If I wear the national dress and understand the culture and all forms of etiquette, and if I copy all mannerisms so that I could pass for a national but have not love, I am nothing.

If I give all I possess to the poor, and if I spend my energy without reserve, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love endures long hours of language study, and is kind to those who mock his accent; love does not envy those who stayed home; love does not exalt his home culture, is not proud of his national superiority,

Does not boast about the way we do it back home, does not seek his own ways, is not easily provoked into telling about the beauty of his home country, does not think evil about this culture;

Love bears all criticism about his home culture, believes all good things about this new culture, confidently anticipates being at home in this place, endures all inconveniences.

Love never fails: but where there is cultural anthropology, it will fail; where there is contextualization it will lead to syncretism; where there is linguistics, it will change.

For we know only part of the culture and we minister to only part.

But when Christ is reproduced in this culture, then our inadequacies will be insignificant.

When I was in America I spoke as an American, I understood as an American, I thought as an American; but when I left America I put way American things.

Now we adapt to this culture awkwardly; but He will live in it intimately: now I speak with a strange accent, but he will speak to the heart.

And now these three remain: cultural adaptation, language study, and love.

But the greatest of these is love.

• Introduction to Planning
• Strategic Planning
• Action Planning

Reasons to use a URL shortener

• To keep a long address from wrapping to a second line and breaking in an email
• To make a long address fit in a text message or Twitter post
• To make it easy to memorize a website address
• To hide an advertising affiliate link
• To make it easier to share a link over the phone
• To make a link better looking
• To track how many people follow that unique link to your website
• To hide a free online website or file sharing site with a strange name

Common URL shorteners

• TinyURL
• Bit.ly
• Goo.gl
• Is.gd
• Tiny.cc
• Ow.ly

Brian Stark at DELTA Ministries pointed out a neat tool for making your own business card sized currency conversion cheat sheet.  OANDA offers a easy to print business card size summary of how much the local currency is worth in a currency more familiar to you.  Click here, choose your currencies, and click the tab labeled “Traveler’s Cheatsheet.”

The IMB is making available a Chronological Bible Storying cloth for only $3 each.  These cloths are often used in communicating Bible stories to oral learners.  They also work great for small groups, Sunday School, or family devotions.  Order here.

There are several things that you can do to deter automobile theft.  The key concept is to make your vehicle undesirable to a thief.  This is the idea of target hardening.  Thieves look for vehicles that can easily blend in to the traffic and popular models with a large used parts market.  Here are some things you can do to deter thieves, particularly if you have a common model.

• Always lock your doors
• Keep your windows up
• Install a car alarm
• Install a gear shift lock (in the picture) or steering wheel lock
• Etch your registration number on the glass/paint your registration number on the vehicle
• Paint your vehicle so that it is unique and easy to spot (see picture)
• Uglify your mirrors and lights to avoid theft with stickers, etching, or breaking
• Hide valuables out of site
• Keep a dog in your car
• Park in lots with guards/attendants
• Park in lighted areas
• Disconnect distributor cap or battery if leaving for a long period of time

Malaria is a common occurrence in Sub-Sahara Africa, parts of South America, India, and the South Pacific.  It is spread by the female anopheles mosquito.  Symptoms of malaria can include fever, chills, and flu-like symptoms.  If untreated, malaria can lead to death.  The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC)  and the World Health Organization (WHO) have several good resources to provide malaria education.

• Chart of malaria risk by country
• Chart of drugs to prevent malaria
• Preventing Malaria in Travelers brochure (pdf)
• How to prevent insect bites
• Mosquito repellent information
• How malaria infection works
• Malaria fact sheet

• Rapidly Multiplying Churches
• Church Planting Movements: What Have We Learned?
• 10 Church Planting Movement FAQs
• Just How Many Church Planting Movements Are There?
• Assessing Church Planting Movements
• Someone Has to be First
• Church Planting Movements Among Hindu Peoples
• Church Planting Movements Among Muslim Peoples
• A Church Planting Movement in Cuba?
• An American Adaptation of Church Planting Movement Principles
• Localization and Globalization
• How Is Missions Working Out For You? Part 1
• Messy Mangers, Misunderstandings and Movements
• Are There Church Planting Movements in North America?
• The Bible on Church Planting Movements
• A Church Planting Movement Unfolding in Uganda

If you are looking for a way to stay on top of the tasks, finances, plans, and other details for your short-term missions trip, check out ManagedMissions.  It is a website that allows you to communicate with your team members, manage expenses, track donations, track task completion, and more.  At the price of $15/trip for one trip, or $15/month for multiple trips, it is an affordable option for churches and ministries.