SEND U blog

The Mentor’s Magnet

On May 10, 2021

In Character, Lifelong Learning, Mentoring, Spiritual Formation

Editor’s note: A number of years ago, I received a CD of a dozen articles on the topic of mentoring. This collection was entitled “Mentoring Pillars” and were written by Jim Feiker. Jim and his wife Bev served with SEND International for 12 years (1988-2000) in a mentoring and training capacity. Jim passed away back in 2012, leaving behind scores of people whom he had mentored and coached. His legacy lives on in their ministries. But Jim, with editorial help from his wife, also wrote extensively about the art of mentoring.

Cross-cultural workers realize that mentoring is vital in discipling new believers and in training church leaders. As an organization, we have also become increasingly aware of the need for older missionaries to mentor younger co-workers. Those of us from the Boomer generation will soon be passing on the baton of leadership to millennials and Generation Z. So, ore multiple reasons, we all need to become more proficient in mentoring.

As I have focused my attention recently on strengthening mentoring within SEND (see my recent blog post), I revisited these “mentoring pillars.” Recognizing how full of wisdom they really are, I was surprised that I could not find them published anywhere on the Internet or in print. With Bev Feiker’s blessing, I have decided to post a number of them in our blog over the next few months.

The Mentor’s Magnet – A life manifesting Christ

Over the years God has put a particular burden in my heart for mentoring young men and women. This vision, birthed when I was 18 and discipled the first person I led to Christ, has grown and matured through my various ministry contexts with The Navigators, as a Christian and Missionary Alliance pastor, with SEND International, and now with Barnabas International. Mentoring has been a thread and primary focus in my ministry over these 50 years. I have learned most about mentoring through failure and just watching God at work in lives.

Emotionally Healthy Discipleship: A review

By Jenny Baker

On May 3, 2021

In Book Reviews, Disciple-making, Spiritual Formation

Most times when I read a book, it leads me to another book. Sometimes the new read is a supporting work that is cited in the first. At other times I am intrigued to read more writings on a particular topic. Reading Gwen Adams’ newly published book Crazy Church Ladies: The Priceless Story of an Unlikely Group Winning the War Against Trafficking was no exception. Gwen mentioned that in her years of leading church ministries, she had prioritized her spiritual growth, but not her spiritual health. Is there a difference and why does it matter? My piqued curiosity then led me to read Emotionally Healthy Discipleship by Peter Scazzero. In short, the book argues that spiritually healthy disciples can only be as mature and deeply rooted as their leaders and disciple-makers are.

As I looked at the chapter titles, I immediately became aware that this book was more than a curious read and was going to be a convicting, challenging study. The book is divided into two parts—the current state of discipleship and the seven marks of a healthy disciple. The book begins with the personal story and experiences of Peter and his wife Geri. It will be familiar if you have read any of their other works. In fact, this book started as a re-write of his previous book “Emotionally Healthy Church”. After realizing 75-80 percent of the content is new, he decided to change the title as well.

Preparing to Preach: Developing the Big Idea

By Gary Ridley

On April 26, 2021

In Preaching

In the previous post in this series, I emphasized that a sermon should have one main point. Now I turn to developing the big idea in the body of the sermon. Haddon Robinson explains the task in this way:

When anyone makes a declarative statement, only four things can be done to develop it. It can be restated, explained, proved, or applied. Nothing else. To recognize this simple fact opens the way to develop the sermon.
Haddon Robinson, Biblical Preaching, Baker: 1980, p. 79

There is a story of a preacher describing his sermon outline in this way: “First, I tell them what I’m going to tell them, then, I tell them, and finally I tell them what I told them.” While repetition and restatement have their place in preaching, this leads to boring preaching. Additionally, restatement is only one way to develop an idea and it doesn’t add much to understanding. So, how do we develop the big idea of our sermon?

Do I need a mentor or a coach?

By Ken Guenther

On April 19, 2021

In Coaching, Leadership Training, Lifelong Learning

In the last while, I have been thinking about how to strengthen our mentoring within SEND. In a recent analysis of leadership development within our organization, I noted that we needed more intentional mentoring of developing leaders by our current leaders. This is a gap in our current leadership development. Thinking about how to fill that gap has naturally led me to try to define mentoring. How is mentoring different from coaching? SEND U has already sought to create a coaching culture within the mission. More than 200 people in SEND have received some type of training in coaching. So, do we need both mentors and coaches?

Defining coaching and mentoring

A significant difficulty in answering this question is that the definition of coaching varies so much. For example, Lois Zachary and Lory Fischler in their mentoring fable, “Starting Strong” say,

Coaching is more instructive, but mentoring is more of a relationship. It’s not about me telling you what to do and you doing it.
Lois Zachary & Lory Fischler, Starting Strong: A Mentoring FAble, p.21.

Preparing to Preach: Stating the Big Idea

By Gary Ridley

On April 12, 2021

In Church, Preaching

In the first post in this series on preparing to preach as a missionary, I noted that the preacher must understand both the Bible and the audience. Moreover, the preacher must connect the two. Now I raise the question, “Does a good sermon consist of one point (one main idea) or does it need at least three points?

Often expository preaching is viewed and practiced as a running commentary on a text of Scripture. The pattern seems to come from lectures heard in Bible college and seminary. Yet, I have never read a book on preaching that advocates a running commentary approach. In fact, John Stott points out that the chief difference between a lecture and a sermon is that the sermon “aims to convey only one major message.”John Stott, Between Two Worlds, Eerdmans:1982, p.225.

Can I stop asking “what’s wrong?”

By Mark Morgenstern

On April 5, 2021

In Hardship, Stress Management

Note: This blog post was first published on the Grow2Serve blog and is used with permission. Our guest author regularly facilitates a 2-week online course entitled “Sustainable Resilience“. This course is for cross-cultural workers who have lived at least 3 months in a new culture.

Finding meaning and purpose

During “Sustainable Resilience”, we spend significant time talking about #10. We are referring to Southwick and Charney’s list of ten factors that were almost always present in those who demonstrated high resilience in adversity. Here’s #10:

Meaning and Purpose – were active problem solvers who looked for meaning and opportunity in the midst of adversity and sometimes even found humor in the darkness; used their traumatic experiences as a platform for personal growth.
Southwick, Steven; Charney, Dennis. Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life’s Greatest Challenges, p. 16.

Preparing to Preach as a Missionary

By Gary Ridley

On March 29, 2021

In Church, Church Planting, Preaching, Self-Feeding, Training

“Missionaries need to be ready to preach, pray, or die at a moment’s notice.” Or so I’ve heard all my life. Though this is often said jokingly, there is a ring of truth to it. In this new blog series, I am focusing on how to prepare a sermon. Missionaries often have opportunity to preach both in their home country and in their host country. Yet, many missionaries do not have formal training in preaching. In this post and four additional posts, I will share my perspective on preparing expository sermons gleaned from teaching homiletics (the art of preaching) at Alaska Bible College for 35 years. In this introductory post, I will define expository preaching, and focus on the preacher’s relationship with the Word and the audience. I will also list the topics for the next four posts.

Expository Preaching

Expository preaching is also known as expositional preaching. It is a form of preaching that focuses its attention on the meaning of a particular passage of Scripture.¹See Wikipedia article.

Reflections and resources for lifelong learning for missionaries

The Mentor’s Magnet

The Mentor’s Magnet – A life manifesting Christ

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Emotionally Healthy Discipleship: A review

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Preparing to Preach: Developing the Big Idea

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