I recommend the book Walking with the Poor by Myers. I read it shortly after I got to Mundri about three years ago. I recently reread it for Theology of Poverty, and I got so much more out of it having read something from many of the authors that Myers references like Jayakumar Christian and Miroslav Volf. Walking with the Poor is now available on Kindle.
http://www.amazon.com/Walking-Poor-Principles-Transformational-Development/dp/1570759391
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I like this quote a lot for so many reasons, but I will let you read and it and relate it to your own stories.
"Our communities are like our houses in which we feel at home, and yet keep rearranging, taking old things out and bringing new things in, often objects acquired on visits to near and distance place, objects which symbolize that we can never be the same after we have ventured outside our home, that the things we encounter 'outside' become a part of the 'inside'" - A Vision of Embrace: Theological Perspectives on Cultural Identity and Conflict by Volf
Here is one more quote from our readings on reconciliation.
“…a Christian way of dealing with suffering involves bringing one’s own story of suffering into contact with the story of the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ." - Schreiter
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I wish I could articulate in a better way everything I have been thinking, considering, and praying about through all my classes. I have a lot of good questions, but honestly, I have information overload. I am recognizing the mistakes I made as a development practitioner in S. Sudan, and acknowledging to myself that if I continue working in development, I will always make mistakes. I seem to need to relearn that lesson every few months. It is so easy for my sinful heart to make effectiveness in ministry an idol.
"The Holy Spirit empowers us for mission, leads us into mission, and is responsible for the results of mission." - Myers
So maybe I need to write that quote by Myers on my wall and remember that it is true for missionaries overseas, engineers in the US, stay-at-home moms, ... basically it is true in for every calling and vocation.
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Since I am letting your all get a glimpse of my thoughts anyway, I must say that sometimes I hesitate write my thoughts on the things I am learning and reading on economics of development and theology of poverty, because I fear being judged. I guess I still feel a little like an imposter as a missionary, like someone is going to realize that they let a chemical engineer slip in with all the real missionaries that went to seminary or at least have degree in appropriate technology. And those thoughts take me right back to the Myers quote.
"The Holy Spirit empowers us for mission, leads us into mission, and is responsible for the results of mission." - Myers
So I will end with this, you don't have to have everything all figured and your life all cleaned up to take a step of faith accept Jesus as your Savior, and you don't have to have everything all figured out and have dealt with all sin in your life to follow Jesus if he calls you to mission. God is in the business of restoring broken things and that is good news for you, for me, for churches, universities, nations, the earth, basically it is just universally good news.
3 comments:
Amen. God bless you.
i have this book on my shelf, i meant to read it while i was at the church but never got around to it. i've heard it reads like a text book, but i'm glad to read your review. maybe i'll dust it off after all :)
It does sort of read like a text book, which is part of the reason I got more out of it the second time around. It is worth reading though, even if you skim the dense parts. :) I recommend highlighting as you go if you have the time to treat it more like academic reading.
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