Archive for January, 2009

Rain and Refreshing the Needy

When I walked outside this morning, I was greated by something very unfamiliar: the fresh smell of recently fallen rain. You have to understand: it has not rained here for over four months, and the dust at time gets unbearable (especially for a contact-wearer!) and the smell is at time overbearing. What rain does is [...]

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Mission as Ministry by the Whole People of God

One of the “most dramatic shifts taking place in the church today,” say Bosch in Transforming Mission, is seeing ministry and the mission of the church as the responsibility of the whole people of God. Certainly, when we look at Scripture there are different roles of elders and deacons, but for a large portion of [...]

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More on Care and Counsel as Mission

Since Armonía is directly involved in the Care and Counsel as Mission movement with Lausanne, I plan to post occasionaly on updates on this movement. For now, I recommend that you visit the Care and Counsel as Mission website, and listen to the excellent interview of Gladys Mwiti, Chrisitan psychologist and founder of Oasis Africa [...]

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Mission as Common Witness

The mission of church requires the unity of the church, and the unity of the church leads to and comprises the mission of the church. In reality, however, the mission of the church has been divided and parsed up in hundreds of missionary organizations with little or no cooperation and unity. As Bosch tells the [...]

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A Day in the Life

We arrive at Santa Cruz community center around 10 AM.  Wes begins weeding plant beds and I help Suzy cook.  I cut up carrots and potatoes, stir the beans and rice, and watch her as she prepares soy (cheaper than meat, but provides protein).
As we work, we sip tea made from lime tree leaves, which [...]

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Mission as Inculturation

“The Christian faith never exists except as “translated” into a culture.” Thus Bosch begins his discussion on the different ways in which this was accomplished throughout the history of Christian mission. At its worst, Christian mission caused the disintegration of cultures into which it entered, but for most of church history a certain level of [...]

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Rationing Water

Mexico City has a water shortage, and it could be a very serious problem in the near future. But in the present, the city has resorted rationing water at random times, which basically means water will be shut off at random times. This coming weekend, more than a dozen burroughs in Mexico City will go [...]

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Mission as Liberation

In this section of Transforming Mission, Bosch traces the history and traits of liberation theology, attempting to identity both its promises and its pitfalls. First, what can account for the rise of liberation theology, whether in its black, Asian, or Latino forms? Bosch focuses mainly on Latin American liberation theology, and identifies several reasons for [...]

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Mexico City Photos Updated

On our website, we have just added some pictures to our Mexico City album, including some photos of different areas where Armonía is working in Mexico City, like Hornos, Violetas, Santa Cruz, Presidentes, and Jalalpa. You can see these photos by clicking here or following the link in the photos and movies page above. And [...]

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Donning a Sombrero

This Sunday was my first time dancing traditional Mexican dance as a part of our Sunday celebration at Santa Cruz. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but fortunately you can do a fair measure of fudging in those dances! Stephanie also danced, and I guarantee that she looked a lot better!
Dancing serves several [...]

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