Key Scripture (and some theology): Romans 15:18-20b

Dr. Winston Worrell (http://www.worldmethodist.org/evangelisminstitute.htm) also came to my church to visit and I was really taken with some scripture he shared: “For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the good news of Christ. Thus I make it my ambition to proclaim the good news.” (Romans 15:18-20b, NRSV). I will commit this scripture to memory and keep it at the center of my theology of mission to Nakura in Kenya. I also think that this confluence of word, deed, and signs really seems to parallel what Donovan was trying to do in Africa. I hope the same will be true of experience with Nakura.

Some Reading

I went to amazon.com and the Emory’s library database; I'm at Emory. Pastor Arnold also went to Emory and suggested William J. Abraham’s The Logic of Evangelism, Howard A. Snyder’s Liberating the Church: The Ecology of Church and Kingdom, and Leslie Newbigin’s The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society. Boring. Then I got my hands on Christianity Rediscovered by Vincent J. Donovan. I think it will be more useful in a practical way then those other books because Vincent immersed himself in the culture. I am also emphasizing this last book because Nakura, our mission location, is in East Africa, more specifically Kenya. Vincent was also in East Africa with the Masai.

First Meeting on Mission Trip

XYZ Church, my church, is planning a mission trip to Nakura. A group of 6 who are going, along with others in the church have fasted and prayed in the past year for the team and those in Kenya.

Pastor Arnold, my pastor had our first mission meeting (see the PP she used). She asked us to consider how if at all to mesh XYZ’s and Nakura’s mission statements, paying particular notice to honoring Nakura’s mission. I suggested honoring Nakura's mission and scripture since both seemed bibical. The pastor agreed. We are all in agreement.

Pastor Arnold wanted to know if we had our own theology concerning mission, and did it jibe with the what we thought was the church’s theology. She asked about culture. And she asked so much more but I will get into that as a grapple with preparing. More on all this later in my blog.

Mira’s Diary: Mission Trip to Nakura United Methodist Church

My name is Mira and at 16 I am in my second year of college. I am majoring in religious studies. Some say I am gifted; I don’t know. I do know I am in college with people who are older than me. I’m big on thinking but as my mother says I am less emotionally mature than the other college students. It’s probably why I spend so much time at church.

We are going to Nakura United Methodist Church in Kenya this summer. I know in the past missionaries have done a great deal of damage to the people they were supposed to be serving. There was some good though according to Daniel Jeyarah who describes Indian missions, "Christian missionary documents, however, tend to reveal the live and culture of India more accurately." (Robert, 21) We will try to immerse ourselves in the culture in the short time we have in Kenya. Get to know the people. Be in relationship with them.