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Shortcuts

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Tim Brown @t4gtimbrown

Shortcuts are tempting.

This spring a shortcut over a mountain turned into an extra long drive in northwest India. We didn’t know the mountain road was being widened this year.

It was interesting to see how road construction projects are completed in India. We passed men using hand tools to break large rocks into smaller rocks. Sometimes we had to wait while fallen rocks and dirt were removed from the road before we could move ahead.

More than once in the car we talked about how we wish we had known about the construction. If we had been aware of the road work, we would have considered another route.

Sunday I was speaking on the three temptations Satan threw at Jesus that are recorded in Matthew 4. Standing there it dawned on me that the third temptation was Satan offering Jesus a “shortcut.”

Remember the last temptation was when Satan took Jesus to a high place and showed him all the kingdoms of the world. Satan said Jesus could have all these kingdoms and their splendor if only Jesus would bow down and worship Satan.

At that moment Jesus knew the difficult  journey ahead. The path he would travel to the cross. The pain. The suffering.  Jesus was well aware of all that was ahead.

Jesus also knew that the end of His journey on this earth would bring about what Satan was offering at that moment   — every nation and kingdom bowing in worship.

Jesus didn’t take the “shortcut” Satan offered.

“Away from me, Satan,” Jesus said. “It is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only!”

Shortcuts are always tempting.

What’s the quickest, easiest, shortest path to get where you want to go? What’s the cost?

If you’re considering taking a shortcut today, maybe these thoughts will help you decide.

 


Posted in India, Tim Brown, Travel | Leave a comment

Jonah Consequences

Posted on July 6, 2011 by J. R. Whitby

Armed guard outside a Jos Nigeria church service

I have read the book of Jonah scores of times and heard many sermons. But Rev. Ray Hunter recently challenged me with something I had not considered before. Jonah’s disobedience cost other people, too.

The men on the ship were not followers of the Lord. They were praying to their own gods to save them from the storm. Their livelihood depended on delivering the cargo safely. They threw their valuable cargo overboard and the owners lost their investment.  They had to endure an incredible storm and they feared for their lives … all because Jonah ran away from God.

We who are Christians have a calling to tell the Good News of Jesus to everyone everywhere. T4 Global’s calling is to focus on the 2/3 of the world who are oral learners. The story of Jonah reminds me that my choice to obey God or not has consequences far beyond me. And not just financial consequences. More importantly there is a spiritual impact on the people I am called to reach.

Even if the temperature is hot and humid and the conditions are more dangerous than my comfort zone.  God still says to go.

Could God have used someone else to reach Ninevah? Of course. But He chose Jonah for the job. And He has chosen me … and you … to reach those who have not yet heard.

 


Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Speak the Truth, Sing the Truth, Live the Truth

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Dr. MO @moverstreet

God speaks. He communicates with His everyone.  From the beginning, God revealed to all creation the traits and attributes that collectively identify Him as the One, the only true God.  Out of nothing, He spoke and the world appeared.  He spoke and man appeared.  Through the ages, God spoke and His prophets and apostles understood and applied His Word directing humanity to know God. In every generation, God calls people to take His Word so that all creation could know Him and how they may come to know Him more.  Through Adam and Eve, God’s promises were cosmic and perfect.

But something went wrong—terribly wrong.  From the fall in the garden to the curse at Babel, the image of God humanity bears in our bodies became corrupt and confused.

As a result, hearing God (revelation), knowing God (theology), and doing God’s will (mission) fell from the perfect into the fractured reality of a needy creation. While God’s Word to creation is perfect and powerful, broken humanity floats hopelessly on another horizon, separated from the Creator by a vast ocean of drowning depravity.  In a word, our hearing, knowing, and doing have been broken by sin’s corruptive influence.

Language barriers, sociocultural barriers, fear, mistrust, guilt, and indolence fill the waters that divide a culture and its people group from the Truth of the Word of God and the rest of His presence generally revealed in every detail of the entire cosmos.

Billions of people—some in your local congregation—may be stuck behind a veil that shrouds them from seeing, hearing, knowing, and doing God’s will.

A friend of mine notes on his blog, “John Mayer, Jay-Z, and Black Eyed Peas have more access to American homes than Piper, Driscoll, and Mahaney. Quentin Tarrantino, Oliver Stone, and M. Night Shyamalan have had more formative influence than Grudem, Frame, and Packer. Avatar and Taken have captivated more people than Mere Christianity or Knowing God.”

All media—all forms of communication one receives—shape and turn the worldview.  Perhaps its time we consider more than monologues when it comes to communicating the Truth that is able to deliver body and soul from hell (Matt 10:28).

I am praying and asking God to call more servants who will discern the nuances of cultural constructs and develop wildly creative, biblically permissible media to carry the message of Christ by His Word to those who need it.

What do you think?

 


Posted in International Orality Network, Mark Overstreet, Oral Learning | Leave a comment

Cross-cultural Shepherding with a Timeline

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Ed Weaver

An early employee used this description one time when asked what we did in ministry. It’s not terribly informative to others, but for those of us on the team at T4 Global, it does resonate in our hearts.  In many ways, our work is complex.  We seek to enable indigenous leaders to be even more effective at developing communication strategies in the mother tongue of the people they are attempting to reach. Therefore we act as coaches or consultants on how to create this strategy, develop the information in a way it will be most clearly understood, assist in the recording of the information (stories, songs and dramas), and guide the distribution of digital devices that hold all this information.  We shepherd the indigenous leaders through the process and help them in any way possible.  There is shepherding through a process and then there is spiritual shepherding.  We don’t claim to have the corner on spiritual wisdom.  But, we do have spiritual training that allows us to truly partner with our in-country leaders to discern what is the best way to understand the culture and then select appropriate Biblical Truth to address that culture.  This doesn’t put us in a superior position – but one of true partnership for the Gospel.

You will notice the word process. A process implies a timeline – a goal to reach in order to make an impact. Is it good missiology to have a timeline?  Africans, for example, have a saying “you Americans have watches, but we have time”.  We would argue that time is against this world.  We believe there is not much time left to get our assignments completed.  At T4 Global, we seek to be culturally sensitive and yet work to develop a sense of urgency if that is necessary in the given culture of the program.

Cross-cultural shepherding with a timeline.  A heart to serve with a responsibility to reach the lost before it is too late.


Posted in Ed Weaver, Oral Learning, Orality, Partnerships | Leave a comment

Roadside Entrepreneurs

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Tim Brown @t4gtimbrown

Two roadside entrepreneurs along a mountain road in India.

This week I’ve been thinking about roadside shop owners I saw in May during my last visit to India.

Un-mounting a tire.

One man focused on tire repairs. Looking inside his shop it was clear he was willing to tackle anything that might have gone wrong with a car, bus or truck on its way up the mountain. Maybe among his supply of filters and belts there might be one that would work. By the way, the cost to mount four tires — about 30 minutes work — was 500 rupees — under $12 US. The four tires were $200 US and had been purchased a few days earlier. Unfortunately the electricity was off at that shop so they could sell tires but not mount them.

Next door to the tire shop a seamstress was working a foot-powered sewing machine. I remember my grandmother having one like it. The foot-powered machine was a wise investment. Never know when the electricity will be on in the area.

 

Sewing even when the electricity is off.

 

Recently T4 Global was invited to consider how to adapt business training materials to be useful in oral cultures.

One course e-mailed to me is designed to help participants develop a good business plan. Topics include market research; target markets/potential customers; marketing strategies and many other things we train entrepreneurs in the west to consider before launching a business large or small.

Being the MBA on the T4 Global team, I have a passion for figuring how to communicate this type of training effectively in oral cultures. But I confess I’m still trying to wrap my head around what a “business plan” might look like in an oral culture where most people can’t read or write. And if they can read and write, they often don’t or won’t.

Wonder how these two entrepreneurs would respond if I asked them to come to a class to discuss these topics?

Would they sign up?

What do you think?

 

 

 


Posted in India, Oral Learning, Tim Brown, Travel, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Walking God’s Path – Visual to Audio

Posted on June 29, 2011 by J. R. Whitby

Melody and J.R. Whitby

I’m J.R.  My path to T4 Global was truly a God thing. In September 2008, I attended the  International Orality Network conference for the first time. There I was challenged with the fact that 2/3 of the world cannot or will not read or prefer to learn orally.  There I reconnected with my long-time friend Ed Weaver who told me about the incredible work T4G was doing around the world.

My passion is for every man, woman and child on the face of the planet to have the opportunity to hear, understand and respond to the Gospel. With most missions giving and work aimed at literate cultures, the 2/3 of the world who do not read will never hear unless the Word is presented in ways oral cultures understand.

A few months later, Ed asked if I would be willing to help part-time with a project T4G was managing. After more than 35 years in production and distribution of Christian visual media, I was looking for where God would have me serve next and I was honored to help. Three months later Ed asked me to add another project to my plate and I went to Burma as a part-time contractor to begin a T4G orality project in partnership with East West Ministries.

During this time my wife, Melody, and I were continuing to seek God’s clear leading for future ministry. We knew that international travel would take me away from home for 15-18 days at a time. She is a woman of faith and prayer and she saw the doors God seemed to be opening to exercise my gifts and passion for ministry despite the time apart. When Ed asked me to add a 3rd project to the mix, I jumped at the chance to go back to Nigeria where I had traveled several times in my ministry career.

As T4G was being asked to add more vital orality projects in the developing world, it became increasingly clear that God was calling us to T4G full-time. Ed Weaver asked if I would become Vice President for Program Management and I began full-time on January 1, 2011.

In many ways God has been preparing me for this ministry position my entire life. Audio production and recording has been my background. Producing audio content requires answering the same questions as producing visual media. I am an ordained Southern Baptist minister and this position allows me to be a cross-cultural pastor as we train and mentor indigenous church planters and pastors to reach oral culture people with the Gospel.  I am excited God has called me to be a small part of a ministry which lives Mark 16:15, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” NLT

 

 


Posted in International Orality Network, JR Whitby, Oral Learning, Orality, Technology | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

History

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Ed Weaver

My name is Ed Weaver and I am technically the leader of the band of brothers and sisters that make up T4 Global.  By way of introduction, I am from a background of business – mostly in technology, such as software and hardware product management, business development and sales/marketing.  I think like an entrepreneur and sometimes act like one too.  Prior to merging my efforts in oral communication with T4 Global almost four years ago, I had been the founder of MPReach, delivering technology solutions (such as MP3 players sourced out of China) to organizations that had content to load on them that could then be used to reach people who couldn’t or wouldn’t read.  E.G., the 60+% of the world that falls into that category.  When I heard those figures in the spring of 2005, there was no doubt in my mind that my technology background could be used in reaching these people that were cutoff from the most critical information in the world.

Within a year, I heard of T4 Global – who was doing similar work, except that their expertise was more in the content production than in the technology.  Since I was weaker in the content production and stronger in the technology, it seemed like an interesting partnership.  The downside was pride.  See – I was a founder of something that was important to me.  It took about a year before I would meet with Pete McLain and Dr. Chuck Madinger to discuss a partnership.  What came out of that meeting in June 2007 was a passionate desire to lay down our “arms” and join forces to reach more people in less time than if we worked separately and on our own.

Stay tuned for more history….


Posted in Ed Weaver, Oral Learning, Orality, Partnerships, Technology | Leave a comment

Our load may be heavy, but the journey isn’t lonely

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Tim Brown @t4gtimbrown

 

Mountain road near Chamba, Himachal Pradesh state, India.

In May I spent a week in India on mountain roads traveling around Himachal Pradesh state. We were meeting with language teams translating Scripture and creating cultural songs, dramas and poems for recording.

One image etched in my mind is of this man we passed. As our car climbed higher I leaned out the window to photograph him walking. There weren’t any towns or houses close by in either direction. No idea how far he had come or how much longer he had to go.

Closest I’ve ever come to being in a situation like this man was several years ago. I was backpacking in mountains southwest of Tucson, Arizona, with a few friends and our church’s junior high students. At one point I fell behind and found myself alone on a switchback, out of sight from the group. Lucky for me there were stronger men who came back, took some of my load, and stuck with me until we reached camp for the night.

I’m thankful for the many friends T4 Global has around the world.

At times the load seems heavy, but the journey is never lonely.

Thanks for your prayers and support.

 

 

 


Posted in India, Tim Brown, Travel | 1 Comment

Prayers Have Results on a Christian Mission in India

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Tim Brown @t4gtimbrown

We are riding in auto rickshaws more often than on any of our previous trips in India.

Rickshaw prayer Christian mission India

In Patna this week, every morning Dwarika, Arjun (our teammates from Nepal), Susie and I would catch an auto ride to the Catholic Center where our meetings were held. In the afternoon, there was the ride back to the guest house. Then in the evening we typically are out for dinner.

Susie and I are learning from our  friends here.

The important lesson? How to quickly assess the auto and its driver.

Some drivers are young and fast. Others, older and a little slower on the bumps.  Some autos are still 2-stroke engines and very worn. Others are almost new with better engines.

On Wednesday afternoon we had an memorable ride returning to the guest house.

The four of us reached an area packed with autos. A very young driver in a newer auto raced up and called to us. This made one waiting driver angry. He clearly told the young man to move on and not “steal” his chance.  We picked the young driver and his newer auto, climbed in.  As we raced off we wondered about the wisdom of  our choice.

Our driver raced down the street weaving in and out of the traffic. Our eyes were wide open — sometimes maybe closed?  We told him to slow down. There was no need to hurry, we said.

I remember us all being relieved when we arrived safely at the guest house.

As I was paying our team noticed large black storm clouds coming our way.

We walked into the lobby just as the storm blew in — strong winds blowing dust and heavy rain for almost an hour. The winds were so strong that the guest house staff had to re-nail some wood around our a/c unit that blew into our room.

We were then very grateful for the young auto racer. He got us back safely in the nick of time. A slower driver and we would have been caught in the storm.

So here’s my question:  Was he just a young Bihari auto driver? Or perhaps an angel sent to protect our team?

Thanks for your prayers while we travel. They have results.

Tim

 


Posted in Friends, India, Susie Brown, Tim Brown, Travel | Leave a comment

A Story of the Samburu

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Ed Weaver

A story from Pastor Simon Mwaura, Executive Director of God’s Grace for All Nations, our lead partner in Kenya: “The reason why the Gospel did not penetrate the Samburu people [originally] is because the first missionaries used the wrong approach. They maintained that for one to be considered a follower of Christ, he/she must abandon his/her culture, and dress like the westerners. This actually widened the gap between the church and the unreached. All ministries endeavoring to reach the Samburu go with the same idea, hence little results. This gives Gods Grace for All Nations a good chance to reach this community. GGFAN exists to make the Gospel of Jesus Christ accessible to 22 unreached tribes in Kenya, Samburu being one of them….

When T4 global was introduced to us in 2007, we thought it was a matter of translating a sermon into Samburu and giving it to them to listen. After interacting with the T4 Global Staff we realized it was more than this. We needed to know the world view of the Samburu and then craft content [stories, songs, dramas and village proverbs] in a way [that is] understandable to the Samburu.

It will be noted that Gods Grace for all Nations is collaborating with the T4
Global team to raise indigenous Samburu pastors who are better suited to reach their tribes men with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. With this model, success seems to be sure.’

Praise God for partners like this.


Posted in East Africa, Kenya, Orality, Partnerships | 2 Comments
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