“So You’re Fluent, Right?”

Don Quijote Title Page
Original Title Page for Don Quijote

“So you’re fluent in Spanish, right?”

I can’t tell you the number of times we hear this as we visit churches, talking about our ministry. The word “fluent” is a strange thing. And as any adult who has set out to learn a second language can tell you, the road to the evasive “fluency” is slow and full of mistakes, misunderstandings and setbacks. Fluency comes in slow stages. There is no doubt that I consider myself fluent in English. And yet, put me in an unfamiliar context and I might find myself wondering how well I really do know this language. Continue reading “So You’re Fluent, Right?”

Home Ministry Assignment

Globe: Home Ministry AssignmentMost missionaries spend time back in their home country for a period of time every three or four years. This time period is known by various names, such as furlough, deputation or itineration. In our mission, it is called HMA, or Home Ministry Assignment. I like that description. We are doing ministry in the churches.

We see our support raising as relationship building. That is why we prefer to go as a family, when we are able to. We like to develop these relationships as deeply as we can in the very short time we usually have with any given church, family or individual. We see it as a ministry, to allow churches in the US to be enriched as their vision of what God is doing in the world expands. We long to see the church in America filled with a zeal and passion for the work of the Lord. We long to see religion that goes deep, transforming lives of believers. We long to see ordinary Christians willing to take risks to follow Christ in their day to day lives, as they stay at home. We hope that as we bring our message, it will help to breathe new life into the believers that we talk to. Continue reading Home Ministry Assignment