Ideas: Connecting Online

How are you involved in international missions? In the past, mission agencies gave you three options: pray, give, or go. Hopefully, you’re doing at least one of these things.

I’d like to invite you to a fourth way to participate in what God is doing around the world. You may not be aware of this, but there is a way for you to build a personal relationship with an unbelieving person from an unreached people group that is free, requires no training or time off work, and doesn’t require you to learn another language.

You can be a pen pal.

Thankfully, the internet has taken the old idea of corresponding with a complete stranger on another continent and made it, well, faster, cheaper, and more fun. Here’s how you can get started:

1. Visit an international classifieds website like kijiji.com,craigslist.org, or tribe.net
or a social networking site like facebook.com, myspace.com, or any of the hundreds of similar sites listed here.
Classified sites tend to be a bit easier to manage (London’sgumtree.com, for example, actually has a section titled “pen pals.”) and are especially good if you already have an idea of what people group or city you’d like to connect with. For now, let’s assume you’re using kijiji.com.

2. Scroll to the bottom of the site, and select the local site of your desired country. Many countries have classified ad sites, but it people in Western Europe are so web-connected, these countries are a great place to find someone who is likely to correspond with you.

3. Register a username and password, if necessary.

4. Search through the classified ads to find someone with whom you have something in common. Amateur authors in Wales? A guitar player in Spain? How about moms in Dublin?

5. Post a response to an ad. Or, post an ad of your own. Maybe you’d like to swap recipes with someone in Basel or find a pen pal in Berlin who likes NASCAR. (Good luck with that one). Just be yourself! Remember: for you, this may be a strange and frightening way to make friends, but for them, meeting people online is a pretty normal thing to do.

6. Wait for someone to answer your ad. Many of theses sites will email you when you receive a response. Be sure to keep security in mind as you introduce yourself and get to know the person. Don’t make promises you won’t be able to keep.

7. Share life with your new friend. Don’t treat this as a confrontational evangelism tool- let the person get to know you. For many Western Europeans, you may be the only practicing believer with whom they’ve had contact. Even those who know about Jesus are unlikely to have seen life in Christ lived out before them. They need to hear what a follower of Jesus thinks about all sorts of things. Tell your stories. Listen to theirs. Send photos. Have a voice conversation on Skype. You may eventually get to meet your pen pal in person some day.

Now, this isn’t for everyone. If you’re the type who can’t stand to talk with someone with whom you disagree, please don’t bother. If you’re not willing or able to personally invest in a “virtual friend,” this isn’t for you.

I think there are a lot of believers out there who didn’t even know this is an option. I imagine many of you that don’t have the time or money or desire to go on a mission trip may be intrigued my the idea of meeting someone online for the sake of sharing life intentionally.

Who knows? God may use you to start an online church planting movement.

(Reprinted with permission from Missions Misunderstood)

Idea: Virtual Missions

Not so long ago, internet chat rooms were mostly populated by perverts and turbonerds. The current generation of young adults, however, has moved into the neighborhood and changed the rules. They’ve never known life without computers. For them, meeting people online is a normal part of life. They have real and meaningful relationships with people that they only know virtually.

Why not plant online churches as part of our global missions efforts? I’m not talking about evangelistic websites, comment-thread debaters, or hordes of E-vangelists copying and pasting Bible verses into site guestbooks. I mean commissioning real missionaries to engage unbelieving people in every corner of the earth through the internet. I believe that real churches could be planted through virtual efforts that mirror our real work on the field. Contextually appropriate gospel presentations. Relational discipleship that is both practical and biblical. Indigenous worship among communities of committed believers.

All it would take is a little training of committed cybernauts and some time. “Virtual Partners” could start to see their MySpace, Facebook, and Flickr pages as platforms to engaging online social circles. Blogs and message boards are great forums for the exchange of ideas and sowing of the gospel. Affinity-based websites are visited by people from all around the world. Social networking sites make it easier than ever for people to connect.

Some might assert that the anonymity of the internet makes true intimacy impossible. That may have been true in an analog age, but these days, people welcome the anonymity as security to share their most personal thoughts. Others might be concerned that comment threads on public blogs and boards are a poor place to have meaningful conversation because there’s so much room for misunderstanding. This isn’t so much a problem for lifelong internauts. They are adept at concise, meaningful (to them and their kind) conversations in multiple ongoing and overlapping encounters.

Globalization has made English (well, a form of English) the common language of the world wide web. That makes initial contact with different people pretty easy. Why not have partners start their ministries by finding a national to teach them the language of the focus people group? People group research would take on new meaning if the source material was a member of the people group in question.

(Reprinted with permission from Missions Misunderstood)

About Europe: Nashville

It’s extremely encouraging to share what God has been telling you with someone you meet for the first time, only to have them say,”that’s what we’ve been hearing from Him as well!”

Nashville was our best meeting yet. No, I’m not just saying that. It really was the best. Not because there were a lot of people (there were five or six besides the four of us), and not because we did an especially good job of talking (we didn’t). No, it was great because the people in attendance were already doing some of the things we’re advocating.

Our hosts, FBC Smyrna, recently went on a vision trip to Madrid, and are planning a trip to Belgium in the Spring. Their approach is to have smaller teams designated to lead the church in missional engagement overseas. They have lots of experience in other parts of the world, so now they’re trying to think through what missions might look like for them in Europe. Please pray for them as they seek God on this. Also, please stop by and read Tim Patterson’s blog, Travel Light. It’s all about the Sending Church.

Matthew's Table

I’m so glad that Michael Carpenter came out to join us. We’ve been keeping up with him and his new church, Matthew’s Table, for a little while now, and we feel a natural connection with what he’s doing. He’s like us- setting out to do something different. Their church is literally weeks old, and they’re already working through what direct involvement overseas is going to look like for them. Mike challenged us to reconsider our use of the term “businessmen/women” when we talk about the promise of the Skybridge Community- what about cooks and laborers and librarians? he asked. Okay, so he didn’t specifically ask about librarians, but talking with Mike inspired us to think through all of the creative ways for believers to share life in Europe.

Meetings like these are the best because we don’t have to explain the need for missions or for relational ministry. With these guys, we just cut to the chase (“We want to help you do overseas what you’ve been doing here in the United States.”) 

At this point in the game, we’re starting to get some good feedback as well. Some people come to our meetings not quite knowing what to expect. We’ve had some come without even knowing why- just because a friend invited them. Many people leave the meetings saying, “Man, you know who should have been here?” 

So, I’d like to ask any of our alumni (anyone who’s actually attended one of our meetings) to write a quick comment about what About Europe is, and who should/should not go. That might help some people make up their minds about attending. It might also help us insure that we get more meetings like this one in Nashville. Thanks!

About Europe: Tulsa

Our meeting in Tulsa was set up by Paul Littleton, and hosted by Agora Marketplace. Paul is the pastor of Faith Baptist Church, Sapulpa, OK. He is thoughtful, thought-provoking, and committed to putting into practice all that he sees lacking in popular Christianity. We had the pleasure of sharing a meal with his family in his home, and we were blessed by the company, food, and conversation.

Our About Europe meeting was a good one. Mike and Debbie Johnson drive all the way from Arkansas for this meeting! We were also happy to connect with Rivendell Fellowship, another community of faith that’s not content to recreate “more of the same.”

Some of the discussion with this group centered around the concern for funding. Getting directly involved in missions in Europe is great in theory, but what about a small church with little/no resources to speak of?

In this day of instant messaging and social networking portals, you don’t need a whole lot of money to connect with someone in another country. We encourage churches to prayerfully engage people missionally online through message boards, social networking sites, email, and affinity groups. “Virtual missions” is quick, easy, and free. Be sure to look for more details regarding creative (and low-cost) ways for your church to get more directly involved in missions.

About Europe: Oklahoma City

If you don’t know Todd Littleton, you should.  The forward-thinking pastor of Snow Hill Baptist Church in Tuttle (Oklahoma City) will subtly (subversively?) challenge you to reconsider the way you think about church, theology, and culture. He’s a thinker, philosopher, and leader with far greater influence than he knows. Check out his blog, The Edge of the Inside- you’ll see what I mean.

We had another great About Europe meeting this afternoon here in recession-proof Oklahoma City. Todd hosted the meeting, and we had some great discussion about motivating older, more established churches to a new understanding of missions. I was impressed with the positive reaction to our proposal that churches take a more active role in missional engagement of people groups overseas. Hopefully, we can continue the conversation online!

Despite rising fuel and food prices, droves of economic refugees are pouring in to still-affordable Oklahoma.  It will be interesting to see how the influence of the influx of people from the coasts effects the worldview of the heartland. I expect that what was a slow-but-steady shift away from modernistic rationalism will be put on fast-forward. In talking with some of the leaders today, it is clear that God is using a common cultural experience to prepare Oklahoma churches for relational ministry in Europe. I am encouraged.

Tomorrow we’re in Tulsa. Stay tuned…

Room for Improvement

We’re getting ready for our next round of “About Europe” meetings. The hardest part about making similar presentations to different people in different places is the tendency to fall into a routine. The last thing we want is to just roll into a town and put on a show. If we were going to do that, we’d be better off putting a video on YouTube and calling it good.

So we’re tweaking our presentation. Our next three meetings (Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Nashville) and going to be be better than the last three (if that were possible!) We realize that the democratization of missions is going to begin with dialog, not lecture. We’re looking for ways to keep things interactive while maintaining the flow and direction of the conversation. If you have any ideas (especially those of you who participated in the Florida meetings), please let us know!

About Europe: Lakeland (Orlando)

This morning’s meeting was a smaller one. It was hosted by Robert Beckman, an innovative church planter and house church advocate in Central and South Florida. It was refreshing to compare notes with a fellow practitioner (Robert spent years overseas) and to hear how God is working around the State.

Adam, a church planter who’s seeing great success in church planting, appreciated the opportunity for missions in Europe. In his mind, he had figured that he would get involved in Central America, but the similarities between the European worldview and that of his current mission field really made him wonder how God might use him in Europe.

Guys like Adam and Robert “get it.” They understand the value of the church being an incarnational witness. Halfway through our appeal for direct church involvement in missions, Adam interrupted us. “Okay, I get it! I’m ready! Where do I sign up?” He didn’t need to be convinced.

That’s the question a lot of people are asking us- “where do I sign up?” The thing is, we don’t have anything to sign up for. When we first started this, we didn’t want to do anything more than start a campaign to get churches more directly involved in missions in Europe. Church networks already exist. We just wanted them to add a level of intentionality in missions.

Now Upstream is more than just a campaign. It’s a call to action. It’s us speaking on behalf of professional missionaries around the world, asking the church to step up.

In the coming days, we’re going to start posting some practical ideas for churches to begin their involvement in missions in Europe. Please feel free to share your ideas as well.

Back to Back

Not just one About Europe meeting today, but two back to back. We started this morning with a group of ten church planters at the Palm Coast Baptist Association building. It was a great group; very interactive. They say that Monday morning is the worst time to try to do something with pastors and church planters, but we were really happy with the turnout. The whole thing felt like a big conversation.

We had a colleague in Barcelona participate via Skype video call, which was cool. Our dream is to have an entire conference online, but Shapevine isn’t ready with that yet. We still need to iron out the kinks (three hours’ worth of material in an hour and a half is tough!), but it went really well.

As soon as we were finished, we were whisked away to Cape Christian Fellowship for a second About Europe meeting. This one was a luncheon (what’s the difference between a luncheon and just a plain old lunch?) catered by Eric’s Deli. There were more people at this one, too. Church planters, pastors, some denominational leaders. we really enjoyed hanging around talking with some of the guys afterward. They were really encouraging, and excited about the possibility of getting involved in Europe.

One thing we need to do better is figure out what comes next in our relationship with these churches. We’re praying about the best way for us to continue to walk them through the development of their missions strategies. Do they call us? Do we spam them with more ideas? In end what are we looking for from them?

It’s funny, when we started all of this, we just wanted to launch a campaign. We wanted churches to get more directly involved in missions in Europe. Now it’s taking off, and we’re seeing the need for training, networking, and ongoing encouragement. It’s exciting to see things taking shape before our eyes. We’re thankful for the support we have, and pray that the Kingdom will be built through all of this.

More tomorrow after we speak in Lakeland (Orlando). We’re also going to start posting our material here as well, so be sure to check back!

About Europe: Ft. Myers

And so it begins.

We are in sunny (and rainy, then sunny again) south Florida for the first of our “About Europe” meetings. This morning, we visited Cape Christian Fellowship and spent time with the pastor, Wes Furlong. He is a dynamic pastor who really “gets it.” His church is active in their community and has some overseas missions experience, but they’re excited about the possibility of getting more directly involved in Europe. We realized right away that Wes is a person of influence; he put together two meetings for us tomorrow, where we’ll talk to local pastors, leaders, and church planters about, well, Europe.

Cape Christian is a diverse church. Being south Florida, of course they have Spanish-speaking people. But we also met Heimo, a German expatriat who moved to Florida seven years ago. Who knew that we’d find Europeans (believers) here? Maybe God will use Heimo to help the church gain a greater understanding of European worldview.

“Pastor Wes,” as his church calls him, is a very articulate guy who knows culture, philosophy. He’d be right at home in a coffee shop in Spain or a bookstore in Germany talking about secular humanism and the decline of rational modernism.

Right now, we’re working the kinks out of our “presentation.” We’re hoping that these small, informal meetings don’t turn in to lectures or shows. We really want to get to know these people and see if we can’t dream with them about how God might use them in Europe.

We wanted to have some people in Europe participate via webcam, but I’m not sure it’s going to work. Time is going to be short, and technology has a way of sabotaging things.

Please pray that God would give us words and wisdom. We’ll let you know how it goes…

Why Europe?

For some time now, Europe has been ignored as a mission field. Part of this may have to do with the fact that it doesn’t seem, well, foreign enough to us. France? Spain? People go to Europe on vacation, how lost could  European people be? Myanmar, Azerbaijan and any place ending in -stan -its the unpronounceable places that are mission fields.

Europe doesn’t have great physical need. It’s socialist governments insure food and shelter, medical care, and affordable education for its citizens and residents. It doesn’t have high crime (discounting, of course, pickpocketing, traffic violations, and vandalism) compared to most places. There’s a chapel or cathedral in every neighborhood.

What many folks don’t recognize, however, is that Europe is a model. Its postmodern, post-Christian
cultures are examples of what happens when wealth, education, and humanism are valued above all else. Despite being nominally Catholic, most Europeans consider themselves to be atheist or agnostic. According to a recent article by DAWN Ministries, between one and  four percent of indigenous European people claim to have a personal relationship with Jesus.

By the way, significant numbers of people from those unpronounceable countries can be found in major European cities. Being displaced, they tend to be in greater need of friends and more open to new ideas. In Europe, there is open access to these people groups who would otherwise be inaccessible.

Most importantly, God is moving in the hearts of American believers to become more actively involved in missions in Europe. We think that the common global experience makes you especially prepared to share life with people in Europe.