Indigenous and contextualized

Quick post here since I have to be up in 7 hours and speak (or try to) in front of loads of middle schoolers.  Actually, I'm not doing all the speaking, I've farmed it out to a bunch of the high schoolers from the summer teams.

We met with the SPACEcrew Friday night.  It was one of those meetings for students who have shown interest in being part of the planning, dreaming, executing.  Interestingly enough, most of the kids that came last year didn't come on Friday.  Instead, it was a few who were involved last year, and a few more who just came because their friends were there.  They, in fact, had little idea what it really was.  It was a little disappointing.  Fully half of the kids there didn't really understand the purpose.

But not that much.  What we must remember is that indigenous and contextualized ministry is how things must occur.  A student who invites a friend into the movement of God makes much more of an impact than when a 36 year old begs and pleads with kids to come.  A local church in NOLA makes a bigger difference in serving the community than outsiders.  English classes with a family that lives in Brazil does more than a few IMs from someone in the States.  Our tendency is to want to manage it all, want to jump in and serve and help, to be the rescuers, the attraction, the one that can make it happen.

Even though I know them, it takes diligence and stamina to keep applying these ideas.  The natural thing to do is to bring it all back under our own leadership and influence.