the weblog of Alan Knox

Lessons learned globally

Posted by on Jan 26, 2011 in blog links, missional | 1 comment

Speaking of global missions, Dave Black shares some of the lessons that he’s learned while traveling to Ethiopia two times per year since 2004 (Wednesday, January 26, 2011 at 4:40 a.m.).

Here are his “lessons learned”:

  • Practical Christian fellowship calls for help when it is needed and not merely when it is asked for.
  • Believers are, and always will be, saints together, regardless of race, nationality, political affiliation, or denomination. Yes, I said denomination.
  • If I want to serve God I must never dash ahead of Him in impetuous enthusiasm nor lag behind Him in double-minded unbelief.
  • Only when I apply the truth to my own life diligently can I prove my Christian discipleship to others, Ethiopians included.
  • I must live sacrificially for others. Only then can I can rightly reflect the one who “though He was rich yet for our sakes became poor so that we through His poverty might become rich.”
  • Missionary work is non-stop, 24/7. To call Sunday the “Lord’s Day” doesn’t mean that the other days belong to me.
  • Spiritual warfare is never easy, and we are likely to get hurt. But the final victory is ours.

Have you learned any of these lessons?

Related posts:

  1. Discipling Lessons Learned
  2. Lessons learned (?) from a short term mission trip
  3. A missionary shares several church planting lessons
  4. Lessons from the Trail 1 – Introduction

One Comment

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  1. 9-23-2011
    K Wyatt says:

    Love what you said about living sacrificially. Isaiah 58 says we should fast in order to feed the hungry and help the poor. (in other words, to live missionally). I was challenged and encouraged in this area by a new book by Scott Todd, Fast Living: How the Church will End Extreme Poverty. As we think about practical ways to live our faith, this book was extremely helpful!