Archive for the ‘Church Planting’ Category

Changing the Scorecard: A Brief Review of Missional Renaissance

Posted: March 14, 2013 in Book Review, Church Growth, Church Planting, Leadership, missional, Missions
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McNeal, Reggie. Missional Renaissance. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 2009. 224 pp.

Contrary to what you might assume from the title, Missional Renaissance is not a ground-breaking book about missional church theory. McNeal did that already in his 2003 book The Present Future. 

This book focuses on three shifts that need to take place, both in theory and in practice, for a church to become “missional.” I took McNeal’s “Missional Leadership” class at Columbia International University, and Missional Renaissance served as the core curriculum, so we had a chance to dialogue about these shifts, and the accompanying scorecards. In a future blog post or two, I’ll share some reflections from that class.

The three shifts are:

From an internal to an external focus.

From developing programs to developing people

From church-based leadership to kingdom-based leadership.

My three top thoughts from this book:

  1. The missional church is the people of God partnering with God in His redemptive mission in the world. (24) This is a good definition – simple and easy to remember. This isn’t a paradigm shift for our ministry in Poland, but, it does show the overall shift in thinking for the church. We can use this definition to assess all we do.
  2. This is very broad – but the whole idea of changing the scorecard. What gets rewarded, gets done. Making a shift in what counts and is counted (in brief, p. 68 – but all through the book) Each chapter about one of the shifts in thinking is followed by a “scorecard” chapter, showing how we can practically apply the shift in thinking.

For me, this was the biggest value of this book. The missional theory wasn’t ground-breaking. It was fairly simple – and I don’t think the author meant it to be otherwise. The practical elements of the scorecard, however, were exactly what most of us need. We accept theory, but then hit upon the barrier of: “how do I do that?” The scorecard had a number of ways to apply missional theory, and even more important, to assess what we are doing. I think the scorecard ideas even translate well into our strategic planning in missions, and it would be great if the board and senior leadership of our mission agency read this book. We count baptisms, church plants, leaders trained, etc. – not bad, but I think we could be counting other things that equally reflect the heart of God. I also loaned this book to my U.S. pastor – who is leading a missional church, but is always looking for ways to move forward.

3. Putting prayer at the beginning of nearly every scorecard – but best of all, listing concrete ways to count prayer. That doesn’t sound radical – but it is. Finally, we have a means of counting – and rewarding – prayer.

We all give lip service to prayer. Most of us in leadership pray – quite a bit, even. But we struggle to understand how to make prayer a major part of our corporate life. I really appreciated the practical ways implement prayer, and the ways to assess if prayer is a significant part of the community of faith. I will be using a number of these to encourage prayer, but also keep track of the place of prayer in our community life.

You can get a copy of Missional Renaissance here.

The Organic Church FAQ. A Brief Review of Church 3.0

Posted: March 13, 2013 in Book Review, Church Growth, Church Planting, House Church, Leadership, Missions
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Cole, Neil. Church 3.0. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 2010. 274 pp.

Church 3.0 is a follow-up to Cole’s earlier book, Organic Church, and is structured to answer questions that might be asked about organic churches. The terms organic, simple and house church are sometimes used interchangeably – as you might see in my review of Felicity Dale’s book, An Army of Ordinary People. In short, organic are meant to be “relational, simple, intimate and viral” (from the flyleaf of Church 3.0) and are usually separate from buildings and hierarchy.

There were a couple of things that I didn’t care for. I don’t care anymore for books that use the Bible to say “this is the only biblical way.” I think I didn’t mind that much the first 10 books I read that said that about their methods. With each new book, that makes the same claim, though, I get more and more frustrated. Of course, Cole – and every other author who writes like this – is convinced that his method has biblical support. Fine, I get that. And the Bible is our primary authority. However, I often wonder if this type of argumentation would make it very far in an academic setting with higher expectations. Of course, feel free to remind me of my words when I write my first book explaining why my method is the only biblically supported method!

The title, and assumption that organic church is the next “upgrade” on church, equal to church 1.0 (pre-Constantinian) and 2.0 (Church since Constantine) – well, seems just a little bit presumptious. However, since I don’t have near the experience that Cole does, it would be presumptious of me to criticize his presumption 🙂 This presumption looks very similar to Hirsch’s history of “missional mode” from Forgotten Ways, which I critiqued here.

Although I really liked the perspective on groups of 2 or 3, I thought he overdid it with the proof-texts in support of the idea. It might have been enough to focus on the “sendings” – Jesus sending the disciples in groups of 2 (Luke 10:1b) and the Antioch church sending Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:2b-3) Both examples are on page 140 – where we also find Cole’s statement, based on Matthew 18:20, that “Jesus promises to join the meeting when two or three come together, no matter where or when it might be.” This strikes me as a great-sounding statement based on a verse ripped kicking and screaming from the context.

Here are my 3 favorite insights from the book:

  1. The base unit of life: two to three people. Community. Accountability. Confidentiality. Flexibility. Communication. Direction. Leadership. All are stronger with 2 or 3. (139-142)
  2. Integration is better than segregation for children and adults (211-221)
  3. A manipulative leader cannot take advantage of Life Transformation Group participants because they are not a biblically illiterate following (239)

Yeah, I know I criticized the way he took verses out of context to support the groups of 2 or 3. However, the base unit was still an eye-opening concept for me. Although the other sizes that Cole uses – leadership team (4-7), family unit (12-15), etc. are in place in our Lublin structure, we have faltered in discipleship, especially in application of Scripture and in accountability. I think implementing the 2-3 idea will be a great help. This size is probably most cross-cultural, as well, whereas I think the other sizes would need to be adjusted in other cultures.

We haven’t integrated children in our groups. These groups have ranged from a simple Bible study to house church, but we still haven’t included children. Sometimes it happens unintentionally, but if we are able, we usually send them to do something else. However, in WI, in our LifeGroup, we involved 3 young children, and all of us were better for it. We ought to be able to do the same in Poland.

I loved the emphasis on discipleship throughout the book. The idea of people reading large portions of Scripture in the 2-3 groups, and being accountable for application really should help produce literate, biblically-informed, obedient disciples. Those kinds of people are much less susceptible to heresy than those multitudes who gather around a charismatic manipulator – demagogue. Life Transformation Groups mitigate against demagogy, and do seem to be an excellent bulwark against heresy. I think Cole might be overstating it when he says a manipulative leader cannot take advantage of people in a Life Transformation Group, but I can see where it would be much more difficult than in large, more biblically ignorant group.

You can buy Church 3.0 at Amazon.

Decoding the “missional” DNA: A Review of Forgotten Ways

Posted: March 12, 2013 in Book Review, Church Growth, Church Planting, House Church, Leadership, Missions
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Hirsch, Alan. The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press. 2006. 304 pp.

The Forgotten Ways is one of those books that simply destroys old paradigms and introduces completely new concepts. Hirsch attempts to describe the “apostolic genius” of the early church, and challenge the contemporary Western Church to recapture that “missional DNA.”

There’s a great little chart on page 64 that summarizes the church in the three modes he describes: the apostolic and post-apostolic, the christendom mode, and the emerging missional mode . However, the chart highlights my disagreements with the book. If I had two criticisms, they would be related to Hirsch’s history-telling.

1. I don’t think the picture Hirsch paints of the apostolic church was really quite so rosy in reality. Yes, the church grew very fast, and was characterized by a focus on mission. But there were some serous theological battles, that led to large portions of the Church separating from one another. In addition, although the “christendom” mode did see a consolidation and stagnation, there was still a strong focus on expansion, and significant Christian “missional” activity.

2. The “missional” mode, according to Hirsch, has been over the past 10 years. (Counting back from 2006). This unbelievably Western-centric viewpoint is actually uncharacteristic of Hirsch – it would be interesting to see if he changed this chart in the second edition. Hirsch himself refers to other “missional” movements, outside the West, that precede the recent wave of books with “missional” in their title or subtitle.  Seriously – I think he really may be dating the missional mode from the 1998 publication of Missional Church

Of course, we missionaries have frequently been guilty of exporting institutional church – but not always. And around the world, Hirsch’s missional DNA has been present in many places, throughout Christian history.

In spite of that criticism, I actually thought Hirsch did a better job of not gushing over American methods than most authors in this “missional” movement. He is Australian – which certainly helps – but he also focused on the theory behind practice, making this book easier to apply cross-culturally.

The missional DNA looks like this:

  1. Jesus Is Lord: A simple, but irreplaceable confession.
  2. Disciple Making: becoming like Jesus is at the core of the church.
  3. Missional-Incarnational Impulse: the gospel is lived out across cultures and people groups.
  4. Apostolic Environment: a certain type of leadership is necessary.
  5. Organic Systems: structures for growth.
  6. Communitas, not Community: We are sent, not gathered into a safe haven.

Brief digression – I loved the Paulo Coelho quote on p. 217, introducing the chapter on communitas: “The ship is safest when it is in port. But that’s not what ships were made for.”

I picked out 3 ideas that I thought were basic:

  1. Non-dualistic spirituality (p. 96). Hirsch’s diagram, contrasting dualistic and non-dualistic spirituality, i.e. integrating sacred and secular, really helped me to see and understand how I was doing that in my life, but also how to better communicate to others an integrated spirituality that includes God, church and world.
  2. The quality of the church’s leadership is directly proportional to the quality of discipleship (p. 119) Discipleship is primary, leadership is always secondary. This is a key concept – maybe even THE key concept. (It’s one of those “duh” ideas – of course leadership is dependent on discipleship – that has been simply ignored most of the time)
  3. Greek concept of knowledge contrasted with Hebrew concept of knowledge. (p. 124) The Greek concept is that right thinking leads to right action. Hebrew – right action leads to right thinking. Hirsch uses this in his chapter on disciple making, but the paradigm definitely applies for leadership training as well – but we very, very seldom apply this concept

A change toward missional thinking is really not just about following a new fad in church development. The spiritual concept Hirsch shares illustrates that it is about bringing all things, every sphere of our lives, under the lordship of Christ. We preach that, but we don’t always mean it, especially if it means significantly changing the church.

The last point resonates with a key factor in church planting movements around the world – obedience-based discipleship. In other words, doing what the Word says MUST go hand-in-hand with knowing what the Word says.

If you want to know a little more about the terms and history of the “missional” church movement – there’s a pretty good summary in J.R. Woodward’s blog here. If you’ve read and tried to apply Newbigin and Bosch – as most cross-cultural missionaries will have – Hirsch’s book will seem very basic in many areas.

However, if you love reading books that challenge your thinking about the church, or if you see that the church, as it is usually conceived, comes up short in reaching a culture that grows more “foreign” with every year – this is a great read.

You can buy Forgotten Ways at Amazon.

Ordinary = Extra-ordinary. A Review of Work of Heart

Posted: March 7, 2013 in Book Review, Church Planting, Healing, Leadership, Serving others
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McNeal, Reggie. A Work of Heart: Understanding How God Shapes Spiritual Leaders. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 2000. 224 pp.

Sometimes when and where you read a book means almost as much as what is in the book. Although the what in Work of Heart is pretty significant, the time and place in life when I read it made the book so much more valuable.

I was in the middle of my lowest point ever in ministry. Thinking strongly about packing up and “going home” back to America. But we had committed to being part of a Luis Palau evangelism outreach with several other churches in town, and as a part of that, we rented a couple of rooms in the center for a prayer vigil leading up to the campaign. We always had someone there, on duty, while people came and prayed. I needed something to read during my shift – so I picked up this book that my supervisor had given me a few months earlier. Am I glad I did!!

Reading this book, during a time like that – a low point, but also a spiritual retreat time – made the message much more meaningful, and allowed me to work through the questions the author includes for personal growth.

Here are my three best thoughts in the book:

1. The call we are discussing as a heart-shaping subplot in the leader’s story is the specialized and specific setting aside by God to some special lifelong task in His kingdom. . . The call is not invented, it is revealed. . . The point is this: it is tough enough to serve as a Christian leader with a call. Without it, the choice constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. (98-99)

I had struggled with understanding my call to Poland. I thought I was to come as a church-planter, but church-planting was so tough, and I, at least then, gave up after the first failure. Meanwhile, some elements of planting a church had no appeal for me. I think I had tried to invent a call – but based it more on a need, than on the way God had gifted me. This book was extremely helpful, beyond even the chapter on call, in helping me come to grips with this. It led to a crisis, where I almost left Poland, but we needed to go through that to come to an assurance of God’s leading.

2. Commonplace: Discovering that the ordinary is extra-ordinary. Habits: look for God, keep learning, say yes to God, stay grateful. (175-186)

Seeing God in the commonplace was probably what helped us survive the crisis we faced. When my ministry partner had an affair, when our church plant fizzled, when the dollar dropped by 50% – all at the same time – some of these reminders here helped us survive, and eventually see God’s leading.

3. The reflection questions from the conclusion. I worked through all of these, reflecting on most of them with my wife, and they really helped me see myself, my world, my heart and my call. (188-192)

            As I mentioned, working through these reflection questions was so helpful. I had never done anything like that, and I’m so glad I did. I’m very grateful to my supervisor for giving me this book, and I would have to say it was one of the most positive influences in my life – ever. I’ve shared ideas and questions from this book with Polish leaders that I mentor, as well.

Personal follow-up note: I had a class with Dr. McNeal at Columbia. During a break, I told him that this book had saved me in ministry. His response? Not just “thanks” or “praise God.” He said (without really knowing me) “you are worth it.” I got a lot out of the class, but to be honest, it’s those four words that I will remember the longest.

You can buy a revised version of Work of Heart here: Work of Heart at Amazon

 

A Brief Review of AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church

Posted: March 6, 2013 in Book Review, Church Growth, Church Planting, Missions
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Hugh Halter and Matt Smay, And: The Gathered and Scattered Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. 2010. 208 pp.

AND is an attempt to reconcile the attractional model of church with the missional model. The attractional models focuses on bringing people into the church, then discipling them. The missional model focuses on sending disciples into the world, where they can be incarnational, and make other disciples. Halter and Smay reconcile the two approaches with the idea that BOTH are necessary.

The three most insightful thoughts, in my opinion:

1. The missionary flow – engaging culture, forming community, structuring congregation. Even working backwards – starting from established structures, all three steps are necessary. (54)

I appreciated the inclusion of both directions – starting from scratch, as well as starting from structure. I also appreciated the terminology – that this is a missionary flow. The U.S. church could learn much by listening to missionaries who have a lot of experience engaging culture. We are forced, from the very beginning, to closely examine the cultures that we have voluntarily joined. The North American church of today is living in a culture that is nearly as foreign as is the eastern European culture that I live in. I can help my American friends by dropping hints about how to study and learn the culture they live in.

2. Engaging the culture – becoming good friends with people – takes 2 years. Everywhere. (57)

This was an eye-opening comment. We do expect it to happen much faster, and then wonder why it doesn’t. In our own ministry, we wondered why it took that long to get to know our neighbors, why it took so long to get invited to someone’s house. Even after the barrier of Polish was overcome, friendships didn’t develop quickly. So, the idea that a church can be planted, from scratch, in less than 2 years is a pretty crazy one. But, we continue to expect just that. In fact, when it doesn’t happen, we get more tempted to take shortcuts, such as inviting people from other churches to come join us (sheep-stealing), or we get very discouraged, and think that something is very wrong with us that no one wants to be our friend. It just takes time!

3. Modalic and sodalic are both necessary arms of the church – but in order to bring balance our intention must begin to lean toward the sodalic. (133)

Halter and Smay simplify their terms with this short explanation: “Modalic structures tend to focus on caring for those who are already inside the structure. Sodalities push toward those on the outside.” (129)

I think that I am more involved in the sodalic than the modalic, even though I am a pastor. However, I need to take an intense, honest look at ministry. It could be that, because of my learned church culture, I am mistaken, and spend more time than I realize caring for those in the structure, or even just caring for the structure! (God forbid!)

If you are in the U.S., and interested in the discussion about missional church, this is a book you should read. If you aren’t in the U.S., and are interested in the American discussion about missional church, this would be a good book to read. If you aren’t in the U.S., and aren’t particularly interested in this uniquely American dichotomy – I wouldn’t bother reading this book.

I believe the church in most of the world figured out a long time ago that both attractional and missional are vital.

However, if you are interested, you can buy the book here: AND at Amazon

On Baptism – in a Catholic country

Posted: March 4, 2013 in Catholic Church, Church Growth, Church Planting, Missions
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I grew up in a conservative, Baptist pastor’s family, where it was assumed that once you reached a certain age – 8 or 9 – and had prayed a prayer of salvation, you would get baptized. My wife had a similar background, and we were baptized as children. We both attended Baptist colleges, and started ministry in Baptist churches, where many ideas related to baptism were simply taken for granted – immersion, after a profession of salvation, non-salvific in itself.

For the past fourteen years we have been ministering in Poland, 12 of those years in a Baptist church. Although the beliefs in the Baptist church about baptism remain the same, none of them are taken for granted. Poland is still 90% or so Catholic, and most people in our church have some kind of a Catholic background. In other words, most of them were baptized (sprinkled) as infants, and taught that that baptism saved them. So, deciding to get baptized (or re-baptized) as an adult is a truly life-changing decision. To be honest, I don’t think it usually is that life-changing in the American evangelical churches I’m familiar with. I would have to admit that it wasn’t for me – in fact, I barely remember my baptism.

Thankfully, being baptized doesn’t have quite the cost (death, imprisonment) that it does in many countries. However, it still can mean ostracism by family and friends, because the person has “left the faith.” This only adds to the weight of the decision to get baptized. One of the implications for me in ministry is that I don’t try to rush anyone into baptism. Some pastors here do. I don’t feel that I can in good conscience manipulate someone into a decision that may have significant consequences for them. Of course, I teach about baptism, encourage people to get baptized, and am over-joyed when they choose to do so.

One of the factors for me is the belief that baptism doesn’t save. Of course, not every evangelical would agree – that’s fine. But I want to make sure, if possible, that the candidate is not simply exchanging an evangelical salvation by works for their Catholic one.

It’s also interesting that here in Poland, the key point that people emphasize is baptism as an adult – or at least after a certain age. This seems more important than immersion, more important even than the discussion of the saving grace of baptism. In fact, there are people in our Baptist church that believe that baptism – at least in part – saves them (yeah, I know – not a Baptist doctrine – welcome to the reality of church.) But the idea of baptizing children is unthinkable. And they struggle every time an American missionary family asks if their children can be baptized!

Yesterday, I had the amazing privilege of baptizing four people. All four talked about how they wanted their baptism to be a public show of their “belonging to Christ.”  We heard four completely different stories of God drawing someone to Himself. M. was connected to our church since childhood, but didn’t come to Christ until his unbelieving, alcoholic father passed away. H. was also a part of our youth group, and prayed to accept Christ at an English camp.

Baptism 2011

Baptism 2011

K. experienced every kind of violence possible as a child. She tried drugs, alcohol and sex to fill the God-void in her life. Eventually, she tried to kill herself. Three times. But then she heard about the love and grace of God – and surrendered to Him.

A. grew up in a Catholic family, with parents – especially her dad – who read the Bible and prayed regularly. However, as an adult she began to understand that she was trying to do everything on her own to gain favor with God. She asked God to change her stone heart into a heart of flesh. And God did!

Thrilling stories of God working – and what a thrill to be able to help them along their journey. Days like yesterday make it fun to be a pastor!

A brief review of Revolution, by George Barna

Posted: March 1, 2013 in Book Review, Catholic Church, Church Growth, Church Planting, House Church, Missions
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Barna, George. Revolution. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2005. 145 pp.

Dr. Barna looked at what he calls a “hidden revolution” of Christ followers who no longer go to church on Sunday mornings, but remain devout believers and attempt to be the Church, rather than simply go to church. He compares the state of the Church (chapter 4 “How is the local church doing?”) with a biblical picture of the Church (chapter 3 “What does God expect?) From that biblical picture, he extrapolates the “seven passions” of revolutionaries.

In my opinion, these were the three most insightful ideas:

The seven passions of revolutionaries (chapter 3)

The seven trends leading to the “New Church” (chapter 5)

The Secret of Transformation in mini-movement (pp. 57-58, chapter 6)

In addition, the “affirmations of a revolutionary” (pp. 128-130) would resonate with many of us who have frustrations with the church as an institution, but love Jesus with all our heart.

  1. The seven passions of revolutionaries:
    1. Intimate worship
    2. Faith-based conversions
    3. Intentional spiritual growth
    4. Servanthood
    5. Resource investment
    6. Spiritual friendships
    7. Family faith
  2. Seven trends leading to the New Church:
    1. Changing of the guard
    2. Rise of a new view of life
    3. Dismissing the irrelevant
    4. Impact of technology
    5. Genuine relationships
    6. Participation in reality
    7. Finding true meaning
  3. Secret of Transformation in mini-movement:
    1. Generally working with people who are predisposed to focusing their faith on God.
    2. Mini-movement becomes an individual’s primary source of relationships.
    3. Intimacy experienced facilitates a sense of exhilaration over the transformation.
    4. Clear group goals

Each mini-movement has a very narrow focus.

The seven passions serve as an excellent guideline for our Polish faith communities. We are easily sidetracked by other things, and think those other things should be the checklist of success for our churches. But when we, in community with one another, can focus on these passions, we are much closer to what Christians should be focusing on.

I would like to use the seven trends as a springboard to look at Polish culture, and see how it has changed in the past 22 years. There are Revolutionaries in Poland, usually in house churches, or Catholic renewal groups (or both), and I am curious to see what trends have led to the rise of these groups.

The final point – the secret of transformation – helps me to narrow our focus as we seek to see transformation in people’s lives. We don’t need to change everyone, in every way, right now.

Revolution! at Amazon

5 Major Challenges for Mission Agencies. 5. Growth of various church forms

Posted: February 18, 2013 in Church Growth, Church Planting, House Church, Missions
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Including this challenge undoubtedly reflects my heart as a church-planter. My theological education colleagues would probably put “orality” here, and a more strategic thinker may put “identity and vision” in this fifth spot (or first!) But the growing interest in church planting movements, the rise of the “emerging” church, the explosion of house churches, and the death of denominations are all reshaping the landscape of the global church. Within my own agency, we may need to rethink our definitions of church – and then we will face another balancing act between that definition, and the definitions that most of our supporters cling to.

All of these factors affect most mission agencies, even those traditionally associated with a denomination. Our understanding of church, even in the West, is being shaped by the non-West – and that’s a good thing. However, there are myriad different understandings of what it means to be a church. How do we define church within our global mission? How does the majority of our supporters define church? How do our national partners define church? How do we promote rapid growth of church planting movements (assuming we want to do so), while still effectively training church leaders?

Critical Review of “Servant on the Edge of History”

Posted: June 6, 2012 in Book Review, Church Planting, House Church, Missions, Serving others
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James, Sam. Servant on the Edge of History. Garland, Texas: Hannibal Books, 2005. 174 pp.

Sam James has been serving in missions since 1962, in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan, Europe, the Middle East and the United States. He has served as a church planter, seminary director, regional leader and senior leader of a large mission organization. He has directed leadership development for that organization and been in involved in crisis intervention for other missionaries. After retiring from the staff of his organization, he went back to his first place of long-term ministry, Vietnam.

Servant on the Edge of History, Sam’s first book, is about his missionary service in Vietnam, from 1962 to 1975. Even a casual student of American history will recognize these years as the height of American involvement in the Vietnamese civil war, and can imagine some of the trials Sam and his family faced. Sam writes with a special focus on some of those trials and the intimate, personal lessons he learned – and that others can learn vicariously. He includes some thoughts on methodology, but he really focuses on spiritual, heart lessons from his experiences.

The first and last chapters are set in 1989, when Sam returns to Vietnam to visit. He meets some of the students he left in 1975, and is able to see how God has used them over the fourteen very difficult years under Communist authorities after the Americans fled, and Saigon fell. The other sixteen chapters tell about Sam and his family in Vietnam, from their arrival to their last frightening flight out of Saigon, as it fell to the Viet Cong.

There are stories that show how Sam must wrestle with his call – to be a church planter and trainer, while faced with human suffering all around. At one point, he decides to go back to the United States to get a medical degree, so he can help alleviate the physical suffering. However, he quickly realizes that God has a unique role for him, as a spiritual leader and teacher who could help alleviate spiritual suffering, as well.

Other stories deal with ethical struggles Sam has to face – from the expectation to pay a bribe to the dilemma over whether to have a gun in the house while the Viet Cong were raiding his village during the Tet offensive.  Sam also openly talks of his feelings of failure, when someone he was witnessing to for quite a while died in a fire before he could know whether she accepted Christ. He also discusses his patriotism, having served in the Navy during the Korean War, and how this sometimes caused dilemmas for a missionary in Vietnam. The desire to represent the Kingdom of Heaven and the Prince of Peace was most important, but the temptation to help the American soldiers, even the CIA, to help prevent more deaths of American servicemen was very strong.

One of the stories that spoke most deeply to me occurred early in the book, in chapter 3. Sam, after having his house broken into, the seminary robbed, and multiple other struggles, is asked by a taxi driver, “What do you love about the Vietnamese people?” Sam is forced to confess to God his lack of love, and after struggling through the night, God spoke. Sam writes, “I have noticed that sometimes only when our backs are completely against the wall and our strength is completely gone, that this is when God steps in and intervenes.” (25)

Frequently, Sam’s dilemmas and subsequent learning experiences take place when his back is against the wall, and his strength is completely gone. Not only does God intervene, but Sam grows and learns. For aspiring missionaries who read this book, that lesson alone is worth the price of the book.

At the end of each chapter, Sam includes discussion questions about the lessons he learned, or dilemma he faced. The questions are less than a page, but they require a significant amount of reflection, based on what Sam has shared. However, the questions turn the book from a memoir into a learning exercise. The questions could be well used for team-building, or for a missionary couple to discuss their potential responses, before a situation arises that calls for an unprepared response.

I did not reflect through all of the questions – some I have faced already in ministry, and some probably will never be an issue. However, I definitely see the value of writing a memoir in this fashion. By including the questions, Sam shows his heart as a trainer, and developer of missionaries. The questions do sometimes read as an afterthought, however. The best example of this point is that nearly every reflection begins with the word “dilemma.” Perhaps it’s a nit-picky point, but Sam could have found some other synonyms.

The stories are amazing to read. I grew up on stories of Vietnam told by men my dad’s age who served there, and for the first time it occurred to me that there were also missionaries – American – who shared the gospel, and even suffered for Christ during the war. Instead of hearing my Ranger friend talk about killing Viet Cong, I was able to read about Sam and his miraculous escape from a Viet Cong ambush, or how he was able to see a committed Communist political officer come to Christ, and become a new creature. My dad, who thankfully spent his military service in Germany, but lost half his classmates to the war, would probably enjoy reading Sam’s book – but so would my teenage sons.

It was an interesting exercise to think about why Sam included the stories he did, and especially why he included the questions he did. The choices may say less about Sam, and more about his intended audience. One example is when he asks if a missionary should appeal to more wealthy people in America and other countries to help provide funds for a house church. Another example occurs when he asks if there is a circumstance in which loyalty to one’s country commands an equal priority with loyalty to Christ. To some readers, those questions may seem almost rhetorical (No), but perhaps they are real dilemmas for the majority of people who join the organization where Sam spent so many years as a leader and trainer.

Sam mentions this organization very frequently – maybe a little too much, although that’s a hard judgment to make. If I worked for the same organization, I probably wouldn’t think Sam had written too much. Sam’s conservative theological perspective is evident, but he doesn’t spend much time talking about theology, or even that much methodology, so it isn’t an issue.

Sam does discuss methodology some, but he is involved both in an established church and seminary, and also in a couple of house churches. In chapter thirteen he talks more about a house church methodology, but his focus is more on the sacrifice that a couple of families make in order to have a fellowship in their homes.

It’s evident throughout the book that Sam’s primary goal is to teach new missionaries, or those interested in missions. His stories are personal, transparent, and alive. The reflection questions are appropriate and helpful. Perhaps the biggest drawback of the book is that most of the stories take place up until 1975, but Sam didn’t write his book until 2005. Unfortunately, the thirty-year gap makes the events seem like history, rather than contemporary, and may make the book less attractive for current readers.

Servant on the Edge of History at Amazon

Critical Review of “And the Word Came with Power”

Posted: May 31, 2012 in Book Review, Church Planting, Healing, Missions, Serving others, translation
Tags: , , ,
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Shetler, Joanne. And the Word Came With Power. Portland, OR: Multnomah Press, 1992. 164 pp.

In 1962, Joanne Shetler went to live with the Balangao people in the northern Philippines. For the next twenty years she ate their food, learned their customs, walked their trails, joined them in their joy and heartache – all to bring them the Word of God in their language. In order to do so, she first had to learn their language, create an alphabet for it to be written, and translate God’s Word into that language. At times, she worked alone, and in addition, would provide medical assistance, teach literacy and teach God’s Word, share the good news, and counsel those who had heard and responded. At the time of publication, Joanne was in charge of the Anthropology Department for Wycliffe Bible Translators in the Philippines. Patricia Purvis, a literacy specialist and writer for the Summer Institute of Linguistics, helped Joanne write her story.

Joanne gives a first-person account of the process, struggles and victories involved in bringing the written Word of God to a people who have never before had access to His Word in their language.

The first chapter relates a helicopter crash, where Joanne was badly injured while on her way to bring building supplies for a hospital. The doctor in charge of the hospital was killed in the crash, and Joanne was trapped in the burning aircraft. As she describes it, it was the worst pain she had ever known. However, her beloved Balangao people began to pray desperately for her survival, finally bringing an answer to her prayer to God that the Balangao would begin to pray with intensity. As the Balangao walked by her bed, she could hear them pleading, “God, don’t let her die. The Book’s not done yet.”

That first story is a great introduction to Joanne’s life and work. She describes her early life, growing up on a farm in California, and her teenage decision to be a missionary, followed by her college years at BIOLA, and her decision – very logical, as she puts it – to be a Bible translator. She gives just enough background for her readers to know a little about her before she gets to the heart of her story – the Balangao.

From her arrival, with her partner Anne, in early 1962, Joanne is singularly focused on her task of giving the Balangao God’s Word in their heart language. She freely describes some of the errors along the way, the cultural missteps and periods of doubt and disbelief. She shows her fear when she confronts the worship of evil spirits, but along the way, she learns the power of God, especially through His Word.

She is adopted by Canao, the village spokesman. In time, he asks both Joanne and Anne to call him “Ama,” or “father.” The ladies discover Tekla, the daughter of a spirit medium, who had heard of God from a visiting priest, and had already refused to worship the spirits, but had begun praying to God. Tekla was desperate to know God, and was overjoyed when she discovered she could really talk to God, and He heard her. Ama is skeptical, for quite some time, even after a deep trust relationship develops between him and the two foreigners, but he is eventually convinced when he sees the genealogy of Jesus, written down, in the first chapter of the newly translated gospel of Matthew. The Balangao creation story explained man’s frailty, but it didn’t have their ancestors’ names written. For Ama, and many Balangao, the written genealogy of Jesus proved that the Bible was true.

The conversion of Ama was a key event. The following week, he brought a group of people for Joanne to teach, and a church was born. Ama began helping Joanne and Tekla with the translation, and eventually Ama’s son, Doming, joined the team. The church grew as people began to hear the Word, ask questions, learned how to read, and began to read the new portions of the Word that were being translated.

Much of the book focuses on the battle between God and His Word, and the spirit worship of the Balangao people. The Balangaos are faced with a choice of believing in a God they don’t know, but who promises love and healing, or remaining with the spirits they do know, but who torment and enslave them. Joanne lovingly shows the struggle, without condemning those who can’t make the leap to an unknown God, but she also paints a terrible picture of the slavery of spirit worship. The slavery and struggle is best seen in the story of Chalinggay and Forsan, two spirit mediums who choose to follow Christ within days of each other.

The spirits try to kill both women, and nearly succeed. Both Chalinggay and Forsan commit to Christ, and God miraculously saves both of them. Once the Balangao people saw the power of God in defeating the spirits, the number of people interested in hearing more from the Word quadruples. These, and other victories over the evil spirits not only prove convincing for the people in Joanne’s village, but in other villages as well. The influence of the Word continues to grow, a church is established, and the Balangao begin sharing the good news with other tribes nearby – tribes who had been mortal enemies.

In 1982, the New Testament was published in the Balangao language. This event was marked by celebration among the Christian Balangao people. “Twenty years to give birth to a book!” jokes one of the Balangao leaders. However, the twenty years were spent not only in translation and editing, but in listening, learning, teaching, healing, battling the spirits, and a multitude of other duties. Duties that Joanne frequently saw as taking her away from the real job of translation, but which she eventually saw as just as necessary for God to work in the hearts of the Balangao. For the majority of those twenty years, Joanne worked alone among the Balangao.

Joanne’s primary focus is on the power of the Word of God to change lives. Her stories frequently illustrate that power at work, especially in the life of “Ama” and Tekla. Joanne convincingly demonstrates how God’s Word can transform lives. The most dramatic transformations came when the spirit world was confronted by God’s Word. The stories of the spirit mediums were significant, but Joanne shares a number of other similar encounters between spirit worship and the worship of Christ.

Although Joanne’s focus is on the Word of God, along the way we learn quite a bit about Joanne herself, and how God used a single, sometimes insecure woman to do amazing things for a people in great need. We also learn a lot about “Ama,” without whom Joanne would probably not have survived, and almost certainly would not have succeeded. It is inspiring to see how God not only prepared Tekla, a God-seeker, but also Ama, who was not at all interested in what Joanne had come to do, but was a true peace person – a key influencer who wanted to protect Joanne and help her be accepted and happy. God used Ama to bring true peace to his people – peace with God, peace from the attacks of the evil spirits, peace with other tribes, and peace within the tribe.

We also gain insight into the way God used Joanne to lead and teach others. Although Joanne herself admits her conviction that women should not teach men, at first she simply cannot avoid doing so. Without Joanne’s leadership and teaching, however, the Balangao might still be waiting for God to speak. Interestingly, though, when Ama eventually understands Joanne’s conviction that the men should be the teachers, she is able to release Ama and other leaders to teach. This means that the teaching becomes even more effective as it is multiplied.

Joanne lives and works among the Balangao, and although she is active in many roles, some of which are released to others along the way, her primary role remains one that really no Balangao could do. They simply did not have the skills, training or knowledge to translate the Word of God into their language. Eventually, Joanne is able to train others to assist her, and then even to go and do the same for other tribes, but Joanne’s role was absolutely vital for the Word to be present in the language of the Balangao. She really did the one task that no Balangao could have done.

In her brief introduction, Joanne says that her book is a love story, “so that you might stand along with us in praise and wonder at the overwhelming love of God and his relentless pursuit of us.” Joanne achieves her goal, as I think it would be hard to read this book and not be filled “with praise and wonder” at the love of God for the Balangao people. Joanne is the incarnation of God’s love among the Balangao, at least until the written Word begins to take Joanne’s place, and the Balangao understand that God loves them, just as Joanne loved them.

I appreciated Joanne’s transparency when she talked about some of her struggles. And the Word Came with Power is a victorious tale, but Joanne does not pretend to be perfect. She struggled with trust and doubt, she made mistakes, and sometimes acted rashly. But she was committed, faithful and passionate about bringing God’s Word to a people that she grew to love. And God used her mightily. I would especially recommend this book to those interested in translation work among unreached people groups, although I would be very interested to find out if Joanne’s story is the norm, or an exception. If it is an exceptional story, what made it so? What especially did Joanne do that helped her achieve her goal? Was it finding Tekla and Ama, the person of peace? Was it the way she released others? Was it her courage and faithfulness, or the way she confronted spirit worship? We see all of these elements, but Joanne’s book is about one people and one translation project – a project of love, for a people she loved – and God through her.

And the Word Came With Power at Amazon

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