Missions Misunderstood » Visitors http://missionsmisunderstood.com Let's give the Commission back to the church. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:42:23 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Nothing To See Here, Folks… http://missionsmisunderstood.com/2008/01/20/nothing-to-see-here-folks/ http://missionsmisunderstood.com/2008/01/20/nothing-to-see-here-folks/#comments Sun, 20 Jan 2008 08:22:00 +0000 Ernest http://missionsmisunderstood.com/2008/01/20/nothing-to-see-here-folks/ We often have people express interest in coming for a visit to “see” our ministry. Some are church planters from the States, some are pastors of existing churches, some are missionaries in other places. We’ve had seminary students write papers on us, journalists write articles about us, and at least one grade school kid interview us for a class project. We’re thankful when anyone shows interest in our work here, and flattered with all of the attention. Nevertheless, everyone who comes to observe our work first-hand sees pretty much the same thing: not much.

Our ministry is entirely relational. How many American pastors and missionaries can I introduce my friends to before they really start to feel like projects? We don’t identify ourselves as missionaries. How many creative ways are there to explain how I know these strangers who are always passing through?

We spend time with friends in parks and cafes. Since we’re planting simple churches, we don’t have a building. We likely never will. We don’t have an office (though we could really use one). Our team meetings take place in our homes.

Like I said, there’s not a whole lot to see.

Some people understand that there isn’t much to see. Some leave disappointed. At least two have accused us of “hiding” our ministry from the “public;” one praising us for protecting and nurturing our fragile relationships, the other criticizing us for avoiding accountability. It wasn’t some conspiracy to keep people from seeing our work- there just nothing to see.

]]> http://missionsmisunderstood.com/2008/01/20/nothing-to-see-here-folks/feed/ 6