On the Road (or in the Air) Again

In just a few days, I'll be beginning the last major adventure of my Sabbatical -- a two-week teaching trip to Asia. I've been looking forward to this -- and holding on to some honest fears -- since the details were tentatively set last October. Incidentally, I was in Orlando, Florida, standing in line for the "Rockin' Roller Coaster" while carrying on the texting conversation that put these details in place. That seems so long ago!

Let me back up a bit, and put in a plug for an organization that I think is worthy of recognition. ITEM is International Theological Educational Ministries (You can learn more about them by visiting their website, www.item.org) and I have had the opportunity to serve with them for the past two years. I love what they are about, and I want to take a minute or two to explain what they do. ITEM partners with local pastors and other church leaders in developing countries around the world, to train and equip them for ministry in their local context. Essentially, this means working with seminaries and bible colleges to teach theological, pastoral, and preaching skills. Here is a link to a recent newsletter article  that I wrote, describing my most recent teaching experience, in March of 2017.

ITEM is working or starting to work in 10 countries and 3 continents -- Africa, Asia, and Europe. In these countries, pastors have often not had the opportunity to attend seminary, or to receive the theological education that is common in the west. This is due to a variety of factors, almost all of them beyond the control of the pastors themselves. In some cases, Pastors were serving behind the iron curtain, and could not attend seminary. In other cases, the financial hardship of attending seminary makes it virtually impossible. So, ITEM sends pastors and professors into the country, in order to help provide some of the training so that local pastors and leaders are better equipped to serve in their specific context. Going to the pastors is far more cost-efficient than trying to get the same number of pastors to come to a seminary for a similar education.

What I love about ITEM is that the focus is on the local church -- the sooner ITEM is no longer needed, the better! That is, we come alongside the local organizations and pastors work to train and equip them to serve in their particular context. I have enjoyed coming alongside these pastors, as I have as much to learn from them as they may have to learn from me.  Over the last two years, I've travelled to the beautiful country of Ukraine three times, and along with my good friend Bill, we have taught seminars in preaching. Since completing my doctoral degree in Preaching, I've been excited about the opportunity to teach these concepts to others.  What has been particularly exciting is watching the interest grow -- the first year, we had 20 or so pastors; the second time we went, working with the same groups, our numbers grew to 40 or so; when I was there in March of this year, we had around 60 pastors, elders, and church leaders. These ideas are catching on! As well, we get the chance to worship with local churches -- and this is always a highlight for me, sharing worship that reflects the multi-cultural nature of Christ's church.  Here's an example -- a (somewhat) familiar song, but sung in a way that is rich with the Ukrainian culture.

On Thursday, I'll be leaving for the city of Vijayawada, India, where we will spend a week teaching Christ-centered preaching from the Gospels to a group of Indian Pastors. After about a week there, we'll leave for Indonesia -- and after spending a couple of nights in Bali (hey, everyone needs a bit of R & R!) we'll travel to Kupang, Indonesia, and we'll do the same thing there. Indonesia is a newer field for ITEM, and so it will be exciting to see how they respond.

It'll be quite a trip! I'm estimating about 25,000 miles in the air, on 7 airlines, amounting to what I'm guessing will be over 100 hours in the airplane, plus time in 9 different airports. But I love to travel, I love to see new countries, and to observe and learn from new cultures, and discover how the church is growing and how God is working in the church in different countries. I'll be journaling along the way -- you can continue to follow along the way.  Meanwhile, Amy and the kids will be visiting family in Michigan -- this will be a great time for them to spend with grandma & grandpa, and Uncles and Aunts... They'll be back a few days before me -- and Amy will be blogging here too. So, you'll get two parallel adventures recorded on this blog!

Here is a link to a map that I'll try to update with each leg of the journey.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1yQ75HXCQ7568_UkkLgBcLl1eR50&usp=sharing

I'll share snippets and photos along the way -- so stay tuned; I'm looking forward to posting some details with each leg of the trip.