A Lifelong Journey in Mission

The final quarter of the 20^th century found me spending a good deal of my time on the seat of a Massey-Fergusson 255 farm tractor, grooming and nurturing a ninety acre diversified orchard on the easterly sloping floor of Oregon’s Willamette valley.

What a beautiful place to live! As the M-F swung around heading down the next row of trees, through the canopy of leaves, I could catch glimpses of the snow capped panorama of peaks: Rainier, St. Helens (what was left of it), Hood, Jefferson, Three Sisters- the inspiring splendor of the Cascades.
Our family lived in an antique farmhouse, heated with wood pruned from the orchard. It was neat to live in a dwelling that numerous generations had called home even if it needed constant fix up and restoration so it wouldn’t collapse on us. My constant companions out in the orchard were a succession of faithful Boxer dogs, always eager for a snack on the pesky gophers inhabiting the orchard turf.

We were active participants in the life around Western Mennonite School, Salem and Northwest Mennonite Conference. Each season of the year had its joys and routines from the promise of April’s cherry blossoms to October’s MCC relief sale to the ancient carols of Christmas in December. I got involved in international bicycle touring and MDS to satisfy my trekking and wanderlust instincts and as breaks from the farming routines. It was a great way to spend those middle years of life.

While life was not perfect, it certainly was good. At times I would pinch myself just to make sure this all was real, not just a dream.

Still, with the steady, monotonous purr of the M-F my thoughts would roam freely to something more than trees, bikes, gophers and far beyond the distant Cascade Range. I can say that daily God and I reminded each other of an agreement we had come to in 1960 when I was nearing to the end of my two years of alternate service with MCC-Pax in North Africa. He had given me a simple one liner commission: “Someday, I want you back in Africa”. Daily I reminded Him- “Lord, it’s up to You, I’m ready anytime You are”.

During the closing days of the 20^th Century, with all the hype about the Y2K non-event, the pieces of the puzzle came easily together and in January, 2000 I was on a plane back to the continent I had dreamed of for the previous forty years.

It has been thirteen years that God has opened door after door for my ministry in West Africa. The months ahead in 2013 I will be marking another transition as I move into semi-retirement; an appropriate juncture to reflect on such things as ‘finishing’ ( I don’t like that term), career closure and the forward movement of one’s life and ministry. Now in my 7^th decade I write these reflections for those who are seriously committed to being lifelong disciples of Jesus, those who are unreservedly dedicated to His Kingdom coming and His will being done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Here are a few guiding principles that have brought me to where I am today:

1. Honor and draw from our heritage without becoming a slave to it or allowing it to limit our availability as ambassadors for Christ. I can scarcely imagine a better platform from which to grow into discipleship and mission than what we have as Anabaptist-Mennonites. It’s all there: focus on the life and teachings of Messiah Jesus, life together as a new community, our commitment to servanthood, the now…but not yet Kingdom, non-conformed to the temporal, a preparedness to suffer for Christ, active peacemaking and the incarnational mission model. All these and more prepare us to be on the cutting edge of mission as unwavering disciples of Jesus.

2. Be a life-long student of Bible. When I was younger I figured I knew the Bible fairly well. But compared to how I understand it today, back then I was only in kindergarten. For Bible study one of the best resources available for students are the volumes of the Believer’s Church Bible Commentary. Other contemporary authors whom I have found helpful are R.N. Wright, Phillip Yancey, Stuart Williams, Ron Sider and Gregory Boyd. My Bible study leads me to see missionaries as agents who are joined together with God as facilitators for the in-breaking of His Kingdom. My studies have informed my understanding of Jesus as God’s Messiah, “who transforms, restores, and regenerates people into a new spiritual/social community with its new life as a challenge and alternative to the old.” (Quote from David A. Shank)

3. Hold loosely to earthly goals such as material prosperity, career/job driveness, social climbing, political power, social snobbery and anything else that insulates us from the poor and marginalized. Commitments earthiness conversely inhibits our ability to minister to the vast majority of the world’s population, those who are special recipients of God’s care and by far the most eager to become part of His new people.

4. In mission, suffering and sacrifice are not just possibilities, they are inevitable. The North American frenzy for comfort, convenience and me is diametrically opposed to being a missional disciple of Jesus. It is impossible to have it both ways. North American Christians are notorious for trying to be the plowman of Jesus’ parable who wants his hand to be moving forward with the plow and at the same time he has his face looking back. Such is, ‘not fit for the Kingdom of God’. Being a disciple of Jesus is an all or none proposition.

I could go on to mention things like being a servant-discipler, having a sense of humor, living simply and frugally, preparing for your replacement and numerous other facets of a life-long journey in His footsteps. Just let it be said that the journey has been a joy and the best is yet to come! Amen!

Beryl Forrester,

November, 2012