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Since our departure from the island last year, I have transitioned into a new role with our missions agency: Director of Missionary Pastoral Care and Training. If you look at larger mission agencies you’ll see this as an entire department, and although its new for NTM I’m excited about developing this role to better serve our missionaries.
One of my primary goals in coming back to the Bahamas this year was to meet with the NTM missionary team and help bring them through the NTM training and development retreat.
As is the routine on the mission field you must stay flexible with your plans, and even though I had envisioned a more centralized study with all the missionaries, we still had productive meetings although with separate individuals at different times.
I further realized that I had done too much planning for what our time was going to look like. Having been used to the classroom setting, I prepared for an in-depth discussion with more of a back and forth after the socratic style. However, I’m grateful for the more personal time with each missionary to hear about their hurts and triumphs and talk through the vision the Lord is developing with each of them.
Along with our time of introspection I passed along the resources NTM provided which centered on Missionary Reflections, Fund Raising, and Cross-Cultural Leadership. The final goal I had in our time together focused on how my position as a Missionary of Pastor Care can better be developed and tailored to fit the primary needs and goals to help each of them realize the goals God has set for them.
I concluded with an all too brief discussion on a short overview of the personal lessons I’ve learned from the last decade and a half on the mission field:
Keys on Missions
#1 – Its God’s Mission not yours
#2 – You must engage and rise above culture to evaluate it
#3 – Missionary Principle: You bring what does not exist
#4 – You are part OF the mission you are on
#5 – God’s heart is for His church (the establishment of local churches)
#6 – Your “job” isn’t always your mission
#7 – Be a learner – ALWAYS
#8 – Flex and Obey
#9 – Develop your “sweet-spot” i.e. know-thyself / pace-thyself
#10 – Take time to stop and smell the roses
#11 – Your lifestyle is your sermon
#12 – Family comes first!
We are grateful to have a continued role of service here in the Bahamas, and a chance to continue using the gifts God has given us in offering our worship to God as part of the NTM team.