Simply Church: A House Church Perspective

If I were a missionary...

Photo Credit: rogiro (Creative Commons)

Some people might say that Tony and I are already missionaries.  Firstly, we have crossed cultures from the UK to the USA. (I sometimes wonder why here to the affluent West which is already so heavily Christianized when we would have willingly gone to any country in the world.)  And secondly, we are missionaries in the sense that all of us are. John 20:21 says, "As the Father sent me so am I sending you." The word missionary simply means "one who is sent."

We have the privilege and opportunity of traveling to many countries around the world. Wherever we go, we train local people how to reach out to their own spheres of influence, making disciples and starting churches. We don't mind how small the group is; all we are looking for is the one or two who are "John Knoxers" for their area. (John Knox is famous for praying, "Give me Scotland or I die!") These people take what we say and translate it into their own context, sometimes with results that far surpass anything we could have imagined.

But supposing we were called to leave the West to live and work in another culture?

Here's what I would do--hopefully being led by the Lord. In this scenario, language study is happening, finances are taken care of, either by support from home or through a business venture in the new country.

• Pray! I remember a story Dr. Yonggi Cho told of starting a church in Japan. He sent what he described as "a mediocre Korean woman." She spent 40 days in prayer and fasting, and followed this by riding the elevator up and down in an apartment building, talking to the residents and helping them where she could. Within a short time, she had started a church with, if I remember the facts right, two hundred people--very successful for that nation.

• Work with local people. It doesn't matter how well we speak the language and understand the customs, we'll always be outsiders. We may become trusted and accepted in time, but it takes insiders reaching out to their friends to see a viral spread of the Gospel. We'd train local people in Luke 10 principles, giving them the skills needed to make disciples and start churches in ways that can be multiplied. A good example is Guy Muse who works in Ecuador.

• Help the poor and disadvantaged. This one would be very much as led by the Lord--I don't see it as essential, merely helpful in many contexts, especially in the Third World. I think of a couple of examples: Michele Perry, a good friend of ours, works with orphans in Southern Sudan. She takes them off the streets, giving them a home. Some of them go with her when she takes the Gospel to other villages. She has amazing stories of what God is doing. Another friend is working in a war-torn area of Russia with people who have been severely traumatized by the fighting. She brings them to her center, sees them healed, trains them and sends them out to plant churches.

What else would you do?

Stories: an effective way of communicating?

Photo credit: yewenyi (Creative Commons)

In many Third World countries, there is a high level of illiteracy. For example, according to Human Development Report for 2009, the literacy rate in Bangladesh is 56%, Sudan 27% etc. This does not mean that people are not intelligent. They are often highly intelligent. It just means that they have never been taught to read and therefore do not take in information or learn through the written word.

This has profound implications for missions. In countries with a high oral learning rate, the  good news of Jesus Christ cannot be communicated through written materials. Often storying is used instead.

People love stories. Often the only part  of a talk  I remember is the stories used to illustrate the message.

Jesus usually taught the people with stories (parables).  Stories communicate truth very well.  (70% of the Bible can be effectively communicated and memorized through the use of storying)  People who don’t read learn stories very quickly.  One of the main skills to learn is asking questions about the story that help people understand and remember the story. 

Here's one pattern for storying with a group of people:

• Explain briefly the main truth you are going to convey through the story.
• Either read the story to them or tell the story in your own words. Remember, you want to model something they can do too. If you are working with those who cannot read, then tell the story.  Put the story in context. Make it simple, with an emphasis on the truth you want to convey.
• Ask questions that go over what the story says.  Have different ones in the group answer the questions.
• Give everyone the opportunity to repeat the story to make sure they have the main facts.  If the group is large, divide into smaller groups for this activity.  But it is important that everyone get their first chance to practice telling the story now, so they will remember it better and even tell it better the second time.  Immediate repetition creates more stickiness.)
• Ask questions that bring out what the story means.
• Have one or two others retell the story
• Ask questions that bring out how they can apply the story in their own life.
• Again have one or two retell the story
• Ask who they know who would also benefit from hearing the story.
• Get them to tell the story to someone else during the week.

We have friends in India who work primarily with oral learners. They tell us that those who learn in this fashion effectively become oral Bibles. They understand Biblical principles and can apply them into different situations. They say that an illiterate woman who has been well-trained in Bible storying can confound a seminary student.

According to studies, up to 20% of people in the US lack functional literary skills--ie they are unable to read well enough to understand written instructions or to fill in simple forms.

The National Center for Educational Statistics in the United States says:

• Over 60% of adults in the US prison system read at or below the fourth grade level
• 85% of US juvenile inmates are functionally illiterate

Many more people in this country, especially in the younger age group, are able to read but choose not to. They learn through other means--usually visual. They are very open to storying as a means of learning in a group context.

I once practised storying on the friend of one of our kids. A week or so later, I discovered the story I told being written about on someone's blog having gone through two or three other people. 

Storying is effective in many different contexts. Why not try it? Use a passage like Luke 6:46-49. Ask questions such as:

• What does the house represent?
• What does the flood represent?
• What does it mean to build a house on the rock, or on the sand.

You'll be amazed at what comes out.

Do you have any experience with storying? I'd love to hear about it.

 

Suspended in a hammock: contextualizing the good news

Photo credit: SadieMaeGlutz (Creative Commons)

We have friends in India who are seeing large numbers of both high-caste Hindus and people from other religions become followers of Jesus. They use the sacred books of those religions to point to Christ. When they have clearly demonstrated Christ within those books, they can then point them to the Jesus of the Bible. They are contextualizing the Gospel in a way that makes it understandable to those they are trying to reach.

There are pointers to Jesus in every culture.

The book, Bruchko, describes the extraordinary story of 19 year-old Bruce Olson, who sought to bring the Gospel to a murderous tribe in the South American jungle. These people had no words in their language that could express some of the concepts of a belief in Jesus. Bruce used some remarkably creative ways to bring across these ideas.

For example, there was no word to express "faith" in the Motilone language. The Indians used to sleep on hammocks suspended from the rafters of their communal homes. The best word for faith that Bruce found was the word that meant to "tie in one's hammock." It beautifully expresses faith as suspending one's life from Christ and the people instinctively understood its meaning.

Some years ago we started a church in the low income housing projects. One day, a good friend from England, Norman Barnes, visited. He clearly demonstrated the efficacy of the blood of Christ in forgiving sins to our friends there. He had them each write down the things they had done that were bad, that they were ashamed of, or issues they dealt with like anger, onto a sheet of paper. When each one had completed their list, they put their papers into a pan. He covered it with a red cloth symbolizing the blood of Jesus. He took the pan outside, removed the cloth and set fire to the paper. Then he asked them to pull their sins out of the pan. Of course, they were just ash.

The kids talked about how the blood of Jesus dealt with their sins for weeks after that. Every time a person wore something red they would remind each other: "She's wearing red: do you remember how the blood of Jesus covers the things we've done wrong."

How can we contextualize the good news for the people we come across day by day? How can this be used to reach out to other cultures too?

6 bloopers I've made in cross-cultural contexts

There are many pitfalls for the unwary in a cross-cultural context. Here are some bloopers I, or those with me, have made:

India: placing my Bible on the floor.

Mozambique: beckoning someone to come with my palm facing up, rather than down.

Muslim nation: offering (as a woman) to shake hands with a man when introduced.

India: a young woman making eye contact with a man.

Russia: wearing outdoor shoes inside the house.

Mongolia: not eating everything my plate (or offering it to someone else to finish).

These may just be superficial things, and thankfully I have always been in a context where, as far as I know, the local people have excused my blunders, but they speak volumes. It is so easy to unwittingly offend. Things that we take for granted in a Western context may be a sign of disrespect that is totally unacceptable in another country.

That's a small part of the reason that missionaries need cross-cultural training.

Potential missionaries, beware!

Photo credit: EugeniusD80 (Creative Commons)

We were sitting in our hot tub with some dear friends who are long-term missionaries in Japan. Jim's wife is Japanese, so they have a unique understanging of that nation. They and their family are planting simple/organic churches there. As usual, our conversation ranged widely as we put the world to rights.

"A problem we see is people coming on the mission field with romantic ideas of saving the world, knowing God has called them into missions, full of enthusiasm, but totally unprepared for what they will face." said Jim. "A year later, they leave, disillusioned, having failed. They have never worked through the culture shock they experience. They miss the familiar, their families and friends. They go back home, tail between their legs and end up being good pillars of their local church. The problem has been in their preparation."

"What would you do that's different?" I asked.

"If I knew someone who was considering working for the Kingdom in Japan, I would have them come and live with our family for a month, first of all," replied Jim. "A month is long enough that it wouldn't be a vacation. We would give them insights into the culture; they would gain an understanding of some of the spiritual realities of a nation like ours. They would live with our family, eating our food, working at the things we work at on a daily basis. They would reach out to local people who are English speakers. They could get a taste of what life on this mission field is like to see if this is really the nation where they want to spend the next years of their life. Then if they still know God has called them here, maybe they would come for a year, learn some of the language, get more understanding of the culture before committing to full time missions."

I think that is a wise way to prepare someone for the mission field. Are there other families like Jim's who would be prepared to open up their lives to potential missionaries?

In my last post, I looked at some of the ways that preparation for simple/organic missions might be different.

I came across another idea I like a few weeks ago. A missions organization sent out a team to live in Europe with a dual purpose. The first was to reach out to the local people, to make disciples and start churches. The second was to provide a missions experience and training for others who were thinking of working in Europe. Although it hadn't been without challenges, a couple we met who had been through that year had been sufficiently inspired to make the decision to go back to Europe long term, but this time without their rose-tinted spectacles. They had been through God's school of hard knocks and practical experience and now felt prepared with an understanding of what they would face.

What we, as simple/organic churches do to prepare people for missions needs to fit within our simple/organic  paradigm.

What ideas do you have? How can we best prepare people in a practical way?

So you want to be a missionary?

Photo credit: breezy 421 (Creative Commons)

Nothing magical occurs when a person moves into a cross-cultural situation. Arriving on foreign shores, a new missionary doesn't suddenly morph into an evangelistic go-getter. 

When we come across people who are about to go onto the mission field, while standing in awe of their commitment to Jesus, our usual question to them is this: "What have you been doing here in this country?"

Whatever a person is doing now, back at home, in terms of working for the Kingdom, is most likely what they'll do overseas. If they never spread the Good News here, it's not likely they'll find it any easier elsewhere. If they've never started a church here, it's not going to fall into their lap in a foreign context.

So what is the best basic training for you, as one whom God is calling overseas? Is it years of seminary? Bible school? [God uses such people --remember, the apostle Paul had done the equivalent in his day--but that wasn't what qualified him to reach out to the Gentiles.] There's nothing to compare with practical experience.

Many missions or missionary sending churches, no matter their denomination or affiliations, have recognized that old-style missionary methods do not generally have much impact on the Kingdom in terms of new followers of Jesus. Teaching in schools, bringing healthcare and so on may provide  extremely valuable help to the local people, and that may be what God has called you to do, but it doesn't usually result in new churches. 

The most effective pattern being used around the world today is the multiplication of networks of small, organic churches meeting in homes. We know several mega-churches who start house churches in other countries. No matter their background, this is what sending agencies are doing overseas. Many missionaries today train indigenous leaders in these patterns. Relief of needs--feeding the poor, caring for orphans, may play a part, and may provide inroads into the community, but it's not the primary means of gathering the harvest.

Therefore, the most effective preparation for overseas missions is to do here at home what you'll be doing, or what you'll be training others to do, abroad. Start a multiplying network of simple/organic/missional churches. This practical, on-the-job training, coupled with learning about cross-cultural challenges and opportunities, together with some experience in other cultures will provide a good basic training for what you will do overseas.

Guest post by Michael Tummillo: How are things at work?

 

Photo credit: Let Ideas Compete (Creative Commons)

I was managing a mobile home park in Texas - 185 homes located about 45 minutes south of downtown Dallas - the only mobile home park owned by a big property management company in North Dallas. Single, divorced, I had long before made up my mind that I was going to allow the Father to use whatever I had available, even if all I had was time. Even if all I had was a job. Like Moses, who gave God the staff in his hand, all I had to offer Him was my job. I had no computer, no phone, none of the tools of ministry I am now utilizing.

I had resided in the park for 8 years with my wife and children. After she divorced me, I stayed there and, when working at WalMart, suffered an accident (a ton of dog food was dropped on my foot) which caused me to remain at home while I healed. One day, the park manager's groundskeeper was caught digging in her purse. She fired him and asked me if I would like the job. In time, she was promoted and I was offered the park manger's position. While I was there, that mobile home park experienced incredible revival. Not only spiritually, but physically, residents planting trees, building nice decks, cleaning up and beautifying their lots. Even the bank that owned the property commented on what a wonderful "spirit" they could feel in the park when they inspected it. 

What made the difference? For starters, I was "prayer walking" at night before I'd ever heard of that. I anointed every post, mailbox and stop sign with oil and claimed that park for the Kingdom of God. I placed encouraging Gospel tracts on car windshields. As time went on, people either committed their lives to Christ, began attending church, with me or elsewhere, or they moved out. The profile of our resident population transformed as one resident was sentenced to prison and a practicing witch's house burned to the ground. In their place, retired ministers and devoted followers of Christ began moving in and our occupancy increased to nearly 100%. Bible studies popped-up. Neighbors started reaching out and getting to know each other. Flying kites, riding bikes, having cook-outs... the Spirit of Peace was downright tangible. 

Some things I did on a "natural" level included a newsletter I created (remember, no computer) as well as a logo for the park to unify us all as a community. I developed the habit of praying for daily divine appointments back then. As park manager, ministry opportunities took place daily right there in my office/residence as visitors would sit across from my desk and pour out their hearts - often quite tearfully - including repairmen and sales people. I always had Gospel music playing softly in the background. One man, a Mormon, told me he could feel the presence of God in my office. When I inquired as to whether he felt that same presence in his church, he stopped to think and finally whispered, "No, not like this." Not only did he become a resident a few days later, but he eventually left the Mormon church and joined a non-denominational church nearby.

This revival wasn't limited to that park. It wasn't long before property managers from our company's apartment complexes throughout Dallas began calling me with Bible questions (no email back then). On occasion, several made the long drive from Dallas just to have a Bible talk. 

Was there resistance? Absolutely, even from a few so-called "Christians." But God favored me greatly. One day, when I was at the headquarters in North Dallas, as I was speaking with the owner, an intimidating woman of great wealth, two detectives walked in and took her 22-year old daughter away in handcuffs for check forgery. After they left, my boss collapsed in her over-stuffed leather chair and tearfully asked , "Mike, what would YOU do?" Suddenly, she was morphed into a hurting, vulnerable mother in need of help. So, I did what was required of me - comforted and counseled her, and received great favor from that woman for the remainder of my 3 years managing that park.

Bear in mind, I had not yet attended Bible College (something that was later paid for, anonymously, on my behalf). I was not "officially" in ministry. I wasn't a church deacon, an elder... I was just a guy who loved Jesus and who understood that we ALL have a ministry. I didn't know it, but I was being trained for the ministry Father had planned for my future. 

What is He requiring of YOU where YOU spend the majority of YOUR time? You're surrounded by hurting people every single day. Start there. Remember, YOU are the church - it's the people, NOT the buildings and NOT the denominations. Our mission is to love one another.

Michael Tummillo is a Workplace Chaplain in Texas and founder of the international ministry, The Church @ Work (TCAW). A one-finger typist, Michael has had an online presence since 1999 and has reached millions with his email devotionals, and other Internet activities. His goal is not to push religion but to push people, giving his ministry away and encouraging followers of Jesus to share the love of God in the place they spend up to 70% of their lives: the workplace. You can contact Michael at miketummillo@me.com.

When organic missions is effective

This video is several years old, but it's really, really good.

A few years ago, reports coming in from the field to the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptists were showing something new. An rapid and seemingly almost spontaneous multiplication of new disciples and new churches was occurring in several unrelated parts of the world. As they examined these movements, which they called church planting movements, they found several features common to each.

This video documents some of what they are seeing. For a longer, 12 minute version of the video exploring the principles involved, check out their site and find the video, Like and Mighty Wave in their search engine. 

 

 

 

Guest post by Ed Waken (part 2) The truth, adventure and mystery of evangelism

 

I am privileged to have Ed Waken, an evangelist, write this outstanding post on evangelism. What could happen if we didn't view spreading the good news as a chore, a somewhat socially embarrassing spiritual duty to be performed, but instead an adventure with Jesus. You can read part 1 of this post here. Ed is a leader in a network of organic churches in Phoenix, AZ, and works closely with Neil Cole in CMA.

 

 

The Adventure

The church needs to rediscover what has been stolen from them.  We need to give back the cold, distanced and dutiful methodologies^[1] of evangelism for the more adventurous, risky and romantic renditions that only Jesus can create and place in our souls.  The church needs some fresh adventures in understanding how serious Jesus is at getting the message into the souls of people.  When we think about engaging people with the truth we should capture the understanding that Jesus is a customizer of methods, not a cookie cutter. 

Jesus will take a believer with all their experiences and fears and have them cross the paths of not-yet-believing people who are a perfect fit for the customized approach Jesus gives the believer, at the perfect time.  This requires trust and obedience but it is exactly what Jesus promised.  Jesus said He will give us the right words at the right time, every time (Luke 21:13-15).  This takes the level of our faith and evangelism to a whole new meaning of adventure. 

The Mystery

I can count fifteen people who shared Jesus with me in some form or fashion before Ralph shared the same truth with me and my life was transformed radically.  Who was more important in my choosing to follow Jesus, the fifteen or Ralph?  Was Ralph more gifted or skilled or persuasive than the others?  Did Ralph ‘close the deal‘ because he has an anointing?  I believe that all sixteen of those who told me about Jesus are equally vital to my process of turning to Jesus.  All salvation experiences are mysterious.  Some are dramatic, some are mundane, others cannot be marked by an event.  Salvation is always a supernatural event where the God of the universe enters the life of a human being permanently.  When the rich young ruler heard what was required by Jesus to gain eternal life, he became very sad.  Jesus’ disciples asked him if a rich man can’t be saved “...then who can be saved?”.  Jesus answered, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.” (Luke 18:18-27). 

Enjoy the freedom of not knowing what God is doing in a soul - enjoy the mystery.  Be assured, however, that God is doing something in the souls of those with whom you share His truth.  Trust in His God perfect and powerful ability to draw people to repentance in the way they need.  Obediently follow His lead, even when it doesn’t make sense because most mysteries do not make sense. 

The bottom line regarding evangelism is to enjoy it (weird huh?).  Jesus is an artist of the soul.  He created you specifically to engage the people He brings in your life with His truth.  Enjoy His adjusting the delivery of the message to fit the current need of the one listening to your words. 

If we learn to enjoy sharing the life of Jesus with others as He leads us, we will most assuredly share that life more often and with more passion.  The Scriptures teach that the more we sow, the more we will reap.  The power behind people coming to Jesus is not in any delivery, method or medium.  The power behind people coming to Jesus is always in message (Rom. 1:16) so give away the message often and with joy and enjoy watching God at work.

---

^[1] God can, has and will continue to use a more formal, methodological approach to giving out the Gospel.  It is not wrong to do so; however, it has robbed the fun of spiritual reproduction from the ordinary believer.  The giving out of the Word will never return without an effect on the one hearing the truth.  

 

Guest post by Ed Waken (part 1): Discovering what's been stolen

Are all of us called to evangelize? This series of blog posts has been on simple/organic mission and evangelism. It has provoked a slew of questions. I am blessed to know Ed, an evangelist who is involved in organic churches. Here is his unique take on some of the questions.

 

Ed is a leader in a network of organic churches in Phoenix Arizona.  He also serves with Church Multiplication Associates on their leadership team as an Evangelist.  Ed mentors and coaches a variety of leaders around the world in areas of leadership, discipleship, evangelism and organic church principles.  Ed and Debbie have been married since 1978 and they have three grown children and two grandsons. 

Web Links: edwaken.blogspot.com, 

                         valleylifechurch.org

 

For too long the truth, adventure, mystery and joy that comes with giving away the life of Jesus has been stolen from the ordinary believer.  We have been taught methods of sharing Jesus that feel more cold, distanced and dutiful than life giving.  We have heard that just a few gifted ones will really be successful at evangelism.  This is yet another blow designed to sideline the ordinary person from engaging in the supernatural act of sharing the life of Jesus with those who are so thirsty to taste the goodness of God. 

The Truth

The great commission is often seen as Jesus’ marching orders to make disciples which must include the initial and ongoing sharing of Jesus’ good news with those who have not yet heard.  The great commission and Jesus’ similar instructions to the twelve in Acts 1:8 were delivered directly to His twelve Apostles.  This has caused some to believe that not every follower of Jesus is responsible to engage in giving away the life of Christ; it simply is not their gift.  This is not the truth.  There is an often overlooked statement in the great commission that instructs the Twelve to be teaching their disciples “...to obey everything I have commanded you”.  The Twelve were to teach the ordinary believer to obey everything Jesus taught them which includes the making of disciples or the being a witness to all the world.  Everyone is responsible to be intentionally sharing the life of Jesus with the world. 

The truth is that the ordinary person is a competent minister of the good news (2 Cor. 3:6).  The truth is that success in evangelism should be measured by conversations about Jesus not conversions to Jesus.  Ordinary people are only responsible to tell about and demonstrate the love of Jesus.  Only Supernatural beings are responsible for the results, “I planted, Apollos watered but God was causing the growth.” (1 Cor. 3:6-7).  Everyone is an evangelizer and success is measured by obedience to share.