Missions in the Main Hall

Last night we attended "Missions at the Main Hall" for our annual dose of Pastor John's heart-to-heart chat about missions. This event used to be called "Missions at the Manse" until it became unrealistic for the Pipers to host 250 or more people in their living room. Piper shared about 5 loads that God pledges to carry for us. It was powerful. Hopefully there will soon be a link to it from the DG blog.

Additionally, three experienced missionaries spoke on the topic of what they wished they would have known before going. The highlights:

• Know your language-learning style before engaging in it
• Find a team/agency/leaders who will hold you accountable to learning the language--premise those who are held the most accountable usually have a higher degree of success in learning the language
• Visit the team you will join at their actual ministry site, not a conference or at a vacation place, and take the whole family--well worth the investment to get a true picture of what it will be like
• Relationships: write out your expectations for each other and discuss them with your colleagues, especially if you are friends
• Roles: be sure that you have a well-defined, legitimate business esp. if doing business as mission
• Read missionary biographies and other books to help you prepare. Kimberly I. suggested After the Boxes are Unpacked by Susan Miller
  
• And my personal favorite: have specific verses already chosen that can help you weather the difficult times... I Cor 13:7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Pastor Erik conclude by saying even when we try to solidify all our expectations, one guarantee is that things will change, and we will still need to be flexible.