city services are notably unreliable, not to mention maintaining proper relationship with Wycliffe Bible Translators, Wycliffe Global Alliance, Summer Institute of Linguistics, The Seed Company and Wycliffe Associates, you have a new appreciation for the amazing number of balls in the air he is juggling at any one time. That’s not to say he’s able to do it all perfectly, of course. But Sule seems to model the typical Nigerian mix of God-given vision with a down-to-earth “Let’s-just-go-ahead-and-do-it” attitude. Which is why he said to me as I left, “Just come back in a  few months and teach us what you can about organizational development.”

I got another taste of this same spirit when I dropped into the House On The Rock church for their second Sunday service. Not only was that same Nigerian “can-do” spirit demonstrated throughout the lively service, which reminded me of a good ol’ Southern Gospel crusade, but the number of PowerPoint projectors, wireless mics, electronic keyboards and flat panel screens clearly indicated this was one group that wasn’t going to let their “developing world” status slow them down any.  Even the pastor was reading his notes off of his own iPad there on the pulpit!

Another connection I was pleased to make on this trip was with Timothy Olanade, someone I have probably had a cup of coffee with in more places around the world than any other African I know. Up until three months ago, Timothy was the head of NEMA—the Nigerian Evangelical Missions Association. As a result, he has attended every major global consultation the mission’s world has sponsored. So, I’ve run into him over the past fifteen years in such places as Singapore, Cape Town, Malaysia, South Korea and Denver. But this was the first time to visit him in his own home and finally meet his wife, Hanah. What was cool to hear from Timothy is how he is now turning down well-padded invitations to speak at more global events, not just so that he can spend more time mentoring younger leaders in Nigeria, but so that he can intentionally model that being an effective leader doesn’t require having impressive international credentials. You can’t believe how refreshing it is to hear of an African leaders who doesn’t feel he has to become a “big chief!”

Nigerians themselves know that they carry a certain reputation among other Africans as aggressive, dominant, self-serving  entrepreneurs.  But if the “godly recklessness” I saw demonstrated during the past week is any example of the new style of Nigerian ministry leader, all I can say is, “bring it on!”

You know you're back in Africa when. . .

OK – so after my first few days here in Nigeria, here’s my list of seven favorite ways to complete the sentence: “You know you’re back in Africa when. . .”

7. Your arriving flight descends below 10,000 feet, you immediately feel the bumps and turbulence of the hot thermals generated over the hot African plain.

6. You no longer can see the horizon because of the harmatan conditions in the lower atmosphere with all the fine airborne sand from the Sahara Desert.

5. Staying your first night at a very clean, well-scrubbed room at a Catholic Guesthouse, you are still greeted by a couple of cockroaches lying on their backs on the floor with little legs flaying in the air.

4. You lose all electric power during an evening meal in the dining room and everyone (including yourself) whips out a pocket flashlight and keeps right on eating their meal without giving it an extra thought.

3. Your morning shower consists of pouring water over yourself from a cutoff water bottle dipped into a bucket of water you filled at a hand-pump well 50 feet from your front door.

2. You experience the “Jos Revenge” just hours after eating dinner at a local restaurant.

And my favorite one of all…

1.   Your Lufthansa Airbus 330 airliner lands at the international airport of the capital city of the most populous country in Africa but the tower forgets to inform the pilot that construction is occurring on one of the taxiways so the plane gets stuck on the runway for 30 minutes until a tow truck can be rounded up to push the plane back down the runway to the next usable taxiway!