The Lausanne Global Conversation is on the World Wide Open Network
Author: David Nichols
Date: 06.06.2010
Category: Scripture Engagement
I am a new user so I hope I am doing this correctly. I didn’t find my topic anywhere on the website.
As a missionary involved in member care, I am concerned about assumptions organizations and churches make about the spirituality of their missionaries. I would like to start a dialogue about missionary spirituality. For the purpose of full disclosure, I am working on a dissertation on spiritual mentoring of field missionaries and if this goes anywhere, I will be glad to post some of the resources I have found. I could start in a number of places but let me first ask the following question:
As a missionary, what have you needed in order to maintain and develop your spiritual life?
Keywords: missionaries, spirituality
Views: 4375
Comments: 5
Recommendations: 0
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United States
Thanks for helping get the discussion going. I have been out of town and had no time to make any posts since I posted this last week.
what has helped me?
1. Having a few (read very few) people around me with whom I could be honest about how I was doing. Actually, now that I think about it, I am not sure I had too many of these while on the mission field. Or maybe, the problem was with me.
2. Using plans creatively. This sounds odd and especially if you know me since I am not one that likes a lot of structure. I have been most healthy when i have had a program of Bbile reading. But, in those programs, I have ued a lot of different methods and plans and that has helped me a lot. Consistent through all of them was journaling and reading of the Scriptures.
3. Being desperate. Coming to the end of myself and my own resources has been the best thing in the development of my own spiritual life. When friends and family and church were not around (remember I started in 1986 so we had no internet) and life began unraveling for me personally and ministry wise, God began to work in and even at times through me!
10.06.2010
Belgium
Hi David,
I’m so glad you brought this one up (no jokes intended). I’ve been a missionary for over 20 years and have come across my share of surprises in this domain.
As far as maintaining my own spiritual life is concerned, I have always loved listening to recordings of christian teaching - but I think it’s a mistake to concentrate on the means which any Christian might use, and the goal to which that means is used. So long as the goal is communion with God, the means can differ between individuals.
My point is that missionaries who only knew a very superficial depth of communion with God before they left for their field can use all sorts of means to maintaining their spiritual lives, but they will tend to stay at that superficial level because they don’t know anything else. So developing one’s spirituality before becoming a missionary is even more important that maintaining it as a missionary on the field.
08.06.2010
United States
@ Harold_Nesbitt:
Agree with you that the mission field does not make us spiritual! I was not trying to find a series of ten steps to missionary spirituality but wanted to know what has been important to others out there. We all have to find out what works for our own personality and context but I suspect certain threads will be shared--such as a word based spirituality!
10.06.2010
Kenya
God.
09.06.2010
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