Unchartered Territory with Teresa Janzen

Have you ever felt like you've suddenly gone off course  - detoured into unchartered territory? Teresa Janzen shares a ministry report and message that will encourage you on your journey - even when you have no idea what the future holds. 

Lewis and Clark, the famous explorers,  navigated the Missouri River. They were expert river navigators, and they had a whole team of people with them called the Corp of Discovery.

 They were given the commission by the President of the United States to find a water passage to the Pacific Ocean. This is going to be a game changer for the US for trade and development and all that type of stuff. And they navigated to the source of the Missouri.  and when they crested the mountain expecting to find a river on the other side, what they found was the Rocky Mountains—big surprise.

 Sometimes you go into a situation thinking that you know what's going to be ahead. You've prepared for it. You took courses for it, you studied for it, you've held committee meetings for it, you've set budgets for it, and you crest the mountain and think you're going to move forward.  And all of a sudden you find yourself in a situation that you hadn't planned on, and nothing that you've done in the past has prepared you for it.

 If you feel stuck in a rut and unable to move forward, get Teresa’s free guide, “Get Out of that Rut!” https://teresajanzen.com/unstuck/

Transcript

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Welcome to radical abundance. I'm your host Teresa Janzen today's episode is a ministry report. I recently had the opportunity to share at Day Bible Chapel in Saranac, Michigan. I call this message into unchartered territory. You know, South Sudan can be a bit of a tough environment. It's still the youngest country in the world, for those of you who don't know. And South Sudan, although it's name says South, is not located anywhere near the south of Africa, it's actually in Northeast Africa. A little bit politically unstable. You may have heard that, and maybe you haven't because it doesn't hit the news so much anymore. It did when it became a country in 2011, but people get tired of hearing the same thing over and over again about difficulties and challenges. We get fatigued with that type of thing, and so it has dwindled out of the news. It's a tough place, even though if you were to take a survey, 90% of the population says that they're a Christian. 10% perhaps are nothing. Or African traditional religion, also known as animism. And then there's some Muslims in the northern part of South Sudan where that pressed to the South has succeeded. So Dan and I, our focus, our ministry in South Sudan is very much, focused on equipping the church, the church in South Sudan, the national leaders to be impactful in their community. The gospel has not made a, transformational impact on the culture overall, but there are individuals whose lives have been transformed. And you know what? It's not a very different story here in the United States, and in fact, we're gonna talk a little bit more about how things here in the US are changing, just like things in south Sudan are changing. So our ministry in general, I work with the leadership of an organization called ACROSS. Now, ACROSS was founded in 1972 so that Western missionaries could serve in what was then a Muslim context because South Sudan was under the regime of Sudan, Sharia Law, and everything. In , 2005, the comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed. and people could serve openly. And so the missionaries all went their own way Africa Inland Mission, Mission Aviation Fellowship, Sudan, interior Mission, Sudan, United Mission today called pioneers. All of them, TearFund, you name it, so in 2005 they said, maybe we should just close it. We don't need it anymore. But for years they had been working alongside the nationals in South Sudan and the nationals said, we really like what we're doing. We'd like to continue. So the missionaries said, okay, and they turned it over to South Sudanese leadership. My role in South Sudan is to work with the leadership of the organization. on missional strategy, policy development, and implementation. I know this is sounding real exciting, isn't it?? Everyone loves policies and procedures. Well, I do, and I do love it because it's building the capacity and the infrastructure of the nationals to go forth and be transformational in their communities. So today, Dan and I serve a lot in the background. Now, Dan does get out in the field a little bit more.. when we went to South Sudan originally, we lived in the village. We didn't have electricity. No flush toilet. Anything like that. And then a lot of things happened due to the insecurity we had to move to the capital city. We started with electricity 12 hours a day. That's a big improvement. Okay., six months ago we got electricity. That's most of the time when things are going normal. That's a game changer, lifestyle wise, and not because we don't have air conditioning, fancy stuff like that. And yes, it is hot. We have a refrigerator. Just imagine your life without your refrigerator. Imagine your grocery shopping without your refrigerator and your meal preparation and your leftovers and all that stuff. That's how we've been living for over six years. Okay? So we have a refrigerator that's a game changer in lifestyle and I'm so grateful for it. so anyway, we moved to the capital City and we partnered with this ministry called Across. I work with the leadership. Dan works with the leadership of the church, the indigenous church, which means he gets out and about in the country. And South Sudan is one of the least developed countries in the world. Now I do want to share with you some scripture cuz we're in church, right? And so we are going to look a little bit today and I , called this talk, , Into uncharted territory, and I hope that will become evident as we go. We'll see. In First Corinthians chapter three, beginning in verse 10, it says, because of God's grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now, others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful for no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have, which is Jesus Christ. When I'm in the United States, I love to watch hgtv. I don't know if anyone else likes to watch hgtv. I think the reason I like to watch it is because in South Sudan, Dan and I live in about 110 square feet. Okay. 110 square feet. That's our living space. So when I'm in the US I watch HGTV and it's so beautiful. These homes, even the little ones, you know, and they tear down walls and they open things up and I love the part when they choose the tile and the paint and the fabrics and, and everything. And I'm just amazed. And that's when they put it all together. When the magic happens and you have this beautiful home, but every once in a while they open something up and they find a problem. Right? I watched a show one time recently. They started opening things up and they found a problem in the foundation. Now that's a problem. Everything looked good on top. You couldn't tell that there was a problem in the foundation, but there was. And they said, we cannot continue. There's no tile selection, no paint selection. Nothing can happen until we fix this part. And you know what? It's expensive. That's the big part. They'll say it's $20,000,$30,000, and no one will ever see it, because when we're done, we're gonna cover it up again. Right? Foundations are really important and so we cannot. Spend too much time picking out the tile till we've checked the foundation to make sure that we're building on something that's good. And when we look at our life, and your life and each other's lives and even the life of the church, we can look in pretty good. We can be all color coordinated. We might even have the PowerPoints in order, and tech might even work , it could happen. I heard it happened once. Even if the tech doesn't work, if the foundation is strong, then you've got something to build on. You know, before you build on a foundation though, you have to choose a location and real estate, that's what they say is important. Right? Location, location, location. I've been reading this book lately by Tod Bolsinger and it's called Canoeing the Mountains. I'm reading it because I've just started my doctoral program at Fuller Theological Seminary and he's the professor. Uh, that I'm going to be dealing with the next three years. And, , he wrote a book, so why don't you read the book? Plus he assigned it. Well, I was confused by that title of canoeing the Mountains until he shared the story of Lewis and Clark, the famous explorers. And they navigated the Missouri River. They were expert river navigators and they had a whole team of people with them called the Corp of Discovery. They navigated the Missouri River. They were given the commission by the President of the United States to find a water passage to the Pacific Ocean. This is going to be a game changer for the US for trade and development and all that type of stuff.. And they navigated to the source of the Missouri River, and when they crested the mountain expecting to find a river on the other side, what they found was the Rocky Mountains Big surprise.. So sometimes you go into a situation thinking that you know what's gonna be ahead. You've prepared for it. You took courses for it, you studied for it, you've held committee meetings for it, you've set budgets for it, and all of those things, and you crest the mountain and think you're going to move forward. And all of a sudden you find yourself in a situation that you hadn't planned on and nothing that you've done in the past has prepared you for it.. And when we come back here to are changing and I think you may also be finding yourselves an unchartered territory. You start down the path. and you think you know where you're going, and all of a sudden there's a new law in place and you feel like parents, you feel like maybe the school has more authority over your children than you do, and what's the voice of the church in a culture that seems to be not only ambivalent, but even hostile? So where do you go from here? And that's, those are the things you have to navigate. But when we come back here to the United States, we sense even more and more of a foreign environment here as well. I think because you're here all the time, I know that you're aware, but it might not feel quite as drastic. In recent years when we come back, we're like, wow, things are different. where's our friendly West Michigan community? And believe me, we travel in other parts of the country. West Michigan is still relatively friendly, but there is a little bit of a different feel here. We sense it a lot when we go through the airports. We sense it a lot in the urban centers. Um, and Grand Rapids isn't an exception either. And then we watch the news and we hear about the political situation and, and we know that. you are also entering unchartered territory. It reminds me a little bit of my father-in-law. My father-in-law always love to say, this world is not our home. We're just a passing through. You know, there's a lot of different theological thoughts about those types of things, but even the Apostle Paul and second Corinthians, he did talk about that type of thing. this morning I was reading the second Corinthians chapter four. And I was so encouraged. I went on to chapter five and into chapter six, and I'll tell you, I was so tempted because it was so nurturing to me to just come here and read those chapters to you. People don't really like it when you do that, when you're a speaker in places, but I was so encouraged. So I hope today that you will go. and just spend some time. Second Corinthians chapters four, five, and six.. I'm going to read you a portion of it, but not all of it. But in, uh, chapter five, the Apostle Paul does say, for, we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down, he refers to, this is a temporary situation we're in, and that can certainly give us some hope for the future. But for sure, we have to live in this earthly tent in this place that we're in right now. And what do we do in the meantime? So we know that there's a future time when the earthly tent will be taken down and will be with God in all of his glory. But in the meantime, we're here. In the meantime, we're called on to be the church. In the meantime, the world is transforming around us and we are entering unchartered territory. And this is when you need to learn to be adaptive because the things that you have learned in the past. Are not going to take you to the future. Just like Lewis and Clark expertly navigating the river had to come up with a new means of transportation when they got to the mountains because that canoe wasn't gonna do 'em any good. Now, what does that mean for you personally? What does it mean for you as a parent, as a grandparent? What does it mean for you corporately as the church? Because we have to wrestle with these questions both individually and corporately.. Okay. How do you navigate your family in today's culture? How do you minister to your grandchildren in today's culture? How do you be impactful and relevant to the community around you as a church and today's culture? I'm not gonna tell you because I can't. This is something that you guys have to work out. For yourselves individually and corporately, but I'll tell you that the answer is likely not found in what you were just doing in the last few years. The answer is going to be found when you dig all the way down to the foundation, and that foundation is Jesus Christ. It's not gonna be found in the church programs that worked in the past. It's not gonna be found in the outreach activities that worked in the past., it's gonna be found when you make sure that your foundation is Jesus Christ, and then you learn to be adaptive. I do want to read you a portion of this scripture because I think we are all, uh, living in these foreign lands and foreign times, whether we're in South Sudan or whether you're in Saranac, Michigan.. You know, when Dan and I moved to South Sudan, we had had careers here in the United States. I've been in nonprofit administration, public speaking, things like that for years. Dan's an agriculturalist perfect tools to take to South Sudan, right? and yet the environment changed for us. We had to learn to be adaptive as we went, and , I think that that can be the same for you. I love, right in the middle of second Corinthians chapter five, when I was reading these words of Paul, I thought, wow, I could read these words to the church at day Bible chapel, and it would almost be like a message from Dan and I. Now, these are Paul's words, but I really can relate to them a lot. Beginning in verse 11 it says. because we understand our , fearful responsibility to the Lord. We work hard to persuade others. That's what missionaries do, right? God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this too., are we commending ourselves to you again? no, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us. You can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart. I will tell you, there was a time when we were in the village in South Sudan. I love short-term mission teams. Short-term mission teams are important. They can really be encouraging. But this one particular short term team came into the community where we had. ministering for a couple of years and we felt like we were banging our head against the wall. They did a couple of events. They recorded a number saying we had 2000 people come to Christ, and then they went home and we knew those 2000 people before they came, and we knew those 2000 people after they came. And I thought, boy, that newsletter of theirs must look amazing.. And sometimes I sit and I try to write our newsletter and I'll tell you about one person, but I'll tell you that one person I am more confident had a transformational experience in their life than the 2000, maybe someone in that 2000 did. But it's not about spectacular numbers. And that's true for you too. The ministries that you do, if you look for the spectacular., you're probably gonna find yourself really on the surface., I do think that the key is going to be looking for deep personal relationships and that's where Dan and I spend a lot of our time is one-on-one. Yeah, we do group stuff, but it's the one-on-one interactions that are really important. I really didn't mean to stop there, so let me continue. If it seems we are crazy and yes, we have been accused of that, but Paul. But I, if it seems we are crazy, it is to , bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it's for your benefit. Either way, Christ's love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead they will live for Christ who died and was raised for them. My friend Christ died for you. Not so that you can live in fear of what's gonna happen tomorrow, not so that you can be confused or be subjugated to criticism from the world, not so that you. Feel lost and desperate in a land that is not your own, but so that you can be confident and filled with joy knowing that you have been redeemed. This is a gift you have, and if you have experienced the transformational gift of Christ redeeming and forgiving your sins, let me tell you, I have a sin or two, and I am grateful that they're washed by the blood of the lamb. When we sing songs like that, my sins, I don't remember the chorus right now, but we sing it and it's really hard for me to hold still, but I have to remember I'm in the United States. Cuz in South Sudan we don't hold still , but I try to restrain myself, I get excited when I know that Christ died for my sins and gave me his righteousness. Mm-hmm., he gives me the Holy Spirit so that when I am. detained on the side of the road by police. I can just be patient. I can wait. I can know that if I am even imprisoned, I'll be okay. Some people, it costs them their life. Some people, it costs them their dignity. Some people it costs them their time. For all of us, it'll be inconvenient. We know that, but we have hope. and we can take courage. So I just want to encourage you, I know you're not serving in an easy time either. I'm gonna skip down to chapter six. I wanted to read the whole thing to you. Really. It's good stuff.. I love the word of God. Chapter six in verse one. It says, as , God's partners, do you know you're a partner with God. He sees something in you that He said,. Come and help me build my kingdom here on earth. Do you know what? He doesn't need you. He doesn't. He has invited you though, and that's an honor. I sit here and say, Lord, you've invited me to minister to people in your name. So , as God's partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God's kindness and then ignore it. For God says, now this is quoting back all the way to Isaiah. God says, at just the right time, I heard you on the day of salvation. I helped you. at just the right time in your life. God heard you, and on that day, it was the day of salvation. He helped you.. Don't keep that treasure to yourself. Your grandchildren need it, your neighbor needs it. Your children need it. Your friend needs it. So take courage. I heard a statistic recently that 80% of Christians in the United States will never share their faith. That's scary to me, especially in the world that we're currently facing. Let me tell., how to share your faith. There are people who write whole books about this, and I'm just going to do it in one minute. I'm gonna tell you how to share your faith because the reason why 80% of the people don't share their faith is because they don't know how. And I don't want anyone here to leave here today without knowing how to share their faith. You sit down with someone, you tell them what Jesus did for you. Mm-hmm. tell them what life was like before and what life is like now.. Mm-hmm.. That's as complicated as it gets. Mm-hmm. talk to people, listen to them in their point of need, and then let the Holy Spirit speak through you for what God has already done for you. Don't keep it to yourself. That verse continues and it says, indeed, the right time is now. Today is the day of salvation.