Lessons From a Missionary- Part 1

This week, I read Jonathan Goforth by his wife, Rosalind.  In order to cement in my mind the lessons I learned, I reviewed highlighted passages and noted which ones stood out to me the most.  Here are some quotes, followed by the lessons I learned:

1. "For two years previously to his entering Knox College, Toronto, he rose two hours earlier each morning in order to get time for unbroken Bible study, before getting to work or off to school." (Page 18)
Lesson: What an example of someone who went out of his way to daily spend time with the Lord.

2. He was "always keen, not only to take advantage of opportunities but to make them." (Page 25)
Lesson: I have trouble taking advantages, let alone looking to make them.
  
3. "Since he, from the first, insisted that the full time for language study must be uninterrupted, getting settled was necessarily slow work." (Page 41)
Lesson: It's reassuring to know that Brother Goforth saw language learning as vital.   

4. "When Mr. Goforth was preaching in the chapel, the Chinese men often pointed to Mr. McGillivray, saying, 'You speak, we don't understand him,' pointing to Goforth." (Page 49)
Lesson: Even great missionaries struggle with language learning.  This will be a help to me each time I struggle to communicate in my new language.  

5. "One of the snares in the path of a young missionary is the temptation to 'fritter' precious time away on nonessentials, instead of bravely facing the inevitable hard task of regular language study." (Page 50)
Lesson: I need to examine how I fritter away time and see how I can better face the grind of learning Russian.
  
6. "Since Goforth's plan to open up his own field was a most radical one, it was necessary to get the consent of his co-workers.  Keen contention followed, but Goforth was sure the plan was a God-given one." (Page 83)
Lesson: He did not stick to the status quo.  He had ideas of how to get the Gospel out, and he went after it!

Which of these stood out the most to you?

Hughes News #37

Dear Friends,

Earlier this month, missionary David Gross and I visited a city in the north to consider it for church planting. We drove to Edineti one morning, spent a day exploring the city, and came back the next day. There are some things we could have done better, but we figure the best way to learn is just to get out and do it. This summer, we are planning two future scouting trips to Soroca and Comrat.

Our trip showed me the confusion that surrounds many people here in Moldova. When we first came here, I thought that most cities and villages had just the Orthodox Church. I am learning that there are more groups than I thought. Unfortunately, these groups are bringing with them sundry false doctrines. In addition to the Orthodox Church in Edineti, there is a strong Jehovah’s Witness presence, a Salvation Army Church, and two Pentecostal churches. Some Moldovans have never heard the Gospel. Many others have heard a false Gospel. There is much work to do!

We are so thankful to be able to continue our Russian lessons this summer. We cannot say enough about how blessed we are to have Svetlana as our teacher. She is always on time (in fact, 15 minutes early), dependable, experienced, and quite patient with our frequent mistakes.

More opportunities to minister have opened up in the church we are attending. We are both enjoying singing in the choir. I have preached once and will do so again soon.

In His service,

Jacob and Viola Hughes

For Prayer:

1. Two more scouting trips planned this summer
2. Continued progress learning Russian
3. A family with which to team up

For Praise:

1. More opportunities to minister in our church
2. Consistent support and better exchange rates
3. Celebration of Viola’s ??^st birthday earlier this week

“Tie your shoes and pray for the Hughes”

The Technology Curve

How do you deal with the technology curve? 

In the last few weeks I have heard several bits and pieces of information that later I found to be somewhat linked, at least in my mind.  Here are some of the things that caused me to consider.

• Listening to a speaker from the Logos corporation (a Bible software program), Viola heard that when people 25 and older hear the word "study," the word "book" comes to mind.  When people younger than 25 hear the word "study," the word "computer" comes to mind.
• Viola also heard a statistic stating that a high percentage of the information young people gather is from the internet and not from books.
• I read a blog post that talked about the "new internet."  A few months ago, more information was accessed on the internet via smart phones than via computer-based web browsers.  With this shift, businesses will need to spend more time developing web sites and apps that are suited for smart phones and less for web browsers.
• Businesses and ministries are using social networking sites more and more to try to influence and/or serve people.
• Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Google Plus, Blogs, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube . . .

 Now, I have never been one to be on the cutting edge of technology.  I didn't have a cell phone until months after we were married.  I have probably sent fewer than 50 text messages in my life.  I still do not have a smart phone.  I have never played with an iPad.  I am a dayplanner and pen kind of guy.  That is just me.

While I'll never be the one informing my friends about the specs of the newest Mac or the release date of the next iPhone, I don't want to needlessly bury my head in the sand and be oblivious to the changes around me.  I am called to be a minister of the Gospel.  To me, that means two things: I must know God.  I must know people.  In our day, people's lives are wrapped up in technology- what am I to do?  Here are some of the specific questions I am asking myself:

1. How do I stay familiar with the latest without investing too much time into it?
2. How do I know what social media outlets to use? 
- For example, MySpace seemed to be really big when it came out.  Now, I rarely hear about it.  I don't want to invest time learning something that is just going to go out of style.
3. How can I use these outlets effectively in the ministry? 
- I don't want technology to take from sound Bible teaching/preaching and person to person ministry, but I also don't want to forsake a potential good tool that would help each of those things.

I haven't come to any tangible conclusions.  That's where you come in.  I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

Have you come to some conclusions about these technologies?  What do you do to keep up with the times, without allowing the times to envelope your entire existence?