PMPod

We define belonging as no possibility of rejection. 

Today on the Pod, we take a deep dive into what discipleship is and how we can do it better. Ministry and discipleship are more than a service on Sunday mornings. My guest today reminds us that If I don’t know your story, I don’t know you. And if I don’t know you, I can’t love you. He is convinced that the front lines of discipleship are around the dinner table. We also take a really helpful look at ministry and singleness. 

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Timeline 

• 00:00 Introduction
• 01:00 Leaving the pastorate
• 04:15 Ministry as community, not institution
• 07:50 What is discipleship?
• 10:40 How do you form community?
• 15:50 Hospitality is discipleship
• 18:50 The sacrifice of hospitality
• 22:15 Dos and don’ts of hospitality
• 24:55 How do you rest?
• 29:20 Discipling difficult people
• 37:27 Ministering as a single
• 43:42 Dealing with loneliness

Discipling means you spend a lot of time together. It’s not just a Bible study.

Today on the Pod, I talk to a woman who shares her incredible insights into ministering to Arabs and Muslims both in the Arab World and in the West. We cover a lot of ground and she tells a lot of stories, so you are going to want

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Timeline 

• 00:00 Introduction 
• 01:02 How to start sharing with a Muslim 
• 09:15 Misconceptions we have about sharing
• 11:06 What Muslims believe about sin
• 13:25 When apologetics is useful 
• 16:30 Discipling people who are semi-illiterate
• 23:10 Teaching non-narrative passage of scripture 
• 29:55 The Gospel and indirect cultures 
• 41:20 Your Host gets coached 
• 49:54 When to give money to locals  

And how money and mess up missions

Today on the Pod, my guest talks to me about his calling to the Middle East, raising his family on the field, the importance for cross-cultural workers to find a good identity, a few thoughts on people of peace, how money messes up missions, and much more.

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Timeline 

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:00 Getting started in missions 
• 05:00 Serving Unseen 
• 08:46 Getting a “calling” to the Middle East 
• 11:40 Expectations moving out to the field 
• 16:40 Ministering as a family 
• 21:55 Family rhythms 
• 25:50 Finding rest as a family  
• 29:30 Pitfalls on the field 
• 35:45 Having an identity in missions 
• 39:52 Gaging success in the NGO world? 
• 42:40 Misconceptions about People of Peace 
• 47:00 Money messes up missions 
• 51:30 Money messes up movements 

What we talk about and what we demonstrate by doing are really intertwined

Today on the Pod, I talk to a woman who has spent 14 years working with people with disabilities in some of the most rural settings imaginable. She shares with me some of her thoughts on ministry, life overseas, transition, and maintaining spiritual health in the field.

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Timeline 

• 00:00 Introduction
• 01:12 Getting started in missions
• 03:47 Pre-field training
• 04:32 How people with disabilities are treated
• 07:12 How is your work understood in light of folk Islam?
• 08:25 How did the locals view you as a Westerner?
• 10:21 What surprised you about your host culture?
• 12:50 How have you changed living on the field?
• 15:10 Dealing with isolation
• 18:03 Where do you get your social support on the field?
• 20:20 Adapting how to share faith
• 23:15 Giving up freedoms as a women
• 26:05 What happens to personal identity on the field?
• 29:13 Transitioning from one people group to another
• 36:25 Maintain spiritual health
• 41:55 Great advice from others
• 43:50 Helpful resources

That was my underlining doubt, did I end up here just by following my own desires?

Today on the pod, my guest shares her powerful story about how she got into missions after 30 years of wondering if it’s too late. She also shares deep insight into what it’s going to take to have a more cohesive field and what it means to have a healthy relationship with God.

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Timeline 

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:00 Introducing my guest
• 02:00 Blackmailed into missions 
• 06:35 Was it adventure or calling?
• 10:00 Working in Turkey
• 13:30 The next 30 years
• 19:13 Getting over the past
• 20:25 Getting back into missions
• 28:27 Helpful mindsets for missionaries
• 30:48 The measurements we use
• 35:25 What’s frustrating for leaders and laborers on the field?
• 41:10 How can we stay spiritually healthy?

Happy Reformation Day! Today, 505 years ago, Martin Luther unwittingly started the Protestant Reformation by nailing a thesis of 95 things the Church was doing that he felt were unbiblical.  This, in turn, led to the recovery of the Gospel: that we are made right before God, not by our obedience to God's law, but by faith in Christ's obedience for us and in our place.

In this pod, read how Luther himself described his conversation.     

Read the article here 

We need to lead people in relation to how complicated their life and task is.

Today on the Pod, we have a fascinating conversation about leadership in missions.

"Depending on how good we think we are at what we do and depending on how we feel about ourselves, we will need different levels of gentleness in feedback. When things are more complicated and complex, the feedback needs to be more complex."

Check out episode 12, which was my first convention with my guest.

Check out more from this episode here   

Timeline 

• 00:00 Intro 
• 01:05 Who are you learning from right now? 
• 05:39 What is a healthy leader in missions? 
• 06:17 (1) - Proactive relationship with God  
• 09:08 (2) - Vision for your job 
• 13:54 (3) - Cultural and Emotional Inelegance 
• 17:30 (4) - The Ability to Rest 
• 19:35 What kind of leaders do missions attract? 
• 22:40 Feeling valued by leadership 
• 27:13 What should we be measuring? 
• 29:28 Do we give too much leniency to fruit-line workers? 
• 31:34 Single, Double, Triple Loop Learning 
• 34:27 What is good feedback? 
• 41:13 Why are appraisals so useless? 
• 43:37 Bridging the divide between leadership and people on the ground 

The point of people care is to reflect the shepherd heart of God and help our people thrive personally and in their ministry.

Today on the Pod, we talk about all things People Care; burnout, depression, addiction, limits, rest, and internet use. You are going to hear the word “community” and how important it is a lot in this pod. You are really going to like today’s conversation. 

"It takes a long time for people actually to get to the field. There is a lot of preparation that goes into that – finances, prayer, hopes, dreams, vision – and then it makes no sense to send people off and to send people to difficult places and then to leave them on their own."

Read more at pmpod.org 

Timeline 

• 00:00 Introduction 
• 01:00 My first experience with people care 
• 02:34 What is People Care
• 05:25 Is People Care proactive or reactive? 
• 08:23 How has People Care developed over the years 
• 12:10 What are the recurring issues faced in people care? 
• 16:05 Dealing with the distracted life on the field 
• 25:00 Find a good hobby!
• 30:40 Rest is a call to creativity 
• 35:40 Is home assignment a vacation? 
• 40:00 Good practices for people care people 
• 45:20 What do we do with our limits? 

It’s a very child-loving culture but not a very child-friendly environment.

On today’s pod, I talk to a married mother of four, serving in a hard place. We talk about sexual harassment, feelings of overwhelm, staying spiritually healthy, and finding times of rest. It’s a fascinating and helpful conversation that I know you will benefit from.

"For a woman, the most prized possession you hold is your honor. Your honor can be easily lost but never regained."

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Timeline: 

• 00:00 Intro 
• 01:00 What are the challenges for Western women in the Arab World? 
• 02:40 Restrictions and cultural values 
• 04:00 How do Arabs view Western women 
• 07:15 What did you have to give up to come to the Middle East? 
• 10:55 Is it hard to raise your kids on the field? 
• 12:20 What kind of schools did you choose for your kids? 
• 14:30 Sexual harassment on the field 
• 20:25 Staying spiritual healthy 
• 28:32 How do you cast your cares on God? 
• 31:30 Dealing with overwhelm 
• 36:35 Finding rest on the field 
• 39:40 How to avoid isolation on the field 
• 41:47 Going from single, to married, to a mother 

One of the strongest tools we have is to invite people into our home

"These people we are discipling are not products. They are humans. And God loves them just as he loves us. And he is calling them just as he is calling us. And if he wants to use me in the process, it’s a big honor. But it’s God’s time. And my priority is to look after myself and see where I can grow."

On today’s Pod, I talk to a man who loves his family, loves the ministry, and loves God. It’s clear he has not lost sight of the reason we serve on the field. We talk about family, hospitality, team life, discipling locals, dealing with local needs, and much more. 

Read more at pmpod.org

Timeline 

• 00:00 Intro 
• 01:02 What’s your main Emphasis on the field? 
• 02:00 Focus on the family 
• 05:45 How do you have accountability on the field as a couple? 
• 08:00 Hospitality on the field as a family 
• 11:40 Hosting men and women in the Arab World 
• 15:00 The responsibility of being a family on the field 
• 18:13 I loved the village life; my wife didn’t 
• 22:35 Team life was harder than the culture 
• 23:55 How do you rest on the field? 
• 28:12 Do married and single people rest differently? 
• 30:50 Discipleship on the field is more than what you think it is
• 36:30 Are we trying to make Arabs into our image was westerners? 
• 39:00 Dealing with money and locals 
• 46:15 Churches and MBBs