Why Missions in Europe

Stefan Gustavsson is a Swedish pastor who spoke at the Tokyo 2010 Global Missions Consultation conference on the condition of the Church in Europe. A transcript of his message can be found here. It is a powerful message demonstrating the intense need for an ill forgotten continent in the missions community.

To hear about the results of the conference, a friend of mine created the following video of a couple who attended the conference and shared their reflections of Gustavsson’s address.

Tokyo 2010 Story

 

With all the hype about missions in the 10/40 window, and pressure towards reaching the “unreached” and the “least reached”, in second and third world countries, I have wondered where Europe fits in. Sadly it is not popular to talk about missions in “1st world countries” and even more difficult to garner support because Europe is so largely viewed as Christianized. This view needs to change. Europe is in desperate need.

Life Goes On

 

It’s hard to believe it was just a year ago that I was in Ireland, getting near unto the end of my internship there. It’s hard to believe both in the sense it was only a year ago and yet in other ways it feels like much longer than a year. But something else of great significance in my life is about to happen, one that also causes some reflecting. Here is a hint; I am about to finish my third decade on this planet. To some that is not a big deal, to those of younger generations I am turning into an “old fogey".” To me, the number would not mean much if I was not prone to enter into comparisons, but that is just what I am doing, wrong as it may be. Then again, maybe it is not inherently wrong, if we use the comparisons for good purposes. I look at where I am in life, what I have accomplished, what goals I have achieved and what goals I have not achieved, and compare them to others who are also of the same age. I realize that we all take different paths in life and there are many factors that determine what happens to us, some our own choosing and some outside our control, but the comparisons still help us take stock of where we are and where we are going.

Do I have disappointments? Sure. Do I feel like I have missed out on a lot of life? Absolutely. Right now I feel as though my life is meaninglessly flying by me like the little white dash lines on the highway. When I consider the one life I should be comparing mine to, it is hard to feel like I have accomplished anything at all. But this man’s accomplishments far outweigh any accomplishments any of us could ever achieve. After all, his greatest accomplishment quite literally changed the course of world history and the relationship between God and man. But let’s be honest, this man had a one-up on us – he is also God. So what can I measure up to?

I could look to the question of what I have done to affect my little corner of world history. But then I am reminded of what a high school classmate of mine remarked when we were talking about death. The one thing that bothered her most about death is that “life just goes on.” Eventually anything we do will be forgotten. Eventually we will be forgotten. Sure a handful of people will have their names go down in history for significant events, but most of us will eventually be forgotten, even by family descendants (do you know anything about your family going back even just four or five generations?).

So maybe that is not the standard by which I should be judging the value of my life. Maybe instead I should look to more eternally significant matters, like, has my life caused other people’s lives to change in terms of their eternal condition. Have I planted seeds of the gospel or better yet, seen fruit? I wish I had answers to that question. But as I consider the factors involved, I realize that anything of eternal value that I accomplish in life is not really a result of what I do, but how God uses what I do.

So that leaves me with only one thing to consider as I take stock of my life. Will I hear, when I approach the throne, the words “well done good and faithful son”? If what little I have done in life gains the approval of my Lord, then I have nothing to regret or despair over.

Live for Him. Nothing else really matters.

Mental Anguish

In the biography of pioneer missionary James Gribble titled Undaunted Hope, he is recorded having written a letter to a young missionary candidate the following words:

It is just as you steadily and steadfastly hold fast to Him and do not waver, that you will be fully approved by Him who has enrolled you, for, as Abraham of old, every missionary and Christian worker finds a great testing. This was the case of our Lord also, for just as soon as He was baptized and announced to the world, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. So, doubtless, if you have really been called of the Lord, your time is coming—either while yet in America or after you reach the mission field. But God is faithful, and we wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with His adversary.1

I have found it fascinating how so many of the “greats” in Christian ministry have always been sent through times of great testing and significant waiting. Just as Gribble pointed out, even our Lord was sent through just such a time before entering ministry – and to think he did not enter into ministry till he was about 30 years old and his ministry only lasted for roughly 3 years – the greatest missionary of all history! God’s ways are truly mysterious, but looking back we can clearly see the effectiveness of their ministries far outlast their earthly pursuits, abilities, and even time allotted.

Which as you might imagine, brings me to think of my situation. I first began the trek towards ministry when I was just 13. Here I am, 29, a seminary graduate with a deep desire toward missions, and I am driving semi-trucks. One might say (including me) what a waste of training and time. But thanks to the wisdom and exposition of words like Gribble’s above, encouragement comes.

Sure I may not be enduring significant physical suffering (though sometimes the heat in the truck can be unbearable), in many ways I do feel a sense of a mental suffering. But it is my conviction that the many disappointments endured in these last 16 years does have benefit. Exactly what I do not know. What I do know is the mission work I am looking toward will be difficult. Fruit is not quickly seen, if ever seen at all. I do not want to candy coat what I am dealing with. It is difficult, and the word “anguish” is very fitting.

But more than that, I see another lesson God is working on with me. One that began especially while in Ireland. While not an extrovert, I do need people around, as one friend once insightfully described me a “closet extrovert.” But in my need for the fellowship of others, do I find fellowship with God just as sweet and important? Am I truly depending on God to fill my cup or am I always looking to others? This is not an easy lesson, but a valuable one I hope to learn in the deepest of ways. Christ is sufficient.

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1 Gribble, M.D., Florence Newberry. Undaunted Hope: The Life of James Gribble. Winona Lake, IN, BMH: 1984.

The Road Ahead

It is official; I am now a graduate of Grace Theological Seminary with a Master’s of Divinity. The road has been long and difficult but very good as well. Completion of the internship and thus my training at Grace marks the end of one major period in my life and the beginning of another. But what is to come for my future?

For the immediate future I will be seeking a job to pay off school loans. It would be preferable to find something ministry related but given the time it takes and the economic situation, I am open to just about anything.

The future that is a little further down the road is ministry driven. I do plan to enter into cross-cultural ministry, but where and what that will look like I am uncertain. Some, including those in Killarney, would like to see me return to Ireland, and I am not ruling that out as a possibility. But given the immediate needs of paying off this loan, those decisions are not yet ready to be made.

So prayer requests for the time being would be as follows:

1. Pray that I can find a job and affordable housing so that I can pay off the loans in a relatively short time.

2. Pray that I will be able to keep my focus on ministry while working these next couple years. One way would to be able to find ways to get involved in a local church.

Again, thank you for all your support throughout the trip to Ireland. It is because of you all that the trip was able to be so successful.

I am home!

I just wanted to take a minute to put up a quick post to let everyone know I made it home safe. The day started at about 9am Irish time and we pulled into my parent's driveway at 1am local (6am Irish time). So it did make for a long day and I am tired but I am here.

Tomorrow it sounds like I will be getting involved a bit with some ministry stuff through the Christian Motorcyclists Association. My parents are members and they have a meeting I have been invited to go along with provided I can wake up in the morning.

So I will write more later about future plans and prayer requests regarding future ministry endeavors, but for now I need to get some rest.

Thank you for your prayers and support through all this trip. It has been a blessing and a truly growing experience.

Flying Again!!!

If you didn’t know, I love flying. It is truly one of my greatest passions. But today’s flights are a bit of a sweet sorrow for me. It means my time in Ireland has come to a close and I am on my way home. It is good that I am going home, but I will miss the friends I have made here in Ireland as well. It also means I am finished with Seminary. This alone has been a long but blessed experience. Hopefully I will be able to chat with many of you when I arrive to tell you personally about the many good things gained from this trip.

But the reason I am writing this post is to help you track my flights if you are so interested. I am flying out of Cork at 11:50am local time (6:50am Eastern) on Aer Lingus flight 712 and arriving in London at 1:05 pm local (8:05am Eastern). Flight tracking can be achieved here.

The second flight will be departing London at 4:30pm local time (11:30am Eastern) on American Air flight 91 and arriving in Chicago at 7:40pm local (8:40pm Eastern). Flight tracking for this flight can again be achieved here.

It will make for a long day, but I am looking forward to being home.

Thank you so much for all your prayers.

 

 

*because these posts are automatically uploaded to facebook but does not include the hyperlinks, I am posting the full links below:

EIN 712: http://www.helloflight.com/Flight/EIN712.Cfm

AAL 91: http://www.helloflight.com/Flight/AAL91.Cfm

Final Week

Its the final countdown. What an amazing trip it has been! This week looks to be very busy but good.

Today I preached for the last time in Killarney. I spoke on the idea of always remembering God, whether in the valley or on the mountain. How often we forget God and become so focused on ourselves? It is a real danger and the emphasis in Scripture on “Remember” has become so vital for my Christian walk, I thought it would be good to share that with the people here.

Tomorrow we are going to a funeral in Cork. I learned today that a believer in Christ has gone home and so tomorrow we are going down to Cork to celebrate this lady’s home-going.

Tuesday will be a day of final enjoyment for me. I plan to hike a long trail through the Black Valley (weather permitting). I am sure I will be exhausted at the end of the day but it is an area I have not yet seen and hope to before I travel home. It will make for a good time to reflect on the trip and think about what God has for me in the coming months.

Wednesday the church will be caroling at a few different retirement / nursing homes in the area. Then in the evening the church is having its annual Christmas party. Should be a great day of ministry and encouragement for all.

Thursday is a day of packing, cleaning, and filling out financial reports for the mission. Sounds exciting??

Friday I hitchhike my way onto a couple planes that are hopefully bound for home. Then, if my parents are gracious, kind, loving, wonderful, incredible people, they will be at the airport waiting for me. :)