The theme for the Pastors To Missionaries Conference was "The Hour is Coming and now is....The Urgency of Caring for Global Cross-Cultural Workers." Every day was full, from the first session at 8:30am to the final one ending around 9pm or later every evening. Interestingly, I think that my favorite session and favorite speaker was our "Worship in the Word" leader in the mornings. I took more notes from his sessions than from any other. He concentrated on the fact that we must take people out of their problems and lead them to Christ. Every session with him was full of great questions to help us take people from their inner focus to the point where they are Christ focused. It doesn't matter what is going on in someone's team, area of ministry, or even their agency. Life isn't fair, or right all the time. People are broken humans who act out of their brokenness; some completely blinded to the fact that they're leaving a path of broken co-workers or those they're serving in their stead. Others deal with marital problems, depression, pornography, hopelessness- the list goes on. And often, agencies either turn a blind eye, or feel that they're stuck with the situation(particularly if the person is in leadership), or they deal too harshly with the person. The thing is, though, sometimes the issue is simply not in our power to fix- and so we MUST lead the person out of the path of bitterness, anger, and great hurt- to focus on where truth can be found. And truth and healing and forgiveness can only come through the power of Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. I so appreciated the sharing that was done in the morning "Worship in the Word" sessions.
Every afternoon we had Workshops. The different workshops were: Listening in Spirit and Truth: The Ministry of Spiritual Direction; Tender Care; Teaching Others How To Do Conflict Well; Expectations, Processing the "Twangs" with Cross-Cultural Families; Using our Offensive Weapons in Member Care; Missions Systems Dysfunctions; Practical Responses to Sexual Temptation and Sexual Acting Out; Fathering a Fatherless Generation
The plenary sessions were:Urgency- The signs of Our Times; Shepherding the Nations: Our Member Care Legacy; Developing a Theology of Risk for Missionaries
A few snapshots of my notes:
-Why is the task so urgent? *shattered lives *nobody cares *increased pressures *the commission itself is urgent *too many are living on fumes
-We need to live and serve out of joy and overflow, not because of need
-We will inevitably struggle with life when we let circumstances define life, and not WHO God is.
-Always be on the prowl for Hope, Love, and Forgiveness
-Missionaries are ordinary people given extraordinary assignments that create special needs
-Good administration is a vital piece of Member Care
-People are our most important resource. They are NOT expendable
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