Europe and the Final Countdown

If in the past week or so you have felt severe levels of stress, a higher dependency on caffeine, have picked up insomnia, and have had a more robust than usual prayer life, you are most likely subconsciously responding to a nationwide phenomenon experienced most dramatically by undergraduate and graduate students alike: FINALS. On my end, my third semester of seminary is in the books, which means the reality of my summer OMP (Overseas Missions Practicum) trip is becoming increasingly apparent. The Vienna team is not leaving until June 14, meaning that I have all of May and some of June to prepare myself emotionally, mentally, and spiritually for a summer of ministry in Europe!! For me, this includes reflecting over the past year of study, reflecting over new things God has revealed to me about Himself and myself, and spending time with friends and family.

Since I am blogging before, during, and after my trip, I figure a good theme for the blogs before the trip would be to share some of my reflections/preparations before my departure in June. In doing so, I will attempt to keep the posts shorter and more frequent. :)

I have been blessed this past year not only by courses concerning international ministry, but also by two global missions conferences. The conference I will share about in this post is the Lausanne Congress that took place in Cape Town, South Africa in October of last year. This congress brought together 4,000 leaders from 198 countries in Cape Town, but included thousands more around the world as people participated through media and organized discussions at local churches, seminaries, universities, etc.

You can read more about the Lausanne Movement here: http://www.lausanne.org/about.html

I would like to share two videos that I have been reflecting on today. I have gained much insight and wisdom from these two speakers and I think their perspective is very applicable to the ministry I will be doing in Europe this summer and in the future!

The first video, like the videos in my previous blog, describes the typical disposition of the Western world towards the gospel message. It also challenges the Christians watching the video to rethink how ministry is done and what is considered "successful" ministry. It is very encouraging for me to hear this from a German minister, who is passionate about his country and for the Lord to transform his nation starting from an individual, discipleship level.

The second invites Christians to consider how others view them and how their actions sometimes confirm stereotypes rather than disprove them. It presents a challenge to grow and a hope for God's love to become more manifest in the world.

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Memorable quotes from this past year:

"Rather than telling [others] what to think, it is probably better to try to help people learn how to think and allow the Holy Spirit to lead them into truth as they apply the Word of God for themselves." - E. Thomas Brewster

"Jesus died to redeem mankind. Whenever we apply Scripture in a way that is unredemptive, creates hopelessness, or reduces a person's destiny to their history, we've missed the point of the gospel." - Kris Vallotton

"...revival experiences of grace help to keep our faith warm and personal. They press us past theoretical mental assent toward personal heart-faith." - Richard Foster