taking notes

Two nights ago I had the privilege to once again hear Kathie Baggott speak at a Perspectives class, this time at The Church on the Cape here in Wilmington. Always insightful and inspiring, super sweet and with a huge heart for the Lord, Kathie infused our time with stories and humor, observations from her well-read mind and tidbits of wisdom from her experience on the mission field. So that this blog will not suffer from occupying my words alone, I thought I would share a little bit of what I jotted down during the class (when I was not totally focused on the stories, that is. The lesson on which she spoke, part of the History section of Perspectives, was "Pioneers of the World Christian Movement"—one of my favorites!):

• Be invitational as well as inspirational.

• The "Conglomerate Commission": There are forms of the Great Commission in all four gospels and in the book of Acts (I wasn't wearing my glasses, so I hope these are correct: Matthew 28:16-20, Mark 16: 14-18, Luke 24: 36-48, John 20:19-23 and Acts 6:8). I thought it was interesting when she noted that all have both a mandate AND a promise.

• There are two common threads that appear in almost all missionary biographies: 1) Someone else (often another Christian!) discourages and disqualifies them before they leave for the field or when they make the decision to go. 2) There is great suffering (but they suffer victoriously!).

• A motto of William Carey: "Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God." It is specifically in that order, too, because we must first have faith and THEN act on it.

• The burden to spread the gospel among unreached people groups, even when there is "so much to do right here where we live," is based on the disparity in access to the gospel. There are many places people can go, things to read and people to talk to here in America, but among unreached people groups, that access is simply not nearly as available. She compared the gospel being food or medicine—wouldn't we try to evenly distribute that, too? (And is it not food and medicine after all?!)

• Learn to lean on God before you leave.

• A motto of Hudson Taylor: "Move man, through God, by prayer alone." Also, one of my favorites, "As now, so then" (our walks with God will not magically become deeper and stronger on the mission field; we have to develop them here and be the same way here as we are there).

• There are actually 4 ways to get involved in missions: as a 1. Goer (actually going on a trip or becoming an advocate), 2. Sender (financially, prayerfully and logistically supporting missionaries from back here at home), 3. Welcomer (spending time with refugees, foreign-exchange students, etc. who have, essentially, "come to us"), or 4. Mobilizer (training and preparing missionaries).

• If you don't think staying behind as a sender is doing anything, think of it this way: "Prayer IS outreach." It changes things.

• Sending is like a football game. There are relatively few players on the field with a whole host of other people helping make things happen through their various jobs on the sidelines.

• You are not worthy to stay unless you are willing to go. You are not worthy to go unless you are willing to stay.

• A "wow" statistic: There are roughly 18,000 unreached people groups in the world. There are roughly 600 evangelical churches for every 1. This is a winnable endeavor.

• Children are not the future, they are the PRESENT. They can make a difference right now!

• Sharing the gospel/proclaiming God's name and fame:
Christian ---> new culture = missions
Christian ---> same culture = evangelism
Christian ---> Christian = ministry

(And here's a little something to add from Reid Satterfield who spoke at class a couple weeks ago, paraphrasing, "When going to the nations, we are not just bringing the Word of God, not just the message, but the actual presence of Jesus Christ. He gave us His spirit so that we can incarnate Him through it—we are like walking tabernacles! The greatest thing a missionary can practice is to first and foremost attend to the presence of Christ, moment by moment. The reckless pursuit of Christ will always lead us in the right direction.")