A real world example representing effective, Bible-based, global missions.
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Every successful enterprise has a very clear strategic purpose.” – Mitch Daniels, President of Purdue University
Bright Hope World (BHW)
It wasn’t just raining. Water was bucketing out of the sky. Rob stared up in the half light to the sagging bunk above his own, and wondered for the umpteenth time what he was doing in this wet, tropical, hot, humid, smelly place. It brought about a pang of guilt. His parents and church had pressured him to go on this short-term mission.
His daydreaming was interrupted by a squeeze on the …show more content…
He had been ducking it. He didn’t want to face writing down his thoughts. Should he write what they wanted to hear, or tell it the way he saw it? He smelled trouble. There were many “issues” he wanted to raise and challenge his leaders with regarding what he saw as ineffectiveness, questionable motives, arrogance, a paternalistic approach, and wasted resources. He knew he would be criticized for going against what his church did in missions. Forty years later, Rob puts his head back and laughs. Did he tell it the way he really felt, or did he write a “political” piece? He skirts around the question, but it is perfectly obvious. “You are missing the point,” he says. His face changes—serious, even wistful. “However, that was where it all began for me.”
The “it” is what the international section of this book is all about. “It” is the journey of how the Holy Spirit challenged and lit up a 19-year-old’s life on a wet, humid morning in a grubby bunkroom in remote Fiji. A life lit up with Spirit-stoked passion, quiet, dogged determination, and a strategic vision. It became a mission of sacrifice, commitment, effectiveness, and transformed lives. Of challenge and learning from mistakes, steady faith, smart strategies, and tough commercial