Communication is Involvement

We have a saying that captures the heart of the ministry of the Institute for International Christian Communication – “communication is involvement.” This blog is about what that involvement looks like as a group from Portland communicates, teaches, shares, and learns from our hosts in the NEWMA mission.

The first thing that comes to my mind is the involvement in living together in the same building. There are fewer students than we first expected – it looks like there will be 20 in total. But those 20 are all actively part of various cross cultural ministries. Most work within Peru, but there are over 70 languages within this beautiful country, and so it is no surprise that we find huge differences in cultural background between the students. Living in the same building with the students brings us up close and personal with so much more than just the classroom. Karen was up late last night, talking with one of the women. This afternoon I got to spend some extra time talking over the ministry with the Dean of the school, my friend Dr Hurtado. If we were staying off-campus, uninvolved, these things just couldn’t happen.

Meal time is a special joy. The food is typical of Peru – made with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. We tarry around the table at breakfast (7:30 AM), lunch (the big meal, served at 1:00) and dinner (a light soup, served at 6:30). The fellowship and conversation focus on missionary work and the application of the day’s lessons to the ministries. Two nights ago we heard from a church planting missionary who works in the Andean mountains. His church is growing in spite of the cultural difficulties of having European missionaries as well as local believers. We laughed and we cried at the stories. We hope (and we pray, even that night) that the things we are discussing in the Seminar will help to give this brother (Eusebio) wisdom in a very complicated ministry.

After supper there is time for projects, reading, and visiting. I usually have a number of emails to catch up on, or teaching notes to prepare. But guess what has happened for the last three nights? One student after another comes to talk, to pray, to share an idea, to suggest a Spanish word that would better capture the idea I had presented in class.

This Sunday we will begin visiting churches in various parts of the city. The students will visit these churches for the next 5 – 6 weeks, getting involved in the life of the community and the church and applying what we have taught during the week to understand the people of that place. I’ll be going along, too – sharing in the experiences, getting to know both the students and the communities, praying for and with them.

Communication IS involvement – it is from the basis of shared lives and shared experiences that we live out and proclaim the gospel. What a joy to be so involved with the missionaries of the NEWMA mission. To live among them, even for a short 8 weeks, is both a blessing to us and the foundation for a communication that goes so far beyond simple classroom teaching.