MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Sam Rodriguez

“But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.”  2 Timothy 4:5  NIV  

                Sam Rodriguez is experiencing what happens to a missionary apprentice when one combines the gift of prayer with the heart of evangelizing:  preaching points!  Preaching points are groups of people who invite a missionary to present the Word of God to them on a weekly basis.  Out of preaching points grow our church plants.  Sam has discovered that there are no guarantees in regards to preaching points.  Sometimes people show-up; sometimes they don’t.  Some people reject the Word; some put on Jesus in baptism.  Regardless, the duties must be discharged!

“But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed…”  2 Timothy 4:17  NIV

Because of Christ,

Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson

Pictured above:  apprentice Sam Rodriguez.

MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Ellie Rodriguez

"Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."  Matthew 19:14  NKJV

      Ellie has a heart big enough for every child she meets!  And she sets up Bible studies with most of those.  One of the big missionary skills that Ellie is mastering is that missionaries have to work through the hands of Christian adults in order for our works to be indigenous and sustainable.  Add to this challenge the low level of literacy among our women of the Kaonde tribe, and one sees how difficult this task can be.  A lack of literacy causes women to fear using the Bible; many would prefer Ellie to just teach the classes for the children.  But Ellie has to use tough love to insist that the women of the church plants “stir up their gifts” and learn to teach their own children.  Missionaries have to work ourselves out of a job.  The gratifying aspect of this approach is twofold:

1.       We will be able to reach another dark corner of the world with the light of the Gospel.

2.       Long after we are gone, those we have trained will still be teaching the words of Jesus in their village!

Taking the long view,

Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson

Pictured above:  Ellie teaching ladies how to teach their own children from the Bible.

MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Whitney Davis

“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him."   John 14:7  NASB

                The first time I became aware of Whitney’s gifting in communication was with the myriad of communiqués that we had to process for the U.S. Ambassador to Zambia as he visited Mumena Christian Outreach Center.  Among the Kaonde, communication hinges on relationships.  As Christians, our communication with the Divine hinges on our covenant relationship with our Savior.  It is always amazing to watch Whitney using her communication skills as she forms relationships with the lowliest to the greatest.  Whitney has a gift for using those relationships for the missionary skill of introducing people to Jesus!

    

Building eternal relationships,

Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson

Pictured above:  Whitney greeting the U.S. Ambassador to Zambia.

MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Jeremy Davis

“And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?”  Luke 8:9  KJV

               One of the skills of a missionary that must be taught to an apprentice is “how to ask the right questions”.  Jeremy is certainly gifted with this quality.  I don’t believe that I have ever had so many books open at the same time - in order to answer Jeremy’s questions - as I have had over the last 11 months.  Come to think of it, I don’t think that I have ever had as many of the books in my library on loan at one time as I have this year with Jeremy around!  This insatiable desire to “know” is only matched by Jeremy’s passion to teach.  And because he asks the right questions of the people in the village, Jeremy is mastering the missionary skill of “contextualization”… the finding of the right words in the local language and culture to communicate the Biblical meaning of a passage of scripture.

    

“For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”  Luke 11:10 NIV

Trying to keep up,

Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson

Pictured above:  Jeremy teaching in our annual Bible college for church leaders.

MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Erin Davis

“but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord .”  Joshua 24:15  KJV

 

                In a land ruled by fear of the dead members of one’s own family, one of the first tasks of the missionary is to help establish Christian homes.  Erin has a passion for helping families along the journey of becoming more Christ-like day by day.  Conversion to the Lordship of Christ is just the first step.  Letting Christ permeate our most private relationships and thoughts is a lifelong process.  One of the missionary skills Erin has been studying is how to challenge a “pagan worldview” (how a culture in the world views reality) with the worldview of the culture of God.  This is a particularly difficult skill to become comfortable with because we as missionaries have to hold up our own cultural worldview to God’s way of seeing reality in order to help another culture do the same.  This skill is important because if a person isn’t thinking within the parameters of what God says is real, a person will be hard pressed to make a faith decision concerning those divine realities.  What all missionaries ultimately discover is that it is just as painful for a missionary to go through this as it is for a lost person to go through it.

 

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  John 8:32  NKJV

 

It is absolutely worth it, though!

Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson

 

 

Pictured above:  Erin teaching ladies about the first family.

 

 

MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Apprenticeship Team Work

“… neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”  Leviticus 11:44  KJV

Our apprenticeship team work skills were put to the test recently when Whitney came from our boys room and mentioned that she had just seen the largest wall spider in her life.  As the old missionary, I condescendingly told her that “wall spiders are our friends”.  That is missionary speak for “Whitney, get a grip.”  However, when Noah & Bryson began “ooing and ahing”, I thought that I had better check it out.  To my surprise a King Baboon Tarantula was perched high up on the boys’ bathroom wall.  Now we had a problem.

Surrounded by able bodied apprentices, I felt a bit put upon when they looked to me, the mentor, for the proper response.  Theologically believing that all arachnids are a direct result of the fall of man, I was none too happy about having to demonstrate my superior missionary skills in this particular situation.  Add to this that our “Ag apprentice” (Jason) is also a firm believer in the un-holiness of all spiders, and my back-up troops were thinning.  Taking my favorite fly swatter (steel reinforced with leather covering), Jason helped me up on to the bath room counter top… after which he promptly left the room.  As Sondra mentored Erin on how to give lots of advice from the adjoining room, I approached within striking distance of the tarantula.  Striking it with all of my force, I managed to send the thing flying across the room towards Sondra and Erin.  (Enter Jeremy with his high school football ethic kicking-in.)  Grabbing a 5 gallon bucket, Jeremy managed to catch the beast on the fly – and in one fluid movement, dumped it into the commode.

I don’t remember who flushed – God bless them – as I was struggling with a series of shiver spasms.  Whitney, bless her heart, was desperately trying to suppress her gag reflex.  And as Sondra and Erin struggled with their feelings of “If he had done it correctly, it would NOT have come flying towards us!”, I thought to myself, “What a team!”

 

-          Brian

 

 

Pictured above:  Citharischius crawshayi (bites cause sharp pain accompanied with hallucinations)

 

MISSIONARY JOURNEY: Jason Davis, apprentice

 

“and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.”  Luke 21:38  NIV

 

                An apprentice has to choose a mentor.  (I am always humbled when someone puts that level of trust in my hands.)  Apprentices also get to choose when they will accept mentoring.  Jason has a habit of showing up early in the morning.  This impresses me to no end!  Not only does he understand the finer points of coffee consumption, but frankly, my mind works better in the morning these days.  Some apprentices are more comfortable in the public meeting arena.  But Jason specializes in the small group and one-on-one teaching experience.  Jason’s efforts in Christian stewardship and development are greatly aided by this approach.  One of the missionary skills enshrined in our team strategy is “The point of greatest transformational leverage is a transformed person.”  Jason has witnessed the power of this principle and is building on it!

      

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”  Matthew 5:14  NIV

Humbled,

Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson

 

 

Pictured above:  Jason interacting with one of God’s creatures.