LIONHEARTED LANDLOPER

      We know that the mission of God’s people is and has always been to make His name known among all peoples. This was the mission at the very beginning and it is still what Jesus commissions us to do today. We also know that we are called to worship and glorify God with our lives. We incorporate congregational worship into our weekly gatherings and sing praises to the Lord regularly. But how do these two relate? Do they relate at all? Does worship have anything to do with missions and does missions have anything do to do with worship? The answer is “yes.” As Zac Hicks writes in his book to Worship Pastor - a Call to Ministry for Worship Leaders and Teams , “just as a heart has no purpose without veins and arteries, and just as those veins and arteries are useless without a heart, so worship is inherently missional and mission is essentially doxological” (Hicks 98). We were created to glorify God and declare His goodness. We read this repeatedly throughout the Sc...

        Recently , I had the opportunity to spend eight days in Lomé, Togo, serving at the West Africa Advanced School of Theology (or WAAST). First of all, Togo is a beautiful country full of beautiful people. Even the dirt is my favorite color. All the plants thrive and there are shells on the ground when you’re not even on the beach. There’s lizards of all sizes and colors and more shades of green than you probably realize exist. Everyone wears vibrant patterns and big smiles. The people and vehicles flow down streets in a way that can either look like chaos or the most impressive feat you’ve ever witnessed (depending on your mood). But the most beautiful thing is how quickly the kingdom of God is advancing in that country. Every single church tries to plant at least one more church a year. The alter calls are consistently bringing life-change. The Christian community is marked by unity, kindness, encouragement, and passion. We met missionaries who had been in min...

“Giving to those in need what they could be gaining from their own initiative may well be the kindest way to destroy people.” - Robert D. Lupton ***        A lot of times, people have a certain mindset regarding mission trips. "I'm going to save people," they think to themselves, "I'm going to change the world." But, in reality, you're not.  Long-term missionaries spend years building relationships and working among people in order to learn their culture and earn respect. Spending two weeks in a country you know little about does not make you a hero nor will it spark some major revival. Do not go if you think you are going to "fix" their country or do something they cannot do for themselves.        Whatever it is that we are going to do, there are people already in the country who could do it just as good (and probably better) for cheaper than the price of our plane tickets to even get there. More problems arise when people show u...

This is a paper I recently worked on in my English class. The topic was one very close to my heart, and I found my research to be very fascinating. I think every Christian should be aware of this issue and have an idea on where they stand. This paper attempts to present the ideas at either end of the controversy without taking either side. ~***~ Insider Movements        Among Christian missionaries today, there is a topic that has caused much controversy. This is the issue of insider movements. The term refers to “. . . any movement to faith in Christ that remains integrated with or inside its natural community” (Higgins, 2009, p. 75). Specifically, a group of people within a highly religious culture who, although confessing faith in Christ, still identify with their original religion. Most commonly, this refers to the occurrence among Muslim people groups. The issue is regarding syncretism and heresy — how much of Christianity as it is today is necess...

        Something inside of me is starting to feel restless. Partly because I don't feel very "Beccca-y" anymore, and partly because I miss the short, refreshing adventures that gave me a break from the humdrum of daily life last year.        I feel like I don't get to be myself. I feel slightly too common. All I do is go to school, do homework, go to work, and sleep. Markers, dictionaries, and journals are collecting a little too much dust. There's not any free time to set up a hammock and spend an hour doing Beccca stuff like I'm so used to. Part of that is okay and just necessary in this season of life. But also, having that time to fully be myself is very important. The lack of it leaves me feeling slightly unfulfilled and unsatisfied. I need some sort of outlet to express my manymanymanymany thoughts, opinions, and feelings. I need time to draw pictures and play with cardboard and sing as loud as possible. But I also need to understand t...

    I stood in line, waited, went through security, and found myself at the Temple Mount looking at the Dome of The Rock. We weren't allowed to wear crosses or bring Bibles and our clothes had to be very modest.      Looking at the giant mosque did not feel how I expected it would. It wasn't scary. It was just... empty, I guess. There were kids outside playing soccer and women sitting in groups talking. There were older men in going places and people visiting the site from different countries. I was walking around observing when the sweetest group of young Muslim girls came up to me and said, “you take selfie?”     “Sure,” I said.       I started getting in picture after picture with these sweet girls with their joyful smiles and white head scarves.      It was so strange. I can hardly explain it. From the moment those girls spoke to me I felt like I loved them so much  — It just came over me. It was some...

me and Osvaldo me and Miss Amanda my favorite marula  scrubbing the monkey handprints gotta love those butter sandwiches Osvaldo again

    We spent the rest of our few weeks in the beautiful country of South Africa with many different ministries all over the area.     I honestly don't know where to start in describing the past six weeks of my life. I don't know how to communicate the things I have experienced. I don't know what to tell you or how I would begin to do so. I am simply able to tell you what South Africa is to me. South Africa is full of children that are smiling when your knowledge tells you they have no reason to do so. South Africa is a place where servants of the living God are working hard every single day to care for His sheep and spread the good news of our Lord and Savior. South Africa is a place where the sand gets in your bedsheets no matter what precautions you take. South Africa is beautiful. South Africa is full of memories I want to always remember. South Africa is a place where the air smells different. South Africa is where God took me to teach me mo...

            After our first week in Pretoria, we eventually piled into the vehicles and moved to the Africa School of Missions campus near White River in Mpumalanga, where we will be staying for the rest of our time in South Africa. The campus is beautiful, full of mango trees, and right under the shadow of Legogote Mountain.             We spent our first couple days just settling in and helping out in the ASM library with various cleaning projects. We then spent last week helping Reverend Roger at Saint Mary’s Anglican Church with gardening and making house visits to pray for people. Rev. Roger was one of the funniest people I have ever met, and he saw every moment as an opportunity for all of us to break into song.             I have been nearly eaten alive by mosquitoes, but I haven’t gotten any diseases yet so all is well. There is a bea...

She held the phone up to her ear a little tighter. “What do I call this feeling?” she asked him after a moment of silence. The room she occupied was quiet and dark, and it was already far into the night -- the night before her next big adventure. “I think we can call it ‘Traveler’s Anxiety…’” he paused. “It’s like ‘wow, I have to leave everything…’ mixed with ‘wow, I get to see everything...’” And he was right. ***     This adventure has really been so incredible so far.     All twenty-something of us piled onto flight after connecting flight until our lovely 10-hour layover in London. It was really cool to explore the city and see the sights and adventure for a day before getting on another plane. ***      As soon as we landed in South Africa I knew I was not in America anymore -- which is probably an expected reaction. The air is different, the trees are different, the plants are different, and the people are di...

    We recently returned from our inner-city mission trip to Chicago and Milwaukee! We experienced so many different cultures and ministries -- and learned a lot about ourselves and God.     Here are a few highlights from my journaling of this adventure: Saturday 11-5-16     I woke up freezing cold on my air mattress in the Grace and Peace Center. It was so early that it could not even be described as “bright and early” because it wasn’t technically bright yet. The thought of a hot shower was more compelling than the thought of sleep at this point. Thus, at 5:45 AM, I rose to hop in the shower. This shower was not as hot as I had hoped, but after maybe twenty or so minutes of relentless prayer, the temperature rose (with my attitude). My day moved forth per usual. I went downstairs before anyone woke up and sat on the granite countertops in the kitchen while I did my devotions.     Chicago is an interesting place. I remember from th...

    For years, God has been cultivating a passion for lost people within me. The closer I get to God, the more my heart breaks for the people who have yet to hear of Him. Since I got to Trinity Bible College, that passion has grown substantially. I am constantly reminded of this great need for the gospel among the nations -- and challenged to act upon that very conviction daily.     God is showing me how to use this passion that I have even though (at times) I may feel secluded from opportunities.         Right now, I do not know what step I need to take after Pack Your Bags. I know I want to head toward missions, but there are many ways to get there. I have yet to figure out what degree I want, or what route I will take to get out on the mission field, but I know I need to head in that direction. I am still praying and thinking about what exactly I will do after Pack Your Bags is finished.    This is a big part of the reason I joine...

    Our first mission trip was a blast. The week was filled with serving in areas from kids ministry to roof repair  — and everything in between. Here are a few of the highlights from my time spent there: Thursday   Pastor Gus Craven was running out of jobs for us, but I do not think he had quite realized it. Three of us girls were assigned one very daunting task: to sit with the cats. Eventually we could try to find the lost kitten, but only if we wanted to. We found the kitten and placed the family in their assigned home. The nameless cats received names and a little bit of love that day. The mother was dubbed Marge, and her two kittens Ellenore and Rupert   ***  We sat quietly in the run down shack. There were dust-filled boxes of items from years before our time. There were intriguing stacks of letters as old as 1929. "To my dear wife..." I read out loud. It was really fascinating to explore the shadows of a time before our ow...