Get Orientated: 10 things you need to know before going on mission
Posted on 1st January 2009
After recently giving a talk on 'orientation' someone asked me 'well, how many times have you been orientated?' When I said '14 missions with 8 agencies, over 8 years', I think they thought 'Is she commitment phobic?!'. That aside, I have experienced good, bad and mediocre orientations over my career,...
When you're not there when someone dies
Posted on 1st December 2008
When someone you love dies you feel the loss of them. Everyone responds in their own way. There is no right or wrong way to respond. Your loss is like other people's losses, just as your fingers are like others' fingers; but your loss is your own unique experience just...
Mission that doesn't cost the Earth
Posted on 1st November 2008
I was out for dinner recently with a bunch of friends, eating at a local Indian restaurant. One of them asked me about the studies that I'm currently doing and I tried to explain that it was looking at stuff in the Bible that is about the environment. 'That's really...
Mission-Net
Posted on 1st October 2008
It was there, squatted over a hole in the ceramic tiles of Mumbai railway station, that I realised I'd run out of Kleenex; and that I couldn't think of anywhere else I'd rather be. It was my first ever mission trip, and I was about as far from my comfortable...
Vulnerable Mission: You mean what?
Posted on 1st September 2008
"You mean what?" I asked over breakfast, as Jim Harries explained the principles of Vulnerable Mission. "I agree with the principle of local language, but why should Western missionaries avoid using outside money to sustain ministry activities?"
As a mission leader and now a professor of leadership, I thought to myself,...
Mixing Business with Mission
Posted on 1st August 2008
There was a recent conference in London, and articles pop up from time to time in mission agency newsletters and the Christian press more generally, talking about "Business as Mission". So what makes it so important? Why should you take the few minutes to read this?
The fact that it gets...
Mission-Minded Church - Programme or Personality?
Posted on 1st July 2008
At the start of the modern Mission movement some 200 years ago, few would have anticipated the worldwide Christian presence that we see today. Neither would they have believed the enormous changes that have taken place in technology, culture, communication, travel etc. They, however, took the timeless imperative of the...
Kids These Days...
Posted on 1st June 2008
In this age of high tech communication and world travel our children see many places around the world few of us would have experienced until a few years ago.
"How do we get our children and young people involved in seeing the bigger picture?"
The issue is ... do they really...
Called to be Single?
Posted on 1st May 2008
"So do you feel you've been called to be single, then?" a friend asked me recently, after I'd mentioned the fact that I'd written a blog entry about being single in your thirties.
In answer to my friend's question, I would say that God has called me to Paraguay,...
Making Money with Morals - Ethical Banking
Posted on 1st April 2008
Q: I've heard about ethical investments. What are they, and how can I go about investing in Christian projects? I'm particularly keen to support missions. Where do I start?
A: I'm glad you asked. Many people don't think twice about what their money is doing while it's in their account. But...
