First-Ever Asia Retreat Assesses Ministry Approaches
HUA HIN, THAILAND (July 7) - Evangelical Covenant Church missionaries to Asia explored how they could "let Christ be born in every culture," during their first-ever retreat together, which wrapped up last week.Attendees focused on "emphasizing the incarnation of Christ as a model for our ministry, and the minimizing of western Christianity's cultural trappings in communicating the faith," says Curt Peterson, executive minister of the Department of World Mission.
Speakers emphasized that missionaries need to help others "discover
Jesus and the gospel of grace in the Word of God rather than introducing
a 'religion' to these contexts," Peterson says. By studying the
scriptures with the various people groups and letting the Holy Spirit
work, the community of faith that develops will be culturally relevant,
he adds.
Gathering together proved an exciting experience of community for the 87 missionaries and their families, many of whom had never met their counterparts in the seven nations represented. They came from Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, and four other Asian countries that cannot be named due to security concerns. The names of the missionaries and their families also are being withheld for safety reasons.
One missionary proclaimed the historic event on the shores of the Gulf of Thailand to be "a dream come true to finally be with all of the Asian missionaries, to talk pray, learn, and have fun together. It is so refreshing to be with like-minded people who understand our lives and accept our common challenges and joys."
The retreat, held June 26-30, was designed for the entire family. Pam Davis, a psychologist from Cornerstone Counseling Center of Chang Mai, Thailand, spoke on parenting children of missionaries and provided care. Nine people from Community Covenant Church in Eagle River, Alaska, paid their own way to provide childcare and youth and children's programming.
The retreat was funded by the Sustaining Pastoral Excellence (SPE) program of the Department of the Ordered Ministry, North Park Theological Seminary, and Friends of World Mission.
Also attending the retreat were Martie Peterson; Byron Amundsen, director of administration and finance for world mission; Lana Heinrich, coordinator for short-term and project missionaries; David Kersten, executive minister of the Department of the Ordered Ministry; Brad Hill, regional coordinator for missionaries in the SPE program; and Ruth Hill, executive minister of Women Ministries.
Asia coordinators David and Ronna Husby of Japan organized the retreat, with the assistance of Doug and Carolyn Johnson, country coordinators for Thailand.