Contextualized Discipleship

Today is a buzz-day at Emmaus!  Last night, Dr. Phil Thorton and Dr. Charles Lake arrived to spend 48 hours at Emmaus.

If you've never heard of either of these men, you can read a bit about Dr. Lake here and here and learn a few things about Dr. Thorton here and here.

Even more interesting than their past experiences and current passions (at least to me) is that Dr. Phil Thorton was our professor when we were students at Asbury, and as I pursued a minor in foreign missions, I took every class Dr. Thorton offered.  Listening to him teach again this morning, this time with our students as his students, was just really an awesome experience.  

All the "bones" and hypothetical examples he laid out for four years in the classroom now has skin in our lives, and we are able to share it with our professor!

So here's what it's all about.  Dr. Thorton and Dr. Lake are teaching church leaders in various oral cultures (cultures dominated by illiteracy) to be more effective in their communication of the Gospel by using culturally appropriate methods instead of trying to teach it in a Western way (as many missionaries and ministries have naturally taught it to be done over the past 200 years).     

To show what he was talking about, Dr. Thorton used popular Haitian proverbs, which are well-known and carry the same cultural interpretation, and asked students to think of Biblical parallels that could be taught by these proverbs.

The students also learned how to take cultural stories that everyone knows, many of which would be considered Voodoo myths, and identify principles in these stories that have Biblical parallels.  Thorton taught that it is best to start with that which is already known before moving into teaching the unknown, and how to do it in a culturally appropriate and Biblically sound way.  

We all talked about myths, about proverbs, about songs and dramas and how to use these cultural norms to share and teach the Gospel better.  The students loved it, the staff loved it, Dr. Thorton had a blast...It's been a GREAT conference so far.  

 For example, at one point, Dr. Thorton asked someone to read the wedding at Canaan from the French Bible.  Before the store was really underway, some of the guys were dozing (this would be the normal way the story would be shared in most churches.

 Then, Dr. Thorton asked a student to stand up and tell the story of the wedding at Canaan.  There was more interest.  Finally, several of the students were asked to perform the wedding, and everyone was on the edges of their seats, involved and interested.  There might be more effective ways to communicate the Scriptures in this culture than reading It!

The whole conference, so far, has been incredibly practical and exciting, and EBS was blessed to also be joined by a group of leaders/pastors from Gonaives who are also interested in teaching the Gospel in a more effective way.

With the final two days of intensive courses sandwiched in the middle of sessions, there is a lot of great, practical and transforming material being given to Christian leaders at Emmaus today!

We are incredibly grateful to have Dr. Thorton and Dr. Lake here, and for the Jesus that is easy to see in these humble, joyful men (let's face it, humility is a wildly popular attribute in a friend of any culture!)  Also continue to be so blessed to have Pastors Jerry Poff and Tom Black, and handy man Troy with us for just a few more days!

for His glory!

another miracle

Yesterday morning was not a high place. I'd been sick all weekend. I was exhausted Monday morning, and Lily woke up early, I fell back to sleep eventually, and slept through to 6:30, missing the large majority of my time with the Lord. Out of grouchiness and selfishness and a lasting tiff from the night before, I immediately spat out at Matt for not having woken me, and for therefore causing my lack of time with the Lord.

"But wait, what is for breakfast? The guys are coming in 20 minutes!" Matt said as I huffed into the guest bedroom with my Bible.

"GIVE ME FIFTEEN MINUTES WITH THE LORD!" I literally roared by now, livid, mostly with myself and totally overwhelmed by the upcoming day and week, and shut the door behind me, sinking to the floor.

I KNEW I was completely and totally in the wrong state of mind, with the wrong heart and had treated Matt entirely wrong...my heart was full of grouchiness and busyness and I could even taste the bitterness in my mouth. And I knew I couldn't even begin to handle the week ahead, much less the morning ahead. What I didn't know was how in the world I could compose myself, have a new heart, a new mind, a new spirit, in fifteen minutes.

"LORD," I literally wailed, "I don't know how. I don't know how you possibly could, but MEET me. Give me a new spirit, somehow, in fifteen minutes! PLEASE!"

Immediately, He gently led my mind to some evangelism I had been doing in Sakenville the week before. At one particular house, I was overjoyed to find the group in the yard already talking about some people who had been spared in Port-au-Prince.

It was a rather rough group of men, with one woman and several children. Yet my heart celebrated when I heard one man say, "Wow, only God could do that! He can do what He wants. He is so powerful!" and then everyone in the yard celebrated and agreed heartily.

"Yes, Praise the Lord!" I said, realizing I wouldn't need to discuss the Gospel message here. "So you are all Christians, then, huh? Christ-followers?"

"Oh, No!" the group quickly replied. "No, no. We're not Christians."

"Ooookkk, so, you know He is God, and you believe that, and you know that He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins?"

"Oh, yes, yes. We know."

"Buuuuutttt, you're not Christians?"

"Right."

"Well, do you WANT to be Christ-followers, since He is powerful, and does that which only HE can do?"

Everyone looked at each other quite openly and the oldest man said, quite friendly, "No thanks."

"WHY?" I asked, befuddled, thinking of the verse Romans 10:9 that says "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

"Because we don't want Him to be our LORD, you know? We don't want to follow any rules or anything, don't want to change stuff, you know."

As I sat there in the guest room, thinking about this experience He had brought so clearly to my mind, He spoke SO clearly in the stillness of my heart.

Stacey, the log in your own eye! You couldn't understand how they could declare Me, but not WANT me. They wanted My power, but not My desires, not My heart.

But YOU say that I AM your Lord, that I AM in control of your life, your heart, your emotions, your speech... but LOOK!

You say I am your Lord, but you want to hold onto your anger, your emotions, your rights. You want to feel angry, want to act emotionally, want to blame others, want to come up with excuses, want what you want.

Do you want me enough to die to yourself and be filled with what I want for you?

Immediately, hot, humble tears came, and immediately, the bitterness and resentment and grouchiness and irritation and stress melted away. I left that room to start breakfast an entirely new woman. My tense shoulders and balled fists softened, and He replaced all the ugliness and selfishness of me with Himself.

In fifteen minutes.

I praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, that He is a God that communicates with us and changes us, as ONLY He can, if only we are anxious for it. What He did in that room and in my heart, I believe, was every bit the miracle He did for the man that lived 4 weeks under a building after the earthquake. What He wants to do in those men that declare Him is every bit a miracle.

He didn't just save us. Miracle over. He seeks to transform us, every moment...

Our speech, our emotions, our actions,

our time, our money, our habits,

our families, our thoughts, our jobs,

our conversations, our intentions, our daily living...

...whatever is in them that is of us, He's ready to replace, beautifully and to our great freedom.

Praise the Lord for His ever working hand.

***UPDATE: Emmaus Biblical Seminary starts classes again TOMORROW (we are SO excited to have the guys back!)

A prospective new Director for EBS is also coming tomorrow (again, really excited),

AND one of our students and one of our staff members left today for Diquini, the area of Port-au-Prince where Matt and two other staff members and a dozen students worked for 3 weeks, bringing by His grace over 600 to become Christ-followers. They will be working there until Friday to set up a plan, and Lord willing begin a 6 month period of church planting and leadership-raising (AHHHH! Excited).

Please be praying!!!, and please consider joining Emmaus Biblical Seminary in the training of Haitian pastors, evangelists, missionaries and Christian leaders to bring people in Haiti to Christ, and to disciple them strongly in the Word of God. We need your help to do this! Check out what you can do...