Developing a Missional Worldview with Others

Perhaps one of the loneliest feelings I have ever felt was upon coming home from a short-term mission trip! Sure, there are friends and family who welcome you home, but you are suddenly aware of how little they understand about your trip. You feel all alone in some of the struggles of your culture’s excess in light of your recent experience. Additionally, you want to continue serving as Jesus served, but life seems to always get in the way. So, what do you do with this new missional worldview?

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Engaging the Church

by Bill Knepper, Mountain View Baptist Church

We drove until the road ended and then walked through trees and around huts until we reached the church. The straw building was packed with enthusiastic worshippers waiting for us. So many had come to meet the visitors to their country that they had removed the back wall of the church to allow those sitting on the grass to see inside.

You likely have stories like that to tell when you came home from your trip. You remember the enthusiastic worship. You remember being stunned by how little they had, but how little it mattered. You and your team now share a bond and the challenge is to bring home the best of what God has taught you without becoming discouraged in the process.

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Growing Closer To Others

Rethinking what it means to be a disciple

Do you know what the word disciple actually means? We use the term all the time in our religious settings, but what does it actually mean to be a Disciple of Jesus? This question is HUGE when you consider that Jesus tells us, in the Great Commission, to go out and make disciples! So, let’s rethink the idea of being a disciple!

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Birds of a Feather Pray Together

I love to pray with people in other countries.  I suppose in part because it is fascinating to hear people talk to God, the same God I talk to, but in a language so completely different than my own.  I marvel at God’s understanding, and I soak in the sounds and tones of those who speak the prayers.

But the thing I love most about hearing those people pray, even though I may not understand the words, is how GENUINE and PASSIONATE they are as they speak to a listening, Heavenly Father!  They pray the way they do because they BELIEVE God answers prayer.

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Life’s Better with a Friend/Mentor

Introverts, extroverts, men, women, young, and old, all agree that it’s awesome to have friends.  With a friend, the hard times are easier to bear and the happy times are even cheerier.  The right friends actually bring out the best in you.  Wouldn’t it be great to have just such a friend to walk with you for a little while during your short-term mission journey?  I would call that friend a mentor, and I think every short-termer, no matter how young or old, needs one!

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