Book review: "The 3D Gospel" by Jayson Georges

Here it is: the single most important book I've read over the last 3 years. And if you know how much I read, that's saying something. I've been steadily preparing for my long-term ministry since 2015. This includes reading A LOT of books--some required by my agency, some required by my church, some recommended by other global workers, and some assigned as homework in various classes--but if there is one that revolutionized the way I approach ministry, it's "The 3D Gospel."

The reason I enjoyed this book so much was that it changed the narrative of salvation for me. Does that sound blasphemous? Let me explain. The narrative of salvation in the western church revolves around individual guilt: I am sinful and I will be found guilty by God at the Judgment Day. But Jesus intercedes for us and, because of His righteousness, we are found innocent. This resonates with us in the West because our culture operates under a guilt-redemption paradigm. But the differences between cultures are rooted down at the heart level; instead of guilt-redemption, most of the rest of the world operates under either the shame-honor or fear-power paradigm. This is to say, their greatest human need is not necessarily salvation from guilt, but rather, restoration of honor or freedom from fear. If this sounds intriguing, there is a whole website of resources dedicated to the subject: honorshame.com. There you can find the background of the author's anthropological research, the ebook, videos, sermons, and alternative ways to present the Gospel. Do yourself a favor and check it out!

Eighteen Inches

In the middle of the river, between Chimney Rock and Bat Cave, NC

Last weekend was awfully rainy in North Carolina, but at least it didn't snow! :) I took the opportunity to drive through the towns of Lake Lure, Chimney Rock, and Bat Cave, which were picturesque mountain towns, on my way to the movie theater in Hendersonville (approx. 1 hour 20 min drive).

Appreciating nature always reminds me of God's creativity, supremacy, and glory, especially in the mountains. It speaks something to my heart. No matter how many books I read, classes I take, or sermons I listen to, most of that (maybe 90%) only connects with my brain, but doesn't fill up the God-shaped hole in my heart (to borrow the phrase from C.S. Lewis). Once in a while, however, there is something that travels from my brain down the eighteen inches to my heart. In today's vernacular, I get all the feels. So I'd say that 80% of what we've been discussing and practicing here at CIT is hitting me in the heart-hole, in the feels.

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." -2 Corinthians 4:7 ...a picture of our treasures!

Here are other things that have finally traveled south eighteen inches and "sunk into" the heart-hole:

• God has adopted me as a favored child (1 Peter 1:1-5). I learned that after adopting a child, it is much more difficult to disown him/her than to disown your own flesh-and-blood child. This shows me that my relationship with my Father God is rock solid. 
• The protection of the Lord is multilayered, like a matryoshka doll--better known as Russian nesting dolls (above). Jesus said He is "in the Father," so the largest doll is the Father (John 10:38, 14:11), and the second is Jesus; He advised us to "abide in Him" (John 15:4-5), so we are the third doll, and He promised to send the Holy Spirit to reside in and empower us (John 14:16-17), so the little one is the Spirit that fills us up. What a powerful image! 

Found the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge, a worthwhile stop!

Now I'm on my way home to Chicago, and I look forward to connecting with those who are local before I go overseas! 

Pre-field Training at CIT

We have learned a lot in three full weeks at the Center for Intercultural Training (CIT)! It takes a lot of time to process everything, but I've been reviewing my top take-aways from the lessons. 

(Note: you'll notice that some friends' identities have been obscured for confidentiality reasons.)

1. Mindstyles: The Mindstyles website can explain better, but there are 4 different combinations of thinking patterns. I am Concrete Random. That means I am a risk-taker, competitor, independent problem-solver... and have a lot of fun :) It was interesting to learn about the differences between the styles and how to best work with people who are operating under each pattern.

2.  Contextualization: we learned that adopting the local customs/traditions of the culture helps us to speak to the hearts of the people. We should trust the Holy Spirit as He speaks through local believers, regarding which customs to keep and which to jettison. One of my favorite things about traveling is learning how and why people do the things they do, and I desire to see God's presence in each culture! One of the things I appreciated about the Pakistani women that we met at the Islamic Center of Asheville was their hospitality; they insisted that we share the delicious chicken-and-rice lunch they had prepared! 

My classmates and I with way too much food! :)

3. Confrontation: conflict is an opportunity to let God be glorified.

In case you don't believe me, the Chinese word for "conflict", seen above, includes the character for "opportunity"!

We have had some fun in our downtime, too... during our first weekend, several of us visited a church called Father's Vineyard, and were welcomed up front by the lead pastor (Pastor Terry). He invited the elders of the church to pray over us and the countries to which we are going--the 3 of us actually represented 3 different continents! The next weekend I made an excursion  into the nearby town of Black Mountain, which reminded me of downtown Geneva, IL, with tons of craftsy and antique stores and boutiques. It was gorgeous weather! Lots of people were out with families and dogs, which helped my puppy withdrawal :) Then it was Easter, and we held an egg hunt for the kiddos around the back lawn/playground. I kept my streak going... 31 years of participating in egg hunts! :)

This week we had a ladies' night (which was an act of faith, leaving all 11 kids with their dads...lol), so we went into the nearby town of Rutherfordton for Thai food and a CVS run. Yeah, I know, wild!!

Prayer Requests & Praises:
* I received my visa for Niger! Woohoo!
* A spot opened up for me to take the Trauma Healing workshop at the end of April, woohoo! Please pray that I can book tickets and reserve lodging ASAP.
* Stormy is having a rough time at home and I still have 1 more week at CIT... Pray for him & my parents to persevere without me...
* In addition to learning more about cross-cultural ministry and team dynamics, part of CIT is self-study. Please pray for my spiritual and emotional growth.
* I'm thankful for additional supporters that have joined my team in the past month!! I only need about $190/month (or another $7000) to be fully supported!!