Over the past couple of months Syria is gaining more and more attention in media outlets. This is not the only problem or difficult situation in the Arab world. Its just the main one in the media right now. I am asked on a regular basis about how Americans are received in the Middle East. Believe it or not, its a pretty simple answer. Arabs usually love American people but hate American Government. I know what your thinking, how can that be? But, Arab people see things are a little different than those of us from the West.

Generally Arab people desire relationships with what we call "Westerners" usually referring to people from the UK and the US. They want people in the West to know that not all Arabs are terrorists, or extremists. Yes, some people are Muslim and they do attend the Mosque for prayers. But most want to live in peace if at all possible. When I am asked about the situation in Syria from my Arab friends I usually respond with, "It is a terrible situation in which the only winner is war. I want peace if at all possible." This gives me the chance to talk to them about peace and eternal life. It is much easier to start a spiritual conversation with someone from the Arab world than those in the West because Arabs still use spiritual language in the everyday conversation. For Example: I would say, “Good Morning" or "How are you" to an Arab and he would say back, "Good Morning, Praise the Lord" or he might say, "I am good, thanks to God". This allows you to go one step further and share a reason or two why you are praising God today. Or it allows you to ask them why they are thanking God. Keep the conversation going, keep the focus back on the gospel. I recognize that you can do this in the West it just usually takes a little longer to get there.

For those "Westerners" that live in the Arab world it is your responsibility to be Light among these wonderful people. It is your responsibility to share with them what you believe and how it continues to change your life. It is also your responsibility to show the Arab world that not all Westerners are lost sinners that only care about themselves.

Be Light... Wherever you are.

Tags: Missionary, Churches

The other night I was at a Youth event and they were talking about "Threats" to the youth group. One of the items they wrote down was that social media is a threat to youth group growth. I have a lot of experience with using Facebook and Twitter for Kingdom impact so I was curious to figure out how social media can threaten our churches and youth groups. Don't get me wrong, I know about the potential threats that are in the world. Living in the Middle East kind of prepares you to see potential threats especially with information in the "online" world.

In America I feel like most parents are terrified of social media. They seem afraid of what their children have access to in the world. It shows me that parents are not preparing their children to be light in a dark world. Parents, if you are not preparing your children in how to act in a lost world, and even a lost social media world then we have pretty much lost the battle at this point. Yes, there are dangers of placing content (pictures, locations, and status updates) out there for anyone to read. Parents and mentors need to be proactive in educating your children and followers in proper social media etiquette.

In the past few months I have started encouraging students to use social media to share their faith with the nations from their social media accounts. This can even mean those that live in the Middle East. My main context is Muslim peoples so I usually train and challenge students to share their faith and look for friends and potential followers in other cultures that speak english. In the Arab world over 50% of Arabs that have a Facebook account mark English as their primary or default language. They do this for three reasons: 1) They speak English 2) They want to speak English or 3) They want you to think they speak English so you will be their friend. As a missionary in that context I want you to friend them and share the gospel with them. If you are interested in more information about this send me an email or a DM on Twitter and I'll hook you up.

I clearly think that social media is not a threat to youth ministry. I see a huge potential for using social media for sharing ones faith in the Facebook & Twitter culture. I also agree with Len Sweet who says that Twitter has the best potential for disciple-making because users follow people they want to hear or learn from but, I will talk more about that in another post later. Youth groups and youth ministers just like any other person in ministry need to use social media to its max potential for Kingdom purposes.

Tags: Students, Missions

In my mission career there is one thing that I think we do a bad job of when we send single missionaries to serve abroad. We send young people out alone, by themselves. Yes they might go and join an existing team, but single missionaries that join a team can still be very alone on the field. Unfortunately the Mormons figured out long ago that if you send out singles you should always send them out with a partner so they are never alone.

Missionaries that live and minister by themselves have one of the hardest times adjusting and growing on the field. There are a couple (two or three) that I have seen that can make it work. But most young missionaries that leave the West right after college and travel abroad alone to minister, crave being with people. They need someone constantly investing in them. They also need accountability. Someone walking with them on a regular basis in order to be the most effective missionaries for God's Kingdom.

This past week I was able to spend some time with some single missionaries who served overseas for two or more years. As we were encouraging college students to go and spread the gospel among the nations I mentioned the importance of not going to the mission field alone. I encouraged one college freshman to start praying right now for a partner to go and serve with her in another culture. I went as far as to recommend that she not go to the field alone. I told her that I know it sounds harsh, but I am trying to set her up to thrive and not just survive. She walked away truly feeling as though I had her best interest at heart and I wanted to see her have a great experience on the field.

When she left I looked up and could see the Journeyman who served for two years had spent some time alone on the field. She quickly said, I have never heard anyone go as far as recommending that a single not go to the field alone but you are 100% right. It was just too hard. No one should have to go through that. This is one way we can help single missionaries thrive on the field by requiring them to serve with partners. Please join me this week as we pray for churches and mission sending agencies to send out single missionaries two by two.

Tags: Sending, Singles, Missionary

About a year ago David Platt challenged his church to dedicate 2% of their time to missions every year. As a missionary I got excited about the potential of new short and long term personnel headed to the field. I have had the privilege to work with some of these short and midterm members from Brookhills and am excited about their passion for the nations.

But recently it got me thinking. How much time do missionaries give their sending churches. Is it 2%? Do missionaries spend the right amount of time communicating and interacting with their sending churches? This is a great question for mission personnel to consider as we serve abroad. I understand that the relationship between sending church and missionary can be anywhere from great… to no relationship at all. In my first three year term I had five main sending churches. Only two communicated with us in those three years. It's sad I know. But it made me think of what missionaries can do to have better communication with sending churches.

So I am challenging all of those I lead and… anyone who happens to read this Blog, to spend two or more percent of their time communicating with their sending church. Dedicating two or more percent to interact, build relationships and community among the ones that pray for you and send you out to minister in the world. In my opinion it's a win, win and mission personnel need to take up this challenge with open arms.

Tags: Missionary, Churches, Platt, Brookhills