so today's my first day on the STMnetwork job. so far, so fun! i had some time to really reflect on what i'm launching into on my way home from dropping my son off at the babysitter's this morning.
i've been staying home with my kids now for almost 2 years. i've rediscovered what life is all about in that time away from full-time ministry. what an identity crisis though! at first, i didn't know what to tell people i was anymore. i used to say when asked: i'm a youth pastor. that was easy though, because #1 - i was, and #2 - it gave me a real solid identity. when i left that job, i wasn't sure how to answer that question. i came up with answers like: speaker guy (because i've done some of that in the interim), unemployed bum, self-employed pseudo-bum, renovations guy (because i've done some of that too), and finally a stay-at-home dad. that last answer, when given by itself, usually raised the most eyebrows! not a lot of guys do that for a living, but i learned to be proud of it, and to embrace my new identity. my wife worked very hard for those almost 2 years so that i didn't have to, and it helped me refocus my priorities and life purposes.
so why all the reminiscing? well, now that i've started a new job, in the "missions" world, i want to make sure i don't give my now old but previously newfound identity the shaft. my real mission is to live my best life now (no i haven't read joel osteen's book, and never will) with my wife and kids, to be the most amazing husband and father i can be with God's help, and to keep the Great Commission the focus of everything i do around those things.
the STMnetwork will get the best of my 9am-5pm days, and some evenings and weekends when needed. sounds like a cell phone plan! BUT, my family will know that they are my #1 priority...my real mission. thank you God for Heather, Emma, and Tyler. wawaweewa!
can't wait to get this thing going...
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
interesting article
The End of the Youth Mission Trip as We Know It
by Jeff Edmondson
When did youth mission trips become such a fad? Walk into the exhibit hall at any major youth ministry convention and you'll find at least a half dozen mission organizations soliciting your business. Open the pages of the leading youth ministry or Christian youth magazine and you'll see their advertisements. Mission trips are certainly popular these days, but is that necessarily a great thing?
check out the rest of Jeff's article here: http://www.youthspecialties.com/articles/topics/missions/the_end.php
i think this article bugs me so much because i've taken missions trips for the wrong reasons before. sorry God.
just in case you don't have time to read the article, here's how Jeff wraps it up:
What's the Real Purpose?
Those are some of the wrong reasons that groups take mission trips, but what are some right reasons? "We go so our youth group can experience life outside of their comfortable bubble." Youth need those experiences to develop a proper world-view and to expand their ministry potential. "We want our teens to gain a perspective on cross-cultural and multicultural ministry." In this polarized world, our teens must understand the problems and issues that segregate us. That's the only way that the Church is ever going to unite across social, economic, and racial boundaries. "We take the missions plunge as a teaching event, further cultivating compassion in young lives."
All of these are fine, noble reasons, but the reason at the heart of each mission trip should be because Christ commanded his disciples to be servants, both to each other and to the world. He commanded the church to make disciples of all nations, in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. When we participate in short-term mission trips, we're doing our part to fulfill those commands.
If that isn't at the heart of our mission encounters and if those commands don't shape our planning, then we've missed the point. And if we miss the point, it's a safe bet that our kids will, too. We don't do short-term missions for the fun and excitement, or because everyone else is doing it, or because we're told we have to go. We go to serve and share.
some great points. what do you think?
by Jeff Edmondson
When did youth mission trips become such a fad? Walk into the exhibit hall at any major youth ministry convention and you'll find at least a half dozen mission organizations soliciting your business. Open the pages of the leading youth ministry or Christian youth magazine and you'll see their advertisements. Mission trips are certainly popular these days, but is that necessarily a great thing?
check out the rest of Jeff's article here: http://www.youthspecialties.com/articles/topics/missions/the_end.php
i think this article bugs me so much because i've taken missions trips for the wrong reasons before. sorry God.
just in case you don't have time to read the article, here's how Jeff wraps it up:
What's the Real Purpose?
Those are some of the wrong reasons that groups take mission trips, but what are some right reasons? "We go so our youth group can experience life outside of their comfortable bubble." Youth need those experiences to develop a proper world-view and to expand their ministry potential. "We want our teens to gain a perspective on cross-cultural and multicultural ministry." In this polarized world, our teens must understand the problems and issues that segregate us. That's the only way that the Church is ever going to unite across social, economic, and racial boundaries. "We take the missions plunge as a teaching event, further cultivating compassion in young lives."
All of these are fine, noble reasons, but the reason at the heart of each mission trip should be because Christ commanded his disciples to be servants, both to each other and to the world. He commanded the church to make disciples of all nations, in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. When we participate in short-term mission trips, we're doing our part to fulfill those commands.
If that isn't at the heart of our mission encounters and if those commands don't shape our planning, then we've missed the point. And if we miss the point, it's a safe bet that our kids will, too. We don't do short-term missions for the fun and excitement, or because everyone else is doing it, or because we're told we have to go. We go to serve and share.
some great points. what do you think?
YOU should GO!
i'm thinking about a new catch phrase for the STMnetwork:
"you should GO."
what do you think?
the new web site would be built around the word GO then.
"you should GO."
what do you think?
the new web site would be built around the word GO then.
- places to GO
- where others are GOing
- helping you GO
- so on and so forth...
something tells me i've heard "you should GO" somewhere before. i don't want to get sued. have you heard it used elsewhere?
one last thing...
oh yeah, by the way...
the STMnetwork provides:
- NETWORKING Facilitate like-minded missional leaders through relationships for the purposes of more strategic and effective short-term mission efforts for the Kingdom of God.
- MENTORING Encourage the development of missional leaders as specialists in short-term missions through regional and national summits.
- RESOURCING Provide web-based support for local church access to short-term mission leadership development and team training materials.
- TRAINING Assist local churches in the preparation for short-term missions through individual consultation and team training locally and regionally.
- MOBILIZING Offer a connecting place for STM teams, mission agencies and missions personnel on the field. Check us out at http://www.stmnetwork.ca/ or call 647-231-MATT
what's an STMnetwork?
the short-term missions (STM) network consists of and welcomes anyone who has a passion for mission and for what God is doing globally through strategic, effective short-term missions.
are you already doing STM trips?
would you like to do them?
curious about what it takes to put one together?
the STMnetwork is committed to working with local churches to help build:
are you already doing STM trips?
would you like to do them?
curious about what it takes to put one together?
the STMnetwork is committed to working with local churches to help build:
- confident leaders
- stronger teams
- life-changing experiences
like home depot says: "you can do it, we can help!"
welcome!
welcome to the STMnetwork's blog.i'm matt. i also answer to "m@".
i'll be contributing to this blog on a regular basis, and checking in on what you're all saying a few times a week.
if this is your first time here, i'm glad you made it.
i'm looking fwd to making this the place to talk short-term missions for pentecostals in Canada.
meanwhile, who needs an STMnetwork?
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