missionaries are a bridge between two worlds

The boys and I arrived in America from Cyprus last Friday. Our bodies are adjusting pretty well to the 7 hour time difference, and so far I’ve managed to keep on the right side of the road while driving. But the other adjustments – the deeper cultural adjustments – may take a bit longer.

I live in two worlds. One world is an urban, multicultural world in a European capital where I often dealing with problems of poverty, racism, injustice, loneliness, and a general feeling of exile. But now I’ve traveled back to a world that is more financially blessed, where evangelical Christianity is a powerful cultural, financial, and political force (though that influence is waning).

These are two different worlds, and yet God is at work in both. One of the joys of my job is that I’m able to be a bridge between these two worlds – urban and suburban, multicultural and homogeneous, poor and affluent. Both worlds are changed when they come in contact with one another, and that often happens through missionaries.

If you can forgive me for quoting a whole paragraph from Andy Crouch’s book Culture Making, I think you’ll find he describes this well.

[God] makes known his redemptive purposes for us through both the powerless and the powerful, using both to accomplish his purposes. When God acts in culture, he uses both the powerful and the powerless alongside one another rather than using one against the other. To moblize the powerless against the powerful would be revolution; to mobilize the powerful against the powerless would simply confirm “the way of the world.” But to bring them into partnership is the true sign of God’s paradoxical and graceful intervention into the human story. I believe this pattern – God working through the poor and the rich, the powerless and the powerful – serves as a kind of template for seeking out what God might be doing now in our human cultures. (209)

So these three months aren’t about fundraising.  They’re about facilitating relationships and bridging worlds. For the last 21 months I’ve been seeking God in an urban, inner city environment. For most of the next three months I’ll be seeking him in the suburbs.

And as these two worlds come together, may God change us all.

leaving tonight

The boys and I are leaving for the US tonight. Over the next three months we’re praying that God will use us to light the fire for making disciples of all nations, create new relationships for the kingdom, and initiate new ministry partnerships.

Of course, we hope to have some fun, too.  Oh, wait. All those things are fun.

What I mean is we hope to have some down time, maybe take in an amusement park, etc.

Can anyone tell me if Fort Wayne still has a $ theater?

If you’d like to schedule a small group to talk about discipleship, raising up partners in the gospel, the future of missions and the church, drop me a line: cyprusdugan@yahoo.com

And praise God that I received my Cyprus visa today … just hours before we’re scheduled to leave! He is providing everything we need to accomplish the task he’s asked us to do.

pleasing God rather than men (or women)

12 advantages to pleasing God rather than men by Richard Baxter. (Thanks to Grace and Peace for the original posting.)

1. If you seek first to please God and are satisfied with that, you have but one to please instead of multitudes; and a multitude of masters are harder pleased than one.

2. And God is one who puts nothing upon you that is unreasonable, as far as quantity or quality.

3. And God is one who is perfectly wise and good, not liable to misunderstand your case and actions.

4. And God is one who is most holy, and is not pleased in iniquity or dishonesty.

5. And He is one that is impartial and most just, and is no respecter of persons. Acts 10:34

6. And He is one that is a competent judge, who is both fit and has authority, and is acquainted with your hearts, with your every circumstance and every reason behind your actions.

7. And He is one who perfectly agrees with himself, and does not subject you to contradictions or impossibilities.

8. And He is one who is constant and unchangeable; He is not pleased with one thing today and another contrary thing tomorrow; nor is He pleased with one person this year, whom he will be weary of the next.

9. And He is one who is merciful, and never requires you to hurt yourselves to please him: Nay, he is pleased with nothing from you except that which tends to your ultimate happiness; and displeased with nothing except that which hurts you or others, just as a father that is displeased with his children whenever they defile or hurt themselves.

10. He is gentle, though just, even when he disciplines you; judging accurately, but not harshly, nor making your actions out to be worse than they are.

11. He is one that is not subject to the irrational passions of men, which blind their minds, and carry them to injustice.

12. He is one who will not be moved by tale-bearers, whisperers, or false accusers, nor can be perverted by any misinformation.

a long way away

Today was my last Sunday at the Nicosia International Church for a long time. Until the end of September to be exact.

For those of you in more ‘conventional’ churches in the West, what would it be like if your pastor had to leave for three months every other year? Maybe it wouldn’t be noticed so much in a large church with multiple staff, but here at NIC it means that the church members themselves will take responsibility for the various functions.

Though I don’t always have the strongest faith that things will work out, God has continued to faithfully provide the right servants at the right time.  I couldn’t plan it any better. This summer our leaders will come from:

• Lebanon
• Togo
• Ghana
• Nigeria
• South Africa
• Iran

… and a variety of other countries. The discipleship of the past few years is bearing fruit.

Jesus said he’d build the Church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. Once again, he’s reminded me of the truth of that statement.

God has used NIC to equip and commission many to take the gospel to other parts of the world. Pictured here is Pastor Premous who came to Cyprus as a new believer, was mentored and discipled, became an effective minister in Nicosia, and recently returned to his home in the Cameroon to continue the work of discipleship. The picture is the group that saw him off at the airport.

Mark 4:35-41 – the perfect storm

I need your help with the story of Jesus calming the storm.

The obstacle I’m facing is the story’s familiarity. You see, one of the primary ministries in Nicosia is to raise up ‘partners in the gospel’ who take the call to make disciples seriously.  This is one of the first stories we look at in our training.

So possibly the only passage that I’ve taught more than this one would be Genesis 1-3.

But here’s the problem: since I use this story as an example of how Jesus made disciples, the focus is usually on Jesus and the dynamics of disciple-making. But this Sunday when  teach on it I’d like to look at it from the perspective of the disciples.

1. What did the disciples learn about Jesus from this story? Ok … he’s master of the universe. But what does that mean for you and me?
2. How did this experience change the disciples?
3. Though they were afraid in the storm, why were they ‘terribly afraid’ after Jesus calmed it?
4. What’s the relationship between faith and fear?

I think that’s the direction we should go this Sunday, but your input would be appreciated.

As far as what this teaches us about discipleship, here are some things I’ve learned:

1. Discipleship can happen anywhere – even in a boat in the middle of a storm.
2. Discipleship isn’t just about learning how to live morally or teaching others what to believe. It’s learning to trust Jesus.
3. Often God will take us beyond the point of our ability or expertise. That’s where spiritual learning happens. (Even though a few of these guys were professional fishermen, this storm was more than they could manage.)

There’s no doubt many of us are riding through some severe storms right now. What comfort or guidance does God want to give us? How can we trust him more?

Thanks for your help.

free souvlakia

Saturday night at about 10 I received a phone call from a parent who has a student in one of the private schools in Nicosia.

‘We have 100 portions of souvlakia left over from our fund raiser tonight. Is there anything you can do with it?’

Souvlakia is pork kebab cooked over a grill.

Just the day before someone had come to see me who hadn’t eaten in three days.  He’s involved in our refugee ministry, so I thought I could call him and see if he could help us give the meat to those in need. But he didn’t answer his phone.

Though late, we went to the school, loaded the meat, bread, and salad into the back of the car, and drove to the Old City looking for hungry people who’d take free food.

The first stop was Oxi Circle – a gathering place for refugees. Met some guys from Senegal, but they were Muslim and couldn’t eat pork. But an Indian Hindu – who couldn’t eat beef – said he’d take some.  And he took my phone number. Then we walked along the Old City Wall. Stopped to talk with a group Pakastanis who of course were Muslim and couldn’t eat pork either, but they kept saying thank you anyway. Another Pakastani, sitting by himself, wouldn’t eat the pork but asked lots of questions about my sex life.

Time to move on.

The next group were Syrian Muslims. Again, we were unsuccessful in giving away the kebabs, but had the chance to practice my Arabic and exchanged phone numbers again. Suleiman called yesterday and we’ll meet on Sunday.

Driving around we passed a shop that looked like it was full of Chinese students having some kind of party. Ended up that they were Nepali.  It took a moment to explain to the small crowd that we were giving away free souvlakia, but once they understood they took half of all we had.

It was now close to midnight and time to bring this portable food pantry to a close.  Some Asian students had food for their party. Phone numbers had been exchanged. A PTA was happy that they didn’t waste their meat.

I think we all went home full.

Mark 4:26-34 – was Jesus left or right brained?

Last week I escaped the noise of Nicosia and the pressures of ministry for a three day guided retreat. Though I’ve taken other retreats, this was the first time I employed the services of a spiritual director.  At the beginning of each day, Judy gave me suggestions for prayer and meditation.

One of the ways she helped was to teach me to pray using my right brain rather than my left brain. Now, in all the tests I’ve ever taken (including this one), I score consistently – though not extremely – right brain. IOW, the creative side of my brain is more dominant than the logical side.

But let’s face it. We live in a left brain world. Generally speaking, even church and ministry cater to left brain rather than right brain leaders. ‘Pastor as CEO’ remains a dominant metaphor for ministry and sermons should follow a three point outline. I’ve learned to function in a left-brain world, but there are some things that just need to be dealt with from the other side of my head.

The gospel reading for this Sunday implies that Jesus had strong right brain (creative) tendencies. He asks, ‘What parable shall we use to describe the kingdom of God?’ Mark goes on to comment that Jesus spoke ‘many similar parables’ and ‘he did not say anything to them without using a parable.’

When Jesus taught about the kingdom of God he used stories. Why? One clue can be found earlier in the chapter when he said he did this to ‘hide’ the truth.

Maybe it’s because parables about the kingdom are to be experienced rather than explained.

In two short stories about sowing and seeds, Jesus demonstrated that the kingdom manifests apart from any human agency and that it is often disguised in insignificance. Both of these truths are counter-intuitive to human reasoning (or modern church growth theory!). His illustrations point us to truth that must be experienced to be understood.

So how did Judy teach me to pray with my right brain? I’ll spare you the details, but I can tell you that it involved modeling clay, a sandbox, and finger paints.

A bit more right brained than I’m used to, but quite an experience. I can’t explain it.

the first charismatic, anti-charismatic, filippino, pentecostal, catholic, baptist, evangelical, african, student, not-for-families church of nicosia

Yup. That’s us.

At least that’s what we’ve been called at various times over the past seven or eight years by people outside our church family. Funny thing is that none of those labels are what we’d like to be known for. In fact, some of them aren’t even close to true.

But I suppose I’m also guilty of describing other churches in ways that they’d rather not be known for and in ways that don’t accurately reflect who they are.

But if you became a part of this church family for a while, here’s what I’d hope you’d discover.

• We’re gracious. This is a community of and for messed up people (though God has blessed us with a few spiritually mature and healthy people to point us toward a better way of living).
• We’re diverse.  Lot’s of races, cultures and nationalities.  Lots of religious backgrounds. Each person’s unique history is a gift to the church.
• We’re not too interested in our reputation. We don’t advertise, we’d prefer to grow by word of mouth.
• We’re more interested in the discipleship that takes place out in the schools, streets, and homes than in the program that takes place in the building where we meet on Sundays.
• That said, with our obvious limitations, we love to gather to worship and hear God’s word.
• We believe that God intervenes in our lives.  God solves problems.
• The word of God takes a central role in the way we live, worship, and relate to the world around us. We address problems by turning to God’s word.
• We multiply. Not programs, but people. Students, refugees, domestic workers, expats, and others are equipped and released for ministry in Nicosia. Many are eventually commissioned back to their homes in Africa, Asia, or Europe to better serve their own communities.
• We come from our neighborhood and we’re committed to our neighborhood.
• It takes work to be a part of this church. It ain’t always easy!

We’re a unique group of people that defy most labels, but I couldn’t ask for a better church to be a part of!

keith green moving a generation for mission

Can you think of some other great songs for missions – past or present?

Acts 2:1-21 – the birth of a revolution

Ancient creeds such as the Nicene define the Church by her oneness, holiness, catholicity, and apostolicity. But like so many of the debates of the first centuries (even the debate about Jesus), the controversy was over the ontological nature of the Church rather than the mission of the Church.

But I’d suggest that we miss much of what it means to be the Church by simply defining it’s structure or nature.  IOW, we need to know more than just what the Church is, we need to know what she does. Would it be too much to say that the presence of the Spirit among the believers didn’t simply create a new community, but ignited a revolution?

You may think revolution is too strong a word. Maybe you’d suggest ‘movement’ is a better term. But I think a movement is too safe, and what the Holy Spirit created on Pentecost was anything but safe.

People ended up in jail, in poverty, on the run and in the grave because of this.  They were brought before governors and kings because they challenged the very power structures of the empire.

This was a revolution. It’s followers lived out the revolutionary teachings of its founder, Jesus Christ. They engaged in revolutionary and subversive activities. They were in danger because they were dangerous.

Too much? Then explain this:

Matthew 5:11-12 – Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 5:43-44 – You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Mark 10:21 – “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Luke 14:26-27 – If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

John 12:24-25 – I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ^The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Acts 17:5-7 [Paul and Silas in Thessalonica] But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here,

1 Peter 4:12-14, 16 – Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

Revelation 12:10-11 – Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.