New Venture

It has been a long time since I posted on this blog.  So much has changed since my last post! 

In April 2017 I moved to Asheville, North Carolina and am in the process of starting up a new venture.  I'm using my experience and study in short-term mission to launch a consultation business.  One of my very favorite things is meeting with people who are active in short-term mission and learning with them about mission. 

In my research, I learned that many United Methodist people who are active in short-term mission are not familiar with anything that is written on short-term mission.  It's hymns and scripture that form the foundation of their motivation to be active in the mission of the church.  And they are hungry for more reflection on understanding God, the work of the Spirit, and how to be more faithful in their mission practices. 

So I've launched Sister of Hope Ministries.  I'm currently blogging at sisterofhope.org and my website sisterofhopeministries.org will go live in a few weeks.  I'm really excited about this new ministry!

There are so many moving pieces - all at once, and I am not familiar with most of them.  I'm learning a lot, very quickly.  All the while, I'm staying open to the leading of the Spirit, and giving thanks for the many talented people who are helping me in this venture.

So come on over to sisterofhope.org and check things out!  This blog will stay mostly quiet, with a few posts with recipes from my grandmother, as my daughters request them. 

November 9, 2007

About six weeks ago I blogged about dreams, being called, and prayer. In between then and now, I spent a lot of time thinking about prayer and mission - and Africa too. It's not exactly clear how things will work out, but persistence in prayer is really helping. I feel more confident about studying mission. The church needs to know why we do mission work and how that impacts our spiritual life. We do a pretty good job of the logistics of mission work, but for our short term mission teams and our local missions folks - do we think about the spirituality of that much?

The United Methodist Church in several states is measuring effective congregations on several measures, one of which is how many people are participating in hands-on mission - not just giving money, but giving of yourself in mission. Local work such as food pantries, Habitat for Humanity projects, shelters, or working on homes around the church. Regional work such as work projects for hurricane recovery or in places like Red Bird Missionary Conference or Four Corners. And global missions by participating in mission teams to other countries.

I believe that if we want our church members to grow in their discipleship by participating in mission, we must attend to the spirituality aspect of missions just as much (if not more) than the logistics of mission. Simply asking someone to attend a mission team isn't enough. Leaving their spiritual development to work and worship at the work site is not enough. There must be prayer, theological reflection, and discussion about the disparities we discover when we step outside our life and our routines, our comfort zone. As a pastor, I believe it is irresponsible to ignore these issues. And as a pastor, I know that the average pastor simply does not have the time to address this issue in the depth that it deserves.

Perhaps that's the answer to my prayer and the path that I'm to walk on in my studies. I pray that the church will use me for God's glory and to help others grow closer to God through their mission service.