"So You're Called to Missions?" The Heart of a Servant

 A Christian Missionary:  A Disciple sent into an area to perform ministries of service or MEET A NEED.

To advocate or promote the Kingdom of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ by meeting the practical needs of a different culture or people group, then your own.

For me, this photo - based on the story of the woman (who was a sinner) in Luke chapter 7, is a perfect picture of what it is to have the heart of a servant. A heart that is completely sold-out to Him in reverential awe and thanksgiving, worship, surrender and service. Total abandon of the old (sinful bondage) to the new (forgiven and free to serve).

LUKE 7: ³⁷ And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, ³⁸ and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.

Genevieve's Version: In essence I can hear her saying,

"Because of You, and Your intense love for me, I will never be the same again. Here I am, at Your service. You have done so much for me, if I worshipped You for the rest of my life, it could never be enough. What can I do for You? If it's important to You, it's important to me. If it grieves You, it grieves me. You are my God and I am Yours. I surrender all".

 Jesus said to the Pharisees and religious people in the room:

⁴⁴ “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. ⁴⁵ You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. ⁴⁶ You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. ⁴⁷ Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”

When you KNOW you have been forgiven of MUCH, you love (Jesus) MUCH! When you love Jesus MUCH, you begin to take on His characteristics and attributes.

...and we know Jesus was a SERVANT. and not just a servant, but also Highly exalted.

When we humble ourselves through His example, we live in a realm of resurrection power that cannot be found any other way.

Simply put, a Missionary is a SERVANT. A guest in a foreign land, whose focus is to Advance the Kingdom. One of the fastest and most effective ways to do that, is by doing it His way.

PHILIPPIANS 2:5 says:

⁵ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, ⁷ but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. ⁹ Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

1 Peter 5:6 Instructs us to "Humble (bring down one’s pride and opinion of ones self) ourselves under the mighty hand of God (the same hand that created the universe) that He may exalt you (lift up high, raise to dignity and honor) in due time (the right time, opportune season).

Jesus came in a manger, in meekness and humility and as a result He received unparalleled power, anointing and authority in the Spirit. There is power in HUMILITY.

Nowhere in scripture does it say that freedom means to be free to live for SELF!

Being a servant means to live for someone else, other than yourself.

When preparing for the Mission Field, my advice is: "Get yourself off your mind!"

There is a bigger picture at hand. Refocus yourself on the Vision that God has for the ministry you are involved in.

It's not about me or you, it's about making His Name great.

After all we are His Representatives...the called out ones'. We are the one He is depending on to carry out His hearts' desires in the earth.

No pressure! (sarcasm)

I Corinthians 9:19 Paul says: "For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself a servant (giving of self wholly to ones' needs and service) unto all, that I might gain the more (winning a hurting people, a dying generation over to the Kingdom of God)".

Preparation of the Heart

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,

as working for the Lord, not for men.” Colossians 3:23

     Ø  Lift up Jesus Christ with your thoughts, words, and actions

Ø  Develop and maintain a servant’s attitude.

Ø  Pray for and support your leadership and their decisions.

Ø  Attitude check! Be positive and encouraging.

Ø  Remember what you learned as a child, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”

Ø  MUY IMPORTANTE! Be a team player, not a gossiper.

Ø  Remember the missionary job is to learn and serve, not to lecture and direct.

Ø  Be open to different perspectives and ways of doing things.

Ø  Remember you are a guest in a different culture. Enjoy it and learn.

 

MAKING IT PRACTICAL!

(for sure common sense, but it's amazing how easy it is to forget in the midst of PRESSURE)

1.      Ability to Follow Instruction: and take direction in accordance with policy, regulation or case by case situation.

2.      Patience: and ability to work in very high stress and intense environment.

3.      Stress Management: The ability to keep functioning effectively when under pressure and maintain self-control in the face of hostility or provocation.

4.    Flexibility:  and willingness to adapt to constant change. Openness to different and new ways of doing things; willingness to modify one’s preferred way of doing things.

5.      Focused: individual must be devoted to the work at hand. (Again it is a Calling and not employment)

6.    Spiritual Fortitude: every missionary should have the mentality that Christ - His Word and His ways of doing things are at the center and core of who they are, who they strive to become and who they strive to please.

Much Love and Many Blessings to All!

"So, You're Called to Missions?"

Right around 15 years ago now I experienced a radical encounter with God. I don’t know any other way to describe it but to liken it to Paul on the road to Damascus. (Hope that doesn’t offend anyone?).

It was as if the Power of God literally fell upon my life so suddenly and so forcefully that even my own free will was overridden as I stood under the conviction and mercy and forgiveness of a Living God. I knew at that moment in time that the rest of my life here on earth, would be taking a completely different course.

My life to that point consisted of hopelessness, despair, drugs, alcohol, addiction, rejection and abandonment, abuse, failure and worthlessness just to name a few.

II Timothy 1:9 says that we have not only been saved, but that we have also been called.  
“who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began”.

I began to understand that even before time began God knew that I would be saved (rescued, delivered, healed; made whole) and He knew the call (to Name and give an attribute or assign a quality to).

Only 3 years after my life-changing encounter with God and as much teaching, training, Word and Praise that I could fit in, I knew without a doubt that God had called me out of one place, and into another.
I didn’t have a vocabulary for it then, and I certainly would have never considered ‘missionary’ to describe Gods’ call on my life, but come to find out it was/is the assignment on my life.


Here is a definition.
A Christian Missionary is a Disciple sent into an area to perform ministries of service or MEET A NEED. To advocate or promote the Kingdom of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ by meeting the practical needs of a different culture or people group.

At the most basic level, a missionary is someone who has been sent. That’s what the word “mission” entails. It may not appear in your English Bibles, but it’s still a biblical word. Eckhard Schnabel—one of the world’s leading experts on mission in the New Testament— makes this point forcefully.

The argument that the word mission does not occur in the New Testament is incorrect. The Latin verb mittere corresponds to the Greek verb apostellein, which occurs 136 times in the New Testament (97 times in the Gospels, used both for Jesus having been “sent” by God and for the Twelve being “sent” by Jesus). (Paul the Missionary, 27-28)

The apostles, in the broadest sense of the term, were those who had been sent out. Linguistically, this sent-outness is also the first thing we should note relative to the term missionary. It is, after all, the first thing Jesus notes about his mission–that he was sent to proclaim a message of good news to the poor (Luke 4:18). Being “on mission” or engaging in mission work suggests intentionality and movement (Paul the Missionary, 22, 27). Missionaries are those who have been sent from one place that they might go somewhere else.

Every Christian–if we are going to be obedient to the Great Commission–must be involved in missions, but not every Christian is a missionary.

When most people think of Mission work they automatically think of international or even 3rd World Countries, etc.

But here in the U.S., right in our back yard is a mission field.

The purpose of this Blog and several to follow is to educate on the subject of Missionary and being sent into the "Native American Mission Field", and what it looks like to PREPARE YOURSELF for it.

For Non-Natives in particular, to be in Native American Ministry means to be called to a different place, a different culture and nation.

HISTORICAL: The story of the Native American people is complicated and marked by significant trauma and atrocities which resulted in the largest genocide of the 19th Century. Efforts to assimilate Indians into mainstream American society often involved the removal of native children from their homes on tribal land and sending them to religious and BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) boarding schools. Fueled by Richard Henry Pratt’s belief that Indians could be civilized through total immersion, these schools prohibited children from speaking their language, following their cultural practices, or spiritual beliefs. What happened to these young vulnerable children in many of these schools resulted in overwhelming, long-standing effects of trauma and unresolved grief. These traumas which interrupted the ability to parent, has led to most of the current social problems which plague Indian communities today.

GENERATIONAL: To grow up as a young Native American in the world today is very different than in most other cultures and people groups.  The generational cycles of affliction and hardship make it much more difficult.

STATISTICALLY:
Child Abuse and Neglect: A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds and more than five children die every day as a result (NCAS)
Alcohol Abuse: Alcohol abuse in the Native American community is epidemic and the leading cause of death of the tribal youth more than any other drug. (The Indian Reporter)
Domestic Violence: Three-fourths of Native American women have experienced some type of sexual assault in their lives (American Indian Women’s Chemical Health Project)
Child Sexual Abuse: One of the most destructive problems affecting children in Indian Country today is sexual abuse. Life for Young Natives Today
Poverty, Suicide, Hopelessness and Despair.
.......the list goes on and on, and to be honest most of these statistics describe my own personal life before Christ....BUT GOD.



Especially for those of you who feel the Calling of God for this type of ministry the next several blogs I want to look at the following pertinent topics:

• Spiritual Warfare
• Cultural Sensitivity
• Servants' Heart
• Walking in the Spirit vs. the Flesh
• The Condition of the Heart
• Community Living

Also maybe some real life examples from some of the best Missionaries that I know:).

In Him and with much love...........Bless YOU

Raising Awareness: Pine Ridge, South Dakota. ROMANS 10:13-17

Romans 10:13 "For whoever calls upon the Name of the Lord, in prayer, shall be saved (to keep safe and sound, rescued from danger or destruction)".

I LOVE Romans 10:13-17 OUT OF THE MESSAGE VERSION

 “Everyone who calls, ‘Help, God!’ gets help.”

^14-17 But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it? That’s why Scripture exclaims,
A sight to take your breath away! Grand processions of people telling all the good things of God!
But not everybody is ready for this, ready to see and hear and act. Isaiah asked what we all ask at one time or another: “Does anyone care, God? Is anyone listening and believing a word of it?” The point is: Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ’s Word is preached, there’s nothing to listen to."

For those of you who don't know, I am originally from South Dakota.
My heart has been seriously broken for Native American Youth. In South Dakota and throughout the U.S.
One day my dream is to be able to be a 'sent one' to make an impact in this region and the Youth. Until then I am plugging away here in Arizona. Many of the same heart wrenching statistics. THERE IS HOPE ON THE HORIZON FOR NATIVE AMERICAN YOUTH AND I WILL BE POSTING ABOUT IT AS SOON AS INFORMATION COMES AVAILABLE.

For public awareness purposes I am posting the following. It is an original writing by Cecily Hilleary, originally posted on Sept 08, 2015.
 


Battling Youth Suicide on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

September 08, 2015

• BY: Cecily Hilleary

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Mourners attend the burial of a 19-year-old Oglala Lakota girl on Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota, Aug. 17, 2015. (Photo courtesy of Keith Janis)

Native Americans have always had a higher suicide rate than non-natives in the U.S., and the number is rising, especially on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, home of the Oglala Lakota people.
This year alone, more than 100 Pine Ridge youths between the ages of 9 and 24 attempted suicide. At least 19 succeeded, said Keith Janis, a Lakota environmental and political activist whose ancestor rode with the legendary 19th Century Lakota warrior, Crazy Horse.
What drives these children to their own death?
“I think that the number one reason is the extreme poverty and culture of violence that the federal government instituted here, through all the years of oppression and forced assimilation into non-Native culture. Basically just putting us into reservations which make us invisible,” Janis said.
Last February, Janis’s own granddaughter Santana, age 12, hanged herself in a building adjacent to her house.
“It was a horrible, horrible experience,” he said, his voice breaking.
Janis set up a private Facebook group called “Santana House” to function as a virtual suicide response network. He carefully monitors Facebook accounts belonging to Pine Ridge youth, looking for signs of trouble. One suicide, researchers say, can actually prompt others to try to kill themselves, especially where there is sensational media coverage.

Santana Marie Janis, 12, at Pine Ridge Reservation, S.D. Courtesy/Keith Janis.

“We see Lakota children really grieving their friends who have killed themselves,” he said. “They will post suicidal thoughts like, ‘See you soon,’ or ‘I’m right behind you.”
When he sees such comments, he alerts adult members of the group whom he calls ‘God’s Angels.' They step in to offer the child messages of hope, love and support.
One day, he hopes to build a real building to shelter Pine Ridge youth at risk.

Life on the ‘Rez’
Pine Ridge is in Shannon County, South Dakota, a hundred miles away from the nearest town, Rapid City, S.D. -- unless you count Whiteclay, Nebraska, population 14, sitting just a few hundred feet over the border from the reservation. Whiteclay’s sole economy depends on selling beer to Pine Ridge residents – to the tune of 4.5 million cans a year.
Forty thousand people live on Pine Ridge, though only a portion of them are actually counted in the official census. That’s because it’s hard to count the homeless or those who live off marked roads.
There’s no industry or commerce on the reservation, which accounts for its 80-90 percent unemployment rate and an average per capita income of $3,000 a year.
“Some people say it’s like a third world country,” said Janis. “I actually think the more correct term would be ‘fourth world,’ because at least the third world nations have other governments and other non-governmental organizations really reaching out to uplift those countries and spawn development.”
Life expectancy on Pine Ridge is the second lowest in the Western Hemisphere. Infant mortality is 300 percent higher than elsewhere in the U.S. The majority of Lakota struggle with alcoholism. More than half of all adults on Pine Ridge suffer from diabetes and related illness.
Housing is inadequate on Pine Ridge, often lacking basics like electricity, heat or running water. It’s not unusual to see more than two dozen people living in a three-bedroom house, said Janis.

No place to go
About 30 percent of Pine Ridge residents are homeless. Many of them are children.

FILE - A young Lakota girl rides her bike on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Jan. 10, 2006. At least 60 percent of Pine Ridge homes are substandard, lacking electricity, running water or sewage systems.

Pauletta Red Willow runs the Oglala Sioux Tribe Emergency Youth Shelter at Pine Ridge, an eight-bed facility that can provide up to 60 days shelter for youth between the ages of 12 and 17.
“The youth that come to our program here suffer from a variety of problems,” Red Willow said. “We deal with sexual abuse, sexual assault, physical abuse, neglect, domestic violence. We have a lot of post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse and other mental health issues. And we just don’t have the resources to handle them.”
The shelter relies predominantly on federal funds, which are administered by the state of South Dakota.
“The state gets a block grant from the Feds of $92.10 per child per day,” said Red Willow. “And by the time it filters to us, it’s $27.50 a day to provide shelter, care, food, utilities to eight children.”
After 60 days, residents must leave the shelter. Those that can’t find housing may end up in juvenile detention facilities.
Broken promises
The Lakota tribe is one of several known collectively by the name "Sioux." The Oglala of Pine Ridge are a sub-tribe who, by the mid-19^th century, controlled a large swath of the Great Plains around the Black Hills.
As settlers moved further westward during the 1800s, the U.S. government negotiated a variety of treaties by which the Lakota agreed to confine themselves to Pine Ridge in exchange for rationed goods and services -- food, clothing, tools.
“Among other things, those treaties and promises said, ‘We will provide for your health care. We will provide for law enforcement, shelter, education and other services,’” said Byron Dorgan, a former U.S. senator from North Dakota who once chaired the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. “But the fact is, we just haven’t done it.”

Location of Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota, U.S.

"For we walk by faith, not by sight" II Corinthians 5:7

II Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight”.

These words certainly ring true around here. God is constantly on the move.

Our prayer now more than ever has been “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”. We sincerely desire to see God establish His plans for these children, His blueprints through this ministry. We are seeking Him to find out what He wants and then our job is to agree with Him. So many times man makes plans and then let God in on it so that He can ‘bless’ it.

Scripture is full of Gods heart, His Kingdom view on the fatherless, the orphan, the needy and impoverished. Psalm 68:5 “A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation”.
Psalm 140:12 “I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the poor”.

When His Kingdom is invited in and He invades the earth it requires a response. It looks us square in the eyes and says “What are you going to do about it?”
This is a far-cry from a distant, careless, uninvolved God of religion. We serve a God who responds. He is near, close and moved to assist the cause of the afflicted, with loving and capable arms, legs, feet, etc.
Guess who those limbs are? The Body of Christ. You. Me.

If there is anything evident about this great ministry it is the love and compassionate heart of God towards these amazing children.
Would you prayerfully consider how you can come along side Gods Master Plan and see where you fit in? When you get involved with Gods desires, He will get involved in yours.
I pray the blessing of the Lord upon you as you genuinely reflect “What am Igoing to do about it?”                                                                          ~ NAOMI NEWS  ~
WE HAVE RUN OUT OF ROOM!
In the month of March NAOMI House was forced to turn away a total of 6 children needing placement, and 5 children in the month of April because of a lack of space.
We have been working on a Capital Fundraising Campaign to purchase the house next door. WE NEED A SUMMER INTERN!
This summer intern would be direct-care staff assistant for Jessica’s house full of boys! ADD US TO YOUR PRAYER GROUP!   
We believe in the power of prayer and are convinced that this is one of the most powerful ways to support our staff and children 

Ø  For everyone’s spiritual, emotional and physical well-being.

Ø  For Gods restoration and wholeness in every area of their shattered and broken lives.

Ø  For the children’s biological families’ – Lord, send laborers across their path that will minister to them in a way that they can understand and receive

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