There is hardly a missionary who presents his/her work that is not thrust before an audience and the pastor says, answer any questions that our people might have. In this presentation by Deborah Grayson Riegel, she deals with how to handle Questions and the audience.
This article explains how missionaries receiving support are not begging, but some missionaries unethically do present needs in a begging tone.
Mexico has a new President, Claudia Sheinbaum. She follows the social positions of Manual López Obrador.
Torture and Human Rights Violations are Common in MexicoTaken from Mexico New Daily (Torture Common in Mexico)
The United Nations special reporter on torture says it’s widespread in Mexico, and Ernesto López Portillo and Nancy López agree. It’s a common occurrence, say López Portillo, the executive director of the Institute for Security and Democracy (Insyde), and López, of the Mexican Commission on the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH). The two claim torture often occurs without investigation or punishment…. According to López, information obtained from the Attorney General’s office (PGR) demonstrated that although the office denounces torture, there is no evidence to back that up, nor is it punished.
This news article is a good read about Torture Common in Mexico. Basically, it reveals publicly what we who live in Mexico have known for a long time privately. Police regularly beat confessions out of people, and the article makes the point that even police torture of police is common. This is how the Mexican police work, their mentality.
Living in Mexico for 30 years, my take is simply that the Mexican police are incompetent. Torture Common in Mexico is simply a product of this corruption. The factors that contribute to this are the following:
In this brief video, Tara Sophia Mohr (not identified as a Christian) speaks in general about identifying your calling in life.
See video at end of this post…
I would note that this is just a simple motivation type talk where Tara speaks in general to anybody about their calling in life. What I took away from this is that this is exactly what you as a missionary need to understand and present to your potential missionary partners so that they understand your calling. One thing is that you are called (not all missionary candidates are called by the way), and another thing is to communicate that calling to others, especially those that support you, and those that potentially are considering supporting you. This means that you need to highly persuade them of your calling. The elements that Tara presents are very useful in this task.
1. Spend adequate time evaluating what you are sensing.
2. Be patient. Clarity takes time.
3. Seek the counsel of a pastor or professional minister that you respect. Seek honest impressions about the ministry, and your dealing with it.
4. Get involved in ministry right now where you are.
5. Seek affirmation of your calling from others around you.
6. Involve your family in the discussion and the decision.
7. Consult books that can assist you. Books on the philosophy of the ministry. Biographies of respected ministers.
8. Face the tough questions. What are your deepest motives? Why are you really in this?
9. Meet regularly with a mentor. Choose a good trustworthy mentor that believes in you, that knows what you are going to do, and believes in you.
10. Embrace it with everything you’ve got!
This website is a long list of missionary related websites, ministry websites, and ministry resource websites. Good to look over.
This article is for missionaries who are under duress and stress in their ministries and are seeking advice and consolation in how to endure.
The idea of going out and conquering the world is a common thought among many people, but the reality of it is very uncommon. People who want to be missionaries are idealists, which want to extend the kingdom of God. I have met many missionaries in my 40 some years of being involved in missions, and I have even met a number of “missionaries” from other groups and mind-sets, including mormon missionaries, Jehovah’s Witness missionaries, and other “off the wall” brands.
Reference Library
By David Cox
I am a pastor, and as I am ALWAYS studying the Bible, I know the advantage of a good reference library. So as a Pastor, I am also always trying to find good books to add to my collections. I stumbled across firstlovepublications.org.
Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action is a TEDS speech about inspiring others to action.