In Theory: Mission

Showing posts with label Mission. Show all posts

Thursday, May 22, 2014

You’re Ghana Love it

I arrived back from Ghana a couple days ago, so my jetlag is just about resolved. My soul-lag, however, lingers. I love children who live half way around the world, and they love me. My soul is stretched across the map as part of me lingers in Ghana while the rest of me is back here in the states.

I had the privilege of leading a group of Lipscomb University Marriage and Family Therapy Masters students on a Mental Health Mission trip to the Touch A Life Care Facility in Kumasi, Ghana. The trip was epic. We learned so much from this venture and bonded as a team. We also developed relationships with children and adults in Ghana that are going to last a long time.

The mission was to provide some clinical assessment, inquire about important relationships in the lives of the children and to listen to their story. WOW!!! Our eyes were opened and our assumptions rattled as we got an amazing and tender look into the lives of these children. What we found was a resilience that was strong and the incredible ability to hold in tension what might seem like conflicting attachments.

I am inspired by the children and Touch A Life and the incredible staff on site. There is so much love in that place.

I am also inspired by the Lipscomb MFT students who took two weeks of their lives to invest into this mission. The two weeks’ investment resulted in a lifetime of memories.

I will be processing this trip for the next several weeks. Some of that processing will make it here to the blog.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Send Us To Kenya

Dear Family and Friends, "I already know I want to donate" - click here

Greetings! We pray that this letter finds you well. We are in our 4^th year of living in Nashville and who would have dreamed so much would happen in four years? We have seen doors open that we never imagined and opportunities presented to us that were pleasantly unexpected.

We would like to share with you one of those opportunities and invite your support. We have an incredible opportunity to engage with an amazing organization in Kenya, Africa called, Made in the Streets MITS (www.madeinthestreets.org).

Context For The Trip

Nairobi is the capital city of Kenya and home to over three million people. It is a city of contrasts. It is both an economic center in the nation and at the same time home to thousands of children who are on the streets with no parents, no homes, and no hope. Most of these children are abused, hungry, and addicted to substances - glue sniffing is a pervasive and destructive problem for these children who live in the streets.

MITS is a child development program that uses a holistic approach to address the serious issue of child homelessness and the related problems of abuse and addiction. MITS reaches out to children who are still on the streets. They identify children who are ready to leave the street life and offer them something better. Once a child is taken off the street, their basic needs of food, water, shelter, and clothes are met first. As children are able and old enough, they are given incredible opportunities in education and learning trades such as auto mechanics, sewing, woodworking, catering, hairdressing, computers or farming.

How We Plan To Engage

Engaging with MITS as a family is a rare and beautiful opportunity. There will be two kinds of engagement during this trip.

The first kind of engagement is the children who have been rescued off the streets. This trip is unique in that the plan for the trip is to engage the unique qualities and skills of the Americans with the unique qualities and skills of the Kenyans. Chris will engage in some staff training (and getting training from staff) on child development and will be exploring how Positive Youth Development might intersect with the work of the program. Gail and Sierra will engage in the young women learning to sewing and singing. Canaan will gravitate toward the farming and computers.

The second kind of engagement will be with children on the streets of the Eastleigh Suburb of Nairobi. We will observe and even participate in the outreach work done in the streets is Eastleigh. So, in a sense, we will see both the challenge that exists in the streets as well as participate in the existing programs that address these challenges.

How You Can Engage

We would love to have your support in any or all of the following three ways: Prayer, Financial, Social Media. You will see more details for each on the following page.

Our financial needs include airfare, ground travel, lodging, food, immunizations, passports and visas. For each of us, the cost is roughly three thousand dollars for a grand total of $12,000.

We depart July 15, 2014 and return July 30, 2014.

Peace,

Chris, Gail, Sierra & Canaan Gonzalez

Facebook: facebook.com/fajitaboy

Twitter: @fajitaboy

DONATE ONLINE:

www.ottercreek.org/missions

DONATE WITH A CHECK:

PAY TO THE ORDER OF: Otter Creek Church of Christ

MEMO: MITS

STICKY NOTE: "Gonzalez"

Otter Creek Church of Christ

409 Franklin Rd.

Brentwood, TN 37027

Monday, April 15, 2013

In Ghana...

· I drank water from a bag

· I got my hair cut for 2 Cedis (1 dollar) in a Ghanaian fishing village

· I ate “Red Red” and liked it

· I walked through 6 villages on Lake Bosomtwe

· I met a village boy named Elvis

· I was called, “Abruni,” about 500 times (it means “white person”

· I met the Queen Mother of the region

· I drank 5 liters of water before going to the bathroom – because in Ghana, you’re going to sweat A LOT!!!

· I bought fabric in a Ghanaian market

· I was accosted by street vendors in Accra and bought NOTHING (you have no idea how hard that was)

· I rinsed bugs out of the shower every morning before showering

· I made my peace with frequent power outages

· I wept when the children sang

· I danced around a bamboo bonfire

· I lay under a rainless lightning storm

· I got into a massive powder paint fight with 47 Ghanaian children

· I met the governor of the Ashanti region

· I rode in a van on the worst road in the known universe

· I made some amazing friends

· I flew Starbow airlines

· I ate Ghanaian chocolate (yummy)

· I bought a shirt from a Ghanaian named Bismark

Monday, April 08, 2013

50 Shades of Abruni

I learned a new word in Ghana: Abruni (ah-BROO-nee). I learned over time that it could have many meanings. Here are a list of some of the potential meanings of the word, "Abruni."

DESCRIPTIVE: In short, it is the term for "White person." I took it at face value at first. It was neutral and benignly descriptive. It was no different than describing someone as tall or quiet.

GRACIOUS: "Abrunis can't make mistakes." It is a Ghanaian saying about white people who visit Ghana. It is an interesting statement and takes a while to fully understand. At first I thought it was an exaggerated form of praise, like white people were in some way super amazing and were incapable of mistakes - an over the top compliment that smacked of flattery.

Then it hit me. It was not that Abrunis were incapable of mistakes, but rather that they were bound to make many mistakes, be unintentionally offensive, and stumble through endless faux paus. It was a gracious understanding that the series of mistakes the white people were about to make were unintended.

GROUND LEVELING: I then learned it was even more complex than the graciousness of the Ghanaian people. It was not exactly letting white people off the hook. In a conversation with a local Ghanaian, Kofi, I learned that it is more like an understanding. I told Kofi that I felt like it was as though the meaning of the term, Abruni, meant that the white person was identified as a welcomed outsider who must come to understand that they do not know anything, must know they are going to make mistakes and that the Ghanaians will be gracious forgive the mistakes. Kofi gave me a huge smile and two thumbs up as if to say, "Nailed it!"

EXPECTANT: When a group of us Abrunis took a guided walk through several villages around lake Bosomtwe, we were called, "Abrunis" a lot. There was a new meaning as we were constantly asked for money and water bottles. It started to feel like Abruni meant, "Give me something."

CONTEMPT: One time while walking through the villages, a child said, "Give us money." I said, "No, I am sorry, we have no money for you." Then he said, "Abruni." It sounded like he said, "Jackass," there was so much contempt in his voice. It was as though I had owed him money and refused to pay up.

That one made me pause. It was at that moment I felt like I was a Poverty Tourist, mining pictures of villagers for free. I felt like I might be perpetuating a form of exploitation that has been such a part of the history of this country. As much as I felt that the direct contempt for me personally was unwarranted, I also felt like what I represented deserved no small amount of contempt.

AFFECTION: Ending on a positive note, the most common meaning of the term was that of affection. Most of the time I felt like being called an Abruni meant, "The lovable American." It was supported with high fives that end in finger snaps or hugs or big smiles and laughter. The dominant feeling I had between me and Ghanaians in general was affection and mutual appreciation.

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Joining The Star & Cheese Pizza Fellowship

They all sat in the upper room of the Paradise Hotel, sweating it out like a Finnish sauna, laughing and talking and learning more about each other. It was another long day of work and they let down here, no matter how hot it was. Bottles of warm Star populated the tables with cheese pizzas, one by one, making their way too slow to their hungry stomachs.

The room was packed with talent. Best selling authors, video producers, videographers, sound people, TV designers and builders, mental health professionals, executive directors, generous donors along with a few teenagers and a few children. It was the kind of collective talent that could intimidate a newcomer into the group. I was the newcomer, but there wasn't an ego to be found. All were welcomed. All were equal. Everyone I met greeted me with the kind of warmth that said, "I have always liked you and now we meet." It was humbling.

And the night lingered with friendships forming fast, marinating in stories and quickly becoming delicious. My introverted nature was subverted by generous inclusion and from that moment, I didn't want to miss a thing. In the goodness of being together, in the afterglow of a shared mission, in the shelter of each other, we communed with beer and pizza like bread and wine.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Send Me To Ghana

Want to help me go to Ghana and work with Touch a Life and Connor's Song? Here is how you can help.

1. Prayer support: Please pray for these organizations, the children they serve and for me as I prepare for this trip.

2. Financial Support: Three ways to do this (A & B are tax deductible):
    A. online: Click here and then click on "give" and fill out the information. My trip name is        "Ghana (Psych)"
    B. Snail Mail: Check pay to order of "Lipscomb University" ||| memo Gonzalez Ghana (Psych) ||| mail to Lipscomb University Missions One Univerity Park Dr. Nashville, TN 37204
    C. Purchase books from the sidebar on this blog and I get 4% - all of which will go to this trip.

3. Social Media: Follow me on twitter (@fajitaboy), share my posts on facebook, link to my blog, and follow videos on youtube.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Ghana: Why go there?

(Click here to support this mission)

Why go to Ghana West Africa?

It is a question I have been asking my self for a couple months. It is a deep question – complex and multi layered. Here are a few of the things that motivate me on this trip. Some of these motivations are more pure and some are somewhat more self-indulgent. I will be transparent. I share these motivations for a couple reasons. One is that I want you to be “on this trip” with me as much as you can from wherever it is you live. Another reason is that some people consider trips of this kind, but get muddled by their motives (am I doing the right thing for the wrong reason?) and end up passing on something great. I have come to realize that I will never have all the right motivations to do anything good, but that does not have to stop doing good.

Anyway, what follows are brief insights into what is motivating me, for better and for worse. Each of these runs much deeper as this is simply an overview.

1. I was asked. Back in late Fall of 2012, my friend, Nan Deal, called me and point blank asked me to go to Ghana. When a friend asks you to do something meaningful and important, when she says that you have to offer is what is needed, it is hard to refuse. Plus, Nan’s passion is kind of contagious.

***Social science geek alert*** In my research on volunteering I learned that the number one predictor of people deciding to volunteer was that they were asked to volunteer. Seems simple, but the reality is that many people never get asked. They are willing and have the resources, but need a catalyst. Nan was my catalyst for this trip.

2. Friendship. Piggybacking on point 1 is that I have a deep and long friendship with Ron and Nan Deal. We became friends back in 2001. We have walked the road of joy together and shared in grief together. Shared experiences with good friends seem to gain in value over time, like wine, I suppose.

When their son Connor died from an unexpected infection, they lived in Amarillo, Texas and we lived in Burnsville, Minnesota. We drove down for the funeral because 1000 miles is not too far to be with friends in their grief. The work in Ghana is how Ron and Nan focus their grief energy. Their ministry is called, Connor’s Song. The song of his life is alive in this effort. How could I say no?

3. History. In 1996, I was at a fork in the road. I would be a marriage and family therapist or I would be a missionary. I could not make up my mind. I asked God to help me see my way forward, but I got nothing. I wanted a Moses style burning bush (yes, I need it to be that obvious), but heaven was silent. I decided place this life decision in the hands of the MFT admissions committee at Abilene Christian University (thus proclaiming my abdication of responsibility for this decision). I was accepted to the program and my life took a turn away from missions and toward MFT. It felt like a “no” to missions.

And yet this missionary call in my life kept a slow burn with an occasional flare up as the winds of mission would whip up. Although I have done good things locally that most certainly would be considered missions and have supported others on their mission work, the passion burns still.

In a sense, this trip to Ghana begins a redemption of sort. It is not that I made a wrong choice to go the route of MFT (I would never have met Ron and Nan otherwise), but rather a different pathway. Where I wondered whether God has said “no” to missions, perhaps the answer was “wait.” Or more likely it was, “You will not be mature enough to handle it for about a decade and a half.”

4. Privilege. This is a tough one for me. My parents were high school educated, working class Americans, fighting hard to qualify as middle class. During my childhood, my father was a janitor and paper route driver and my mother had several jobs – child care, paper route driver, and server at Carbone’s Pizza (yes, occasional free pizzas was a nice perk here). It was all they could to make ends meet.
My mother would say we were privileged because of God’s love for us – status and money were irrelevant. She would be right.

I have this rare blessing in the history of the world – to be a university professor at an American university. Though I am not getting rich in cash, I am rich in status, opportunity, and training. Learning how to understand what this means, especially in the family context form which I came, is not always a simple task. My family system has no historical hooks on which to hang this life I am living.

One thing I know is this, if I do not leverage the opportunities of my training and position toward service I have missed out the best and most important part of having such a unique privilege.
In short, this trip is helping to SAVE ME FROM the many pitfalls and obliviousness that privilege creates. The seduction of privilege being self-indulgent is great and nuanced and almost invisible.

5. Guilt. Related to privilege is guilt. Why me? I did not choose to be born in America. I did not choose to be intellectually, physically, emotionally, and spiritually capable of being where I am now. I am blessed, got lucky, or something. Almost every single aspect of me being situated where I am in life had absolutely nothing to do with me.

I could be a child slave just as easily as I could be a university professor, were I born into a different family in a different culture and in a different geography. I live in an unfair situation. I have so much privilege that I could ignore most every pain in the world and not even feel an impact on my life. What is fair about that?

Yes, I feel guilt. Yes, this trip will be a small salve on this guilt – I think. What I hope it does is to provide perspective and improved motivation to do more of this kind of mission.

Guilt is not the best motivation and should never be the only motivation, but I would not be honest to deny that it is there.

6. Adventure. I have been so eager to get a chance to do something I have never done before. Although everything I do the first time meets this criteria, this trip takes it to a whole new level.
Part of this motivation is to see whether I can even do it. I am 43 years old this week and feel the beginnings of decline in some aspects of my life (e.g. if I sprint I will probably pull a muscle). For the rest of my life I will be asking, “Can I do this” AND “Can I still do this?” It will be so rewarding to know I can and so informative to learn I can’t. It’s win/win.

I reflect on the wise words of one of my mentors, Al Ogren, a founder of my favorite places on earth, Flaming Pine Youth Camp. Al has been retired for several years now, but still goes on the five mile hike through the Northern Minnesota forest. He looked at me a couple years ago and said, “Chris, do you know why I still go on the hike?” “No, why do you still go on the hike?” I answered. He conjured a familiar and knowing smile and said, “I still go on the hike to see if I can still go on the hike.” How did he know how much I needed to hear that?

7. Example. I want my children to see and to experience mission before they go to college. Although they are not joining me on this trip, plans are brewing for their participation in the future.

Plus, my goal for next year is to make a mental health missions travel course out of this trip. I want to expose students to a new world, a new way of understanding their training, and a new view of their privilege. I am situated to influence students – and everything I do influences them somehow. What better way to leverage this place I am in than share experiences with students?

8. Ghana. I am learning about Ghana. The more I learn the more I am inspired. As I see it now, before arriving and experiencing, Ghana is a national of contrasts. It has a rich culture of music (e.g. high life music) and is deeply religious. It has educational opportunity and is rich in some natural resources. It is politically stable as best I can tell. There is a lot strenght and beauty in Ghana. I have the feeling that once I get there, it will be easy to find much to love.

At the same time, there is widespread poverty and limits to access to healthcare and education. Many live on less than $1.25 per day (e.g. how can that even be done?). Poverty has lead to the terrible practice of child slavery. There is widespread abuse of children in this way. Inside the forced labor is physical, emotional and sexual abuses.

As much as there will be to love, there will be much that will break my heart.

Well, that is a brief (really? you call that brief?) thumbnail of some of what motivates me to go on this trip to Ghana. I am sure that once I meet the children there, they will become a direct motivator for me to return. I am sure I will grow in attachment to this group more and more and more. I cannot wait to meet the team that will be there.
I hope my motives are purified on this trip, but even if they are not, good can be done in spite of me.

(Click here to support this mission)

Monday, January 07, 2013

Send Me To Ghana

Dear Family and Friends,

Greetings! I pray that this letter finds you well. I am half way through my third year as a professor at Lipscomb University in the Psychology Department. This year we launched a new Masters of Marriage and Family Therapy program and I was appointed director. It is an exciting and humbling time in my life. I am grateful to God for where I am situated in life right now.

One of the most exciting things happening is that I have been invited to participate in an amazing opportunity and I want to invite you to participate with me. In the Fall of 2012, I was invited by my good friend, Nan Deal, to participate in an amazing opportunity with an organization called, Touch a Life (touchalifekids.org). This organization operates in Ghana, West Africa to rescue and care for child slaves. Child slavery is a significant problem in Ghana, where a child can be sold into slavery for as little as $20. Touch a Life partners with another amazing organization called Connor’s Song (connorssong.com) to use art and play therapy at therapeutic art center to help heal the traumas of child slavery.

Specifically, I have been asked to provide evaluation and assessment of the current clinical and mental health capacity for the care facility. Along with a highly skilled Play Therapist, Dee Kernodle, I will evaluate the level of trauma of the children in the care facility, make recommendations for immediate and long term care, and help to develop a model for care for rescued child slaves after they have been rescued and provided basic needs (food, shelter, clothing etc).

On March 15^th, I will depart for Ghana with the entire trip lasting 10 days. I will join Dee Kernodle and a whole team of people with various roles. During these 10 days, I will:

· Observe operations;

· Engage with the staff and with the children;

· Consult with Dee concerning assessment and evaluation as well as developing recommendations;

· Visit Lake Volta, the place where thousands of children work as slaves

· Assess the future potential for graduate Marriage and Family Therapy students to visit Touch A Life and Connor’s Song and provide training and clinical services.

It is big task and I am honored to be invited to be a part of it. But I know that I cannot do this alone. So I am inviting you to join this effort in three important ways: Prayer Support, Financial Support, and Social Media Support. Please join with me in as many of these three ways as you can. The chart on the next page gives more details on how we can team together to benefit rescued child slaves.

The trip is being funded entirely through donations to cover travel, lodging, food, and other travel related costs (e.g. immunizations). It is estimated the total cost will be $2500. If more money is donated than is needed, all overage will go to support the work at Connor’s Song (the therapeutic art center in Kumasi, Ghana). Accounting of funds available upon request. All financial support is considered a charitable donation as Lipscomb University has not for profit status – you may deduct donations from your taxes.

I thank you in advance for your prayer support, your financial support, and your social media support.

Peace,

Chris J. Gonzalez, Ph.D., LMFT

One University Park Dr.

Nashville, TN 37204

615.966.6651

Chris.gonzalez@lipscomb.edu

Blog: http://homefront.blogspot.com

Twitter: @fajitaboy

Youtube: youtube.com/fajitaboy1

Facebook: facebook.com/fajitaboy

Prayer Support:

· Add me to your prayer list:

o Be prepared mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually

o Successfully accomplish the mission

· Touch A Life http://www.touchalifekids.org

· Connor’s Song http://www.connorssong.com

· Pray for the children of Ghana who are still enslaved

Financial Support:

· CHECK

o Pay to order of: Lipscomb University

o Memo: Chris Gonzalez

o Mail to:

§ Lipscomb University

§ Missions Department

§ One University Park Dr.

§ Nashville, TN 37204

· CREDIT CARD / ONLINE ***Starting Jan 15th***

o STEP 1: http://www.lipscomb.edu/Missions

o STEP 2: Click on “Give to a mission trip”

o STEP 3: Fill in information and selection trip name “Ghana (Psych)”

· PURCHASES

o All amazon purchases made through my blog earn 4%. All earnings until departure will go toward the mission effort.

· EBOOK

· “Running Away From Home” is a memoir I will publish soon on the kindle format. All proceeds (70%) help this mission effort.

Social Media Support:

· Blog: http://homefront.blogspot.com

· Facebook: friend me

· Twitter: @fajitaboy

· Youtube: youtube.com/fajitaboy1

Monday, January 07, 2008

This is genius

Click here to see what is genius.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Today's Assignment

OK, your church has just decided that it will launch an ambitious captial campaign. The goal is to raise 5 million dollars over a three year period. The church leadership has asked you to devise a plan for the best use of the money.

Here are the parameters they have given you:

1. The money cannot be used to build a new church building, build or rent any structure for the church use (No super cool teen center), or remodel the existing building.

2. The money cannot be used for foreign or North American missionaries (in other words, all money must be spent locally)

3. The money cannot be used to fund an existing non-profit or ministry (in other words, start something).

4. The end result must be an enduring impact on the local community (within 20 miles of the local of your building, if you have a building).

5. The money cannot staff more than three full time people, of which one must be an administrative assistant.

6. The plan must be structured such that without the volunteerism from at least 10% of the members of your congregation, the plan would fail.

That's it. I can't wait to hear your plan.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

ArkALMIGHTY: Craigslist for ministry

This could be something.

Check out ArkALMIGHTY.

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Expanding Mission

So long as the church equates mission with evangelism, people will continue to suffer.

For many, perhaps most, churches of Christ, mission is evangelism. That's it. Everything else is secondary. Yes, hunger and war, environment and AIDS are important things, but those will be dealt with once they are all saved. Salvation first, social justice second.

This false dichotomy is not only misguided, the hierarchy hinders both efforts.When eternal salvation is parceled off from current salvation, the good news is ripped in half. Jesus did not with hold healing until people accepted Him as the savior of the world. He did not even require acceptance of eternal salvation in order to heal.

The church must do the same. Mission must become more than evangelism. Mission must become more than a portion of the gospel.

Gospel is good news. When someone is healed, that's good news. When a marriage is saved, that's good news. When emotions are healed, that's good news. When AIDS is treated, that is good news. When hungry people are fed, that is good news.

Yes, evangelism is important, but when it is the only definition of mission, then people are not going to get the help they need today. When the church does not help people with their needs today, why would people believe that they have anything for them for eternity?

Mission is more than evangelism, therefore, church should be structured that way.

Missions clusters should be organized to focus on a specufic cause. This is not the missions committee. This is more like small group cause clusters. Each group should do the following:

0. Meet regularly
1. Pick a cause (local hunger)
2. Research the problem (who, what, where, when etc)
3. Research what is already being done toward solving the problem
4. Develop a workable way toward contributing to the solution
5. Report findings to the congregation
6. Plan events that contribute to the solution

Topics ideas:

Hunger local
Hunger global
AIDS
AIDS orphans
Literacy
Mental Health Issues
Environment/global warming
Health food/exercise

Add your ideas here

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