The Lifestyle Challenge

Pray, Give or Go.  Those are typically the options you have in regards to missions. 

 

I’ve been writing lately on something I saw on Facebook regarding  the need for missionaries to live simplistic lifestyles.  But I’m not sure it’s so much an “on the field” issue as it is a home issue.  While 1 Timothy 6:10 talks about the love of money being the root of all evil, we often don’t recognize how a lifestyle of excess is the offspring of the love of money Perhaps that explains our country's problem with debt... and our personal problem with debt?  Everyone is always talking about debt. We buy more than we can afford and more than we really need.  Our eyes are bigger than our wallets.  J

I was particularly challenged by an article I read in the Perspectives Course by a great missiologist named Ralph Winter...  In his article Reconsecration: To a Wartime, Not a Peacetime, Lifestyle, Winter talks about our country's preoccupation with itself: 

"The essential tactic to adopt a wartime lifestyle is to build on pioneer mission perspective and to do so by a very simple and dramatic method... But others can stay home and deliberately and decisively adopt a missionary support level as their standard of living and their basis of lifestyle, regardless of their income.  This will free up an unbelievable amount of money-- so much, in fact, that if a mission average Presbyterian households were to live within the average Presbyterian minister's salary, it would create at least two billion dollars a year.  But what a mighty gift to the nations if carefully spent on developmental missions!"

If we are all called to reach the nations and to make disciples, and we are, then we must all acquire a lifestyle that reflects it.  It's interesting that there exists a disconnect between what we view is an appropriate lifestyle for ministers and what's appropriate for everyone else. 

If we are all working toward the same goal (world evangelization-- no matter where you are), then why do so many have the idea (or even mental image, which is what I used to have) that for missionaries, poor is the appropriate  lifestyle all the while excusing themselves to go out and buy the newest everything?

Winter talks about what a blessing it would be to have an influx of money going toward spreading the Kingdom of God.  His purpose is not to shame anyone nor to impose standards on people, but to say—hey, let’s deliberately slim down our lifestyles, with the purpose to reach out even more so by pouring into the Kingdom of God (similar to how the church started in Acts 2).

There must be a balance of course. Extremes are never helpful.  But perhaps it may be a good time to lighten our ideas of an appropriate “lifestyle” for others (thinking here of the harsh standards some seem to have for missionaries because they live on support) and perhaps tighten our own ideas of what is an appropriate lifestyles for “me”.

If we have different standards for ministers/missionaries and ourselves, then we are giving into the concept of clergy vs. laity: Clergy does everything and laity receives everything.  Laity is not responsible, Clergy is. That is NOT what the Bible teaches.  So to speak, “laity” (aka believers)  is to do the work of the ministry, clergy is to train them (Eph. 4:11-13). 

Anyway, I'm getting off-subject.  The challenge of this article is to put into check the lifestyle that we are living. Instead of looking at others, let’s just look at “me”. Is ours a lifestyle of peacetime-- excess... whatever we want [read: focused on ourselves]?  Or is it a lifestyle of wartime-- cutting back so that we can focus on what really matters [read: focused on a purpose or others]?  If we place standards on others of what is appropriate for others who minister to people to live by, then let's live by them as well because we are also called to minister.

The challenge is to cut our budget back to what is simple and necessary.  Not to be poor or not own nice things and never have fun. But to put our money where our mouth is and really live dedicated to the Gospel message.  What income we have that goes beyond what we need (do I really need another pair of jeans when I have 5 pair?) and some of what we want (it’s not good to give into all our wants immediately: that’s called impulsiveness), give to the highest priority of mission you believe is out there. Where is it that you see is strategic mission in reaching the world?  Start there. (I am particularly excited about missions that reach international students here in the US—I think that’s strategic because they go back to their unreached nations.  Or missions that train Hispanics or Africans to be missionaries in places where Americans can’t usually go. That’s strategic. Again, off subject.  Sorry.)  It’s a challenge—not a law.

This is dual-purposed.  It's not merely for the sake of not letting ourselves become self-consumed and distracted. It's for the sake of the Gospel going forth.  Did you know that less than one dollar of money given to missions (that's not even our own programs/church needs) goes to the unreached peoples?  If we're actually serious about reaching the world, then we need to be serious about it in all areas of our personal lives.  If we think reaching the world is important, then let’s change that number.  And let’s let the change start with “me” (aka “you”, but I’m not supposed to say “you” because it’s too confrontational.  J)  Because that’s where all relevant change in this world starts anyway.

Let's shake off our excess, the things of this world that really entangle us.  Let's shake off our concept that our money is our own-- it's the Lord's. That’s what we say anyhow. We are merely His stewards. If we are working for His glory, then the income we generate ought to go to His purposes.

You Should Know (English) Video by MUP.ORG from Mustang International on Vimeo.

Have you seen this yet? Take 3 minutes to learn about what you need to know.

Update

Pause from previous theme.  I still have a couple more posts in the works, but I wanted to take a break to update ya'll on what's going on:

-Praise God we are around 67.5% of the way funded to get to Japan.  So, that's about 2/3.  We still have a few events planned over the next couple of months, so we are believing that we should be ready to go by November.

-We just sent over Rosalyn's docs to Japan for translation.  As far as I know, we've done everything we need to do.  Every once in a while, we get an email back asking for a change of phrasing, etc., on the various paperwork we sent over.  PAZ Japan is hoping to finish translation (it's a lot of docs!) by the end of July and then it should take about 6 weeks to get our answer back from the government for our visas.  Please pray that we can get an approved visa!  And for 3 years too.

-We have a Missions Café Night planned for August 29 at CCEA.  It should be a great evening-- we have a harpist and we're trying to get a guest missionary speaker.  Please pray that all the details will flow and that we will be able to raise awareness that evening.

In the meantime, Vicente continues at his job and Break Free ministry opportunities.  And I am taking care of little Rosalyn and tutoring in Spanish and ESL on the side.

We are so excited to get to Japan.  We keep thinking and talking and praying about it (of course).  But now that the time is approaching we are ready to get to the details of getting over there!  Well, I am more of the detailed person of the two of us, but we both are thinking about what all will need to be done and coordinating everything to be able to launch out.

We can't wait to see what God is going to do in Japan.  We pray He uses us to glorify Him and to expand His kingdom in Japan.  Just as a reminder of what we'll be doing, we're going to be working with PAZ Japan Mission in Noborito (a suburb of Tokyo) in evangelism and discipleship.  We will be working with a small young church, seeking to help build it up and see more churches planted.  Only 0.4% of Japan's population has heard the Gospel and believed.  But we believe through loving patience, God will show us the way to speak to His lost Japanese children's hearts.  Japanese are very committed people once a decision is made-- and because of the group mentality in Japan, they need a strong community of believers to surround them to "go against the flow".  But we believe the Lord will change the tide of Japan.  We want to see a vibrant community emerge to effectively influence their culture and win Japan for Christ!

According to JoshuaProject.net, a people group isn't considered reached until 2% of the population are believers.  At that point, the church is considered strong enough to be really self-sustaining and grow themselves.  Still, that's a very small percentage!  But Jesus said in Matthew 24 that the Gospel would be preached in every nation (people group) and then the end would come.

We are so anticipating every people group hearing the Good News of Jesus Christ.  And for the Japanese, we are praying fervently and believing for more than just the 2%. 

Ok, sorry for the cheese fest, but I can't help it: we want to give our 100% for their 100%.

Let's hasten the day of Christ's return!

Counting the Cost

"Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: ²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
²⁸ “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? ²⁹ For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, ³⁰ saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
³¹ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ³² If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. ³³ In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples."  Luke 14:25-33

It was September 4, 2006, around 10:30pm and I was in our dining room writing an email to some dear friends of mine to request that in the next few weeks, they'd send emails or give calls to my mom.  I knew it was going to be hard on her.  From where I was sitting, I could hear her crying in my parents' bedroom. 

I was leaving for Mexico the next day.  Not just for a short trip.  I was moving there.

My heart broke for her.  It was of course sad for me too, but I knew it was going to be hard on my mom (and my whole family too-- but especially for her)-- and that was harder for me than my own sadness of leaving.  I finished my email and then spent some time with my mom comforting her and trying to make it easier. 

It was at that point that I began learning the lesson that the Lord will give you grace for whatever He has called you to.

He did give me grace.  I remember arriving in the Mexico City airport the next night.  I was going through customs, getting ready to meet the training missionaries waiting for me.  And I thought, Oh goodness, what have I done?

I laugh now.  But it was a big leap of faith for me!  My family came to visit me 4 months after I moved to Mexico and I think that trip gave us all peace to move on.  It never became "easy" to say goodbyes, but we learned how to process through the emotions of the hard times of being away.

Anywho, where's this coming from?  Well, more than a year ago, I went for coffee with a good friend of mine.  As we were walking there, she mentioned that counting the cost for moving overseas would be high for her, as she had a little one she was taking away from the grandparents.  I agreed with her, imagining what it must be like, but honestly-- not really understanding.

I've been thinking a lot about that conversation the last few weeks.

Because now I understand. Even now, having my little one be so far away from her grandparents is hard.  And we're only states away!  We try to keep them involved, sending them pictures and videos of what's going on, skyping to let them coo at her.  I know that it's difficult for them.  The excitement of getting my little one's passport in the mail is bittersweet for them.

Again, the Lord will give grace for whatever He has called you to.  For us, He will give us the grace to transition to a foreign land and patiently learn how to share His love with a people who do not speak our language.  For my parents, I know He has a different type of grace for them to accept their dear ones being taken away.  It's a good thing the Holy Spirit is called the Comforter.

When we were taking the Perspectives Course, during the History Section, I was continually amazed at the fervor and tenacity of the missionaries of two and three centuries ago.  Man, they were the real deal.  They left and didn't come back.  They didn't have Skype.  They didn't have telephones or Priority Mail.  They didn't have hospitals or even translation dictionaries. They often packed their belongings in coffins they purchased.  There was no turning back.

They counted the cost.  They caught the vision of a passionate, saving God who wanted His Rescue and Redemption broadcast to the very ends of the earth.  They knew their Savior who was the Greatest Missionary ever, who sacrificed His life to give them life.  And they knew it was all worth it.  The pain of leaving home.  The difficult journey.  The hours of study to be able to communicate.  Sickness.  Loneliness. Death.

They heard their Savior calling them from distant lands where He wanted His Kingdom to go.  And they followed.

Honestly, my plight doesn't seem so terrible when I consider them.  In fact, I usually feel like a wuss. The ache of only being able to see each other via Skype makes me thankful that we have the privilege and comfort to be able to see each other via Skype.

But, nonetheless, I must consider: is it worth it?  Do I have what it takes to finish the call?  It's unwise to just jump into it, like the parable Jesus told.  We must consider-- is it worth it?  And if it is: am I willing?

Well.  If I want to be a disciple of Christ, then I must be willing to give up all.  If I am to be His child, I must recognize that all is my Father's anyhow.  My call (and yours as well) as His follower is to be a disciple maker, and if I am to obey, then I must take my assignment sheet and find out where it is I am assigned.  I really can't be His disciple if I won't obey Him in all.

Our assignment happens to be in a different location than my parents' and siblings'.  For them, the cost (in this situation) is submitting to God's will and releasing us with grace to be obedient to the Lord's call. 

The wonderful thing though is that it's not something we go about in our own strength.  The Lord goes with us, gives us power, gives us grace.  He sustains us, encourages us, pushes us further.  And for whatever "sacrifice" we are called to make, He is always generous and gracious with us.

So, after zig-zagging across the mountain a few times, it comes down to the fact that we must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.  He is so worth it all.  It's hard, yes.  But if we love Jesus, we must obey Him.  And when we obey Him, He is pleased. 

Those are my thoughts lately.  The truth of it gives me peace, but it doesn't take away the emotions.  Still, I'm thankful for Skype.

Draising

In 2000, I took my first mission trip with Teen Mania to India.  Rewind about 6.5 months.  I felt SOOO compelled that I had to go on a missions trip that summer (cool story, perhaps for another day).  I had a catalog of the trips available through Teen Mania and I had spent about a week trying to get my mom to take a look at it.  Finally, the moment had come and we were sitting in the living room and I was a bit nervous.

I showed her a couple of options I was interested in.  She looked at me and said, "Janine, we don't have the money."  I said, "I know, but I feel like I'm supposed to go.  Can I go?"  She said, with a hint of frustration and unbelief in her voice, "You can go if God provides the money."

That was all I needed to hear.  I got her to sign the parental consent on the application, got my recommendations from people and sent it in.  I spent the next month dreaming every night of what it would be like and was elated when I got my acceptance packet.  I had from February till May to raise about $3000.  God miraculously provided in unexpected ways.  My whole family grew during the process and in June, my mom tearfully kissed me goodbye as she sent her little 15 year old off across the world.

God did amazing things that summer.  People got saved as we went out and evangelized.  Crippled people walked, the blind and deaf were healed.  I prayed for a little 6 year old boy who had never walked and after a prodding from the Holy Spirit, I prayed for him a second time and he walked.  At that site, people now responded to the call to believe in Jesus.

Fast forward 6 years later.  I'm 21, it's January 2 and I'm sitting in my pastor's living room telling him I feel called to move to Mexico.  He said-- Janine, if you feel God is calling you to go, you need to obey Him.  He later encouraged me in what were some next steps I needed to take.

The most daunting part of the process for me was raising support.  This time it wasn't a "one-time amount" but monthly support.  It was more of a commitment from people.  It was a bit awkward for me now.

I remember telling someone that I called it "draising"... because there was no fun in it.  It was hard to ask for support, but "unfortunately" it was how I was going to be able to minister in Mexico and follow God where He was calling.

But through the encouragement and sometimes pushing from senior missionaries who had walked the same path, I learned a few things about support:

-You don't have to feel guilty about support raising.
-Support raising is ultimately the Lord's responsibility.  There are people that He is calling to participate, to join their hearts in the vision.  So, really, my responsibility is "vision casting", not support raising.
-Just because there are manipulative people out there doesn't mean that support raising is manipulative.
-Support raising means that you can give your time freely.
-If you don't have enough support, it can really affect you-- your health, your longevity as a missionary, your ability to minister, the reputation you show for the Kingdom of God.

In the last post, I talked about a conversation that was going on in Facebook. Here are some more comments from that:

 

 

First off, I'd just like to say that I know a missionary who was given an iPhone as a gift from a supporter who thought it would be a blessing to their ministry.  It is.  So, it's really hardly fair to judge someone when you don't personally know them.

 

I guess what I want to communicate here is that it seems in this post that has provoked so much thought from me, it seems like people think asking for support is easy.  That we take the opportunity to dream up everything we want, add it to our budget and expect you to pay for it.

 

Nothing could be further from the truth.  It's not easy to ask for support to do a hard job.  Most missionaries whittle their budget down to the bare minimum just so they can go.  We don't "expect" money from anyone.  We humbly consider it a blessing when people want to financially partner with the mission.  We realize that we cannot do it without the help of others.

 

Contrary to what impression some apparently have, most missionaries aren't money-hungry individuals who want to live a high lifestyle in another country.  Most are hard-working individuals who do indeed give up a lot to do what God is calling them to do.  And they have to be humble enough to ask for support.

 

But in fin, I think it might be a good idea to take a look at the example given to us in the book of Acts.  The believers often contributed money so that ministry could happen, needs could be met (See Acts 2:45; 5 and 6).  It just seemed to be a mark of the believers to contribute so that God's work could be done.  They didn't view what was "theirs" as their own, but as the Lord's.  And as a result, all took part in the good that was done for the glory of God's name.

And then I read this post...

 

Friday night, while feeding the baby, I was browsing Facebook on my iTouch.  I came across the above post and turned a nice shade of red.  For me, I felt a bit humiliated on behalf of all missionaries-- sort of like when you see the videos of "Christians" holding those "you're going to hell signs" outside of porn conventions, etc.  You know that's never gonna work-- never gonna convey the love of Christ.  And you want to shout at them: "Stop it!!!!"

 

Well, to begin with, smack my forehead at the thought of people sending support letters to people they don't know.  Please don't ever do that!

 

But beyond that...  there was a lot of subjects that seemed to come up in this post and the following comments.  Those weren't all the comments, by the way.  I, of course commented too, but that'll be for another day.

 

First, I thought-- gee, a lot of people seem to have these thoughts!  All of a sudden, I felt really vulnerable.  Wow, is this the impression people have of me??  Honestly, I was a bit hurt.  Not offended, but hurt.  But I also realized that this post provided a great opportunity.  More on that later.

 

No one likes generalizations.  While I have heard stories of unfaithful missionaries, there are countless others I know personally who gave up great jobs to go on the field, who lived a minimalistic lifestyle, who suffered lack on the field...yet who were faithful. 

 

While a missionary should absolutely live simplistically, I'd like to add: so should the person at home.  I know personally, I used to have the idea that missionaries live dirt poor lifestyles, and that's just the way that it is.  But I think it has become synonymous that missions means poverty.  So with that mindset, the idea of a missionary looking stylish seems wrong.  The idea of a missionary with an iPhone seems shameful.  The idea of a missionary providing something nice for their child seems wrong....

 

Wait, what?

 

Right.  Before we judge others, we may want to take a look at our own lifestyles and see if it reflects a lifestyle that is advancing the kingdom of God (and there are many of those here in America who are living that lifestyle, I just wanna say).  We shouldn't hold others to a lifestyle that we ourselves aren't willing to live with.  But I'll not touch this subject any further for the time being.

 

In later blogs (because this has brought up a LOT of conversation between my husband and I), I will share personal testimonies of being on the field with lack, my own struggle with the idea of support raising, and things I learned on the field from missionaries. 

 

We also realized that usually, people don't realize the costs that go into being on the field-- things you don't even think of-- like self-employment tax.  Did you know that to be a missionary, you usually have to pay self-employment tax?  Mine came out to about $800 a year.  Anyway, we felt it was important for people to see the breakdown of budgets, as originally commented on in the initial post.  So, we want people to have access to our budget-- and if you have questions about it, you can feel free to ask.  Because what seems perhaps like an unnecessary expense to you may in fact be necessary on the field. So, if you want to see it, please email us or meet with us.  We'd love to dialogue. 

 

There are many more blogs coming and perhaps even a video blog from my husband, as he has his own story to share. So stay tuned!

Care Team

I first heard about Care Teams when I came to CCEA.  Wow!! They really love their missionaries! was what I thought.  I wasn't entirely sure what all a care team entailed, but the concept alone showed me how much CCEA believed it was important to support their missionaries. 

Being on the field, it's easy to be "out of sight, out of mind"... It's natural-- you're not involved in people's daily lives and life does indeed go on.  It's not really anyone's fault.  When I was on the field, I only regularly heard from a hand full of people, most of those my family members.  While my life went on as I adapted to a new way of living, eating, talking, relating and even thinking-- I still had moments where I just wanted something familiar.

It's not easy.  I don't say that for pity but for understanding.  I've heard from a lot of missionaries who get homesick, who struggle.  Can they be blamed?  Is it weakness?  No.  It's normal and natural.  It comes with the job.  The Lord does give grace, but that doesn't mean that everything is always peachy-keen and top-of-the-roller-coaster exciting in a different country.  Losing touch with friendships that were once close hurts... there's a melancholy feeling every time you see a couple getting engaged (to someone you haven't met), married or experiencing the joy of a new baby.  Especially when you're a week or month behind on the news!  Words posted on a Facebook wall can only go so far.

I digress.  Care Teams.  As we've been moving forward toward Japan, we've had this grand opportunity to establish a Care Team.  The Lord has brought people around us and has shown both them and us how we can work together to forward the Kingdom Cause.

Here are some things that the Care Team does (as we've discovered!):

-Helps raise support and awareness for the mission-- they're advocates!
-Offers prayer and encouragement, both of which are VITAL
-Becomes a connection and voice between our home "body of Christ" and the field
-Communicates with the body of Christ what's going on so that we don't become out of sight, out of mind
-Offers logistical help with records, sending out newsletters, prayer requests, needs awareness, etc.

There's a LOT of things that the missionary has to do-- learn a new language and culture, raise support to provide for real daily needs, maintain communication, send out lots of mailings, keep an online presence in order to minister to those at home, etc., keep financial records (we don't get a break on taxes!  It's more complicated for us!) and a myriad of other logistical things that take place on the field (try paying your rent on a multi-step ATM in Japanese only or trying to fill out paperwork at a doctor's office in a foreign language).  So, to have a team that helps with that means that we can focus our time on ministry and be more effective with it.

We feel SO blessed to have such a great Care Team-- who really get behind the vision for reaching Japan with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Honestly, it takes off SO much pressure of things that we have to do.  Not only that, they are full of great ideas, are pretty funny and are hard workers, so it's a joy to have such a partnership.

Partnership-- it's really an opportunity for people to get their hand in on the work of foreign missions from their own living room.  There are logistical things that YOU can do that will have an impact not only on your missionary's life, but really on the ministry that's being done in another country.  It's a way to serve internationally while staying placed locally.

So join a Care Team and find a way to serve.  If there aren't any care teams established already at your church, start one!  The book "Serving as Senders" by Neil Pirolo is really where the concept comes from. If that's a bit much to begin with, commit to sending your missionary a weekly email or monthly email to encourage them and maintain communication.  I guarantee you'll be a bigger blessing than you can imagine.