Catsmeow Posted January 12, 2016 Group: Royal Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 439 Topics Per Day: 0.06 Content Count: 7,315 Content Per Day: 0.93 Reputation: 356 Days Won: 0 Joined: 11/21/2002 Status: Offline Share Posted January 12, 2016 Has anyone reading this ever worked "undercover" in order to reach "the lepers" of our own time? I am referring to Satanic cults, atheists, self-mutilaors, porn addicts, those who are suicidal, meth addicts, (et al)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qnts2 Posted January 12, 2016 Group: Royal Member Followers: 3 Topic Count: 20 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 2,875 Content Per Day: 0.71 Reputation: 1,336 Days Won: 9 Joined: 03/13/2013 Status: Offline Share Posted January 12, 2016 46 minutes ago, catsmeow said: Has anyone reading this ever worked "undercover" in order to reach "the lepers" of our own time? I am referring to Satanic cults, atheists, self-mutilaors, porn addicts, those who are suicidal, meth addicts, (et al)? I have bumped into and talked to most of the people on your list at one time or another. I do not see it as necessary to go 'undercover'. As believers, rather then trying to look like something we are not (undercover) to be accepted as a part of the underground society, I believe we need to be who we are but with a few changes perhaps in the way we conduct our lives. To reach out to any group of people, we need to be available to them. We need to be transparent so we do not appear to have ulterior motives. And we need to be vulnerable, meaning, going to a group of people who might reject us or our message, means we have to be vulnerable to rejection. I have found most of the people you mention, are generally mixed in as a part of everyday society. Some of the things you mention are things that some will keep hidden, but often, if they are comfortable enough to start talking, deeply desire to talk. I have met Satanists, atheists, cutters, porn addicts and those who are suicidal just about anywhere, in a business environment, in a store etc. The one exception are meth addicts, who often separate into their own culture of sellers and addicts. I had a friend who was a meth addict, so I did go to their place or where they hung out to talk to them. It was not a place I would have usually gone, but did so intentionally for them. Because of the illegality, that group is suspicious of strangers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catsmeow Posted January 12, 2016 Group: Royal Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 439 Topics Per Day: 0.06 Content Count: 7,315 Content Per Day: 0.93 Reputation: 356 Days Won: 0 Joined: 11/21/2002 Status: Offline Author Share Posted January 12, 2016 1 hour ago, simplejeff said: David Wilkerson was instrumental in saving many of that description. The same way all the disciples were sent by Jesus..... to proclaim/share/ lay down their own lives as Jesus did. The GOOD NEWS is as powerful today as always. Just rarely known, lived or heard. In the actual "mission field" I had to learn both the language and culture; it was full immersion. We ate cultural foods, spoke their language, and honored their traditions, (I was in a Muslim country). I'd been in the "field" of "battle" In the mission field (Muslim), whenever I came home from the "field" I felt estranged from my own home. I was so accustomerd to their ways, I didn't know how to act among my own. It's very MUCH like this in the online world. I've grown accustomed to a different culture. For instance, in believers' circles I might say, "I'm angry about ...." but in the online mission field I'd say, "I'm p**sed off" about ...". In a believers' circle I put on sterile gloves as if I were going into surgery. If I'm working in the "field" the gloves come off and I'm wearing street clothes. I doubt if this will even make sense. I'm beginning to wonder why I even posted this. I don't fit in with my own people I've been working in the field for awhile. You try working in this field and see what happens to you...you feel like David Wilkerson. You're bound to feel like you're working in a leper colony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catsmeow Posted January 13, 2016 Group: Royal Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 439 Topics Per Day: 0.06 Content Count: 7,315 Content Per Day: 0.93 Reputation: 356 Days Won: 0 Joined: 11/21/2002 Status: Offline Author Share Posted January 13, 2016 5 hours ago, simplejeff said: David Wilkerson was instrumental in saving many of that description. The same way all the disciples were sent by Jesus..... to proclaim/share/ lay down their own lives as Jesus did. The GOOD NEWS is as powerful today as always. Just rarely known, lived or heard. That's beautiful, Jeff. It's also comforting to me just to hear the affirmation. Right now I'm needy. I need to be comforted because I'm on the front lines and war is being waged. You can bet I'm feeling battered and bruised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catsmeow Posted January 13, 2016 Group: Royal Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 439 Topics Per Day: 0.06 Content Count: 7,315 Content Per Day: 0.93 Reputation: 356 Days Won: 0 Joined: 11/21/2002 Status: Offline Author Share Posted January 13, 2016 I just feel very alone in this mission field. I'm in a sterile environment here but when I go back to the field, I know I'll get dirty. I go to where the poor bums and derelicts go; people without a home or family, (metaphor). I need my "own" support just to keep me afloat but I feel estranged even from my own. I am a rock; I am an island.; but a rock feels no pain and an island never cries. (Simon and Garfunkel, I Am A ROCK. I know how hard it must have been for Jesus to hangout with publicans, prostitutes and the street crowd. I can speak their language of pain and get in deep with them...but when I try to return home to my own I experience culture shock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qnts2 Posted January 13, 2016 Group: Royal Member Followers: 3 Topic Count: 20 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 2,875 Content Per Day: 0.71 Reputation: 1,336 Days Won: 9 Joined: 03/13/2013 Status: Offline Share Posted January 13, 2016 When going to a mission field, it is best to have a support system. Typically that support system should include a spiritual mentor, and other missionaries who understand the experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catsmeow Posted January 13, 2016 Group: Royal Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 439 Topics Per Day: 0.06 Content Count: 7,315 Content Per Day: 0.93 Reputation: 356 Days Won: 0 Joined: 11/21/2002 Status: Offline Author Share Posted January 13, 2016 17 minutes ago, Qnts2 said: When going to a mission field, it is best to have a support system. Typically that support system should include a spiritual mentor, and other missionaries who understand the experience. It's not easy to find people who are willing to go the distance. Too many believers are in their "comfort zone" and don't want to venture out of it. Hence, I feel alone. I am a rock; I am an island...and a rock feels no pain; and an island never cries. I wonder if other missionaries feel as I do - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qnts2 Posted January 13, 2016 Group: Royal Member Followers: 3 Topic Count: 20 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 2,875 Content Per Day: 0.71 Reputation: 1,336 Days Won: 9 Joined: 03/13/2013 Status: Offline Share Posted January 13, 2016 17 minutes ago, catsmeow said: It's not easy to find people who are willing to go the distance. Too many believers are in their "comfort zone" and don't want to venture out of it. Hence, I feel alone. I am a rock; I am an island...and a rock feels no pain; and an island never cries. I wonder if other missionaries feel as I do - I am in contact with missionaries in differing fields but mainly with missionaries who go to the Jewish people. I have never heard any missionary say they feel alone but they have a spiritual mentor, and communicate with each other. (I have been asked to join them on various efforts and have done so, but I have never felt alone). Being on the mission field means you do face rejection so it is important to have a small group of people who can support you. When I have gone out, there are at times dangerous situations and I know God is supporting me and if I have concerns, I have other believers to talk to. In the OT, some prophets felt like they were the only ones, but God corrected them, that they are not standing alone, as there were other faithful prophets, and God was with them. I don't want to make you feel more alone because in my experience others might feel like you do momentarily but that feeling is not a long or lingering one. I want to encourage you to reach out to others who know what missions work is like, with the rougher experiences as well as the blessings. Also, most missionaries have those in churches who support them financially and with prayer. That is a wonderful support. Not everyone is called onto a mission field but have other work given them by God, and some will understand and can stand beside you even when they themselves are not sent out to the mission field. In my experience, missionaries feel pain and cry. One missionary who was a very very good friend would say that if you share the gospel with a particular people group, you also have to be able to cry because their current condition of being lost. If a person can not do that, they are possibly not called to that people group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willa Posted January 15, 2016 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 68 Topic Count: 186 Topics Per Day: 0.04 Content Count: 14,247 Content Per Day: 3.32 Reputation: 16,658 Days Won: 30 Joined: 08/14/2012 Status: Offline Share Posted January 15, 2016 We are supposed to be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves. God does not want us to dabble in evil on any level. If you must do this, do not go "undercover" and take part in their sin. I have tried to witness to one of my students who was in occult. God gave me great love for her and compassion, but to my knowledge she never received Christ. I have hope that such prayers will be answered before her death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdemoss Posted January 15, 2016 Group: Royal Member Followers: 8 Topic Count: 59 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 4,402 Content Per Day: 0.98 Reputation: 2,154 Days Won: 28 Joined: 02/10/2012 Status: Offline Birthday: 04/26/1971 Share Posted January 15, 2016 1Co 15:33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. I seek to keep this principle in mind when I am working the streets. The word culture contains the word cult which means to believe. Culture is always rooted in a belief system. Partaking of the culture will lead me to the belief. The word communications above is the word we get homilies from. And the word manners is the word we get ethics from. I have entered the business world. I am a business owner. Today I had a vendor call me and tell me my product was priced to low. The time spent listening to the reasoning behind why I should raise prices $5 per item was a time where this eatablished business person was attempting to win me over to their ethical beliefs. The call ended with this person saying "Hope you make alot of money today." This was the root of the discussion. This person is interested more in making money than making their products available to people. In the field (which I believe I enter when I leave my bedroom) I find constant attacks against my faith and manner of living that I believe Jesus taught that we should live. Rarely are they head on. The enemy usually comes at me sideways. Therefore, I seek to keep my ministry work very targeted and biblically based. I maintain a certain separation while being in the midst of the crooked and perverse. Jesus sent them out in twos. I found that as long as I have another working with me in the field then I don't suffer isolation and loneliness that comes when surrounded by unbelief. Peace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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