Why WorldVenture Part II

As promised here is the second part to why I am serving with WorldVenture...

First, a little history on the organization. The following was copied from the WorldVenture web page. You can read the longer original version here.  

World War II was raging, but there in Chicago, on Monday, May 24, 1943 about 50 Baptist pastors and other concerned people gathered in Chicago. And they prayed. On through the afternoon they discussed their concerns and they prayed. There, on their knees in prayer, they took a step of faith. The Conservative Baptist Foreign Mission Society was born, incorporated seven months later, to assist churches in sending, funding, and caring for missionaries. In time, the organization came to be known as CBInternational, and now, WorldVenture. The first 10 years, ending in 1953, became known as the Ten Miracle Years. Beginning with no personnel, no fields and no funds, the organization grew to 300 missionaries on four continents. After six decades of ministry, hundreds of thousands of people all over the world have come into the family of God - a result of the faith of those early 50 who prayed. Thousands of churches have been planted and church leaders equipped. Many around the world have been touched by our acts of compassion. Today, with more than 500 missionaries in more than 60 areas of the world, WorldVenture is still expanding the harvest, taking the love of God to the nations. It is our vision to see people of all nations transformed by Jesus Christ through partnership with his church.

I realized that I might need to back up a bit for some of my readers. I frequently get the question (like again at work this week) what exactly is WorldVenture? The official version (as copied from their web page) is that "WorldVenture is people. A network of partners working together with a shared vision to see people of all nations transformed by Jesus Christ. WorldVenture exists to assist churches in global ministry. To accomplish this, we do many different kinds of work -- from evangelism and church planting to medical, educational, agricultural, and relief and development work. Most any skill or occupation can be utilized in WorldVenture's global ministry." But what exactly does that mean? It means that they help churches send, fund, and care for missionaries. 


As part of the sending process, I as a missionary with WorldVenture have gone through an extensive application process that involved recommendation by my church, a lengthy application, writing of a doctrinal statement, and an interview with a committee. To help prepare me to serve to the best of my abilities I will complete training and reading assignments before I leave. Some of these are required for all missionaries serving with WorldVenture and others were specifically recommended for me based on where I will be serving, my job description, and issues identified during the application process or interview. You can read a lot more about that in this blog post. 

The funding process is one I will have to tackle in another blog post.


I mentioned in my blog post earlier this week that one of the reasons I have chosen to serve with WorldVenture is because prayer is an integral part of the organization. The other is because they are known for their care of their missionaries. I experienced this first-hand when I became sick in 2004, as I explained in the post earlier this week. Another more recent example happened during my application interview. I was asked how I planned to take care of myself physically, emotionally, and spiritually while I was serving, as my ministry will be stressful at times caring for the needs of others and because of its remote location. I didn't have an answer for them then, so coming up with a plan became a growth goal that I needed to complete before I left. You can read more about that process and my plan in this post. 


In closing, WorldVenture is not perfect - no organization is because we are all imperfect people. That said, after 60+ years many organizations find it hard to keep up with all the changes and find themselves slowly dying. That is not happening at WorldVenture - they are doing their best to keep up with the changing world and are coming up with new and exciting tools and programs. One of the ones I find most exciting is the Journey Corp program. The easy description of the program is that it is a Christian version of the Peace Corp but in reality it is so much more. Watch the video below or check out the web page for more details.




Beautiful Things from Journey Corps on Vimeo.

Why WorldVenture Part 1

It is not uncommon for me to get asked the question "who?" when I tell people I will be serving with WorldVenture. Others say oh I have heard of "World Vision" and then I have to correct them and say no that was WorldVenture. So I thought it might be a good time explain a little bit of my history with WorldVenture. The second part that I post later will give you a little history of the organization, explain more about the role WorldVenture plays in my life and some of the exciting work they are doing around the world.

I am not sure I can actually say I chose WorldVenture originally. I know that the first time I headed to Indonesia in the summer of 2000 as a college student I had some paperwork processed and an interview with someone but I really don't remember many of the details. They were the missions organization for my home church in Oregon and also the organization that helped start Bethesda Hospital, so it seemed natural that I would choose to serve with them. 

That relationship deepened though when I wanted to return to Indonesia for a planned stay of 2 years (that ended up being 2 1/2 years). At WorldVenture this is called a mid-term assignment, which is longer than a short-term assignment but not as long as career assignment either. There was paperwork, an interview, and once approved books to read and training to do. Through this journey several people from the home office in Colorado walked alongside me and prayed with me. I think that was one of the reasons WorldVenture felt so right - there was rarely a conversation etc that didn't end with time in prayer.

It was when I got sick while serving in Indonesia though that their true worth became very evident to me. For starters because I was serving with them I had international health insurance that paid for care in Malaysia and Singapore in search of a diagnosis. In the end we still didn't know what I was sick with then but we knew I would benefit from some time in the US to rest and try to find a diagnosis. I was a little over a year into my two-year stay and instead of just telling me I should quit and come home they walked through that long and scary process with me. They supported not only me but also contacted my church to make sure they understood what was happening and that the organization was available if needed. They then supported my return to Indonesia a month later and provided the resources and assistance I needed to readjust back to Indonesia.

After coming home in late 2006 from my third trip to Indonesia I attended a Renewal Conference in early 2007 as part of the debriefing process. Renewal Conferences are held annually in Colorado near the home office and all US staff as well as any missionaries in the US at the time attend. Because I had served short and mid-term I had been in contact with only a few of the staff at the home office and had never visited, so I assumed when I arrived for Renewal Conference that I would know very few people. It didn't take long though for me to realize how wrong I was. There was always the initial awkwardness of trying to sneak a look at each others name badges and then the the look of recognition would come into their eyes and they would recall a story or prayer request I had shared in my one of my monthly updates. It felt like I was welcomed into a family that I had long known about but had never met.

It was during this conference that I first felt the plan of going to grad school and then heading back to Indonesia long-term come together. I shared this with one of what WorldVenture calls Mission Coaches. According to the WorldVenture web page "Mission Coaches exist to help discover a person's passions and gifts and then together discern whether WorldVenture and a person are a good match and whether there is a place for that person." That sounds like a big job description but in reality they do their best to walk alongside a person who is interested in serving as a missionary. I assumed this missions coach would file my info away and we would talk again in a few years because grad school would take me at least two years and I hadn't even started yet. Instead over the years I received regular emails and phone calls asking how they could pray for and with me and discussing what God was doing in my life.

So as grad school wrapped up and doors seemed to again be opening for my return to Indonesia letting WorldVenture know seemed like a natural choice. You can read some of my very first blog posts to find out what happened next here and here. Stay tuned for more to be posted the end of this week.