Personal Missional Transformation Paper

Aside from my role with the All Nations Leadership Institute, I am an assistant pastor with the Lighthouse Church of All Nations. Though I involve myself in multiple facets of pastoral leadership, these do not meet all my educational needs. There is a need in this season for systematic and hierarchical learning in theology and ministry that is vital to my pastoral growth and development. Further, I want to focus on nurturing habits of mind for scriptural scholarship: inquiry, analysis, research and reflection. Enrolling and participating in a formal learning environment would meet this need and give me the push towards a higher level of knowledge.

Dana Roberts, in her book, Christian Mission; How Christianity Became A World Religion, makes a multitude of statements and provides very useful insight into how mission, specifically Christian mission, has historically been engaged through politically charged issues. Throughout this paper, I will use several of her examples to explain how Christianity has wiggled its way into the form of mission throughout the world. Examples will be show as to how some mission is indeed, following the statement that Jeremy Besset made in his class, COS Mission 423 in the spring of 2016 that the goal of God’s mission is the restoration of creation to the shape in which God originally made it. The paper will also address areas where mission is not necessarily

Galindo analyzes that the fundamental “mission” of a congregation is the same as any other congregation that exists in any part of the world. He argues that though every congregation has a mission and a vision, at the same time, it shares a basic common mission. (43) This reminds me of my home church The First Church of Evanston and my Field Site, The Evanston Vineyard Church. Both churches have a common mission of welcoming people to the church, irrespective of their ethnic, cultural, racial, and economic and, gender backgrounds. The mission is to help people be received in the house of God with due and deserved Christian love so that they feel loved and welcomed. Both these churches encourage church attendees to attend the service and receive the Eucharist.

My personal and professional lives are undoubtedly interwoven, and have been affected by my independent emigration from my native Iran at the age of 17. I knew that my desire to pursue higher education would be better fulfilled abroad, so, with the support of my parents, I decided to move to France. After I gained a degree in French language there, I moved to Los Angeles with my eyes set firmly on graduate school. The linguistic, cultural, and financial difficulties I faced during these times have played a significant role in teaching me about independence, perseverance, and resilience. Additionally, my diverse exposure to three very different cultures and languages has allowed me to become more accepting of others who are dissimilar from me, and has made better capable at communicating effectively.

In this project, I will describe a scenario in which I am developing within my own ministry to engage people in helping them think theologically. The Church today is suffering greatly because many people are not engaged in Scripture, practicing spiritual disciplines, or thinking theologically. I hope to create a pattern to correct that and give them the ability to not just learn a little each week from a sermon, but take everything that comes at them and learn from it, while giving them the ability to teach others as well.

Western Christians in global missions by Paul Borthwick is about the interdependence and unity of the global Church. The book starts at the conclusion of an era of missions where North America has taken the helm. As the global missions community changes, North America needs to reassess its role. There are 4 main integrated points that Borthwick makes that should change the perspective of the white American middle class missionary.

“I have carefully and thoroughly read the entire book as assigned.” Throughout David Platt’s book, “Radical : Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream”, he encourages the reader to take a look at their life and see whether or not Christ is all they need to impact their life for Jesus in a radical way. He asks the reader to carefully examine their life, and see if there are areas that perhaps the Lord would desire for change to take place. Platt challenges the Church to step up and see the urgency in missions realizing that this is the way God designed the lost and dying world to hear the Good News of the Risen and Glorified Savior Jesus Christ.

Victory Baptist Church is a case study of revitalization. It serves to show that it is possible that younger churches can become complacent very quickly when they experience growth at such an awesome rate. Victory Baptist Church seems to have a promising future in sight. One of the main goals of the associate pastor is to keep a sense of urgency and change occurring. Most of all, he know that this work cannot be done without the help of the Holy

As I read Fundamentals: Enduring Convictions of the Restoration, through the lens of this assignment, I gained new insight and a different appreciation for his visionary calling to provide a theological perspective that aligns us with a larger Christian understanding.

My leadership qualities are exemplified by my involvement in the 4-H Hunter Safety Camp. This is a three day camp that combines the Hunter Education curriculum with hands on learning in field exercises. My involvement with the camp began in 2011, when I attended as a student and absolutely loved it. Every year after that I became more involved. The next year I was a youth volunteer and in 2013, the assistant coordinator. In 2014 I had the responsibility of coordinating and directing the statewide three day 4-H Hunter Safety Camp for 33 students (with a waiting list of 65). In each subsequent year I have continued to be the coordinator and director. Organizing this camp would become one of my biggest projects for the next three years. Despite my past experience, that first year I still did not completely understand the leadership and work required for coordinating and directing a camp.

You asked the good questions! I think the idea of the Holy Spirit-led transformation has to be integrated at all levels in the community and personally modeled by the leaders. It becomes prevailing when people in the church observe the fruits of spiritual transformation in the lives of their leaders. The subject of spiritual discernment and transformation should be taught from the pulpit and through small groups. It has to be modeled by the leaders and the ministry teams. At the same time, it needs to be hands-on, and not just a theological concept. The leaders have to foster a safe and open environment for people to learn how to receive insights from God and practice the gifts of the Spirit.

A sentiment common to almost any organization is that the one fact that remains constant is change. As society changes, and human understanding grows, any organization that maintains a static posture, assures its demise. Churches and Christian organizations are no exception. The gospel may remain the same, but the method for communicating it must speak to the audience to assure understanding. The Christian leader must be prepared to meet this challenge by incorporating an effective model for change into his theology of leadership in order to keep the ministry relevant and effective. Searching for such a change agent can prove to be challenging as well. To aid in this search, four

This course has had a great impact on my walk with Christ as well as my witness for Christ. I pastor a church and teach two classes and for me I thought that I was doing plenty. However this course has helped rekindle my passion for sharing Jesus Christ with people through personal evangelism. This paper will demonstrate what I have learned throughout this course.

Furthermore, it is vitally crucial for the church leadership to clearly articulate its missional vision, which is to be embraced by the rest of the church’s community. The process of spiritual transformation starts from the invitation and continues through engagement and discipleship. This transformational process embodies the missional vision and the language for 'right now ' and 'here '. Surely, the church’s vision ought to be aligned with the missional attributes of the gospel itself, which are 'the good news is for everyone ' and 'belonging before believing '. Our witness should take place amidst relationship and listening. One principle that I consider to be exceptionally useful in my community is St. Patrick’s idea of Celtic Evangelism: establish community, engage in conversation, and invite commitment (2009, 101).

I study in University of Washington and I am from Malaysia, a multicultural country. Over the past four years of being away from home, I have grown and improved a lot. Coming from a multicultural country, I am fluent in English, Malay, Mandarin, and Cantonese and I can be a linguistic to overcome the language barrier in the University of California – Santa Barbara (UCSB)’s community. My knowledge of different cultures and religions will promote mutual understanding in the community. I can adapt into new environment smoothly and I can help others to blend into new environment as well. Therefore, I learn empathy and understand people from their perspectives. My experience in helping my brother to battle with depression further instills empathy in me. Thus, I can be a cultural navigator to help people to see in others perspective and a good listener. Therefore, based on my cultural background and life experiences, I will increase productivity, promote mutual understanding, foster good mental development within the UCSB community.