This
is an edited version of an offering appeal speech I delivered at one of the
plenary sessions at MFV 2016.
“Salam
Alaikum”—That’s the common Arabic greeting used by Muslims to
each other around the globe, no matter what language they normally speak. Millions
and millions of times a day this is their greeting to each other. It means “peace to you.” What a wish. What a prayer. What a
greeting. Time and time again. In mosque
and market place. Everywhere.
The response: “Alaika
salam”—“Peace to you.” A
conversation throughout the day. How beautiful. I live next to 100 refugees who
are in a hotel next to us in the West End of downtown here. The men come out on
the street to smoke. So I stop and try to talk to them, something not easy due
to language differences. But when in the
middle of a halting conversation I stop and suddenly greet them “Salam Alaikum,” the entire tenor and
atmosphere becomes electric. They look up in surprise and enthusiastically all
chime in with “Alaika Salam.”
That, by the way, is one of only a few words of Arabic
I know, but they are key to beginning a relationship. I know them because I
speak Hausa, a major language in Niger and Nigeria. It is the mother tongue of,
I would guess, some 60 million Muslims as well as a trade language for another
30 million or so. It is the language I studied at Michigan State University and
frequently spoke as a missionary in
Nigeria. It is not a Semitic language like Arabic and Hebrew, but the language
has adopted many Arabic theological, philosophical and abstract words that I
often recognize due to their similarity to the Hebrew I picked up in seminary.
I thought about that greeting the other
day. We Christians have our own greeting:
“the peace of Christ.” But we do
this only in church! Why is that? Why
only in Church? Why not everywhere like
the Muslims? Is the peace of Christ only
for church? Of course not. It’s for the
whole world.
The purpose of MF is exactly that: to
convey the peace of Christ to the whole world. Wouldn’t it be nice if we would
regularly greet each other that way? “The
Peace of Christ” wherever you go. How
about us MFesters starting this tradition among each other publicly? Break through our secular secrecy and
silence. Thereby proclaiming the Peace of Christ throughout the world. But I would go one better than Muslims. While
many Muslims restrict the use of this greeting among themselves, though in
public as well as private, I would want us Christians to use it even when
greeting non-Christians no matter what
their religion. Proclaiming the “Peace of Christ” to everyone within reach time
and again throughout your day both in church and marketplace. Can you think of
any reason this would be inappropriate? I said, “Inappropriate,” not merely “politically
or culturally incorrect.” Any reason at
all we should not do this? Feel free to
contact me about this.
MFesters: The Peace of Christ to you
(raising my hand as in blessing).
My name is John Boer. I live within
walking distance—WE and I serve on the Board of MF
But today I have a much greater
role: MF Pickpocket. Yes, you heard that right: MF pickpocket. But pickpocket with a difference. Not with a
clever sleight of hand in your pocket but with a powerful sleight of the Spirit
of God in your heart!
Did you realize that MF is the largest unifying Christian event in our Metro? Yes, indeed. Annually some 35,000 or so
visits and that for 33 years. That’s visits, not individuals. Yesterday I heard
John Hall, our Executive Director, suggest this probably amounts to about
15,000 individuals at each annual conference.
That’s a total of about 495,000 people coming to this
event one time or another over our 33 years.
Nearly half a million! And that’s not even counting the thousands that
are touched by MF and its partners throughout the year, every year by means of
ongoing events.
Did you realize that this crowd annually
includes thousands upon thousands of young
people? It’s one of two events I
meet some of my nephews and nieces once or twice removed even, the other one
being family funerals. This is a place where many young people begin to think
seriously about their calling in life.
There are files in the MF office with amazing stories of young people having
been brought to a life time commitment and decision.
It’s also a place where all of us can
and do get connected to over 200 Christian
mission agencies from across the street and around the world. So many
challenges. Almost too many to take in.
The things that are happening here are amazing. Yes, amazing, nothing short of
that. And all of this is accomplished by the Spirit of God through a miniscule staff of 5 people. JUST 5! Imagine what all this around you
takes to organize in just one year by such a small crew. Oh, yes, including 600
volunteers who do herculean work. Without them it would be impossible. But you
probably have no idea how much work those 5 staff people have to do to get
those volunteers aboard and trained.
This is a modern miracle, nothing short of it.
This brings me to the, hard, cold fact of money. You all know full well, all of this takes
money. This venue takes money, big money. And that in turn brings me to our
budget.
At the mention of budget, a technician will show the
budget slide.
Our budget this year? A modest
$520,000. Yes, that’s it—a mere
$520,000. I’m not saying it’s a small amount, but for what you get for it?!
Just think of the cost of this venue and then of all the programmes going on
around you throughout this entire weekend. It is our goal at this event to raise $120,000 through tickets and offerings.
That’s the big O-WORD for today! Offering! And that’s where you come in. Offerings.
Can you say that word? Offerings! Yes, offerings with an exclamation mark. Your offerings. Your
offerings today, In this meeting.
The big O!
We ask that you give generously today
and maybe even consider starting a routine
of monthly giving. By doing so you
will have the privilege of participating in an event that that sends ripples of
hope throughout the world. I can just
feel these ripples surge through my body right now. Don’t you feel them?
So, offering. There are three ways you
can do thi:.
(1) Online using Canada Helps. Go visit MFV website
and click on the donate button on the
home page. That’s one easy way—if you’re into online stuff.
(2) If not, well then you use the envelopes found on your seats. That one
thing most of us have learned to handle . If you need a tax receipt, fill in
the info section on the envelope. And please check the box authorizing us to
send you news and updates.
(3) You just place your 1000 bucks in the bucket
that will be passed around. It doesn’t get easier than that.
Oh, and allow me to draw your attention
to an important info column in the MF Magazine, p. 40.
At this point, we’ll take just a moment
so we can consider how God wants you to invest in His Mission. Yes, we have the
courage to call MF "His Mission." We will
pause for about 30 seconds for you to make a serious commitment around this big
O-word.
After that, I will break into prayer,
after which the ushers come with their buckets.
PRAYER
Holy, Divine Triune God. We begin with
adoration of you the creator of the
entire universe that till today, we are told, is still expanding. Amazing.
We adore you, Holy, Divine Son of God, who did not hesitate to come
down from your position of power and glory to take on our flesh and blood, including
all the pain, suffering and agony that come with that.
We adore you, Holy, Divine Spirit, who works in our
individual hearts but who also moves amid the cultures of this world and who today wants to pick our pockets.
Pick it, Holy Spirit, pick it, so that the work of Mission Fest Vancouver can
continue to connect the people of this city to your Kingdom. Triune God, open
our hearts today, open our hands, our pockets for our own sake, but even more for Your
sake. And for all those who have been
moved to give, we say a loud….”AMEN!”
Mission Festers:
the peace of Christ to you!
Volunteer
Ushers—Please come forward with your buckets. We have
prayed ourselves ready for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment