Hurricane Sandy

Well this evening finds me in a bit different situation than I was planning. I have spent the last two days at christian witness mission in Grand Mapou, in the mountains behind Ti Guave. It has been raining ever since we arrived, due to hurricane Sandy. Since we got here on wednessday, we got over twenty inches of rain which has washed out the roads to the point that we can not get out even on the four wheeler. I`m not sure when we will return home, but not today or tomorrow!!!
The picture is about three fourths of the way to the paved road. But, it`s the end of the road for now!!!!

The water also has washed a large amount of rocks and mud on the road making it difficult to get through! We got the truck stuck here this morning when we were out checking the road.

I came out here to put an engine in a christian witness truck. I had pulled the engine a litttle while ago, and rebuilt it.

What is Grace

The Question is asked, what is grace?
 Grace is the power to take my lost soul, and redeem it back to the Father. But it does not end at his redeeming me. This power is the power to transform me into his image. This is the only way I can do anything of value on this earth, the only way I can do anything good. With out this I have not but filthy rags to offer. Grace, is the power of God living within me!
 The only way we can really grasp this grace, is when we get our eyes off ourselves, our agenda, our passions, even our religious forms, and on the one, Jesus Christ who bought us back from the clutch of sin.
 The Christ centered life is a life transformed by the grace of God, for the purpose of God`s glory!!

The Citidel

Just thought i`d post a few pictures of our trip to the Citidel!

One place we stopped for a break.

 

 

This is the Palace! Built in the early 1800`s Just before the Citidel!

 

 

Here is the Citidel in the distance!!!

 

 

Just one of the over three hundred cannons in the fort!!!

 

 

Here is a row of cannons. You can see the piles of cannon balls along the wall!!!

 

 

 

Here are the piles of stock ammo! There are about ten thousand rounds of ammo!!! 

Contextualisation: presenting Jesus in crosscultural ministry

Contextualisation: presenting Jesus in crosscultural ministry

By David L. Watson on August 02, 2010 in Contextualization

Many simple church networks in Europe are engaged in cross-cultural church planting. But how do you do that? How do you present Jesus in another culture? David L. Watson shares that it is important not to impose your cultural views of Jesus and the church on the people you are reaching. Doctrines are not wrong, but only fit in a specific culture. In cross-cultural ministry we need to learn the people to obey Christ within their specific culture and context. Instead of providing all the answers when reading the bible, we ask questions so they can discover how to obey Jesus in their culture. E.g. God commands us to pray, but how do you want to pray? Or, how would you teach God’s Word? How would you lead a church? Read on to learn more.

When I was a kindergarten-aged Sunday school student, I can remember my teacher handing me a piece of paper and some crayons and asking me to draw a picture of Jesus. My church was not one to have images of Jesus hanging or standing around, though I am sure I must have seen some renditions of images of Jesus in books, Bibles or hanging on the walls around my community. When I finished my assignment to the best of my young and untrained abilities, my Jesus looked exactly like me in the ways that count. He had white skin, blond hair, and blue eyes. I loved Jesus, and was proud of how I had drawn him.

As a college student I was involved in the missions program of my student union. I was assigned to work among a group of African Americans in my community. It was my first cross-cultural experience. At one point in the ministry I had a group of young students.

One day I exhausted all my materials before the time was up. I grabbed some paper, color pencils, and crayons and passed them out. I instructed the children to draw a picture of Jesus. I was surprised when the pictures depicted a Jesus with dark skin and African features.

Since those early days in my ministry I have been fascinated with how various cultures depict Jesus. I have worked with Hispanics, American Indians, East Asians, South Asians, Southeast Asians, and Africans. Children from each culture will render Jesus as looking like themselves unless taught to do differently. This is natural, and I think it is a part of God’s plan for reaching the nations. Jesus is no longer flesh and blood, as we know it. He is different from us. At this point in time we meet him as the Holy Spirit represents him to us. He has no color, no ethnic heritage, and no cultural distinctions except the holiness and righteousness of God.

One of the challenges of being a cross-cultural witness is presented Jesus in the same way the Holy Spirit would. Jesus’ cultural heritage is the family of God. As the Creator, He made all of us, regardless of our cultural identity, in His own image. As His adopted children we have a responsibility to become like Him. We should not introduce Jesus as looking or being like ourselves. He is not. And to represent him as something He is not is a lie, first to ourselves, and then to those to whom we wish to introduce Him.

Since 1977 I have given my life to the ministry of cross-cultural witness on the behalf of Jesus. In the early days I was trained to contextualize my witness to my host culture. As I understood contextualization, this was basically to make Jesus acceptable to them by dressing him up to look like them. Add a little makeup, change the clothes, use a different language, and voilá, a Jesus they certainly couldn’t refuse.

But with time, the makeup I applied began to run. The clothes wore out. And the language was always something short of perfect. Jesus, as I understood Him, would ultimately show up, confusing and sometimes offending my hosts.

Regardless of how hard I tried, I could never make Jesus look just right to another culture. Even though I had had some success in presenting my made-up Jesus to my hosts, it was extremely difficult and tiring to keep the make-up fresh, the clothes new, and the language just right. No matter how diligently I studied and researched culture, and built relationships, I could not know my host culture well enough to present Jesus in a perfectly contextualized manner. My clothes, food choices, language; or adopted cultural forms of family relations, community involvement, or worship were always slightly off at best, disastrous at worst.

I began to question contextualization. Perhaps I just wasn’t cut out to be a cross-cultural witness for Jesus. I began to pray that God would show me how to represent Him to others. And slowly, as all good teachers do, God began to teach me through the experiences of others, my own experiences, and object lessons that will never be forgotten.

Since 1985 I have been working in World A. I have had to work in secret, and I have had to keep my identity well hidden. Anything less could have resulted in the loss of access to the peoples to whom God sent me, and/or the death of those who accepted Christ as a result of my witness. A dressed-up Jesus was not an option. I was non-residential much of the time, and didn’t have the time, or the inclination to keep the makeup straight, the clothes new, and the language perfect. I had to learn another way.

My first learning experience came when I had the unique opportunity to witness to member of my host community. He was an old shopkeeper who was well liked and had no problems with me as a foreigner. We conversed almost daily. I liked him, and I think he liked me. I did not hide the fact that I was a Christian. Everyone assumed I was anyway, since I had white skin. He did not hide the fact that he was a Hindu. One day our conversation strayed to religion. As a trained witness I was thrilled with the opportunity. But, as it turned out, the opportunity was one for me to learn, not to lead another person into the Kingdom of God.

The old man told me that he just did not understand Christianity. There was no way he could give up his religion, which was so much a part of his daily life, to accept a new religion which from his perspective was so much NOT a part of the daily lives of the Christians he knew. He began every day with meditations, offerings and prayers to his god. As the day went on he would stop for more prayer and meditation. Each business transaction was blessed in prayer, and each dollar made thankfully offered to his god.

Everyone knew his devotion, and that devotion was as obvious at home and in private as it was in public. The questions he presented to me shoved me into some long and deep thought and prayer.

* “Why would I want to give up the god I can see for one that I cannot see?”
* “Why would I want to worship only one day a week when now I worship several times every day?”
* “Why would I want to do business without the presence of my god to oversee it and bless it?”
* “Why would I want to try to convince others of my holiness with words, when they can see my devotion to my god?”
* “Why would I want to let only words teach my children, rather than my life?”

This old man had a limited and distorted view of a committed Christian’s life, but the form of secret or private worship that was the norm for most Christians he knew or observed was certainly contributing to his misunderstanding. I realized this had to change. I asked God to give me a local cultural informant who could take Jesus as I know him and present the essence of who Jesus is in a meaningful way to his culture.

As I prayed for this person I realized that I had to find a way to minimize my cultural representation of Jesus. This is quite different from dressing Jesus up in a way that would be acceptable to another culture. How can I ever know another culture well enough to dress Jesus up to meet their expectations, wants, or needs? I cannot. But I do know my own culture, and if I am honest with Scripture, and critical in my thinking and planning, I can present Jesus in a near a-cultural way that can be assimilated and transformed into a cultural model by the ones God has chosen and prepared to do so. I have learned that God has prepared men and women in every culture who can meet those who love Jesus from another culture, learn to love Jesus from them, strip away the cultural baggage attached (which we can minimize), and present Jesus to their own culture in a loving and caring way which results in lives changed and the Kingdom enlarged.

The most obvious areas where I needed to strip away my own culture and cultural expectations were in my styles of worship, both private and public. As I taught my new friends worship, I taught the elements of worship, not style or form. This was not easy. What was natural for me was foreign for them. I learned to ask questions as I taught.

When I introduce prayer, I asked them how they would pray. The Bible teaches we are to pray. They began to pray in a way that was familiar to them and directed toward the God we all knew and loved. When I introduced singing, I asked them what songs they would sing. They had none. I gave them none. They were inspired by the Holy Spirit to write their own. It sounded like their music, and it gave glory and honor to God.

When I introduced teaching, I asked them how they would teach God’s word. The style was different from mine, but normal for their culture. When I introduced preaching, I asked them how they would exhort others to follow the teachings of Christ. The resulting form of preaching was different from what I was used to, but it met their needs and was acceptable to their culture. When I introduce church leadership, I asked them how they would lead a group in their community. The results were different from the congregational approach I would have taken, but it fit them and their way of doing things.

For my new friends, worship and church were a daily and daylong life style that was apparent and obvious to their community. It was despised by some and spoken against by others, but was much more acceptable to the community than anything I could have presented to them or lived out before them. It had impact.

Regardless of how careful one is to deculturalize one’s message, there are teachings in the Bible that are simply against cultural norms. For instance, in a culture where the norm is multiple wives, the teaching of one wife for life is difficult to accept. In these situations one must teach God’s word, but more importantly teach that all of us are to obey God’s word. The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) includes the admonition that we are to teach others to obey everything Christ has commanded. I have learned that teaching doctrine and teaching obedience are two very different things.

I went overseas with all kinds of doctrinal material to present to the new believers. I discovered that doctrine was another area where cultural baggage can be found. Doctrine is basically my church or denomination’s teachings on what they believe the Bible says and how it is to be lived out (in my own culture). Doctrine often includes forms and traditions that are outside the biblical context, though acceptable within the biblical and cultural context under which the doctrine was developed. Church polity, church staff, ordinations, the practices of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, the teachings regarding clergy and laity, and more can carry significant cultural baggage that may be extra-biblical without being disobedient to the Scripture in a given culture. The cross-cultural witness must be able to identify the cultural areas and eliminate them from his or her teachings. The best way to do this is to use only Scripture for curricula, and allow local people to answer questions about Scripture, not listen to our answers. We have to learn to teach by asking a minimal number of questions, not by giving the answers to every question or have an expressed opinion about everything.

The focus in discipleship has become obedience to the Gospel, not adherence to a doctrine. With a doctrine-centered discipleship program one must teach everything to assure a person has the knowledge to be obedient. With an obedience-centered discipleship program the emphasis is how we can be obedient to Christ in every area of our lives and in every circumstance. When a new disciple asks a question, my answer is always the same – what must you do to be obedient to Christ? I may have to help them to find the appropriate passages in the Bible to answer the question, but the question always remains the same. In this form of teaching, faith is defined as being obedient to the commands of Christ in every situation or circumstance, regardless of the consequences.

During one baptism it was observed that the village leader was agitated. He and his family were to be baptized, but as the time approached, he became more agitated and angry. He was overheard mumbling that “this is wrong” and “this is evil.” He was referring to the baptism. A wise worker allowed him to voice his feelings and then asked him to explain what it was about the baptism that was wrong or evil. The village leader explained that it was wrong for a man from outside the family to touch the women in his family. The doctrinal teaching was that an ordained minister should administer baptism. The worker was quick to ask himself the question, “in this how can I be obedient to the teaching of Christ.” He quickly asked the leader if would be appropriate for him to baptize the leader, and then the leader could baptize the rest of the new converts. A change was made, and the baptism continued.

We learned that the form of baptism we had been practicing was a hindrance to the spread of the Gospel. Many women were refusing to be baptized because a man other than a family member would be touching them. Baptism by ordained ministers was not a requirement of the Bible, but was simply a tradition of the church. With a simple change in form, baptisms increased from a few each month to tens if not hundreds each week. What’s more, the leadership transferred to the village was significant. Many who may have stayed on the fringe of the work became key leaders as they accepted the spiritual responsibility of baptizing their families, and went on to become the true spiritual leaders in their homes and villages.

As you may have discerned, baptism is primarily of family groups. The Gospel is presented to families, much the same as the pattern found in Acts. This avoids extraction evangelism, and conversions usually result in a church being established. A child or a woman may be the door into the family, but the head of the household usually leads the whole family into the decision to follow Christ. This is different than found in some cultures, but if the traditional, individual conversion approach had been maintained, then the growth of the church would have been hampered.

There are more examples of how form and practice from one culture may have a negative or neutral impact on another culture. You probably have many examples from your own ministry. Part of the job of the cross-cultural witness is to eliminate the cultural aspects of his or her own understanding of doctrine and practice, and to help those in the host culture discover Biblically acceptable ways of expressing their own love, devotion, and worship of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So the question remains. What color is Jesus? For the cross-cultural witness the color is always neutral. When Christ is in the culture He will look just like the members of that culture. He will represent God and His righteousness to the culture. He will become the measuring stick by which everyone in the culture is measured. His Word will be obeyed and their love will be made complete.

The role of the cross-cultural worker is to deculturalize the Gospel – presenting the Gospel without commentary, but with the question, “How will we obey what God has said?” If it’s not in the Bible, we don’t introduce it to the culture.

The role of the cultural worker is to contextualize the Gospel – presenting the Gospel and asking, “What must we change in our lives and culture in order to be obedient to all the commands of Christ?”

Source: David Watson

Sept. 11 2012 TapTap Accident

...For when I am weak, then am I strong.  2Cor._12:10b This little phrase out of Corithians took on a new meaning for me last night as its events unfolded.
 Tuesday September 11, 2012 started as any other day here in town. we went about our normal duties, and the day went smoothly. Actually maybe even a bit better then normal. It came supper time, and we sat down to eat with the satisfaction of a day gone well.
 Supper finished we sat and talked a little, and someone said hey why not watch a movie tonight. Ok sounds good! We set up, and started the film. Right as we sat down one of the girls said, I feel we are to be doing something tonight, but I don`t know what. Another said I have this same feeling. (A woman's intuition!!!)  Two minutes later, Tiboutson ran in the door and said there is a bad accident just down town and they need vehicles to pick up the injured, ASAP!!!! Off we went, the IFM staff team, with all three vehicles.
 They sorted the living from the wreckage, of sacks of carrots, and mutilated bodys, and took them to the small hospital in our town where they checked each individual to assess who needed the fastest attention. Then we started loading them in vehicles for transport to Port au Prince. First our ambulance, second the F450, third the F150, which is the one I was driving. After that I`m not sure what they did, but a group of ambulances from port came to transport anymore that needed attention.
 We got home at 12:30 this morning a weary bunch of wanna be EMT`s!!! LOL!!!
It was just amazing the peace and calm God put around us, as we worked with the gruesome state of some of the people, in the midst of the mourning and wailing, of family and friends of the deceased.
  The most amazing thing of all was, the ambulance, do to lack of planning, was not full of fuel. The driver, Tiboutson, did not have any money on him when we left in such a hurry. So he just went on faith it would get him there. As he was pulling in the drive way when he got home last night, it started sputtering. This morning when we went to move it, it would not start. It was out fuel. Who better to plan a tank of fuel than our God!!!!

This is how the truck landed. What you see is the carrots and a few potatoes.

Towns people contemplating what happened here last night.

Please pray with us for the families that are grieving the loss of loved ones. Also for the injured for a healing touch from God!!!

The robbery

A little different look at life at IFM! This morning we had the first robbery since I am here. This is the third in a group of robberies. The last two were while I was in the states. This time they tryed the same thing they done the last two times, came through the office roof. This time they discovered we put plywood under the tin so they cant get through it with a srewdriver.
  A few details are, At midnight Tibutson one of the natives that lives with us woke me and said, I think someone is on the roof. We listened for a while and could not tell for sure so we went back to bed, but kept one ear open! At three fourty five AM Shea got a call from Aaron the admin. that the theif was in the house and they were coming to the office which is next to our dorm. Shea had opened the door to go out, but just then they came up the strairs, so he hid inside the door to watch. The theif slammed our door shut and held it while Aaron  got the money from the office. Once he had the money he ran down the steps and got out of there with Shea right on his tail to get a good look who it was. Shea chased him to the gate and left him go.
  Then we spent the next half hour or so talking and praying together,seeking spiritual rest from the Lord.
 Continue to pray with us for the salvation of this soul. He is a local, in need of the saviours touch!!!
May God Bless your day!!!

Where is Jesus

Where is Jesus? Do we see him today?
 Where does the scripture say we will find Jesus?
 While Jesus walked this earth, he could be found mainly with one group of people. The last, the lost, and the least. Where can Jesus be found today? Did you ever think of it, that Jesus, might be that bum, you see on the streets of your town, who is known for his filthy life.  He may be the eldery person I did not lend a hand. He may be that cashier that was a bit slow as you checked out at the local walmart. He may just be that one that needed a listening ear as you hurried to not miss your sunday morning church service.  He has not changed. He still is reaching out to the same people. 
 Why do we try so hard to stay aw.ay from these people, If we truely are dead to self, and alive unto Christ, we will find ourselves drawn to these people. Christ will send them our way. 
 Why is it, that we would have no problem talking to a man dressed in fine cloths carrying a briefcase, but when we see the man with tattered cloths and shaggy hair, we lean over to our friend and say, take a look at that guy!!! Wonder what he`s up to? Surely its no good!
 If you want to see Christ today, Help out one of these people, in his name