Targets and goals-Part 2:Systems and Goals

Recently we had a visitor, who, doing the course of our conversation, mentioned that he is a "systems guy."  Immediately I could relate, for I am also a systems guy.  I  have not usually used that term to describe myself, preferring to use symbology from my previous occupation: map making.

Systems guys are those who use inputs (could be data or resources of some kind) and then work to devise away to achieve a desired output (could be a report, or goal of some kind).

Most of the time we don’t think about the systems guy and they seldom get mentioned.  For example, when I write a newsletter, I use Microsoft Publisher (r) to create the document.  For my supporter database I use software called TNTConnect (r).  The systems people at TNTConnect created a way to link my data to Microsoft Access (r).  The systems people at Microsoft created a way from me to link my Publisher document to Access in order to personalize it and send it to MS Outlook (r) which sends out the e-mail messages.  But I don’t mention that in my newsletter.  The systems people work, often invisibly, behind the scenes to help people be successful.

To design a system, one needs to know the value of and limitations of the inputs.  One also has to be very clear about what the desired output is.

When designing a system, one should also be able to think beyond the stated desires of the customer and plan for other potential uses for the system that could arise.  It may get to the point where the system needs to be tossed and replaced. This is always a hard decision to make, because converting can take a lot of  effort.

When I first started working with NRCS in California, we were using a database program called Prelude that ran on a Unix operating machine.  It was a simple and fairly easy to understand system and I became quite proficient at using it.  But it was also quite limited.  So the powers that be decided to switch to a program called Informix.  Informix is much more powerful and I enjoyed it's capabilities.  But as we moved into the multi-dimensional world of geospatial data servers, it became time to switch, this time to SQL Server. This was a much more complicated than the previous change.  I'm sure I would love the new system, but the switch happened just after I left.

A problem can arise, though, when we get to like our system so much, the system becomes the goal.  I have seen this in government, religion and elsewhere.

We see this situation in government, for example, when an agency is created to address a certain problem.  Later on the problem is solved or the agency isn't needed anymore for some other reason, such as becoming redundant.  But the agency isn't dissolved.  They find some reason to keep it going.  This original goal no longer exists--the mission has become the goal.

We also see this in the realm of religion.  As a systems guy, I like the concept of Systematic Theology.  If God is indeed God then He has to be beyond human understanding.  But we humans want to understand God better so we develop these systematic theologies to help us.  I like that.  The problem comes when we use a system created to help us understand what God is like to instead define what God is like.  Then we end up creating silly ways to look at scripture verses that don't quite seem to fit so they are no longer a problem for us.  Or if God were to do something in the world that does not fit into our carefully crafted boxes we write it off saying, "that's not from God" or "that's from the devil."

We can do the same in ministry.  We might start a program or institution to accomplish a certain goal.  But then we like our program or institution so much, it becomes a goal.  That is not necessarily a problem as long as it remains a secondary goal and the primary goals remain the main goals.  But that doesn't seem to happen.  When the system becomes the goal, as opposed to a means to reach a goal, then usually the primary purpose for it seems to suffer.

Back when I was working for the government, our agency was under pressure to get models written for our soils database that would show how soils would behave in certain situations.  Another agency with a lot more clout than ours was driving this.  The problem was that the model used certain data about soils that wasn't necessarily relevant to all soils.  But we were under orders to put data in those boxes in the database so the model would work.  So, under protest, we did so.  The model worked fine.  However that particular data element is now only meaningful for that model.  We tweaked the data to fit the model rather than fix the model to use the data.  The system (the model) became more important than the original purpose for use of the data.

The reason I am thinking so much about systems these days is that we are encountering situations where the system has become the goal.  For me, as a systems guy, this has been quite frustrating.  But it is a reminder, as we move forward, to, as the adage goes, "keep the main thing the main thing."

So what IS the main thing for us?

I try to keep reminding myself and our Khmu partners of MB Mission's vision and ministry focus.

Our vision: Holistic church planting that transforms communities among the least reached.

Our central ministry focus: multiply healthy disciples and missional leaders.

That is what we're about at MB Mission.  We have all kinds of systems in place to try to accomplish that, but systems are just systems, they are not the goal.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. (Philippians 3:12 NIV)

Where there’s smoke…

Stickers.

The kids love to get stickers.  Whenever we teach, the children appreciate it if they get a sticker on their paper afterwards.

A former co-worker of Ingrid’s, who knows about this, recently sent us a bunch of stickers of all different kinds.

Among the stickers, were two of Smoky the Bear.

My (former) hero

It’s probably appropriate that this friend sent these stickers—her part of California has been besieged with some nasty wildfires this year, and this is a good reminder to pray for those affected by the fires.

Seeing this sticker brought back a lot of old memories for me.  Smoky was one of my heroes as a child.  At some point, I remember joining the Smoky Bear Fan Club and my Junior Forest Ranger badge was one of my prized possessions.  I found out about the club from a cousin who lived down the street.  His father was a Fire Warden for many years and his sons and my brothers and myself were part of putting out many a forest fire in our youth.

Smoky was a real bear.  Rescued as a cub after a fire in New Mexico in 1950, he was treated and then kept at the Washington National Zoo, where I saw him just a couple of years before he died in 1976. 

Probably the earliest calling I felt in life was to be a forest ranger.  I even steered my life towards that direction, studying forestry at the University of New Hampshire.  I loved being outside and enjoying the nature.  It was definitely my preference to be among natural things than to be among other people.  Back in my teen years, I probably pictured myself as an adult living off the land deep in the forest, far from my nearest neighbor.

But in all this, I was oblivious to other things going on around me.  It’s as if the forest all around me was on fire and I could neither see the flames or smell the smoke.

But then I, like Smoky, was rescued.

Jesus rescued me from myself.

When I put my faith in Jesus, and He put His Spirit in me, my life changed in revolutionary ways.   But the obvious changes were not the significant ones.  Giving up cigarettes and a speaking vocabulary that consisted mostly of cuss-words was obvious.  But the real change was much deeper. Instead of seeing humanity as an infringement upon nature, I began to see humanity as part of this whole created realm.   And I realized that life wasn’t just about me.  There were real people with real needs, spiritual and physical, all about me and that I was somehow supposed to be a part of meeting those needs.

And that changed the course of my life.

Instead of a career path that centered around nature, I found myself on one that centered on human needs or the interaction of humans and their environment.

Mind you, I still love plants and animals and all that.  I somehow still often find it easier for me to build a relationship with a dog or cat than with a person.  And I find being alone on top of a mountain much more refreshing than being in a mass of humanity.  But now these things are just part of a bigger picture.  A bigger picture that involves caring about the human suffering in this world and caring about those who have yet to find freedom and hope and true peace in Jesus.

I love the redemptive picture in Romans 8:18-25, where the fate of humanity and the rest of creation mix together:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope  that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.   And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?   But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Thank you, God, for rescuing me from me.

The Word

I’ve never considered the concept of having a “word for the year”.

But two days ago I read another missionary’s blog about her Word for the Year.

Then, yesterday we received an e-mail from another missionary about her word for the year.  That same day she commented about a facebook  post of ours, referring to our present house-hunting trip to northern Thailand as a “vision trip”.

And so now I have a word-a transformational word that has been planted in my brain, which spun my whole day around and removed the haze that was obscuring the bright sunlight.  It may be the word for the moment, the word for the day, the word for the week or maybe even the word for the year (but I don’t know that I will repeat this annually, so I hesitate to call it that)…

Vision

In 2007 we went on a Prayer and Vision trip to Thailand.  At the time, we were not thinking of becoming foreign missionaries, not even at the conclusion of the trip.

But a vision was born, none-the-less, and a few years later we found ourselves in training with MB Mission.  At the end of that, were we asked to consider moving to Thailand.  And so, in February, 2010, we made a vision trip to Thailand, to see what our work there might look like.

And so we developed a vision to be on a church planting team in northern Thailand.

So we moved to Thailand in the spring of 2011.  But, about a year into our our stay, we were asked to put that vision aside and consider a new vision: form a new team to move to Isaan—northeast Thailand—to bring the good news of Jesus to that part of the country.

After several trips to Isaan with our team-mates, a new vision was born in us—to bring the good news of Jesus to a region desperately in need of it.

But then, due to some health issues with our team-mates, we were asked to lay that vision down.

And then we were asked what our vision was.

And we made a proposal.

And we were asked to think of something else.

And I found myself reluctant to dream again—reluctant to develop some new vision out of fear that I’d just have to lay it aside.  I’m not a great visionary in the first place, so I don’t just pull these things out of a hat.

Vision is important.

I have a problem in my eyes that makes it hard for me to see details.  I especially notice this when I try to take photographs.  I often cannot tell whether something is in focus or not.  It may look OK, but when I take the photo and enlarge it, I can tell that it was not in focus. 

But it is not just in photography where bad vision leads to poor results.  Our lives need clear vision to get good results.

We read in Proverbs: Where there is no prophetic vision, the people are discouraged (Proverbs 29:18, ESV, alternate rendering).

And we definitely felt discouraged after having having to lay aside our vision so many times.

But someone else had a vision.  A Khmu believer in northern Thailand had a vision to move to Isaan to bring the good news of Jesus there.

So then we developed a plan—I hesitate to call it a vision at that point.  The plan is to join with this person who has a vision to see if we can develop that vision together.

We really don’t know how this will work.  We believe God CAN do something with this—we also know that WE don’t have the wherewithal to make anything happen with it.

And so now we are moving northern Thailand.  Right now we are headed to there to look at possible places to stay.  We have a lot of questions.  Since we don’t know exactly what the ministry will look like at this point, we aren’t sure what the best location is.  We do have some ideas.

But what we really need to do—more so than find a place to live—is to form a vision.

And so, we will pick up our friend’s comment and call this a Vision Trip.

It makes a difference what you call it.

A house-hunting trip sounds like work.

A vision-casting trip sounds exciting.

SO my word of the day—and my word for this trip—and perhaps my word of the year is

Vision

Vision of Northern Thailand