1. As I worked on the DPI project with MTW developing curriculum goals for onboarding missionaries it eventually became clear to me that a larger, unifying narrative around the gospel and our mission was needed to unify and clarify what we are all about at MTW. As I sought to hear from the Lord about this I spoke with many different leaders from around the organization, listened to audio and video recordings which seemed to speak to this need for a unifying story, and I combed through literature which had been written and/or used by MTW leaders over the years.
The word that kept popping up, and the ideology which seemed best to encompass everything the Lord was leading us to was Kingdom. The kingdom metanarrative seemed to be one that could explain what we believe about the world, God, ourselves, and our mission. So I threw myself into the kingdom metanarrative seeking to understand it better. I spent hours combing the scriptures, I read articles, listened to podcasts, read books, and engaged in much discussion around the topic with my DPI subteam. As a result, I became enthralled with the kingdom metanarrative. My delight in the good news and my conviction that it really is good news—grew immensely.
2. Derek and I watched a video series put out by Focus on the Family that challenged me regarding God’s heart for the nations, and the profound way that Jesus and Paul contextualized the gospel message for their audience.
3. I was working on putting together our virtual prayer journey for Cusco, and as I worked through how to communicate the spiritual landscape here, my own burden for the people of Cusco increased.
4. I attended a Christian education conference which, through its focus on racial reconciliation, challenged me to see the way the gospel honors people of all cultures uniquely, and how important it is for us as witnesses to the gospel to honor different peoples in the way we present the gospel. It is not a white American gospel. It is good news for all people. And in fact, we as Americans received the gospel rather late. Other cultures played significant roles in the birth and spread of the gospel from the very beginning. As we share the gospel we cannot act like we are bringing our message, but merely sharing that which did not originate with us, and that for which we are extremely grateful recipients.
I was challenged, through this conference, to see that the way we view our reception of the gospel and our participation in the gospel story really matters. God honors humanity over and over again in the Biblical story, and treats us not as unworthy beggars, but as honored participants and key players in His story. We must also see those we minister to in this light, and seek to honor people as our heavenly Father does.
5. Many of the speakers at the Christian education conference referenced Augustine’s writing and influence on the church and its interaction with the gospel message over the years, so I decided to investigate the man myself. I began reading his Confessions, because I had heard this work was a good entryway into understanding him and his writing. As I read the introduction to the book, however, one statement by the editor really jumped off the page and struck me as significant. The claim was made that Augustine and the apostle Paul were arguably the two single most influential Christian leaders in the early days of the church and, in the editor’s opinion, this was largely due to the way each of them shared the gospel through the lens of their own lives and experiences. They put flesh and bones on the gospel by the way they applied it to their own lives and shared this broadly through their writings.
As always, I processed all of these different experiences and ideas through writing, and a letter conveying my heart’s desire for the people of Cusco resulted. I wasn’t sure at first what to do with it. For one, it was written in English. But I also wasn’t sure whether a blog would even be something that would interest the people of Cusco—not to mention my message. But as I prayed over the idea, and time passed the notion kept popping back up.
Since returning to Cusco, the Lord has graciously provided a couple of dear Peruvian women—sisters in the faith—to help me with this project. They have been immensely helpful and encouraging, reassuring me that my message will be well received by the women of our church. So, that is my immediate goal—to encourage the hearts of the saints and remind them of how good the gospel is.
The new blog can be found here, though I think I'm going to begin sharing the English version of my posts here as well--for those who may be interested in my message for the people of Cusco.
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