The Seabourns

Ministry

The next step in the journey

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“M” had many questions about God. He was returning from two weeks in Columbia visiting his family. He is a senior manager with a major telecommunications company and has lived in the U.S. for over 30 years. As we flew from Atlanta to Dallas, I explored areas where our lives are similar. We both trained as electrical engineers. I am familiar with his company campus in Plano, having friends who work there and having visited the campus. He teaches data security courses at a major university as an adjunct professor. We both think deeply about spiritual things.

“Why would God tell Abraham to kill his son Isaac as proof of his love for him?” “Why would God tell the Israelites to wipe out other nations?”

“M” has knowledge of the Bible from his Catholic education. But he does not personally know the loving God of the Bible. As we continued to talk, I realized there are some barriers in “M’s” mind that need to be bridged as he continues on his journey toward Jesus. I need to become a bridge builder to help him over these barriers.

“M” had not heard of C. S. Lewis nor his book Mere Christianity. With his permission, I sent him a copy with a note about our conversation. I invited him to email me with his thoughts and questions as he reads the book. I am becoming a guide to help him on his journey.

I have been greatly helped in thinking about evangelistic opportunities by training from CoJourners. Understanding the roles of Explorer, Guide, Builder, and Mentor help me sharpen my ability to connect effectively with others.

Our flight did not start out as an evangelistic mission. As we boarded the flight in Orlando, Kay and I were looking forward to meeting grandchild #3, Luke Andrew. The plane pushed back and moved out on the taxiway, then sat. And sat. And sat. It rained hard. Flights were not allowed to depart. The pilot shut down the engines to conserve fuel.

What do you do when you are waiting for two hours and you know you will miss your connecting flight? Henry Blackaby says that what you do next reveals what you believe about God. Is this a time to get mad at the airline? A time to take out your frustration on the attendants? Or a time to recognize that we are on a grand journey that is daily orchestrated by the God of the universe?

We did miss our connecting flight. We were put on standby for the fully loaded 7pm flight to Dallas.
Successfully getting on the flight, I was seated next to “M”. I don’t know how this twist in the journey will turn out, but we are on an exciting journey under God’s sovereignty. Stay tuned…

… and please pray for “M” as he begins reading Mere Christianity. Pray that his eyes are enlightened and his soul is inflamed by the God of the universe.

Missionaries Anywhere

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Living in 2008 is an exciting adventure. We have the privilege of being missionaries everywhere. And anywhere. I just helped a young lady who lives in Bristol, England. You might have  thought I was in Singapore. Well, actually I’m sitting in the Minneapolis airport on my way home to Orlando. “O” lives in Bristol but had contacted us through one of our websites. She wrote,

I just recommitted my life to Christ. My question is , in the bible it says when you are baptised is the time you turn away from your sins and is the time to recieve the Holy Spirit. i did not receive the baptism i pray at home , does it work pray at home ?

Great question! Does it work to pray at home to repent and turn to Christ? It was fun to help “O” with answers to her questions and to share some things that have helped me in my personal growth.

I also had an opportunity to talk with “T” on the flight from Singapore to Tokyo. He’s from Sri Lanka, traveling to San Diego to begin college studies in the U.S. I “happened” to have a Conversations CD prepared by Faculty Commons (formerly Christian Leadership Ministries). It contains several conversations with professors about important topics to students and includes opportunities to explore the spiritual side of these issues.

It’s been a good trip. Looking for opportunities to be an ambassador helps alleviate hours of sitting around in airplanes and airports. But right now, I’m ready to be home!

From Singapore

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Orlando to Detroit to Tokyo to Singapore. If this were a trivia travel question, it would be over in a few minutes. In reality, this is a journey of 30+ hours. I definitely think it would be more fun to have been an explorer traveling the northwest passage rather than sitting in a seat on Northwest Airlines.

I’m in Singapore without my favorite traveling buddy, Kay. She’s staying in Orlando for this trip. And when I get back, Abby and Lucy will have brought their parents to Orlando for a few weeks! Our children, Daniel and Michelle, have a break in their training and preparations for Central Asia. They are spending their break with us in Orlando.

We’re meeting in Singapore to continue planning and implementing the global measurements solution. The system is providing tremendous information to leaders allowing them to make wise decisions based on real-time information.

Recording the amazing results of ministry is very encouraging. Remember the feeding of the 5,000? The feeding of the 4,000? The appearances of Jesus to Peter, then the twelve, then to more than five hundred as Paul recorded in 1 Corinthians 15:5?

God cares that his activities are recorded accurately. We can exalt and celebrate God’s activities in our world.

There is another use for accurate information. We can empower leaders to decide wisely. Where is God most at work? Which strategies are most effective? What locations are more responsive? How can we best deploy our personnel and our funding to help fulfill the Great Commission?

That’s what we’re working on in Singapore.

Helping followers of Jesus in the Middle East

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This picture is an email message called Loving Life, written in Arabic. It was sent to 41,605 followers of Jesus in a Middle Eastern country today.
Loving Life
I traveled to this area a few weeks ago and participated in a conference about becoming more effective in communicating the gospel and helping believers grow. As part of the conference, each communication team was asked to identify two or three specific things they would return home to implement.

One of the teams indicated that they wanted to improve their electronic mailings to followers of Jesus. I contacted N_____ and offered to help him learn to use our sophisticated Lyris mailing list manager system. He wrote me back:

I don’t know what to say! This was our prayer request for more than 1 year. Glory to our Father, He never ignores our requests. When we have the opportunity to check Lyris system we almost thought it is impossible for us to get it. It was out of our dreams! (budget wize I mean).

I am humbled at the thought that I might be a part of the answer to someone’s prayer.

Then today, I received this Arabic message. I knew that N_____ had succeeded in accomplishing his prayer. 41,605 people received information about how to love life through their relationship with Jesus.

Much of my leadership now involves casting vision, speaking at events, holding conferences, and planning global strategies. But every now and then, I get to personally help people like N_____ implement his heart’s desire to help 41,605 people know how to grow in their love relationship with Jesus.

And now I’ve offered to help M_____ do the same thing in another country in the region!

Whether it’s sharing Christ with the person in the seat next to me on an airline flight, or teaching N_____ to use an email list to disciple 41,605, or recording a Jesus film in a language spoken by 10 million, it’s so satisfying to be available and engaged in helping people come to know Jesus, to grow in their faith, and to engage in reaching out to others.

Living the life

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I was in the town of Maiduguri in northern Nigeria many years ago when I met Mustafa. Mustafa was a young Kanuri believer, recently coming out of a Muslim background. We were together for many hours driving across almost trackless bush areas in northern Nigeria. The main road between Maiduguri and my home in Jos was blocked by militants shooting at vehicles as they passed by. I thought it best to find another way home! The mission family I was staying with asked Mustafa to guide me through the back roads used by smugglers. Calling these faint tracks in the sand by the name “road” was a real stretch, but Mustafa was able to ask directions over and over in his Kanuri language. We did arrive in Jos without a shot fired!

Along the way, I asked Mustafa how he came to know Christ. His short answer was, “Prayer.” He went on to explain that Muslims say God is everywhere but to pray, you must face a certain direction toward Mecca. Christians say that God is everywhere, and pray facing any direction. Mustafa said that the Christian teaching of “God is everywhere” was demonstrated in their prayer life by not focusing prayers in a certain direction. It attracted him to watch Christians more closely and listen to what he heard.

Isn’t it interesting to think about the little things that God uses as a testimony to those seeking to know him?

I was reminded of Mustafa today when I read an exciting article by Chuck Colson, Why Muslims Convert to Christianity. Colson refers to a 16 year study of 750 Muslims who have become true followers of Jesus, the Son of God. Colson writes, “The number one reason Muslim converts listed for their decision to follow Christ was the lifestyle of the Christians among them.”

I remember hearing stories from the horrible tsunami that killed so many in Phuket and other parts of Thailand. Our ministry and others rushed aid, people, and rebuilding efforts into the area. Muslims did not. Buddhists did not. Their perspective was that God was punishing the villagers in these areas for their misdeeds, so they deserved what they got. Christians’ worldview is fundamentally different. We see the disaster and misfortune in the world as a result of the fall of mankind in the garden, with its disastrous consequences. Our lifestyle demonstrates God’s love for the orphans and widows, his compassion in the face of disaster, and his grace with mankind. Or at least it should.

Colson ends his excellent and inspiring article with

Woodberry’s research shows that when the Church is being the Church—witnessing to the love of Christ and of His transforming power—Muslims are drawn both to us and to Him.

When is the last time you welcomed a Muslim family to the neighborhood, or invited a Muslim co-worker for a cup of coffee?

And my memory of a hot, dusty, sometimes scary day with Mustafa in northern Nigeria reminded me today that sometimes it can be something as little as what direction we don’t face when we pray.