__________________
"God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours."
--David Livingstone
"To see no being, not God’s or any, but you also go thither,
To see no possession but you may possess it—enjoying all without labor or purchase—
abstracting the feast, yet not abstracting one particle of it;…."
--Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Song of the Open Road
I'm going to seriously start to pray against any man-made hindrances that hinder the free flow of the gospel. God only knows how many souls we've unnecessarily alienated with this stuff over the years.
We were missionaries in an Asian culture for 2 terms, have visited many mission fields through the years, have many missionary friends and have shared the challenges we face and encounter and swapped lots of stories.
I know personally the pressure that some of them have felt because pastors from 'home' visit foreign countries and cultures and don't understand the culture of some of these people. They tend to view everything through NAmerican lenses and think that things should be done the same way as they're done in Mississippi or southwestern Texas or some little hamlet in rural N.B. They're basically ignorant in regard to foreign cultures.
So they see the loose baggy pants covered with a long flowing tunic to the knees that the women in some of these places wear and will make comments (ignorantly, not understanding) that place the missionary in an uncomfortable position and trying to explain the reason why the women are allowed to wear a certain amount of gold jewelry and these basically very modest ..... and often more modest ..... outfits than what North American women wear.
We've groaned about it together but laughed as well because even though it's quite frustrating, the level of ignorance is also rather humorous sometimes.
But the truth is, it can also produce a certain amount of pressure depending on the place and circumstances and how much noise a pastor from "back home" wants to make about it.
__________________ Smiles & Blessings.... ~Felicity Welsh~ (surname courtesy of Jim Yohe)
I KNOW! Let's talk about her in PM from now on and pass around the PM's!!!!
Steppin quietly out of this thread..................>
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If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14 KJV
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6:8 KJV
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 1 John 3:2 KJV
We'll forward the PM's so as not to be conspicuous.
__________________
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14 KJV
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6:8 KJV
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 1 John 3:2 KJV
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