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Saturday, May 08, 2004
The Unscheduled Life of the Missionary 'Church Planter'
What does a missionary do?
Some work in schools and hospitals. In some respect they have a little of the '9 - 5 normalcy' that we in the west are accustomed to.
My first few months in a church planting team have helped me understand that 'no normalcy is normal'.
Let me describe this week for you so far.
Monday
Officially my 'day off', I save it for a sleep-in and a day to write my weekly prayer letter (RPD) and catch up on correspondence. I may clean around the house and generally take it easy. From 5pm onwards it's team night and we have dinner together and relax as a team.
But this Monday I was required to attend a planning meeting for a camp I'm helping to organise. This was from 12-4pm in a neighbouring town. A 20 minute drive if you have a car.
For me, it was no sleep-in, heat up a bucket of water and have a quick shower, a quiet time and then write my prayer letter. Take my laptop up to the Ministry Centre where I can use the Internet and then walk to the centre of town to catch a lift for the meeting. Time to send some prayers heavenward as I realise that you can wait a long time for a bus or car and it's already 11:35. Praise the Lord, a car picks me up and drops me 2 minutes from where I need to be right on 12:00.
The meeting goes well - best one yet.
Getting home is a different story. I leave by 4:15 and then wait 45 minutes for a ride home, a slow ride. I only just manage to meet up with the team as we head out for a BBQ overlooking the river.
Tuesday
We have prayer meeting and breakfast together as a team followed by a weekly meeting to discuss the week past and the one coming.
Then it's in to Kiev to meet a friend for lunch and a chat for the afternoon. I take a book for the ride in and back. Also good thinking time for the studies I am leading at youth group.
Home by 8pm and cook dinner for two of the Ukrainian boys who are staying out the back (my house has a lot of sheds so there are extras staying at the moment). I buy and cook for three guys (myself, Rhani and Matthew).
Wednesday
Spent a big part of the morning doing language study (it's a one week school holiday so my teacher is also taking a break). I receive a phone call but can't understand the person. Someone else rings back and in English tells me they have a parcel for me to pick up. So it's off to pick up a parcel. The name on the parcel doesn't match my passport but eventually we convince them that the parcel is mine. And praise the Lord it is a brand new NEC data projector. An asset the Ministry Centre will be grateful for. This takes a good part of the afternoon along with sending emails. I unsuccessfully try to download ICQ as my MSN needs updating but the connection speed is too slow to download that update. No talking to my brother in Aus til I can fix that.
We decide to make it an impromptu video night seeing as we have a brand new data projector. Very impressive.
While I'm out the gas company comes to connect the gas. Praise God again! Two miracles in one day!! We get most of it working.
Thursday
We are nearly out of food. Oh well tomorrow I'll go to the bazaar, the boys can wait one day.
I have a nice neat schedule for the day. It starts again with language study. Things are progressing well until someone turns up and asks for me to bring my passport and some money and come and sign the final documents for the gas project. One and half hours later and about 15 signatures (on what I'm not sure) I return to cook the lunch I had for the 3 of us and somehow feed 7 people. Well we didn't starve. We try to sort out the last few gremlins in the heating system. Aaaaaahhhhh a nice warm house, once again thank you Lord.
I spend the remaining few hours preparing devotions and games for tomorrow's youth group.
It's raining so Matthew and I decide to cancel going to play basketball at the Technicum. We head on up about 6:30 for a youth meeting. I get home about 10:30 after walking through the dark forest in the mud (forgot to take my torch). Then I cook dinner for the boys. Spaghetti with kobvasar (salami). We are scraping the bottom now.
Friday (today)
Oohhhh bliss - a hot shower. We were 5 days less than 2 months in getting the gas connected. I'm told that was very quick and I should consider myself lucky (I say blessed). We take so much for granted in Australia.
Then it's down to the Bazaar in the drizzling rain. I go from place to place using my limited Ukrainian to buy vegetables, fruit, tomato sauce, bread, cheese etc. I can't convince anyone to sell me just a few potatoes, I have to take the whole bucket but I've already got more than I can carry so the potatoes will have to wait.
Off to the Post Office to buy some envelopes. I have a letter to write back home. What does one write to friends whose 3 month old baby has just died from S.I.D.S.? Being a missionary doesn't suddenly give you the ability to say things more spiritually than anyone else.
Then it's a late breakfast and into the language study again. The neighbourhood boys during holidays have been coming over most days wanting to play Monopoly. So they are here again. I've given them a plate of biscuits and told them when they go past go they can have $200 and a biscuit. They might last a bit longer that way.
And now its time to make lunch. Then the afternoon is a mad rush in making sure I have everything ready for tonight. All the equipment I need and anything that needs prior translation. I'll also finish off some emails and send them. Then I'll go through the study with Matthew who is my translator so we don't have any little surprises tonight. We are doing "Snapshots of God" and today's is 'God is a God Who changes lives' and we are looking at Zacchaeus from Luke 19.
Who knows what can happen between now and me sending this?
I don't know what can happen, but God does. And that is the best thing that an unscheduled missionary learns to do: let God be in control. Sure I have to allow the Spirit's work of self control in my life. But each day is an exciting adventure and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Some work in schools and hospitals. In some respect they have a little of the '9 - 5 normalcy' that we in the west are accustomed to.
My first few months in a church planting team have helped me understand that 'no normalcy is normal'.
Let me describe this week for you so far.
Monday
Officially my 'day off', I save it for a sleep-in and a day to write my weekly prayer letter (RPD) and catch up on correspondence. I may clean around the house and generally take it easy. From 5pm onwards it's team night and we have dinner together and relax as a team.
But this Monday I was required to attend a planning meeting for a camp I'm helping to organise. This was from 12-4pm in a neighbouring town. A 20 minute drive if you have a car.
For me, it was no sleep-in, heat up a bucket of water and have a quick shower, a quiet time and then write my prayer letter. Take my laptop up to the Ministry Centre where I can use the Internet and then walk to the centre of town to catch a lift for the meeting. Time to send some prayers heavenward as I realise that you can wait a long time for a bus or car and it's already 11:35. Praise the Lord, a car picks me up and drops me 2 minutes from where I need to be right on 12:00.
The meeting goes well - best one yet.
Getting home is a different story. I leave by 4:15 and then wait 45 minutes for a ride home, a slow ride. I only just manage to meet up with the team as we head out for a BBQ overlooking the river.
Tuesday
We have prayer meeting and breakfast together as a team followed by a weekly meeting to discuss the week past and the one coming.
Then it's in to Kiev to meet a friend for lunch and a chat for the afternoon. I take a book for the ride in and back. Also good thinking time for the studies I am leading at youth group.
Home by 8pm and cook dinner for two of the Ukrainian boys who are staying out the back (my house has a lot of sheds so there are extras staying at the moment). I buy and cook for three guys (myself, Rhani and Matthew).
Wednesday
Spent a big part of the morning doing language study (it's a one week school holiday so my teacher is also taking a break). I receive a phone call but can't understand the person. Someone else rings back and in English tells me they have a parcel for me to pick up. So it's off to pick up a parcel. The name on the parcel doesn't match my passport but eventually we convince them that the parcel is mine. And praise the Lord it is a brand new NEC data projector. An asset the Ministry Centre will be grateful for. This takes a good part of the afternoon along with sending emails. I unsuccessfully try to download ICQ as my MSN needs updating but the connection speed is too slow to download that update. No talking to my brother in Aus til I can fix that.
We decide to make it an impromptu video night seeing as we have a brand new data projector. Very impressive.
While I'm out the gas company comes to connect the gas. Praise God again! Two miracles in one day!! We get most of it working.
Thursday
We are nearly out of food. Oh well tomorrow I'll go to the bazaar, the boys can wait one day.
I have a nice neat schedule for the day. It starts again with language study. Things are progressing well until someone turns up and asks for me to bring my passport and some money and come and sign the final documents for the gas project. One and half hours later and about 15 signatures (on what I'm not sure) I return to cook the lunch I had for the 3 of us and somehow feed 7 people. Well we didn't starve. We try to sort out the last few gremlins in the heating system. Aaaaaahhhhh a nice warm house, once again thank you Lord.
I spend the remaining few hours preparing devotions and games for tomorrow's youth group.
It's raining so Matthew and I decide to cancel going to play basketball at the Technicum. We head on up about 6:30 for a youth meeting. I get home about 10:30 after walking through the dark forest in the mud (forgot to take my torch). Then I cook dinner for the boys. Spaghetti with kobvasar (salami). We are scraping the bottom now.
Friday (today)
Oohhhh bliss - a hot shower. We were 5 days less than 2 months in getting the gas connected. I'm told that was very quick and I should consider myself lucky (I say blessed). We take so much for granted in Australia.
Then it's down to the Bazaar in the drizzling rain. I go from place to place using my limited Ukrainian to buy vegetables, fruit, tomato sauce, bread, cheese etc. I can't convince anyone to sell me just a few potatoes, I have to take the whole bucket but I've already got more than I can carry so the potatoes will have to wait.
Off to the Post Office to buy some envelopes. I have a letter to write back home. What does one write to friends whose 3 month old baby has just died from S.I.D.S.? Being a missionary doesn't suddenly give you the ability to say things more spiritually than anyone else.
Then it's a late breakfast and into the language study again. The neighbourhood boys during holidays have been coming over most days wanting to play Monopoly. So they are here again. I've given them a plate of biscuits and told them when they go past go they can have $200 and a biscuit. They might last a bit longer that way.
And now its time to make lunch. Then the afternoon is a mad rush in making sure I have everything ready for tonight. All the equipment I need and anything that needs prior translation. I'll also finish off some emails and send them. Then I'll go through the study with Matthew who is my translator so we don't have any little surprises tonight. We are doing "Snapshots of God" and today's is 'God is a God Who changes lives' and we are looking at Zacchaeus from Luke 19.
Who knows what can happen between now and me sending this?
I don't know what can happen, but God does. And that is the best thing that an unscheduled missionary learns to do: let God be in control. Sure I have to allow the Spirit's work of self control in my life. But each day is an exciting adventure and I wouldn't have it any other way.
