Pioneer (pī'ə-nîr')
n. One who ventures into unknown or unclaimed territory to settle. A person instrumental in the growth of something, especially in its early stages: v.tr. To open up (an area) or prepare (a way)
Paving The Way
Last week, I returned from a two week trip to India. Prior to this (my eighth outreach trip), I thought I had been well-versed in pioneering--almost always having been part of the “first“ team to serve newly birthed ministries in several different nations. Pioneering has always been a passion--yet, this trip was the first time ever for me to be part of something that truly WAS the “first time ever." For anyone...
Not knowing what this trip to India would bring forth (an “agenda-less” outreach…a completely foreign concept to little-miss-planner-me), our team went in with prayers and came back with stories. The most amazing of the stories was the opportunity to “Joshua and Caleb- it” a new city where there was absolutely no missionary presence(to our knowledge). After spending a few days encouraging the workers of a relatively new ministry a few hours away, our little team of five was sent out to a new city to “scout out the land” for future possibilities.
Great Expectations
“Pray with expectation“ is my big revelation lately. As Henry Blackaby reminds in his incredible book “Experiencing God,” we may be praying for God to do signficant things in/through us, but often times, we fail to connect our prayers with the changing circumstances in our lives. The fact is, God IS moving--all around us, all the time. A popular YWAM adage reminds me of this “We should look for answers to our prayers in the newspaper.” A radical thought? Hardly! God is a God of big things--and with believers all over the world sending up prayers for God to move, we better believe that He IS at work, changing and transforming people, communities and cultures for His glory.
I stongly believe that prayer is not merely for my benefit alone, but that faithful petitions are indeed heard and answered by Almighty God. We pray and He responds. Oh, that we can only open our eyes to see His work--and believe that the change in circumstances is more than mere coincidence! There is no such thing…
Not Knowing
"It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going." -Hebrews 11:8
We had only two days in this particular location. Our mission? To see what God would have us see in this predominately Muslim city in Northern India. We were sent to be the eyes for a missions organization hoping to pioneer a new work to reach these unreached people. Our ministry contact in India had never even been to this city before--and as we were there, it became apparent that this place didn't really receive ANY foreign visitors. Thus, there was much unknown about this city, especially from an outreach perspective. So, we were sent to get a report of as much information as we could. What were the people like? The geography? The subculture? These questions would be quite a task to answer, considering we had NO contacts in the city and NO translator. Clearly, there could be no glory to anyone but God in this situation. HE would have to bring to us the information we needed to know and the people we needed to meet. We were totally dependent on Him to come through and accomplish His work…
Stares of Shock and Hope
Having arrived in our unknown city after a four-hour taxi ride (with a driver who didn’t speak English), we checked into a hotel room we booked online (no English at the hotel either)…and we sat down to pray.
“By faith” was our schedule and plan. All we knew was that we had been sent to this city with a mission and we believed God led us to this particular location because He has a heart to see these people reached. We prayed for His leading--that He would lead us to the exact places we needed to go and the specific people we needed to meet. No coincidences…we trusted that his Spirit inside us would lead the way.
“God, lead us to people of peace,” our leader prayed. In the past several months, I have been increasingly intrigued by this fascinating concept of “persons of peace” that we see in Scripture. The reference is to Jesus sending 72 disciples, two by two, on the first New Testament "mission trip." He tells them to go into various cities and identity people of peace in their designated locations--those who welcome the disciples with open hearts and hospitality, not hostility. Stick with those people, Jesus said. Fellowship with them and invest in those who open up and share their lives and homes. We trust that these are the people whom God has already prepared to receive what the disciples (back in the NT, or us today) were sent to share with them.
Prayed up, we then went out to see what God would have us see. Our first observation? It was quite clear that this city does NOT get foreign tourists. I’ve been to about 20 nations (including India, five years ago) and I’ve never been stared at so much! I’m not exaggerating to say that everywhere we went in this (very crowded!) city, the ENTIRE street would turn to look at us. So much for subtlety…
But, as one of my teammates pointed out, maybe “blending in” and staying on the DL wasn’t God’s goal for us.
“It’s like when they saw us, they had hope,” she said. When our eyes met with those in this city, you could no doubt see their shock (“Why are you here??”) and curiosity, but deeper than that, you could see their excitement. Their city, that I’m certain they thought was completely unknown to the Western world, suddenly became significant. There was no tourist sights that would draw anyone to this place. The only explanation for our being there was to reach out to the people. We had travelled across the world just to see THEM. If that was me, I know that I would feel incredibly loved…and hopeful at such a sight.
Thus, the constant stares were accompanied with smiles. We were welcomed everywhere we went, people surprised, but excited, to meet us. To our team, this was an amazing sign of the atmosphere in the city. God had truly paved the way for us. He had softened peoples hearts to receive us, and clearly their love and warmth was an indication of His pre-emptive work in them. They were ready...
To be continued
n. One who ventures into unknown or unclaimed territory to settle. A person instrumental in the growth of something, especially in its early stages: v.tr. To open up (an area) or prepare (a way)
Paving The Way
Last week, I returned from a two week trip to India. Prior to this (my eighth outreach trip), I thought I had been well-versed in pioneering--almost always having been part of the “first“ team to serve newly birthed ministries in several different nations. Pioneering has always been a passion--yet, this trip was the first time ever for me to be part of something that truly WAS the “first time ever." For anyone...
Not knowing what this trip to India would bring forth (an “agenda-less” outreach…a completely foreign concept to little-miss-planner-me), our team went in with prayers and came back with stories. The most amazing of the stories was the opportunity to “Joshua and Caleb- it” a new city where there was absolutely no missionary presence(to our knowledge). After spending a few days encouraging the workers of a relatively new ministry a few hours away, our little team of five was sent out to a new city to “scout out the land” for future possibilities.
Great Expectations
“Pray with expectation“ is my big revelation lately. As Henry Blackaby reminds in his incredible book “Experiencing God,” we may be praying for God to do signficant things in/through us, but often times, we fail to connect our prayers with the changing circumstances in our lives. The fact is, God IS moving--all around us, all the time. A popular YWAM adage reminds me of this “We should look for answers to our prayers in the newspaper.” A radical thought? Hardly! God is a God of big things--and with believers all over the world sending up prayers for God to move, we better believe that He IS at work, changing and transforming people, communities and cultures for His glory.
I stongly believe that prayer is not merely for my benefit alone, but that faithful petitions are indeed heard and answered by Almighty God. We pray and He responds. Oh, that we can only open our eyes to see His work--and believe that the change in circumstances is more than mere coincidence! There is no such thing…
Not Knowing
"It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going." -Hebrews 11:8
We had only two days in this particular location. Our mission? To see what God would have us see in this predominately Muslim city in Northern India. We were sent to be the eyes for a missions organization hoping to pioneer a new work to reach these unreached people. Our ministry contact in India had never even been to this city before--and as we were there, it became apparent that this place didn't really receive ANY foreign visitors. Thus, there was much unknown about this city, especially from an outreach perspective. So, we were sent to get a report of as much information as we could. What were the people like? The geography? The subculture? These questions would be quite a task to answer, considering we had NO contacts in the city and NO translator. Clearly, there could be no glory to anyone but God in this situation. HE would have to bring to us the information we needed to know and the people we needed to meet. We were totally dependent on Him to come through and accomplish His work…
Stares of Shock and Hope
Having arrived in our unknown city after a four-hour taxi ride (with a driver who didn’t speak English), we checked into a hotel room we booked online (no English at the hotel either)…and we sat down to pray.
“By faith” was our schedule and plan. All we knew was that we had been sent to this city with a mission and we believed God led us to this particular location because He has a heart to see these people reached. We prayed for His leading--that He would lead us to the exact places we needed to go and the specific people we needed to meet. No coincidences…we trusted that his Spirit inside us would lead the way.
“God, lead us to people of peace,” our leader prayed. In the past several months, I have been increasingly intrigued by this fascinating concept of “persons of peace” that we see in Scripture. The reference is to Jesus sending 72 disciples, two by two, on the first New Testament "mission trip." He tells them to go into various cities and identity people of peace in their designated locations--those who welcome the disciples with open hearts and hospitality, not hostility. Stick with those people, Jesus said. Fellowship with them and invest in those who open up and share their lives and homes. We trust that these are the people whom God has already prepared to receive what the disciples (back in the NT, or us today) were sent to share with them.
Prayed up, we then went out to see what God would have us see. Our first observation? It was quite clear that this city does NOT get foreign tourists. I’ve been to about 20 nations (including India, five years ago) and I’ve never been stared at so much! I’m not exaggerating to say that everywhere we went in this (very crowded!) city, the ENTIRE street would turn to look at us. So much for subtlety…
But, as one of my teammates pointed out, maybe “blending in” and staying on the DL wasn’t God’s goal for us.
“It’s like when they saw us, they had hope,” she said. When our eyes met with those in this city, you could no doubt see their shock (“Why are you here??”) and curiosity, but deeper than that, you could see their excitement. Their city, that I’m certain they thought was completely unknown to the Western world, suddenly became significant. There was no tourist sights that would draw anyone to this place. The only explanation for our being there was to reach out to the people. We had travelled across the world just to see THEM. If that was me, I know that I would feel incredibly loved…and hopeful at such a sight.
Thus, the constant stares were accompanied with smiles. We were welcomed everywhere we went, people surprised, but excited, to meet us. To our team, this was an amazing sign of the atmosphere in the city. God had truly paved the way for us. He had softened peoples hearts to receive us, and clearly their love and warmth was an indication of His pre-emptive work in them. They were ready...
To be continued
