Preaching is indispensable to Christianity.  Without preaching a necessary part of its authenticity has been lost.  For Christianity is, in its very essence, a religion of the Word of God.

- John Stott, Between Two Worlds, pg. 15

As you may remember, I love to preach!  And I’m thankful that since we’ve returned from furlough in April, I’ve had the opportunity to preach several times.  Yesterday, I had an opportunity to share at St. Andrew’s International Church here in Athens (I also preached there in June… and look forward to another opportunity in August!).   St. Andrew’s has two campuses (one in a northern suburb and another downtown)… so I go for an early service in the suburbs, and then drive through town to speak at the late morning service downtown. St. Andrew’s truly is international: Greeks, Americans, Filipinos, Indonesians, all kinds of Africans, and so many more.  Love it!

In May, I spoke at the Greek Evangelical church in Halkida – a small church on the island of Evia.  Next month, I’ll have an opportunity to share at the Second Greek Evangelical Church of Athens, our church home here in Greece!  Can’t wait!  In our three years here, I’ve had a chance to preach in churches throughout Greece: Athens, Egaleo, Patras, Volos, Halkida…

Despite an amazing weekend in New England, we are thrilled to be back in Chicago.  Our countdown to Athens has begun: we just 12 days from boarding a plane back to Greece!  Thanks for your continued love, prayers and support!

I really enjoyed this interview with missiologist Paul Borthwick (author of How To Be A World-Class Christian, a must-read primer for missionaries, missions supporters, and every Christian on earth).   I copied a snippet below, or read the entire interview HERE.

How would you describe the present state of the short-term missions movement?

When I think about short-term missions, I recall a comment someone made about the People’s Republic of China: “Anything you say about China is true.” Well, almost anything you say about short-term missions is true, too. On the positive side, is it producing new missionaries? Yes, there are cases of that. Is it giving people a greater vision, and taking people across cultures into places they would never have gone on their own? Yes, absolutely.

But on the negative side, are there places where it’s doing cultural harm? Yes. Are there places where people are coming in with incredible cultural insensitivity and maybe undermining the long-term work that’s being done? Yes. So short-term missions is all over the place. It’s big, it’s untamed, and the results, I would say, are kind of random at the moment.

Other questions tackled in the article:

What’s the most common mistake that churches make in short-term missions?

What’s the best thing you have seen short-term teams accomplish?

If you could advise church leaders to do any one thing before a trip to prepare their teams for success, what would it be?

What sort of short-term projects have the greatest potential to serve the long-term needs of indigenous ministries?

What new global trends are likely to impact the way short-term missions is done in the future?

Can you describe what the short-term missions movement might look like 10 or 20 years from now?

How do Christians in the Global South view the short-term missions movement? What are their hopes for the movement’s future?

Not everyone can take a trip overseas. How can short-term teams bring some of the benefits of a missions trip—like an increased awareness of the developing world’s needs—back to their home congregations?

Have you been on a short-term mission trip?  How has it impacted your life… ministry… worldview?

Beginning today and culminating with “Refugee Sunday” on June 21, we’re officially observing refugee week here in Athens.  It’s simply a time to raise awareness about refugees and refugee issues.  Would you try something new this week? Visit the following site -  HERE – and pick one activity to do this week with your family, small group, or random passersby.  These are all simple – sometimes even silly – acts that can help us learn more about foreign cultures, life as a refugee, or the factors that cause refugees to flee their countries.  Leave a comment; we’d love to hear about what simple act you tried!  (Thanks Paul & Emma for the link)

Would you pray for our team during this short retreat? This can be pivotal time to forge our team unity and shared purpose.  We look forward to sharing in some time of worship and study together.  It’s the time of fellowship, however, that truly makes these retreats so refreshing.  We have a great team here, and we really look forward to this time together.  Yes, we work together – but sometimes we’re so busy working that we don’t have an opportunity to really invest in one another and develop deeper relationships.  Please pray for this important time together as a team.

On Sunday, the final day of our retreat, our team will join the Free Evangelical Church of Patras for morning worship.  I will have the joy and privilege to preach that morning.  Please keep me in your prayers as I share from the Word of God.

Would you join us in praying for this situation?  Please pray that a solution is agreed upon that treats the refugees with dignity – and respects the neighbors.  Please pray that the church will speak God’s love into the situation! We are traveling to Patras next week for a team retreat, and will have an opportunity to worship with the local Free Evangelical church.  I have the privilege of preaching that Sunday.  Please pray for our time together – that we might encourage the church.  Here is a link to the most recent news from Patras, from ekathimerini.com

While there are some 1,000 migrants at the makeshift settlement at the port, there are another 300 Somalians in a new camp that has sprung up on the other side of the port and another 1,000 or so scattered across Patras.

Mission is not ours; mission is God’s.  Certainly, the mission of God is the prior reality out of which flows any mission that we get involved in.  Or, as has been nicely put, it is not so much the case that God has a mission for his church in the world but that God has a church for his mission in the world.  Mission was not made for the church; the church was made for mission – God’s mission.