The past decade has seen a groundswell of passion among Christians in China to pursue cross-cultural ministry. A corresponding wave of activity among outside organizations and churches has aimed at equipping China's church for this task.
The following resources were recommended by WWL participants as helpful in coaching, mentoring and spiritual formation.
The guest editor's point of view...
After many years of devoted prayer and Christian living, we sometimes find it difficult to feel God’s presence. In our pursuit of a deeper prayer life, we often come up dry and wanting. Fr. Green provides an important understanding of prayer for many Christians who start to wonder why their prayers have begun to feel empty. Using the examples of some of the great mystics of the Christian tradition, he imparts to us some of their wisdom so we can better understand the journey of the interior life and the true call to faith in prayer that the Lord gives us.
Mentor: “A good teacher and valuable friend.” With this definition, the author shares how three mentors have made an impact in her life and testifies to the reality, omnipotence, compassion, and greatness of her Heavenly Father.
Lee identifies five areas where Chinese leaders need mentoring due to a lack of positive influences in their lives. He examines each of these areas and shows how mentoring can fill the voids left by unfulfilling or nonexistent relationships.
Rose and Hunter look at characteristics of churches and businesses that indicate their need for coaching and go on to explain what coaching entails. Rose describes how she has put coaching into practice in the ministries she is involved with at her church and acknowledges the blessings this has brought to the church body.
The author shares from her experience as a mentor giving us glimpses of three different women she has shared her life with, and how her interactions with each of them have brought about changes in their lives. She closes with a summary of what being a mentor has required of her.
Learning and insights from a recent consultation for mentors and coaches are reported in this article. It delves into many aspects of mentoring, coaching, and spiritual formation including the value of both older mentors and peer mentors. It also provides helpful suggestions for finding a mentor and a mentee.
For this week's Top Picks, we are re-publishing a post by Joann Pittman originally posted to her blog, Outside-In, on September 30, 2014.
On September 30, Austin Hill, host of the Austin Hill in the Morning program on Faith Radio, interviewed Brent Fulton about the situation in Hong Kong.
Cross-cultural workers have long debated the merits of devoting more or less time and energy to relations with other expatriates.