Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Answers

You asked, I will answer.

Leah asks- Your all time favorite book?

I will exclude the Bible, and name one fiction and one non-fiction.

Fiction- East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Love love love this book. I've probably read it at least five times. Amazing storytelling, deep symbolism.

Non-fiction- Prayer- Finding the Heart's True Home by Richard Foster. Revitalized my prayer life, which changed so much about my ministry and relationship with God.

For a complete list of my all time favorites, check out the amazon widget in the left hand column.

Do you ever see yourself going back to Brazil in the future?

I would love to go back to visit, and think I will. But I don't have any plans or a strong desire to live there again. It would have to be a very unique and good situation for me to consider moving back (living, working, etc).

Holly asks, What is your favorite memory of living overseas?

This isn't a specific moment, but both in Japan and Brazil, the most precious memories are those with church members. It was amazing to me to witness how the Holy Spirit and bond of Christ can unify people despite culture, language, and experience. God is good!

Amanda asks, What is the biggest obstacle for church growth in Brazil?

Disclaimer that I'm giving my opinion from what I've seen, not necessarily in the places where I've lived, but in missions in general. It seems to me that a critical problem in missions (typical North Americans going elsewhere) is a dependence upon foreign leadership and money. Sometimes it's just a product of the system, in other cases it seems that some missionaries create that type of monopoly.

I would like to see more focus put on training native church members in leadership and letting them "own" and grow their churches. The mission churches I respect most and see as most healthy are those where the native church members are entrusted with responsibility and given freedom to lead.

If you could do absolutely any job, anywhere in the world, what would it be?

Hmm, I had to think about this one. First of all, I want to say how much I love my current job. And I'm not just flattering my bosses/co-workers who read the blog. :) I find myself often talking about how much I love what I do and the people I work with. I never imagined I could like a job as much as I like mine.

That said, call me a glutton for punishment but I still feel some draw to ministry. I'm not sure what that would look like, but some areas I have a great deal of interest in are hospital chaplaincy, counseling, writing, or academia.

Great questions! Sorry it took me so long to answer. I actually did this last week, but then blogger ate it. :(

One last chance- if you have questions, leave them in the comments and I'll answer with a quicker turnaround than this time. :)

3 comments:

Leah said...

Have you read "Travels with Charley?" We are reading it this month in the book club I am in, and it's great!

Amanda said...

At the risk of showing my ignorance, I have one more question. Remember I was MIA from blogworld for awhile and I haven't had time to go back and catch up, so... What exactly is this job that you love so much?

Rachel O said...

WHAT QUALITIES DO YOU DESIRE IN A HUSBAND?

I'm totally kidding.

What is the scariest thing you have ever done?