Holistic Mission

I think Holistic Mission is something we don't talk about - ever - and we should - always. Here is a thought by Rene Padilla

I believe that with regard to the great tensions between the vertical interpretation of the Gospel as essentially concerned with God's saving action in the life of individuals, and the horizontal interpretation of it as mainly concerned with human relationships in the world, we must get out of that rather primitive oscillating movement of going from one extreme to the other, which is not worthy of a movement which by its nature seeks to embrace the truth of the Gospel in its fullness. A Christianity which has lost its vertical dimension has lost its salt and is not only insipid in itself, but useless for the world. But a Christianity which would use the vertical preoccupation as a means to escape from its responsibility for and in the common life of man is a denial of the incarnation, of God's love for the world manifested in Christ.

Blessings

a couple of quickie updates:
1. i am so blessed by the generosity of people. -
2. i have had fellow seminary students come up and give me checks and notes with encouraging words and promises of prayer for me while on my trip - this reminds me of what a crap i am(meaning i'm humbled) - i truly love God's people
3. I have also been handed encouragement and checks from a few people at church who briefly heard of my trip - one wanted to emphasize that i need not feel like i need to stay in PNG, very kind people indeed.
4. finally, i just bought my ticket to PNG for $990.00, i was originally hoping to purchase it for $2K, then last week a mission travel agency told me it would be $3K - that was discouraging, but this is encouraging. now all i need is shots and tickets on air new guinea from aus to png :)

thank you for your prayers,
stephan

vote

i just added this sidebar thing called skribit
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as an attempt to better communicate with you my reader.
the point is for you to tell me if this post was helpful (to you understanding the purpose of this blog and trip) and what other sort of information you might find missing :)

thanks,
stephan

Effective Engagement in Short-term Missions: Doing it Right!

I purchased 3 of these books, one for me, one for the mission board at CBC, and one for my alma mater - TTU.
It was put out by the Evangelical Missiological Society in 2008. Basically it occurred to someone that since 1.6 million people from the North America go on short term mission trips every year, we should determine whether or not they're worth while, and if we are doing them right. 1.6 million - that number kinda blew my mind, when i heard that i thought, maybe we should all stay home one year and end something big like HIV, hunger, ADD - anyway... i'll keep you posted on what i'm learning from the book, and how i intend to make the most of my trip.

Thanks for reading (both of you)

Stephan

Health Pre-requisites

I thought I'd tell you about some of the health stuff involved in going to PNG

(oral) Typhoid (booster every 5 years) This is an 8-day regimen of
pills
Hepatitis A Havrix--single injection, then a booster anytime between 6-12
months
Hepatitis B Engerix-- Primary series: 3 injections--one now, another in
one month, and another in 6-12 months (at least get the first two before
you go) Tetanus/Diptheria (booster every 10 years)
Polio (booster once after primary series)
Japanese Encephalitis --3 injections at 0, 7, & 30 days
Doxycycline 100 mg one daily for prophylaxis
The Ukarumpa handbook on how to treat malaria, which will be very helpful.

$ Update

I've raise $650 so far, only $3350 more to go!

Unexpected Gift

I was sitting in class today waiting for Old Testament History to start, when a girl whom I had seen before, but did not know, walked up and handed me an envelope and said blessings on your trip to PNG. I said thank you, and waited till she walked away to open it. Inside was a check and a note, saying, "blessings brother, as you go out in joy and may you be lead in peace."
I am humbled by her generosity. thank you Amy.

Community Development

I just signed up to audit a community development class this summer, it was recommended to me by the Dr Bruces.
I though I'd list some of the objectives, this course should enhance my experience and work in PNG
btw, the course is taught by Rhonda M. McEwen, Ph.D.
(click her name its a link to her linkedin status pg)
she works in Chatt town, fun:)

Cognitive Objectives
1. Articulated biblical foundations for development, incorporated key ideas from the readings with
personal insights, and synthesized these in their own understanding of development from a
Christian perspective.
2. Examined essential skills of a Christian development practitioner and some key tools for practice.
3. Identified principles for effective Christian community development drawn from case studies, core
text and articles, and supplementary readings.

presenting in revelations

Today Mike Messerli let me speak for a few minutes in class explaining what I'm going to PNG, I had a quote I wanted to give before I left, but I forgot. "Our job is to sit at Jesus feet, and go tell others what we saw." - Elizabeth Inrig
Dr. Inrig spoke in chapel today, and that was her parting comment, I thought it was appropriate.

Alamblak New Testament and Wiki

I thought I might show you some of the work that has already been done among the Alamblak people. here are two pics of a NT that the Bruces translated for them like 20 or so years ago.




i thought the sparseness of this wiki entry was humorous
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alamblak_language

Who I'm Goin' With

I thought I might introduce you to the two folks I get to go to PNG with.
They are currently my prof.'s in my Intercultural Communications class.
There area of expertise is linguistics and anthropology especially as it applies to missions, as i said in earlier posts, I will be doing lots of observing from these two and others.



Kathy Bruce has served with Wycliffe Bible Translators since 1967. Her roles with Wycliffe have included Bible translation in Papua New Guinea (1971-84), International Training Consultant, and Instructor in Pre-Field and In-Service Training Courses. Since 1999, Dr. Bruce has also served as Associate Professor of Bible Translation with the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics (GIAL) in Dallas. Previous teaching roles include Associate Professor of Missions and Anthropology at Christian Heritage College in San Diego. Dr. Bruce has as Master of Arts in Social Science from Azusa Pacific University and a Doctor of Missiology from Biola University. She and her husband, Les, live in Duncanville, Texas, and have three sons.

Doctorate of Missiology, 1992. Biola University; M.A. in Social Science, Human Resource Leadership, 1986. Azusa University; B.A. in Biblical Education, 1966. Columbia Bible College, Summer Institutes of Linguistics, University of Oklahoma, 1966-67. Various courses, no degree, 1965. Virginia Polytechnic Institute; Canberra (Australia) Teacher Training College; Jerusalem (Israel) University College

and the second person is...


Since 2000, Les Bruce has served as Associate Professor in Applied Linguistics at the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics (GIAL) in Dallas. Dr. Bruce began his career as a field linguist and Bible translator with the Alamblak people of Papua New Guinea. He has extensive experience as a linguistics professor, including Associate Professor at Biola University (1985-1988), and visiting and adjunct teaching positions at institutions of higher education in Hong Kong, the Philippines, and the South Pacific. Dr. Bruce has as Master of Arts in Biblical Education from Columbia Bible College–School of World Missions and a Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics from The Australian National University. He and his wife, Kathy, live in Duncanville, Texas, and have three sons.

B.A., John Brown University, 1967; M.A., Columbia Bible College, 1968; Ph.D., The Australian National University, 1979

PNG are ya' wit me?

Hello prayers and check-writers,


I blog to inform, hopefully answer questions, and communicate in general. (PNG = Papua New Guinea)

I'll be posting my support letter up her soon-ish, but I aim to be handing them out personally.

The short version of my trip to PNG is basically observation and information. The information gathered will be for the purpose of determining if I actually do want to spend a portion of my life as a missionary among tribes, and to find out if there is a specific task for me among the Alamblak people. The observation part of the trip will be in the way of learning about anthropology, linguistics, and missions as they work "marital polygamy."

I'll be flying out of DFW (July21) to LAX to Sydey to Port Moresby to Wewak, and then from their flying in small prop planes and canoeing to different villages in PNG.

again, your prayers are much appreciated,

Stephan