The Purpose of Imagine

I recently posted a question on Facebook that generated many responses, "What is the purpose of your life?"  This is a serious question which can produce long answers, or simply honest 'I don't know's'.  It's a challenging question which compels me to ask it again of myself, and of Imagine.  While my life's response may focus more on the journey, the question posed to the ministry leads me to focus on desired outcomes.

SO what is the purpose of the Imagine Network?  What do I hope to see accomplished?  In no particular order, I believe Imagine can:

• Build bridges of partnership between local churches and God's global mission movement. 
• Specific Goals:  10 churches newly engaged by the end of 2010; 20 churches by the end of 2011.

•  Be a rallying point for the unity of the world-wide Body of Christ. 
• Specific Goals:  12 global partnerships by the end of 2010; 24 by the end of 2011, including at least one in each strategic region of East Africa, Middle East, Central Asia, Europe, China, India, SE Asia, North America, Central America, South America, West Africa, and North Africa.  These partnerships will be based on common goals and vision - namely to be tools for the Spirit of God to bring holistic transformation to their communities and nations.

• Catalyze awareness and opportunity that results in a greater number of Christians being mobilized to serve in global missions - part-time and full-time - using their skills, talents, and every day experiences.  
• Specific goals:  To mobilize people from 8 different domains into short-term mission opportunities over the next 12 months, from the areas of Education, Health, Business, Agriculture, Social Services, Science & Technology, the Arts, & Sports, in addition to church-based ministries.  We desire to see 200 proffessionals serve short-term in 2010-2011, using their gifts and practical experiences on the global stage, and I believe we can see 3 churches begin to send their own long-term mission teams by the start of 2012.
• Specific related goal:  To facilitate the mobilization of 100 Latinos, Africans, Asians, and others from the emerging "majority world" church as front-line missionaries in the hardest places remaining.  I believe God has raised them up for such a time as this and it is our role to help them GO.  Imagine could be one of the first truly Global mobilization agencies by focusing mission movements with Internationals and not just North Americans.   

• Through these global partnerships, create change that will endure and see the "tide turned" against the global giant challenges of: 
• HIV/AIDS - infection rates reduced to a mimimum;
• Child-Orphans - rescued into homes and discipled into future leaders; 
• Endemic poverty - solutions created and sustained through creative use of local resources; 
• Islamization of the globe - training effective and genuine Christians to share the liberating message of the love of Christ for all people;
• Unengaged people groups - targeting efforts to plant churches in places where no church exists using a wide range of creative entry points such as clean water projects, health development, etc.  

We'd love to have a team of 50 prayer-partners and 50 regular financial contributors to launch Imagine to the place it can be.  For two and a half years we had no overhead costs so 100% of funds raised went to our projects.  Even though we now have personnel, we still aim for 90% and above to go towards projects and partnerships. 

Well, those are some of our aspirations.  So much can happen if we can build our organizational and spiritual structures on a solid foundation.  Imagine ... the global church united, changing the world.

Will you join us?



 

The world in a day

I've experienced a lot in the last 24 hours.

But first, thank you for joining me in this season of transition. I know one or two of you are writers, and I am getting my ideas concretized for starting a mini-book, so any feedback or suggestions are most welcome!

Today was interesting. I am ending the day in a retreat center somewhere north of Atlanta (Georgia that is - not everything is in Texas guys). I am here for a week-long training on reaching Muslims. Plain and simple, this is the greatest Battle of our Age. We see it in the news daily in the form of fundamentalist Islam causing havoc and "peaceful" Islam making plans to build Mosques all over the US, including "Ground Zero". Yet what is underneath all this turmoil? Did 9-11 just happen out of thin air? Or is ALL of this a reflection of what is really going on beneath the surface of humanity - that cosmic battle of sin and self vs. Spirit and surrender?

Getting here was a microcosm of my current life. I don't have a "former life", but I think you know what I mean. I woke up and had a couple of hours with the family while checking on a wire we have scheduled to be sent to Kenya. Then hopped on a plane in McAllen and happened to see Phillip Askey, from Casa Hogar de la Montana children's home in Saltillo, Mexico, on the same flight. We caught up and I realized, "Hm, I've been meaning to contact him to see if Imagine can serve them in their mission. Thank you Lord for arranging it!"

Then in Dallas I had a long-enough lay over that I pre-arranged a meeting with a man named Kyle who works in Central Asia but happens to be in Dallas for the weekend. They minister to children with disabilities and their families and have remarkable doors opened to them in the country where they serve. But they need partners! They have a contract with the National Hospital to arrange surgeries for special-needs children. They have a fantastic vision to help restore families instead of perpetuating the abandonment of children who are not born "perfect". And they are modeling this with their own family of 8! I was encouraged by Kyle, who confessed he's come to the States "empty" in many ways, and I was challenged at the same time to work harder at building bridges of partnership that can help fulfill their visions. The potential impact on that nation is limitless... but where are the parts of the Body that are needed there? Who wants K-Stan????

Then I arrived in Atlanta, after some eye-opening reading on Cross-Cultural Partnerships on the plane. Even though I have "done it" for many years, with some level of success, I realized I still have SO MUCH to learn about the beautiful diversity of the cultures of earth and how it requires a special skill to know how to maneuver relationships across these cultures!

In Atlanta I was met by the Crescent Project staff, who asked me "what do you do?" I hate that question right now, (bleeding-heart missionary response is just not my natural thing) but to be honest, each time it is asked helps me to focus. So in short I said, "I'm a freelance Mobilizer" and lo and behold, they understood what I meant! Not only so, but they even went further and said we should explore working together Mobilizing churches in Texas to engage the Muslim world....

So, I am here for a week to learn. I am sure I will be bringing teams here in the future to also learn and prepare to engage in the battle of our age.

Just yesterday I was speaking to college students in the Valley serving one a three week mission. We hit on the amazing thought together that God invites us to live in His purposes, in His story, even though we all have the freedom to choose to write our own. Coming to this training makes me ask, "Am I relevant?" Because the answer lies in one simple reflection: "Am I living for God's purposes or for my own? Am I living missionally or am I simply existing for self-preservation?"

One story will endure. All others will be forgotten. And God is inviting us NOW to engage in His story, to be part of His work in redeeming the nations of the earth. What are we waiting for?!

I've experienced a glimpse of God's perspective on the world in a day. I'll let you know what else I learn this week!

Riding a Wave

I don't swim, so I don't ride waves although I admit I am envious of those who do. Yet the metaphor of the Spirit of God moving like a wave draws me in and causes only one reaction within me: I want to be on it! I know I can't swim in it, control it, steer or maneuver it, and that is 100% alright! All I can do is ride it, and the out-of-control sense that comes with it is simply something you have to be willing to trade in for.

That's how I've felt, out-of-control, and it has not been very pleasant. But today I am reminded that I'm riding a wave, and I'm fairly certain it's a Spirit-generated wave. What is it?

Can you think of the answer to this question: What do Kenya, Nigeria, Mexico, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, South Korea, and China have in common? Probably not a lot of things, but most likely more than one. Can you think of one?

Regardless of what you came up with, I can bet it wasn't this: People from those nations of the world are answering the call to become the Next Wave of cross-cultural world-changers. That's right, nations who are typically considered "recipients" of God's global mission are clearly and confidently and with no lack of abandon jumping into the movement of God and declaring themselves wave-runners, surfers who ride the wave of God's Spirit as He continues to bring His purposes for the world to His grand conclusion.

What's just as fascinating is that the wave is of the same Spirit as previous ones - most recent the wave North American Christians rode as the leading pioneer missionaries of the 19th century - but has unique specifications of its own. God's plan is so intricately marvelous that you can't predict His movement, you can only hope to stay close enough to His heart to catch it. And that's precisely what our brothers and sisters in these and many other nations have done: They have heard the voice of God, they have been captured by His heart, and they have embraced His mind (and global strategy) for making His glory fill the earth.

And wouldn't you know it, God doesn't just forget the former wave-runners, but He invites us to take up our role in this New Wave and eagerly hopes we say YES to His designs and desires for us! Our understanding of World Missions has been severely challenged and changed over the past 10 years. And instead of Kristi and I just being two more American missionaries out in the sea of global chaos, His wisdom has drawn us to a far better task than we could have imagined - of being servants and facilitators for the multitudes who will ride that wave and perhaps, just maybe, be that generation that sees the Great Commission to completion.

And if you're reading this, the best part is that you too have a chance to be part of this tidal movement. While the peoples of the world who once received the Gospel are now positioned to lead the Gospel movement of the century, they still need us! We are tasked with equipping, strengthening and encouraging their role on the global stage, like "Barnabases" who support the emergent "Paul's" who are about to revolutionize the world.

The world has changed, and God's purposes have anticipated every single move! He is calling His servants from all corners of the earth, and giving us a special role in the process. The Imagine Network will serve as fuel for the propulsion of this movement by serving the local church all over the world to be the instruments of global change. The Gospel will be planted afresh in old places, and anew in places long barren. And behind every Kenyan, Kyrgyz, and Korean who does this, there will be a wide cloud of cheering Western witnesses saying "Go ahead! We are with you heart and soul" (1 Samuel 14:7).

So, are you riding the Wave of God's story in the vast sea of His purposes for humanity? Or are you in a kiddie pool creating and riding your own waves as long as you can make them last?

Imagine ... changing the world.