Wednesday, February 4, 2009

World Go Manual: Beginning



WGM produced a really interesting missions resource last year called the World Go! Manual. (Hereafter called WG manual. Names for things shouldn’t include punctuation marks. Like Panic! At the Disco. I was elated when that band got rid of the silly exclamation point.)

At ANY rate, the WG manual is sort of a Bible study for missions. The idea is that there are nine qualities of a missions-active Christian (pray, witness, serve, love, give, partner, endure, teach, and plant) and the WG manual helps you develop those qualities. Each chapter has three or four action items you can choose from to exercise your prayer, serving, giving, etc muscles.

The WGM administration has asked all the staff here in Marion to go through the book, which makes total sense. How can we recommend a resource that we ourselves haven’t touched? We’re meeting together as departments to discuss the chapters, but the administration didn’t want to require us to do an action item, because of the significant time commitment. Which also makes sense, because taking 15 minutes to read a few pages is one thing, spending an hour or two – or more – completing an action item is another.

But yesterday, as my department met for the first time to discus the first chapter, Pray, our discussion seemed a little hollow. The chapters are very short, because most of the meat is in the action times, so there just wasn’t a lot to comment on. It was actually kind of awkward. So I suggested that from now on, before we meet, we also complete an action item. That way, the manual has a bigger impact on us, and we have more to talk about. So, stay tuned for more about this WG adventure.

First impressions of the WG Manual: Chapters are short, but the action items are intense – definitely meant to stretch you spiritually. There’s an incredibly cheesy fiction story that carries through the whole book. I’m willing to let it slide, because I'm sure it will float someone's boat. Just not maybe mine.

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