When in Rome...

Hello from Italy!  I am currently writing from Rome where we are spending the Easter Holiday with the Church of God here in Ostia (suburban Rome).  Wow!  What a country.  This is our first time DRIVING across Italy and what an incredible experience that has been.  It's like adding a 3rd dimension to this country as opposed to flying into places or taking the train. The mountains have been beautiful and cover this country from North to South.  Different kinds of mountains with different terrain.  The various regions of Italy are so different from each other--yet all beautiful.  I'll be sharing more later about the churches we have visited, but it has been breathtaking to see different regions of Italy.

Our drive down was thankfully uneventful.  Germany was lovely.  We stayed in a town we had never been to on the way down.  Austria was gorgeous---all one hour of it as we made our way across the Alps into the Italian Dolomites (Alps).  We drove along the coast after spending time with the Northern Italy Church (more later), and that was just ridiculously out of this world.  Small medieval towns hugging massive cliffs.  It was hard to believe they are real places and not sights created by Disney.

I've always said, pound for pound, Europe is the most beautiful continent in the world.  Every few miles brings a different geography---perhaps snow-capped mountains, or sharp steep hills with castles built in hard to reach places.  There are too many sights to even stop and see.  It would be overwhelming.

And the people have been consistently kind and lovely everywhere we have gone.  Not just in the churches but all around.

Today we spent time taking Marco around to the major sights of Rome:  The Coliseum, the Vatican, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain etc.  He's been there before, but he only remembers the Sistine Chapel.  He loved that place as a small child.  Always attracted to those Biblical images.  Today we spent a lot of time talking with him about the differences between Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and Eastern Orthodoxy.

Rome was in full gear this weekend as the Pope's Eastern message is tomorrow.  We saw that the stage and video screens are all set up for his big annual speech.  I'll be speaking at the same time on Easter, but there will probably be a lot less people showing up and it won't make the news.

Tonight I spoke at the special Saturday service on "the Challenges for Christianity in Europe."  Tomorrow we have a 7AM Sunrise service, followed by the main service at 10:30Am and then a big Italian easter meal.

By the way....it's been non-stop pizza and pasta on this whole trip.  It's like there are no options but that.  I mean....I know Italian food is good--and it is my favorite--but...don't they want some Thai or Chinese or something else from Thai to Thai.  I can't believe the amount of restaurants that really do serve Italian food like we eat back at home.  I'd never noticed that before.  I mean, if you don't want lasagna, ravioli, or pizza--good luck trying to find something to eat.  Not complaining, just found it kind of surprising.

On our way down we visited the leaning tower of Pisa for Marco's sake.  It was just a 20 minute detour off of our route.  It's leaning still....and it's very, very white.  And Marco's enjoying seeing his name everywhere.  He was named after Marco Polo and the name Marco is very, very Italian.  So it's "Marco" everywhere down here.

We're looking forward to Easter tomorrow.  We hope you have a great Easter wherever you are celebrating it.  We are very happy to be spending Easter in Rome--the sight of so much important Christian history.  It was amazing to be at the Colisseum in Rome today on the day before Easter.  And then to head to St. Peter's and see these massive concrete structures that cover a span of history between when Christians were a small minority being persecuted to when they conquered the Roman Empire---well, that was just amazing.  It's a profound thing to be celebrating Easter in Rome.

More soon.  And hopefully the photos will load properly in my next post.

3W Emerging Leaders: Interview with Darren Adwalpalker Part 2

We continue with Part Two of our interview with 3W Emerging Leader Darren Adwalpalker.

Were there any surprises for you guys regarding international cross-cultural work as opposed to cross-cultural work in the United States?

The main difference is that the post-Christendom world is a much larger part of the scene in Europe than in the United States (although it is rapidly growing here).

6. You were able to see some great sights.  Do any stand out?

I absolutely LOVED Fritzlar. It is one of the most amazing towns I’ve ever seen- so quiet, quaint and peaceful. And what can compare to London?

[editor's note:  "Uhm..absolutely nothing except Paris."

7. How was your experience with the 3W crew (Varners, Philips, Nachtigalls)

The team was amazing! Kind, gracious, generous. Being at the Nacthigalls felt so comfortable. Great cooking, hosting and a great layout for us and our children to stay. They were so accommodating and took us around to see different sights, too. The Varners were incredible. We couldn’t have done all the traveling without them. Aaron was an especially helpful culture and language guide in our travels. It seemed as if he never ran out of patience. The Varners were our ‘angels’ on the trip as they cared for our kids during our sessions at Fritzlar. The Phillips were very gracious hosts to us and our children. We appreciated the dinner and conversation at their house. Kelly was also very helpful in our travels back from the airport and on our trip to Wittenberg. Doing the trip with a 2 and 5 year old was especially challenging, but the whole team was extremely accommodating, patient and helpful with our kids. That made all the difference.

9. Any final thoughts and comments?

I am SO thankful for this opportunity. It has opened my eyes to see the reality of the Three Worlds in Europe, and has been incredibly enriching for our church here in Los Angeles. Thanks for making this trip possible!

Unfortunately, I was unable to stay for the remainder of Patrick’s session with the Tottenham Church. Our kids were on overload at that point and needed to be rescued (I should say, the children’s workers needed to be rescued!).

One thing I would have loved to have seen/ participated in if time permitted would be a time of allowing the participants to process their learning and begin to make applications to their contexts. I love facilitating people making connections from their learning to their specific situations. My fear is that by overloading them with too much information and then not being with them as they process, the chance for implementation might be less. But then again, that’s what Patrick and the Three Worlds team are there for, to help be a resource as the groups wrestle with applying the material in their own settings.

3W Emerging Leaders: Interview with Darren Adwalpalker Part 1

This March, Three Worlds featured Darren and Amy Adwalpalker as our first 3W Emerging Leaders.  These are young people  that are doing great ministry that needs to be recognized by the larger church.  3W Emerging Leaders are invited to visit us and get to know the countries and ministries in our region and experience the Three Worlds of Christianity.  Below is Part 1 of our interview with Darren Adwalpalker. What are your initial impressions of Europe in general?

Europe was amazing! I was impressed by the sense of history that follows everywhere you go in Europe. In Los Angeles, if something is 100 years old, it seems ancient. Europe gave us a new definition of ‘old.’ We loved the culture, food, landscape, architecture and people. What a gift for ‘culture-junkies’ like ourselves to experience such a beautiful place.

How did this trip help you experience the Three Worlds of Christianity (traditonal, post-Christendom, non-Western)?

Patrick did an amazing job of scheduling our itinerary that we might experience all three worlds. In Berlin, we saw the XZ Berlin team wrestling through what an authentic expression of Christianity looks like in their post-Christian context. In Braunschweig we saw more of a traditional church reaching out to their post-Christian surroundings. In Tottenham, we saw the non-Western world engaged in passionate worship and dynamic prayer and seeking to reach their community.

How do you think your evangelism efforts have benefitted from being selected as a Three Worlds emerging leader and getting this experience?

I had a conversation with a woman on the plane from Berlin to NY about the Three Worlds (she is originally from London, living in Berlin). Being a post-Christendom person herself, she really related to my assessment of the church from that angle. It opened up a great conversation for us about religion, faith and Jesus. For me this was the ‘first fruit’ as a result of this trip. I know it will continue to open me to a broader sense of the church and how to engage people specifically in the post-Christian frame.

As pastor of a church with all three worlds present, it gives me a broader perspective on how to engage the three worlds in our own context.

4. All of the people you met with expressed that they learned a lot from both of you.  What were the main objectives of the lessons and sermons you gave in Europe?

- In Braunschweig, I spoke of the need to consider our changing context of ministry (where the church is being viewed as irrelevant to many people) and how to engage people where the live and work, rather than having outreach solely focused around the church building and structures. I used Paul’s model of contextualizing the Gospel to the Greek philosophers in Athens in Acts 17.

- In Fritzlar, I felt so blessed to be able to speak to a group of students who are familiar with the context of the post-Christian world but will likely be going into churches that operate from a  traditional frame after leaving Bible school. With them, I discussed dynamics of change and transition that they will be facing in those situations and how they can be used as agents of transformation in their changing three-worlds contexts.

- Amy gave a talk about maintaining self and marriage in ministry. She talked about the gauges that we need to pay attention to in our lives (physical energy, emotions and relationships) to avoid burnout, blowups or addictions.

- In Tottenham, we spoke about effective multicultural ministry. We shared our story of the Spanish church plants in Los Angeles and principles that might help the church as they consider reaching out to their community. Specifically, we talked about the importance of ‘Bridge People’ for successful multiethnic ministry. Bridge people are natural connectors between different groups that have big hearts, are cross-culturally aware and are kingdom-minded. We ended by discussing how the youth of the Tottenham church are natural bridge people between the three worlds (traditional, post-Christian, and non-western). Hopefully, the church will have a vision for how to best utilize them in that role as they navigate the three worlds.

- On Sunday in Tottenham, Amy gave a message from Proverbs 31 about being a woman of virtue. It was mother’s day in England that day, and her message resonated with the women about serving God out of their uniqueness in their everyday lives.

We will post Part 2 very soon! Stay tuned.

Off to Italy

Marco is on Spring break and we are off to Italy to visit two churches: one in the far north, the other in Rome.  I won't write much for now.  We'll be driving across the Alps, so I hope we don't have car problems because I'm useless when it comes to cars.  I guess the Alps wouldn't be a bad place to be stranded, except we would freeze to death.  I guess the final views would be lovely.  We'll be driving a lot on this trip.  The scenery should be absolutely amazing the entire trip through Austria and Italy.

Our internet service will most likely be spotty.  I don't think we'll have it very often, so it may be a matter of finding an internet cafe every once in a while.  So sorry if there's lags in the posts.

This will be Marco's 2nd time to Italy.  The first time he went he was still in a stroller.  We saw the Pope.  The new creepy one...Benedict.  Sorry to my Catholic friends, but I'm just not a fan.  This time Marco will be able to remember a lot more, although when he was small, he loved the Sistine Chapel.

I don't think I'm speaking this Sunday...but I always have to be prepared.  I've gotten 15 minutes notice before.  Had to think of a sermon on the spot.  We will be having a special Easter Sunrise service in Rome and I'll be giving a short homily there.  And a week from Saturday I'll be giving a lecture.  On our way back, we hope to have a relaxing break as a family.  I dread the amount of work that is going to pile-up as we go off-line here for a while.  I'll have 4 days before going to Canada for the Theologue at Gardner College to catch up on a lot of it.

Italy is gorgeous. It's also an easy place to get robbed.  Near the top of my "beware of thieves" list.  So hopefully we'll be able to enjoy the beauty without a mugging, a stolen car, or something else.  It's always an adventura.

Ciao paisano.

Photos from 3W London

3W London in the books

Back in Berlin after putting on our 2nd 3W Seminar in London.  What a great experience that was!  You know it's gone well when people are quoting the speakers verbatim!  Amy and Darren Adwalpalker (from L.A.) did a fantastic job of speaking about multi-cultural ministry.  This was their final part of their Three Worlds Experience as "3W Emerging Leaders."  They spoke in a traditional church in Northern Germany, they taught at the Bible School, they met with the post-Christendom world XZ Berlin/3W Team, and they spoke to the Afr0-Carribean church in London which has elements of the non-Western.  All in all, it was quite a whirlwind for them for these past two weeks.

The Adwalpalkers have been straddling all Three Worlds in their church in L.A.  But even for them, I think they were amazed at the diversity of contexts that we have to deal with here in Europe.  It's a complicated mission-field, but very exciting.

I took Darren, Amy and their two children Hannah and Josiah to London on Thursday night.  We arrived just in time to get their kids to bed.  The next day was a free day (we always do that so that we don't pull it too close with the Saturday morning conference in case of flight delays or cancellations), and the Adwalpalkers took a bus tour of London.  They absolutely LOVED London.  It's not like they had a choice.  London's my favorite place on Earth and I will kill anyone who says they don't like it.  So, all's well that ends well as Shakespeare would have said.

I spent Friday trolling around the West End bookstores looking for hard to find books and cheap used books.  I'm never happier than when I am in the West End.  That evening I went to the church to watch the youth prepare for an upcoming festival that the church is putting on.  Some kids were dancing, some were practicing drama, some were reading poetry.  One of the poems by a girl who was only about 10 was super deep.  Lovely kids.

Saturday we kicked off at 10:30AM with the Adwalpalkers talking about the unique setting that they work in and how they have had to learn to navigate cross-cultural ministry.  One of the most important things they taught all of us is the importance of a "bridge person".  Someone who can win the trust of the nearby ethnic group and can connect them to the church's dominant ethnic group.  "A bridge is someone who gets walked on" they said.  Any missionary would be able to relate to that.  Trying to connect two worlds (much less Three) means putting yourselves at the mercy of both cultural groups in many ways.

We both did the second session which broke down "Three Worlds" and what it means for the church.  Everyone found that quite fascinating and it became obvious how London is very much emblematic of the Three Worlds.  "I feel like I live in all 3 worlds" said one attendee.

In the third session I sang a medley of Frank Sinatra songs for 90 minutes.  meh.

Saturday night, I got to spend time with Zach and Audrey from Liverpool who were down with Pastor John to be a part of the 3W Seminar.  I took them to my favorite area--Covent Garden--and we had a great time of talking and sharing.  It's been four months since I was in Liverpool eating fish and chips with them.  Wow!  Time flies when you are a Regional Coordinator.  It was great to have this chance to re-connect with them again.

On Sunday, it was Mother's Day in Britain, so Amy Adwalpalker took the sermon and did a great job talking to the women in the church about valuing the contributions they make as mothers and grandmothers.  I was sitting around a lot of women and I was hearing a lot of "amens."

It turns out that Darren, whose father is originally from India, has family in London.  So that Sunday afternoon, the Adwalpalkers connected with some long, lost family in London.  Meanwhile, I headed down to Speaker's Corner where people get on their soapboxes (or ladders) and yell at each other (debate, and yell).  It was great.

The next day we flew back to Berlin and just yesterday we put the Adwalpalkers on the plane back to the U.S.A.

I think this was a big win all around.  It was encouraging for us, the 3W Seminar went very well, the church in Germany got a lot out of it, and I know the Adwalpalkers feel that this has been the experience of a lifetime for them.  I will be sharing some of their reflections here in a little bit.

Special thanks goes out to all the people who helped out:  Tottenham Church of God, Braunschweig CHOG, Fritzlar, and a very special thank you to Aaron and Nicole Varner who helped us in our hosting and traveling.  With two small children visiting as well, there was a lot to think about and Aaron and Nicole were fantastic in helping them travel as a family.

Next up for 3W Seminar:  the 3W Seminar in Bulgaria in conjunction with County Line Church in Auburn, Indiana.  Not only will County Line be joining us, but we will be bringing in Pastor Peter and another visitor from our church in Budapest, Hungary.  You'll be hearing a lot more about that.

Tomorrow we are off to Fritzlar to speak to the Central German churches this weekend and five days later, a big trip to Italy.

3W Seminar: London

It's time for our 2nd Three World Seminar; this time in London.  Tomorrow, the Adwalpalker family and I will be getting on a plane to make the short flight over to London where we will be putting on the 3W Seminar at the Tottenham Church of God.  The subjects of this seminar are pertaining to doing ministry in multi-cultural settings.  It's hard to think of a more multi-cultural place than London.

In the two opening sessions, the Adwalpalkers will be leading this church through the process of thinking about how to better reach their multi-cultural neighborhood.

I will do the final third session.  I will be singing a medley of Frank Sinatra songs. Okay, not really.  But perhaps.

Then lastly, on Sunday, Amy will be preaching the sermon which will have a multi-cultural theme.

We're also excited that some of the leaders from the Liverpool (Birkenhead) Church of God will be coming down from Beatles-land to join in the 3W Seminar.

Oh, and on Friday, I will be speaking to the youth.  I am looking forward to that.  So it will be action packed, but I think it will be a lot of fun and we'll all learn a lot.

As for the Adwalpalkers, they have been down with 3W teammates Aaron and Nicole speaking at the Fritzlar Bible College.  I've already heard from reliable sources that they did a great job.

Prayer for Ivory Coast

Our agency is requesting prayer for our missionaries and our Church of God churches in Ivory Coast.  We have two families there and many churches.  The country seems to be spiraling out of control and heading toward another Civil War.

Terrifying

Unbelievable.  The most terrifying footage of Japan so far.  "Helplessness" is the only word that comes to mind as I watch this.  Prayers for Japan

The Power Encounter: Non-Western Christianity

In the Non-Western world, belief in the spiritual world runs high.  The question is not "is there a God?", but rather "which God" and "what can he do?"  That the world has a spiritual dimension is obvious to the average non-Westerner.  They feel that this spiritual world is tangible---you can sense it even if you can't always feel it or touch it. In the West, however, religion is a choice, and the spiritual world is real for some people and not for others.  But even when it is real to Westerners, it is an aspect of their life--something they go out of their way to think of; the Spiritual realm.  It is not viewed as something everywhere at all times...not really.  Westerners are all materialists at heart and their spiritual lives are compartmentalized in comparison to most non-Westerners.

Westerners would say that non-Westeners are superstitious; prone to believing in magical thinking.  Non-Westerners would view Westerners as oddly ignorant of the forces at play in the world.

Christianity is exploding in the non-Western World and it often grows amidst those who were previously steeped in a different faith.  In Africa, Asia, Latin America, Christianity introduces itself and asserts itself.  In these places, there is a belief in good and evil and Christianity's clear definitions of those two terms can reasonate deeply with non-Westerners.

The powers face off--good and evil.  In the non-Western World it is an unambiguous, cosmic battle.

In the following video clip, you meet an African man who became a Christian pastor after years of murdering people, cannibalizing them, and serving as a voodoo priest and military leader in the country of Liberia.  He claims to have killed 20,000 people with his band of armed men.  They sacrificed children and practiced black magic.  He is a famous man in Liberia known as "General Butt Naked."  That's not a joke.  That was his nom de guerre and he is still greatly feared.

Now a pastor, he spends his time doing Christian evangelism and apologizing to the families of his victims--of which there are many.  At least 2 documentaries have been made of him.  The documentarians cannot figure out what to make of him.  Is it possible that a man so evil could become a man so good?  He's charismatic, seems very sincere, and even turned himself into Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Committee.

This is only a section of the story.  Watch the whole thing if you can (and want to), or see the documentary in cinemas which is winning awards.

Can good triumph over evil like that in someone's soul?  Is he a charlatan?  How deep could God's grace be?  Could Westerners understand that?  Can anyone?