Mission & Spiritual Formation
Rev. Amy Aspey
· The Blue Rose Mission gratefully acknowledges Amy Aspey for providing the following information to be used as a guideline to enhance work team and individual experiences among volunteers. It is anticipated that work groups coming to Blue Rose Mission Work Camp incorporate these ideas into their pre-mission group studies, as they participate in home improvement projects during the work experience and also while reflecting on their experience after returning home. It’s critical to understand that the Spiritual Guide and the Team leader are NOT the same person.
· Main Point: Mission opportunities open our lives to listen to God and experience God in a new way.
Read 1 Samuel 3:1-10
· This is a beautiful metaphor for the purpose of a Spiritual Guide on a mission team. Spiritual Guides help people to hear differently. They assist others in recognizing how God is at work in their lives at that time and place AND then also encourage them to respond. In doing so, people are guided into a deeper relationship with God.
The most effective guides have a clear understanding of the sacredness of serving and their role on the team.
Sacredness of Serving-
A. The Setting: Thin Places
· Thin places are those palatably holy places where we feel heaven touch earth.
· Question: Think for a moment about one of the times when you experienced God while serving, a time when you felt heaven touch earth. Share that moment with your teammate.
· Group Question: What about these “thin” settings was different than your daily life? What about the experience enabled you to recognize, hear, or sense God more fully?
· Spiritual guides help the team experience the “thinness” found in serving. By doing so, we assist people in recognizing, like Samuel, that it’s not that God is more present to us, but that we are more present to God.
B. The Foundation
· Framing the mission experience from a faith perspective lays the foundation for EVERYTHING that happens on the team. There is not a single aspect of the experience that isn’t directly connected to the faith framework.
C. Two Key Pieces
1. We serve not because it’s a nice thing to do but because it’s the Christ thing to do.
· Jesus summarized the vocation of disciple as: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength…and love your neighbor as yourself.
· Too often, we assume that people make the connection that we serve because we follow Jesus. They don’t. If the church isn’t going to be intentional about articulating this, then who is? It’s important to stress that that Jesus is the reason we serve!
· Spiritual guides have precious, holy opportunities to intentionally make this faith/life connection every day.
2. Mission is Christian Love in Action
· “Christian Love in Action” is the UMVIM motto. In 1 John 3:18, we are asked to love “not in word or speech, but in truth and action.”
· Jesus showed us that love doesn’t just talk. Love walks. Just as Jesus gave God’s love hands and feet, so do we.
· It’s important for the Spiritual Guide to frame all that is done on the mission, both as individuals and as a team, as being done as representatives of Christ. If Christ wouldn’t say it, then zip-it. If Christ wouldn’t do it, then why would you?
· Mother Teresa once said: “I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.” The Guide helps everyone on the team think about: How are the actions of “me” and “we” expressions of Christ’s love?
Once the guide understands the sacredness of the mission experience, THEN the guide can better understand their role on the team and structure the experience to help people hear differently.
Role of Spiritual Guide- The Spiritual Guide has the “sole” and “soul” role of nurturing the spiritual life of the team.
· Repeated for emphasis: It’s critical to understand that the Spiritual Guide and the Team leader are NOT the same person.
· The division and distinction of the roles is SO important. The leader leads the team in mission. The guide reminds people of the mission of the team…being Christian love in action.
Spiritual Formation
· In two words, the function of the spiritual guide is: “Spiritual Formation.”
· This is a fancy term that simply means working with God to have a heart like Jesus’ heart. A heart that is single-minded of one’s love for God and neighbor.
· We nurture such single-mindedness by helping people incorporate God-points not just at one point, but rather on each and every step of the journey.
PRE-MISSION
Question: What are things you have done pre-mission that help people make “God connections”?
Examples:
A. Prayer Partners
1. Invite each team member to invite at least 5 DIVERSE (youth, kids, family members, co-workers etc) people to be their prayer partners-- praying for the team, mission, and host.
2. It’s important to wrap the mission in prayer while also reminding people this is Spirit-driven.
3. Increases Participation—Inviting people to pray for us gets more people involved.
4. Plants Seeds- As people pray for the mission, it could plant a seed in their hearts. It’s amazing how these grow!
5. Outreach Tool- This can be an instrument for sharing our faith with others.
B. Team Meeting Devotions
When the group gathers, begin each time with devotions. These are the perfect times to begin stressing the Jesus connection and faith in action. Brief is good. It helps make the point in bite-size pieces, which is helpful for nurturing people at any and every phase of their faith journey.
C. Build a Devotional Team & Theme
· I have found it very meaningful to build a devotions team, where I work with another person (or persons) to intentionally create a devotional theme that runs through the experience.
· At least two weeks before leaving in the mission experience, we distribute a devotional schedule, where each member is assigned a reflection time.
· By asking folks to lead a devotional time, we invite people to hear differently. It’s important to stress that this is a safe space for growing and that it will be received as a gift. People can’t do it “wrong.”
· See examples.
D. Commission the Team During Worship
· Involves the local congregation and instills in everyone the PURPOSE of the mission.
· It’s meaningful for team members to be blessed during worship so that people can pray for them and be part of the experience. It’s powerful to feel as if you have been blessed to be sent.
IN MISSION
Question: What are things you have done IN mission to help people make “God-connections?”
Examples:
A. Mantling Service
This tradition is based on the story of Elijah and Elisha (2 Kings 2:8-15). It’s a story that represents the passing of responsibility from Elijah to Elisha.
1. This is a time of commissioning for the service at hand. It could take place the first time the team members gather or when the team is together for the beginning of the mission.
2. It is time of blessing the team, as a team, for the work they have prepared to do and an acknowledgement that we are ones that go forth in the name of Jesus Christ.
3. The service includes a passage of scripture, placing a mantle on each missioner and sharing words of blessing.
4. See Examples.
B. Reflection Times
This creates an intentional spiritual aspect for the trip. These won’t just happen. Ironically, they can get lost if they are not planned for. It’s important to schedule devotions and time for team reflection/processing.
· Helpful Questions:
1. Where did you see/feel God today?
2. How did you feel God using the team to express love? How did you experience God’s love expressed in our neighbors?
3. When did your heart ache? What does God call us to do about that? When did you heart sing? What does God call us to do about that?
4. What did you learn today? What does that mean for our Christian life every day?
· Be mindful of people’s time. Quantity doesn’t mean quality. Duration doesn’t force formation.
C. Encourage the use of Journaling: (blogging, skyping, photos, music) This helps people make “God” connections and listen in mediums that are most meaningful to them.
D Worship
· Don’t allow a mission opportunity to pass without experience the worship style of the neighbors you are with. Remind folks that you don’t have to understand the language in order to experience God. Christ unites us and we can feel that. We don’t have to understand the words in order to experience the love.
· Stress cultural sensitivity and respect! An open mind and open heart are critical. Disrespect of difference will not be tolerated, as this dishonors how other children of God love God. There is no right way, just different ways.
· Give careful thought how to close your time together. This helps people begin to prepare for returning home.
POST-MISSION
Question: What are things you have done to help people continue the “God- connections” that started?
Examples:
A. Sharing the Story—in worship, in groups, in writing, with friends. Sharing the experience allows the mission to continue to shape us. It enables the past to continue to shape the present.
B. Serve On
· Continue to serve after the story has been told. Life goes on. When this happens, it can be hard to come down from the “mountaintop” experiences.
· One of the best ways to help people process their experiences is to find a way for them to meaningfully engage in on-going service, in whatever that looks like for them.
· Follow-up with team members and listen to stories where they have passion and help them find places to connect their passion with a need in the world.
· Final reminder: A formational experience in mission won’t just happen. It’s the role of the guide to understand the sacredness of the serving opportunity, lay the framework, and help people to hear differently and move deeper in love each and every step of the way. God-speed to you.
REVISED CLW 01/2012
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