Beware: Mission Work Can Upset 'Comfortable' Faith

HILMAR, CA (October 4, 2004) - It wasn't supposed to happen this way, not after two dozen years at the same church, but Dan Johnson's theology of ministry is going topsy-turvy these days.

Johnson, the associate pastor of music and worship at Hilmar Covenant Church, has enhanced the life of his congregation for years with a variety of programs. But in recent months, his thinking about ministry has been challenged through a class on missions and three separate mission trips. The most recent one, a 12-day adventure in India, has been the most influential, he says. He and fellow parishioner Erik Magelsson were part of a six-person mission trip in India from August 5 through August 20. They went with four others from Santa Cruz Bible Church and worked at an AIDS hospice in Chennai while serving in other ministries and observing a few more.

Johnson and the ministry team had many experiences to ponder at the conclusion of the trip:

• Preaching at a Sunday morning worship service inside an AIDS hospice and ministering to children of parents who were infected with the AIDS virus
• Witnessing the baptism of five women with AIDS who were impacted by the team's ministry
• Observing and working in a daycare center run by Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in an urban slum and learning that YWAM has helped families through a loan program and other advocacy efforts
• Attending the dedication of a café/restaurant that YWAM is using to earn needed funds for ministry that reaches the Indian middle class with the gospel
• Leading worship services in rural areas and learning about the stark poverty that is rampant in certain areas in the country

Johnson said last month's visit to India has convinced – and convicted - him that personal relationships and evangelism need to have a higher priority on his ministry's "to do" list. He hopes that his future pastoral work can continue to benefit those within church walls while transforming his outside world in the central California region he serves.

"Right now missions and outreach has taken on a new focus – how to implement this focus in my work in Hilmar – and the trip to India was a capstone for this," Johnson said about the impact the past few months have had on his life. "Those seeking meaning in life are wanting relationship more. They are looking for community, not programs and activities and things that put people in the same room doing a common thing, but not really allowing them to relate. When I watched five of the women with AIDS from the hospice being baptized in the Bay of Bengal, and the joy and hope that radiated from their faces because of their new faith in Jesus (despite the terrible outlook of their lives), I realized that's what I want to do more of with my life and ministry."

While at North Park College (now University), Johnson worked with the Paul Carlson Partnership (formerly Foundation). More recently, Johnson has been part of numerous mission trips to Mexico with youth at Hilmar Covenant. His ongoing work has helped fan the fire for his recent passion for mission work. And previous AIDS ministry in nearby Turlock had given him a love for that subculture.

Johnson and others at the church have a mission prayer group that is involved in social action and heightened awareness of the Christian church throughout the world. A 15-week class he attended in 2003 also challenged him as he assessed his life in ministry. The "Perspectives on the World Christian Movement" course, coordinated through the U.S. Center for World Missions in Pasadena, had such an impact on Johnson that he asked his congregation to host a fall course at Hilmar Covenant. The mission trips have only deepened his passion for advocacy to the underserved and his experiences have been colored by the relational element that keyed the AIDS ministry in Chennai.

"What I learned in India is the importance of relationships," he said as he recalled his trip and a sermon he preached to his congregation shortly after his return. "People would stop everything or be late to an event in order to be with people. I'd like to do that better and I'd like the groups I lead – the choir, the handbell choir – to use the ministries they're involved with as connecting points with people.

"In India, it seems that what happens in churches is primarily worship on Sunday, and the rest of the week is about being a Christian in the midst of one¹s life, day in and day out," Johnson continued. "It's about serving, meeting the real needs of people in practical ways, taking time to relate to people, offering expressions of care. Here in the United States, church is also about worship on Sunday, but the rest of the week is focused on programs, activities, meetings and 'ministries' back inside the church . . . Programs are great for the church and they help people to grow . . . but most of our time and attention is on ourselves, on our personal spiritual growth, on activities we enjoy, on keeping things organized and functioning smoothly as a congregation. And I've been wondering: when do we have time and energy then, as Christians, to really give time and attention to the secular, unchurched people who surround us - not far away in India, but right here in Hilmar?"

Among the experiences that stood out for Johnson was a Thursday visit to a rural area and a Saturday event with families from an AIDS hospice. Walking with children and praying for individuals and families was a powerful spiritual event. He said, "We got into their little homes, we prayed for old and young, women who were believers but their husbands aren't (and the problems this causes), sick, fearful people, hopeless people, babies. We prayed on the pathways, in yards full of animals, by the wells . . . the openness of everyone was humbling to experience. Hindus, non-religious - everyone wanted prayer! And throughout our walks, children everywhere wanting to talk to us, touch us, hold our hands, play with us, watching us as we prayed and imitating our motions."

Though in the short term there's the regular fall ministry to consider, Johnson may have more time to ponder what God is teaching him during this stage of his pastoral life. He and Hilmar Covenant's longtime senior pastor Bruce Metcalf are applying for a sabbatical through Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment, Inc. They hope to spend three months in Turkey and Greece and follow the missionary journeys of (apostle) Paul, doing video work as a way to teach about the New Testament church. They hope to use the curriculum they create for confirmation and Sunday school and worship, among other things. Of course, somewhere down the road will be other mission experiences and Johnson is aware that any one of them could shake up his world and alter his perspective.

"Beware," said Johnson as he reflected on the power of his latest trek. "A mission trip truly can result in upsetting your nice, comfortable, manageable, intellectual faith."

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