Go. And Find Life.

As I go, I want to extend this invitation and blessing to you afresh from Isaiah 55. I pray that through His word, the Lord will speak a personal word into your life today, and take you on a journey into His divine heart.

¹ “Is anyone thirsty?
    Come and drink—
    even if you have no money!
Come, take your choice of wine or milk—
    it’s all free!
² Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength?
    Why pay for food that does you no good?
Listen to me, and you will eat what is good.
    You will enjoy the finest food.

³ “Come to me with your ears wide open.
    Listen, and you will find life.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you.
    I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.
⁴ See how I used him to display my power among the peoples.
    I made him a leader among the nations.
⁵ You also will command nations you do not know,
    and peoples unknown to you will come running to obey,
because I, the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious.”

⁶ Seek the Lord while you can find him.
    Call on him now while he is near.
⁷ Let the wicked change their ways
    and banish the very thought of doing wrong.
Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them.
    Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.

⁸ “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
    “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
⁹ For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so my ways are higher than your ways
    and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

¹⁰ “The rain and snow come down from the heavens
    and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow,
    producing seed for the farmer
    and bread for the hungry.
¹¹ It is the same with my word.
    I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
    and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
¹² You will live in joy and peace.
    The mountains and hills will burst into song,
    and the trees of the field will clap their hands!
¹³ Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow.
    Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up.
These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name;
    they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”

May the Lord fill you with His goodness and richness as you submit to His superior ways. May He bless you with the nations as your inheritance. May you have your eyes open as He causes your life to display and declare His everlasting sign of power and love.

God bless you all!

__________________________

Picture from markseifried.tumblr.com

On Your Mark… Get Set…

One more day! Started packing already. Just some laundry tomorrow and a few last minute things to do, and I’ll be good to go. I’ve updated my Prayer Bowl and Answered Prayers – please check em out and keep me and the team in your prayers!

“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace” (Isaiah 55:10-12a) 

Spiritual Gifts of the Aggregate Body – Team India 2013

Lord, thank You for giving us an abundance of spiritual gifts through each other. Please cause us to use them well to build up and edify your Church.

We pray for You to anoint our eyes to see (1) how we could use these gifts to serve each other on this team being your Body, and (2) how we could use them to serve the orphans and people in India where You are willfully and purposefully sending us. Let us also be open and ready for You to administer new gifts unto us, for You told us that the Spirit breathes where He pleases. We commit our gifts into Your sovereign hands.

Some initial thoughts:

• Gifts look pretty spread out; we’ve got 14 out of 18 gifts covered, which is good. Teams that are focused on only certain areas are probably not the most effective. Using the Body of Chirst analogy, you can’t have just the feet and head going out to the battlefield [RRRAAAAAA…. Stomp, Stomp, Stomp, Stomp… wait what do we do now.]
• The strength of the team as a whole seems to be in apostleship, mercy, and serving
• The gifts of evangelism, knowledge, and leadership seem to be missing from this team… well, not that they’re missing, just that they’re not among the top 3 gifts for people – we excel in other things more. It might be because this is a short-term missions team where most are rookies like me. If we were looking at a medium-term or long-term team, we probably would see these particular gifts emerging more.

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2 Cor 4:7)

‘Career Options’ for Missionaries

So excited to read about the bigger picture of God’s global missionary works through the book “The Future of the Global Church.” I skipped to the last chapter on “Christian Missions and the Future” – not only did it appeal to my “N” (Intuitive, from Myers-Briggs), but it also drew connections to my HR background. This is workforce planning, succession planning, and talent management for His kingdom!

This chart shows the diversity that’s needed in the works of fulfilling the Great Commission – it’s got implications on possible career paths of a missionary, and skill sets and competencies that would be needed in the mission field – whether front line or back end support.

Back in high school, I aspired to be a guidance counsellor. In university, I wanted to become a career counsellor. Now I wonder if I could be useful in the Father’s business as a missions counsellor of some sort? Maybe in 10 years? Well, just a thought for now.

Take a moment to check out my prayer requests in “Prayer Bowl + God’s Fire” if you haven’t yet – and please pray for me and my team because your prayers will be a major driving force behind our works and even preparations leading up to the trip. Thanka!

6 main facets of ministries in missions – each triangle lists a range of ministries that relates to that facet. Many missionaries have multiple roles – and often times these roles are not exclusive to one triangle.

(Source: Johnstone, Patrick. The Future of the Global Church. Downers Grove, IL, InterVarsity Press, 2011.)

What is the Gospel? How to Explain it in Minutes?

This one’s not to be missed. Came across it through my FB feed from Urbana Conference tonight. Not so coincidentally, this week’s missions training session is about how to share the good news through your testimony. I have a confession to make on this – more to come later.