June 6, 2012

Last night was session 2 of our training/preparation for Guinea.  Judy came over and dialogued with us about transitions.  The week before was Bob and Mary, talking about maintaining spiritual vitality, spiritual warfare, and family life. 

Some thoughts/lessons/questions that have come out of our times so far:

_Expect Satan to attack in our areas of weakness.  But expect God to work in those areas of our life too.

_Maintaining spiritual disciplines of prayer and bible study will be a challenge as we adapt to our new life, but it is absolutely vital that we do.  It’s a slippery slope.  Be careful!

_My family will need me to be strong, to guide them through, to lead them during this time of great transition.  More than ever I need to be the spiritual leader of our home, ever pointing us to rely on Jesus and depend on Him for strength.

_We need to be extremely careful to watch our kids and protect them from abuse and abusive situations.  This has been repeated so many times it’s ridiculous.

_Regarding transition, the moment we committed in our hearts to going was the moment we began to leave.  I realize how true this is, remembering how our minds and hearts began that moment to “pack up” and prepare to say goodbye.

_In settling into our new environment, one of the hardest parts will be handling various people’s expectations of us. For example:

Ø  What do the Galvez need and expect from us?  We’ve been told several times, we are being sent as an encouragement to the Jahango team.  And they’ve communicated to us how excited they are to have us.  But will we be able to fulfill that need for them when we’re feeling lost and vulnerable, in the middle of adapting to a new culture, new routines, new way of life?  Will we be able to meet their needs when we need them to help us to simply survive? 

Ø  What will the Church in Boke expect from us? Have they heard we are coming?  Has Andres told them I’m the children’s pastor?  Do they expect me to preach?  Will they expect me to run the children’s ministry?  Be part of the leadership of the church? Serve in any particular way?  Do they expect us to be available to help meet the needs of the congregation?  Give money to the needy?  Counsel and pray for people?  Will we be allowed to just be a regular part of the congregation, get to know the church as it normally functions, learn from them and be fed by them?

Ø  What about the Jahango?  Do they know we are coming?  What do they think of more team members joining the missionaries?  Will they want to visit us?  Will they expect us to serve and help in the community in any specific way?  How will they see me as an American speaking French?  Will people try to get to know us or simply want to win our friendship, hoping to gain access to our finances?

Ø  What about our neighbors?  The New Tribes personnel?  Etc… 

Handling all of these will be difficult as we will be in full transition mode, adapting to the new surroundings, processing the culture, navigating the city, etc…  On top of all that will be our own expectations, hopes and aspirations.  Processing all of these will take time and patience.  Though at first there will be lots of pressure and uncertainty, eventually people will develop a framework to include us in their grids, and we will develop the right frameworks to fit the new experiences into our grids.

Finally, one of the more interesting aspects of transition will also be adapting to our new identity.  Going from pastor to missionary, for example, will add and subtract new meaning to who I am.  Going from old-timer to newcomer will be another change we need to navigate.  Etc, etc…  

Judy made a great point of reminding us that God is our rock and our anchor.  It is our relationship with Him that ultimately defines who we are, not so much the circumstances surrounding us.  Also, we must keep our focus on His purposes for us going there, remembering to keep in perspective the spiritual agenda at hand, not just the temporal activites going on around us. This verse comes to mind:  “Remain in me and I will remain in you.  Apart from me you can do nothing.”  

It’s been a while since we’ve moved and completely changed environments.  We’ve grown comfortable in our routines, in our community, work, etc…  What a great opportunity this will be to have to be fully dependent on Jesus to guide us through a new stage of life. 

Closing prayer:  ‘Lord, help us, guide us, take us through this time of change.  Keep us close to you.  Mold us and change us for your name’s sake.  Be glorified in us, I pray.’  Amen.