As most of you know, we have been in the process to go to Singapore with OMF International since April 2010. Before my father passed away in late April, the field leadership gave us a benchmark of mid May to see God bring our finances at least up to 80% for us to continue as candidates for the IT position in Singapore. We are now well past mid May and looking at our numbers and well . . . they just aren't where they need to be for us to continue as we have. So we are withdrawing our names. Paul said it best in this email he sent last week to our leadership:
It is with mixed personal feelings, but great confidence in the Lord, that I write to you to withdraw our names for the IT Manager role at IHQ; I would like to thank ... all those who have been so supportive and encouraging us to follow wherever God may be leading us.
I will say this: I am certain I do not wish to go anywhere that God is not paving the way for us to go! Please pray as we re-adjust our plans and seek again to know what God has for us next.
We are planning on taking the next 3 months to pray,talk, think, decompress, etc. in order that we can honestly seek after the Lord to confirm where he is leading us next. Right now we are kind of a mess in various mundane ways and for good reason. Our co-laborers at OMF have been very caring and understanding as we try to work out the kinks in our plans and dreams and what God is doing with them. And we do appreciate everyone's prayers for our family -- I believe we are doing as well as we are because of your prayers, make no mistake.
In the short term we will continue to work at the U.S. Headquarters as the IT Coordinator (Paul) and in Communications (Cat). I am actually kind of excited about this since giving up US Mobilization was something I was finding hard to do.(I can quit any time I want to.) These are both support-based positions, which mean we are still under-funded even though we aren't going anywhere. We are going to have to address that in the near future, but I think God will allow us to catch our breaths emotionally and spiritually before we continue to press on into the next great adventure. We'll see where we are in fall. I'll continue to write and post as things come to me, but I felt this needed to be said first before I can really start writing again.
In the meantime, you can help by praying for us as we adjust to the new new new reality of 2011.
Showing posts with label omf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label omf. Show all posts
5.28.2011
2.21.2011
schooled
[Shoot. I only had 8 days left in February and I blew it. I didn't post last night. I'll try posting twice today but...it's just not the same. ]
You meet all types of people. Believers who are just realizing that there is a great commission, folks who have been sending people for 30 years, God takes all kinds. Most of our partners are somewhere in between. But hardly any of them do missions as their main focus. It isn't their main thing - God is. Their church is. And that is the way it should be most of the time. Their lives are happening all around them and if I can bring missions to the front of their mind more often than not, I am communicating successfully.
I think I need to back up a step to explain my mind in regards to mobilizing for missions. Just as a church planter sees the people in their village as his or her flock (or constituents) I, as a mobilizer, see U.S. Christians as my focus. A church planter will ask their partners to pray for individuals and organizations in that village/region; I ask my partners to pray for individuals and organizations in the U.S. to become mobilized (I like to say on fire for missions, but that's just my wording.) The church planter wants you involved through prayer and financial support because it's God's plan and it's good for folks in the village; I want you involved through prayer and financial support because it's God's plan and it's good for you and for our existence as Christians in this country.
So I went into the event on Saturday with certain expectations. Our organization, like many faith-based, nonprofit organizations is feeling the economy crunch. (The exception there is we don't solicit or fund raise.) We just got a new national director. The world of missions is changing. We just released an excellent video series with Perspectives. So I kind of went into it with the attitude that "people will be changed by us knowledgeable experts." This attitude was reflected in my prayer request the night before, that "many people there will be led to respond to God's call on their lives in regards to missions and specifically to East Asia with [us]." It was going to be a learning event ... I just wouldn't be doing the learning, everyone else would. (/arrogance)
God totally schooled me. Though all those things I mentioned above are crucial and were pushed to the forefront of the evening, the real value of the event for me was hearing my friend's story and current walk in missions; about their church's take on missions, and how it's effecting their family -- both for the positive and the negative. I had forgotten (or God-forbid, ignored) this part of the equation. Behind every partner there is a network of others. Those others (and our partner) are believers and are seeking his face independently of us. If they are seeking his face, they will eventually come into an understanding of the great commission on their own. Missions is part of the DNA of a christian life. God can teach me about the great commission through you, just as much as you can learn from anything I've got to say. It is a work we are doing together, and it is often an equal exchange of peers, rather than teach to student.
You meet all types of people. Believers who are just realizing that there is a great commission, folks who have been sending people for 30 years, God takes all kinds. Most of our partners are somewhere in between. But hardly any of them do missions as their main focus. It isn't their main thing - God is. Their church is. And that is the way it should be most of the time. Their lives are happening all around them and if I can bring missions to the front of their mind more often than not, I am communicating successfully.
I think I need to back up a step to explain my mind in regards to mobilizing for missions. Just as a church planter sees the people in their village as his or her flock (or constituents) I, as a mobilizer, see U.S. Christians as my focus. A church planter will ask their partners to pray for individuals and organizations in that village/region; I ask my partners to pray for individuals and organizations in the U.S. to become mobilized (I like to say on fire for missions, but that's just my wording.) The church planter wants you involved through prayer and financial support because it's God's plan and it's good for folks in the village; I want you involved through prayer and financial support because it's God's plan and it's good for you and for our existence as Christians in this country.
So I went into the event on Saturday with certain expectations. Our organization, like many faith-based, nonprofit organizations is feeling the economy crunch. (The exception there is we don't solicit or fund raise.) We just got a new national director. The world of missions is changing. We just released an excellent video series with Perspectives. So I kind of went into it with the attitude that "people will be changed by us knowledgeable experts." This attitude was reflected in my prayer request the night before, that "many people there will be led to respond to God's call on their lives in regards to missions and specifically to East Asia with [us]." It was going to be a learning event ... I just wouldn't be doing the learning, everyone else would. (/arrogance)
God totally schooled me. Though all those things I mentioned above are crucial and were pushed to the forefront of the evening, the real value of the event for me was hearing my friend's story and current walk in missions; about their church's take on missions, and how it's effecting their family -- both for the positive and the negative. I had forgotten (or God-forbid, ignored) this part of the equation. Behind every partner there is a network of others. Those others (and our partner) are believers and are seeking his face independently of us. If they are seeking his face, they will eventually come into an understanding of the great commission on their own. Missions is part of the DNA of a christian life. God can teach me about the great commission through you, just as much as you can learn from anything I've got to say. It is a work we are doing together, and it is often an equal exchange of peers, rather than teach to student.
2.02.2011
Finding the well in this global village
I recently attended a mobilization conference at our organization in January. Beyond the amazing stories we heard of God's love for his children in East Asia, we also heard about how the world is changing and how that is effecting missions. We are no longer in a colonial model to world missions. (Thank God!) It's not about western Christians bringing religion to the heathen (i.e. anyone who is not from the west). Christianity is on the rise in Asia and often we in the west are languishing in post-christian countries. Who will lead? Who should follow? How do we honor Christ together?
Some of this came out in Lausanne (which Patrick Fung talked about how equilibrium, or a balancing between east and west is a bad way of looking at it). I've heard it described as everyone reaching out to everyone from everywhere. I think that's a bit nebulous.
But the tension of this change has been showing up internally in our missions organization as we see many home sides (sending countries) struggle to be relevant in a context that is increasingly hostile to the gospel. We are faced with changing "how we do business" to follow the great commission not because the commission has changed but because we have changed. Our culture has changed. What we are doing over seas has changed.
For instance, if you are of an American church tradition that originated somewhere else (Lutheran, Episcopal, etc.) how will your tradition adapt to be in communion with shop keeper churches in Taiwan or a Filipino Christian tradition that is as vibrant as your own? My favorite challenge to date: how does the organization I work for interface with the established African church (in the different African nations) to reach the estimated 750,000 Chinese who are in their communities but who do not know Jesus . . . or a lick of the native language? And then successfully include the American church, which at times is still stuck in the colonial mode of sending Missionaries (TM) to Save(!) them unbelievers.
I don't know the answer, but I do know that that is just crazy God stuff.
But it could mean that the organizations like ours may need "bringers" as well as "senders" For Paul and me, that would look like Singaporean Christians joining our ministry team (which would be freaking awesome!) Not to bring over our vast specialized knowledge (yeah right!) but maybe just to be there as a witness to the Spirit moving in his church. How much healthier and relevant would we be if we were prayed for by the people we came to serve with?
Some of this came out in Lausanne (which Patrick Fung talked about how equilibrium, or a balancing between east and west is a bad way of looking at it). I've heard it described as everyone reaching out to everyone from everywhere. I think that's a bit nebulous.
But the tension of this change has been showing up internally in our missions organization as we see many home sides (sending countries) struggle to be relevant in a context that is increasingly hostile to the gospel. We are faced with changing "how we do business" to follow the great commission not because the commission has changed but because we have changed. Our culture has changed. What we are doing over seas has changed.
For instance, if you are of an American church tradition that originated somewhere else (Lutheran, Episcopal, etc.) how will your tradition adapt to be in communion with shop keeper churches in Taiwan or a Filipino Christian tradition that is as vibrant as your own? My favorite challenge to date: how does the organization I work for interface with the established African church (in the different African nations) to reach the estimated 750,000 Chinese who are in their communities but who do not know Jesus . . . or a lick of the native language? And then successfully include the American church, which at times is still stuck in the colonial mode of sending Missionaries (TM) to Save(!) them unbelievers.
I don't know the answer, but I do know that that is just crazy God stuff.
But it could mean that the organizations like ours may need "bringers" as well as "senders" For Paul and me, that would look like Singaporean Christians joining our ministry team (which would be freaking awesome!) Not to bring over our vast specialized knowledge (yeah right!) but maybe just to be there as a witness to the Spirit moving in his church. How much healthier and relevant would we be if we were prayed for by the people we came to serve with?
5.20.2008
mirrors and things
Today Tobo discovered mirrors. In that they are interesting to look at. I found him a) yelling at b)smiling at and finally c)sticking out his tongue at the mirror on the gym. He noticed immediately as soon as I took out the camera, so I wasn't able to get it on film. Too bad. Very cute. :) He's also started "scooting" around when on his back, so he'll be several inches away from where you put him if he finds something interesting to investigate. He keeps moving closer to textured plastic things, so we seem to be on the brink of finding out that _toys_are_fun!_. The dum is still his favorite thing to play with. ("I've dropped my dum! A game the whole family to play!")
Today was also our first extended outing-- out of the house for a decent amount of time. We were at OMF for a seminar on partnership development. This meant that mom got her first experience of nursing Tobo away from home multiple times. Okay, there were some nice halfway touches (separate nursing room/I brought my nursing pillow) so it wasn't like roughing it at the mall or anything, but I was glad for the practice. Tobo did great.
The conference went well, even though I was pretty low on sleep from a night of 2 hour wake ups. The AC went out about halfway through the day and today it was 80 degrees here in the shade, so we were a little toasty in the conference room. Paul ended up taking Tobo for a walk to cooler regions of the office while I stayed on to take notes. In the morning, Tobo wet through one outfit and then had a blow out (also referred to as a "Mo" in our family) on the way home in the afternoon when we stopped to get gas. The AC has also gone out on the Taurus as well, so I was quite glad that home was only 5 minutes away. I got him home around 4:30p, plopped him on the changing table only to find the diapers were all in the dryer and all the changing gear was out in the diaper bag in the front room. I had just stripped him completely naked too. Foo. So, I finally used the straps on the changing pad, ran out to grabbed the bag, grabbed a diaper and came back to tell him, "naked is good." :) The good news is that he was not even remotely overheated the way I felt (actually he was closer to being a bit chilly) though he was happy to be out of the messy clothing. All's well that ends well.
Once Paul came home, and after the usual evening feeding, I fell into bed around 7:30p and slept solid for 2 hours. It's now around 11:30p, Tobo has been up 3 times for various things but I feel so much better for sleep I can't even tell you. Goodnight from CO.
Today was also our first extended outing-- out of the house for a decent amount of time. We were at OMF for a seminar on partnership development. This meant that mom got her first experience of nursing Tobo away from home multiple times. Okay, there were some nice halfway touches (separate nursing room/I brought my nursing pillow) so it wasn't like roughing it at the mall or anything, but I was glad for the practice. Tobo did great.
The conference went well, even though I was pretty low on sleep from a night of 2 hour wake ups. The AC went out about halfway through the day and today it was 80 degrees here in the shade, so we were a little toasty in the conference room. Paul ended up taking Tobo for a walk to cooler regions of the office while I stayed on to take notes. In the morning, Tobo wet through one outfit and then had a blow out (also referred to as a "Mo" in our family) on the way home in the afternoon when we stopped to get gas. The AC has also gone out on the Taurus as well, so I was quite glad that home was only 5 minutes away. I got him home around 4:30p, plopped him on the changing table only to find the diapers were all in the dryer and all the changing gear was out in the diaper bag in the front room. I had just stripped him completely naked too. Foo. So, I finally used the straps on the changing pad, ran out to grabbed the bag, grabbed a diaper and came back to tell him, "naked is good." :) The good news is that he was not even remotely overheated the way I felt (actually he was closer to being a bit chilly) though he was happy to be out of the messy clothing. All's well that ends well.
Once Paul came home, and after the usual evening feeding, I fell into bed around 7:30p and slept solid for 2 hours. It's now around 11:30p, Tobo has been up 3 times for various things but I feel so much better for sleep I can't even tell you. Goodnight from CO.
12.16.2007
public service announcment
just a quick plug: we have a new blog here called pray-it that is all about us, asia, omf, and it. Updates will be happening over there, so if you want to get in on the ground floor so to speak, please feel free to visit. This blog will keep going as a personal site. That one will be specific to ministry stuff.
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