Missions in Cities

We had Tim teaching us for half of this week. He talked about how to do missions in local and global context. It was so awesome. He spoke about all the different ideas that can be missions that are out of the box. He also talked about International Justice Mission, Because Justice Matters, 826 Valencia, and the Lava Mae project.

Some really great points He made 

• Contextualize yourself instead of syncretizing with the city or place you're in which basically means understand the culture, the history, and the beauty of the place you live in without molding yourself into the society. In the world not of it. Adapt and be amongst the people. Be like Daniel. "Contextualization:
  Attempts to communicate the gospel in word and deed and to establish the church in ways that make sense to people within their local cultural context, presenting Christianity in such a way that it meets people's deepest needs and penetrates their world view, thus allowing them to follow Christ an remain within their own culture."Darrel L. Whiteman
• Missions is not about what you want to do. It's about what God is doing. Because basically it's super easy to get caught up in the vision and idea of what you're doing but not realize why you're doing it or who you're doing it for.
• Don't come into a place and tell the people what they need but listen and be present and observe and see the people. See a need, fill a need.
• Don't shut yourself in your safe community but go out into the world or your neighborhood and be with people.
• "We don't invent our mission in life, we detect it. Because God's already placed it inside us we just have to peel back the layers and find it. We are blind to the fullness of our potential by either pride or unbelief."
• Train yourself to see the positives, not the negatives.
• Don't try to gain Gods love. Just receive His love.
• Make your own grass green before you try and get to the other side of the pasture. 
• Be present where God has placed you.
• Work where you live, live where you work in missions. Don't try to reach people if you aren't willing to live with them and be around them.
• There are such rich gifts in cultures 
• Don't adapt so far into the culture that you lose your Christianity