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    kiros moments and mission trips
shawn stewart
Any day now, many of us will be standing on foreign
soil, dripping with sweat as we look at the landscape of some foreign
village. We'll be looking at a world so different from our own, yet the
weird part will be seeing our kids and our volunteer leaders blending
into the local scenery.
Most likely, if you are like me, you'll have these
deep spiritual thoughts: “What have I gotten myself into?” “Why have
I brought these kids this far, into this place?” “Think Shawn, think!
How many more days and hours till this ordeal is over.”
These thoughts
won't dominate us, but in every mission experience, we as youth leaders
will come to grips with the challenges that only such an endeavor like
these can bring.
I have had the privilege of having these moments
on both sides of the mission trip: as a “goer” while youth pastor
in North Carolina. And as a “receiver” as a missionary in Bolivia South
America.
I recall a moment of seeing a youth leader
lose it as the challenge of the location, project, team and local water
took its effect. One day, we had a group working with a Mexican family.
This leaders youth group had been having some internal issues, the
morning schedule had changed drastically as needed supplies for the
project didn't show up, a few kids were not feeling well, and one of
the volunteer leaders was being more difficult than all the kids combined.
As we gathered to eat lunch, one of the family members began serving
a few of the kids some of their food. The leader exploded saying in
that sweet, loud, North American way: “My kids aren't eating this food!
What do you want to do kill-em?”
For missionaries this is what they
never want to see. But having been on the other side, my heart went
out to him, knowing the overwhelming side of what it is like to take
a group of students into a totally foreign culture. I actually love
moments like this for they bring us unplanned “kiros” moments. “Kiros” is the Greek word for
“time”, specifically God's time. A kiros moment is like a moment
that nobody planned, but some how it seems to be a God moment. In almost
all hard places we find ourselves in on the mission field, I have seen
that it invariable is a God moment. And God moments are always good,
as we let our Father use them to change us.
So when you find yourself
in a tough place this summer, instead of counting the days till it's
over try something like this:
- Pray for God to show you the sins, the bad attitudes, selfishness,
anger and wrong motives of your team's heart. (Including yours!!!)
- Give it up in a prayer of repentance.
- Huddle up with your leaders and ask God for wisdom and discernment.
- Let go of your agenda for the group, and begin looking for how God
might be wanting to teach you, others or the whole group something
deeper.
- Think creatively of ways to enable this kiros moment to
take hold. Sometimes it something zany, sometimes the right word, sometimes
an action, or sometimes tears.
- Remind yourself and the team it's
all about relationships, loving one another and loving God. Build
on this biblical core value as you strive to draw nearer to God's
purpose.
- As you end that day, take some additional time for reflecting, nurturing
and listening to God. Often a quiet time for the team or sharing honestly
of what we're struggling with will create a moment of healing and growing.
In this instance in Mexico, I missed it. I just sat
there feeling bad for the leader and this group. But on another occasion,
a similar issue arose that divided a US team and a Bolivian group at
a work project in our camp. With the Bolivian leaders we recognized that
things were messy and asked how might God help us face this tense moment?
Without saying a word, William, a Bolivian leader, grabbed a bucket of
water and dumped it on me. Within seconds a water fight broke out that
ended up bringing us all together. That night in our worship gathering,
we were able to talk openly about the tensions in our group, about the
joy in the water fight and about letting go of our baggage and come together
as one family. It became the key turning point for our week… and I am
sure to this day, the impact for the kingdom is better because of it.
So
hey, please know that as you go, you won't go alone. You have already
overcome so much to get this far. Go ahead and pack up your Pepto-Bismol
and extra toilette paper, finish all you're preparing, push your group
hard and just wait; God is planning something you could never have imagined. And
in the end, going into all nations, God will be raising up disciples
whose lives will never be the same because they followed you as they
followed God.
See you on the other side,
Shawn
teambolivia@yahoo.com
http://www.simplyyouthministry.com/community-articles-from-the-field.html
shawn stewart
Any day now, many of us will be standing on foreign
soil, dripping with sweat as we look at the landscape of some foreign
village. We'll be looking at a world so different from our own, yet the
weird part will be seeing our kids and our volunteer leaders blending
into the local scenery.
Most likely, if you are like me, you'll have these
deep spiritual thoughts: “What have I gotten myself into?” “Why have
I brought these kids this far, into this place?” “Think Shawn, think!
How many more days and hours till this ordeal is over.”
These thoughts
won't dominate us, but in every mission experience, we as youth leaders
will come to grips with the challenges that only such an endeavor like
these can bring.
I have had the privilege of having these moments
on both sides of the mission trip: as a “goer” while youth pastor
in North Carolina. And as a “receiver” as a missionary in Bolivia South
America.
I recall a moment of seeing a youth leader
lose it as the challenge of the location, project, team and local water
took its effect. One day, we had a group working with a Mexican family.
This leaders youth group had been having some internal issues, the
morning schedule had changed drastically as needed supplies for the
project didn't show up, a few kids were not feeling well, and one of
the volunteer leaders was being more difficult than all the kids combined.
As we gathered to eat lunch, one of the family members began serving
a few of the kids some of their food. The leader exploded saying in
that sweet, loud, North American way: “My kids aren't eating this food!
What do you want to do kill-em?”
For missionaries this is what they
never want to see. But having been on the other side, my heart went
out to him, knowing the overwhelming side of what it is like to take
a group of students into a totally foreign culture. I actually love
moments like this for they bring us unplanned “kiros” moments. “Kiros” is the Greek word for
“time”, specifically God's time. A kiros moment is like a moment
that nobody planned, but some how it seems to be a God moment. In almost
all hard places we find ourselves in on the mission field, I have seen
that it invariable is a God moment. And God moments are always good,
as we let our Father use them to change us.
So when you find yourself
in a tough place this summer, instead of counting the days till it's
over try something like this:
- Pray for God to show you the sins, the bad attitudes, selfishness,
anger and wrong motives of your team's heart. (Including yours!!!)
- Give it up in a prayer of repentance.
- Huddle up with your leaders and ask God for wisdom and discernment.
- Let go of your agenda for the group, and begin looking for how God
might be wanting to teach you, others or the whole group something
deeper.
- Think creatively of ways to enable this kiros moment to
take hold. Sometimes it something zany, sometimes the right word, sometimes
an action, or sometimes tears.
- Remind yourself and the team it's
all about relationships, loving one another and loving God. Build
on this biblical core value as you strive to draw nearer to God's
purpose.
- As you end that day, take some additional time for reflecting, nurturing
and listening to God. Often a quiet time for the team or sharing honestly
of what we're struggling with will create a moment of healing and growing.
In this instance in Mexico, I missed it. I just sat
there feeling bad for the leader and this group. But on another occasion,
a similar issue arose that divided a US team and a Bolivian group at
a work project in our camp. With the Bolivian leaders we recognized that
things were messy and asked how might God help us face this tense moment?
Without saying a word, William, a Bolivian leader, grabbed a bucket of
water and dumped it on me. Within seconds a water fight broke out that
ended up bringing us all together. That night in our worship gathering,
we were able to talk openly about the tensions in our group, about the
joy in the water fight and about letting go of our baggage and come together
as one family. It became the key turning point for our week… and I am
sure to this day, the impact for the kingdom is better because of it.
So
hey, please know that as you go, you won't go alone. You have already
overcome so much to get this far. Go ahead and pack up your Pepto-Bismol
and extra toilette paper, finish all you're preparing, push your group
hard and just wait; God is planning something you could never have imagined. And
in the end, going into all nations, God will be raising up disciples
whose lives will never be the same because they followed you as they
followed God.
See you on the other side,
Shawn
teambolivia@yahoo.com
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