PTM Overview

Before time gets away from me, I wanted to be sure to give an overview of the Pastors to Missionaries Conference last week. Again, the word Pastor doesn't mean that the conference was for clergy men, but rather, it's using it in the original sense of the word, as the shepherd, caregiver, etc.

It started Monday with the pre-conference sessions; Member Care in the Church, and Debriefing. Throughout the rest of the week the following topics were covered either in the main sessions or in the workshops: The big picture of God's story in global missions; Triad of Care Panel; Breaking the Cycle of Destructive Behaviors; Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome; Journeying Through Adversity- Walking With Others Through Their Story of Adversity; Impact of Technology on Global Workers; Helping Missionaries by Helping Their Organizations; How Would Jesus Do Member Care?; The Modern TCK(third culture kid); Singleness and Missions; Grief and Loss; and Pastoral Care and the Persecuted Church.

With my Small Group

 Each morning and evening we had a time of worship and were led in an hour of focusing our hearts and minds on Him by Dr. John Stumbo, who just tremendously challenged and encouraged me. The topic that he spoke on throughout the conference was how God relentlessly pursues us. There were a lot of things that I took away from his teaching but the main one is that no matter our current circumstance, no matter if we're walking with him or far away from Him, He can choose to take our current vessel completely back down to a lump of clay and start over again. And it may not feel like it to us, but because He knows best and wants the best for us, we have to trust that His work on us is for our absolute best. This picture stood out to me because often it seems like we think that if God hasn't given us something, it's because of something bad in our past, or something we're currently doing. But isn't that kind of like a prosperity gospel in a way?? Just because we're doing everything "right" in this life, doesn't mean that He's going to give us everything good. And whose idea of good, anyway? We're so easily confused in our thinking- Good behavior=good rewards, Bad Behavior=Bad rewards. And of course, that's true if we're behaving foolishly. But good behavior doesn't always equal good in this life. People are killed and tortured for their faith all over this world. But we're a bit soft(a lot soft, really) in the west, and aren't so quick to cling to the theology of suffering. Thursday evening we heard the testimonies of two young Iranian women who spent nine months in several of the worst prisons in Iran because they refused to renounce their faith. If you're interested in reading more of their amazing story of God's deliverance, look up "Captive in Iran," by Rostampour and Amirizadeh

With the other IM folks

 I was thrilled to be able to attend this conference again this year. There's so much to learn from the Plenary Speakers, the Workshop leaders, the people in your small group, and the other conference attendees. So many people there have been in Missions for 30+ years and have been involved in Member Care for 10+ years. The people themselves are such rich resources. I had one really wonderful meeting with one of the workshop leaders who is a leading name in the Mental Health Field for Missionaries. I was just really struck by how each and every person there is just devoted to caring for missionaries and want to encourage others along the way.

Afterwards, Carroll and Becky had an overnight in Charlotte, so we got to visit some more and have them at church the next day