Consecration, Separation and Contextualization and meaning of Evangelical

GOSP4EL is specific for Evangelical. What does it mean evangelical? I will start defining 'evangelical' as those Bible believing who are eager to share good news in the context of Christianity or Christian churches.

I am thinking about the gospel or good news of the evangelical being the distinctive feature of Christian church and how can and should the Christian churches relate with people outside the churches. Based on my limited understanding, Church is a group of people being called and be different from the rest of other people with the sense of consecration and belong to God in a unique way. I think the consecration has been interpreted as different degree of separation and cause different opinion of separation among the churches themselves and the churches to other.

In the context of Chinese with traditional Confucius influence and currently China's unique socialism influence , how did Christianity communicate with the Chineseness and started Chinese churches? I think GOSP4EL community may need to answer a few rather philosophical and then practical questions of the identity in order to proceed effectively and achieve our common ends.

1. Who are we and who are they?

2. What does it mean to be GLocal?

3.How do our understanding ourselves and others in order to be effective communicate and interact with others for the common good.

Questions for GOSP4EL connect Global English speaking Christian Geek with Local non-English speaking friends' need

I think the need of the local friends is not merely receiving the help from others, but be the technical savy fisher of other as well.

1. How can Mission/Christian Open Source development involve/engage more Chinese churches and/or churches of non-European languages speakers and users? 

2. How can we connect and elicit the needs of the communities with their technical limitation and have language/ethos/ideological barriers? What technical prerequisite before Christian church can communicate the good news?  Is the technology and sharing economy ideology part of the good news? Should holistic gospel include empowerment of technology? How can we ensure that Christian developed technology in open source context not to serve evil but God? 

3. How can we ensure open source projects create value and impact with sustainability? 

4. If the focus of the engagement is non-West or glocal, how should we decide for the venue, timing and ways of involvement ... I would like to see the materials of the Christian Opne Source conference being broadcast via the web and archive ... even better a dream of MOOC -- Massive Open Source Conference/Course for the Kingdom

5. What would be the identity and languages of a GLocal Christian technical community look-like? Should we go or ask them to come? Shall we learn the languages of other or ask them to learn ours? Should we invite them to be us, be assimilated as one of them or keep the mystical diversity in Unity. Besides technology and academic knowledge, what should be the Biblical/theological and missiological bases for decision making?

You are invited to answer and/or participate in the discussion of the above questions. Hopefully, I can spend time to share my thought about the above questions in more detail with input from others in the near future.

Relevance of Academic/Research for Mission/Church

I was glad that I had been associated with NGO value Academic and Scientific research. At the same time, I also wonder what is the relevance now comparing the relevance decades ago.

In the past the decision of allocation and starting a translation project based on rather detail social linguistic survey and research,  I don't know how much the administrative and decision makers make their decision based on the data. The teams may also have different degree of involvement of the survey and decision making. I think it also depends on different regions, entity and their resources. I think the decision were make in a lower level knowing the context. I think Peter Drucker mentioned once, "People make their decision based on opinion rather than fact." If this is true, what value is the scientific research. The effectiveness  of an entity depends on their politics or propaganda changing people's attitude rather than science. 

Academic research are seldom been independent in the history. In early days most of the academic research with influence of religion, nowadays more by funding institute and enterprise or customer. In some case academic is strictly bounded by their political context.

Divination is prohibited in the Bible. What is the difference between fortune tellers and data scientists or scientist in general. As we have faith or trust to technology or other, technology and others should never be our idols. How do we draw the border line? We need to be aware of Technology, Bible translation and the Bible itself can be our idol. We should be aware of the leading of the Spirit in BT and lingusitic research of Christian NGO but also in the work and daily life or all Christians. One of my paradigm shifts recently is to realize that translation and Bible translation is a mean/transition and not the end. What we need is to see the focus of the commandment is to participate in God's transforming action and making other to be disciple of Christ. At the same time how can Christian learned from 16:8 "The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. "

One of the scaring fact is that the world and the ethics is shaping by the World's big data. Is democratic the answer? I think probably not. The surely answer is "Thy Kingdom come and Thy will be done."

四十年來回顧與前瞻 — 半生承使命、再續待傳誰？

四十年來回顧與前瞻  — 半生承使命、再續待傳誰？

(謝謝香港靈光中文堂獲准自四十屆差傳年刊中轉載）                                           

四十年前還沒有信主，家裡也沒有信徒，宣教方面，本來沒有什麼好談。

但原來在我們孩提時代，在中西跨文化、種族和基督教會之間卻早已糾纏不分，相信不少香港戰後到七、八十年代的第一代信徒也有類似的經歷。感恩靈光教會讓我回望神的恩典與選召先於我在母腹時。

我家六兄弟姊妹都在橫頭磡區成長，曾經分別在天主教、基督教教會學校唸書。現在還未信主的大哥和五弟小時候曾在天主教學校唸書，其他兩位姐姐、六弟和我則在基督教的學校唸書。六弟和我當年就讀的天台幼兒院，聖誕節等日子，有些外國人（大概是美國人吧）會來探訪我們，還送一些很好的禮物給我們。後來才知道與我們在瓦努阿圖一起事奉的同事Greg Carlson在加州的教會多年來曾支持該幼兒院的事工。

母親說我少時多病，把我過繼給黃大仙。(後來我母親到黃大仙為我的翻譯工作求籤，求得第35簽–唐僧取經，天命不可違。很感恩，母親近年已信主，時為我們禱告)

生病時經常喝靈茶無效，就光顧附近的為恩診所（就是「為恩佈道所」）。還記得在候診的地方有一面鏡子，上面銘刻著「以藥石除病軀、藉主道救亡靈」。當時的主管美國宣教士文基信牧師（Carson Fremont），身高六呎多，經常伸出他的大手掌跟病人們握手，叫人信耶穌。小弟80年代透過到教會開辦的補習班、佈道會信主。信主後經常在為恩佈道所聽文牧師講道。 85年進入神學院以後，文牧師也成為我的老師。我在神學院上過他的課，其中包括社會學、羅馬書、加拉太書、個人佈道法等。這些科目的內容、記得的不多，當時的社會學和個人佈道法在今天已可能不合時宜了。但牧師對聖經的渴慕與研讀聖經的態度對我有很大的影響，至今還要多學習牧師的榜樣。去年有機會跟兒子拜訪在美國的文牧師，幾個月之後，牧師就息勞歸主了。

對我一生有深遠影響的還有多位宣教士老師。韓伯嘉院長六零年代接受SIL 的語言學和翻譯訓練，他當年打算到東巴基斯坦（現在的孟加拉）從事翻譯聖經的工作。只是拿不到簽證，他們一家就留在香港用約30年時間建立了五間堂會和一所浸信會聖經學院（後來的「中國浸信會神學院」）。他也是我的舊約和希伯來文啟蒙老師。我上了第一學期的希伯來語入門，之後四個學期，每學期一學分，他一對一授課。韓牧師要我翻譯舊約的部份希伯來文經文，當時不知天高地厚的我，傻乎乎地照做了。他的宣教課程主要內容是中國的宣教歷史、口傳差會來華史和分享他自身的經歷，以身作則，言行身教。聽到韓牧師的見證和教導後，我心裡想，我既領受了神藉韓牧師而來的教導與福氣，我是否可以圓他翻譯聖經的夢，續他未完成的使命呢。

1988年，隨神學院到澳門觀摩，我在馬禮遜牧師墓前立志從事翻譯聖經工作。當年參加學院舉辦的第二屆聖地之旅，參與福音動員會到臺灣短宣、精兵訓練營。後來又出席了恩臨萬邦的聚會，在戴紹曾牧師、蔡元雲醫生講道期間決志踏上宣教路，今年的華福會有機會跟他說一聲謝謝。在宣教營中溫偉耀博士講創世記12章，最近也有機會與他相認，他說他還記得那次的宣教營。還有周永健院長以耶利米為主題的講道（我的英文名字叫耶利米Jeremiah），加強我對召命的確認。這一切現在還歷歷在目。後來韓師母給了我一份美國威克里夫翻譯會的刊物和在宣教營的攤位聯繫了當年為香港威克里夫聖經翻譯會委員的羅曼華博士，及後得到袁沛充牧師引薦，內子慧好和我就開始成為「宣二代」，也開始了過去二十多年與聖經翻譯工作和靈光中文堂的這段「恩緣」。後事如何? 就是經歷神多年的恩典、慈愛、不離不棄、「添丁發才」、歲歲保平安。這些都在過去我們的代禱信和多年在宣教年刊中分享過，在這裡就不再贅述了。 

最近兩年，工場所在沒有變，但事奉的單位、方法、策略都有很大的變化。回港比以前頻繁，出差也很多 — 開拓了更多領域，參與更多不同的教會、機構、學術團體、培訓、會議 … 很多觀察、思緒仍有待整理。

總的來說，小弟對未來的宣教路向的看法是要走出知識型的宣教，謙卑尋求從上而來的智慧和對神旨意敏銳 — 聯繫全球，共用另類宣教資源，放下後殖民的包袱，超越後現代的迷思，植根本土，敢於付代價潤澤屬靈土壤，以聖經根本，為差會、神學院、教會領袖和信徒自己把脈。勇於承認過失、承擔責任，以基督為首、聖靈為導引，各按其職、各展所長，才有可能切中時弊、回復宣教團體、教會為鹽、為光、內聖外王、為祭司、為先知的角色，這是讓萬國、萬民、萬族、萬方尊父名為聖、天國降臨、父旨得成的基礎。

過去二十多年的宣教事奉，小弟參與過的領域有聖經翻譯、文字、語言學、宣教\跨文化、民族人類學、電腦、識字教育、領袖培訓、顧問、差會行政、社交網絡、動員、人工智能… 等項目。上司和認識我的好友曾經建議我考慮集中在某一、兩個領域來研究和發展，可能會有更大的成就。我覺得他們很有道理和智慧。只是我心所繫是以父旨為念，不是我要成就什麼，而是天父要用我一生來成就什麼。有人告訴我聖經翻譯很難，人工智能很難… 什麼什麼很難。文基信牧師曾說：「神的工作永不容易，但恩典夠用。」 我就一直邊做、邊失敗、邊學，靠恩典和眾聖徒的禱告得勝。多謝你們多年來與我同走這路。盼望我們都能效法基督以成就神的旨意，對我們的召命為我們的食物和滿足。他來了是要我們得豐盛的生命。豐盛的生命在於全心愛神、愛人、愛仇敵，全力以赴完成召命。

小弟未來兩年，主若許可，大概還會繼續在現在的工場。孩子高中畢業後，我們的事奉地方可以有更多的選擇，只是方向還未明確。如今人生中場，要多考慮聯繫、智取、策略、動員、使命承傳這些方向。

只是半生承使命、再續待傳誰？

普世宣教、訓練門徒、建立教會使命的接力棒，要交給誰呢？我有很多奇奇怪怪的意念、異象，誰來實踐呢？你是交棒者、還是接棒者呢？我們可以交給誰呢？不管跨越重洋，還是在學校、家庭和職場，誰願意去全力以赴，成全主召命呢？你願意嗎？

My first Indigitous Hackathon Experience 初次参与全球黑客马拉松

It is my privilege to join the Indigitous Hackathon with people from 28 cities of  different part of world. Quite likely our site have the largest number of Chinese speaking participants among all sites. Yes, part of my dream of GOSP4EL of global open source projects for evangelical laities(ordinary people). Yes, ordinary people are doing extraordinary things together for God.
This is my first hackathon and admire those young people slept very little and enjoyed hacking in last 40 plus hours.

My team, with two other college students, were translating and organizing the wiki page of GOSP4EL. I also tried to be more organized and posted some of my work and something that we learned and shared as resources in the Chinese context of our #hackathon. I am looking forwards for more input and sharing of resources/ideas from Global Chinese. Hopefully this can be helpful for the future events in Hong Kong, etc.

I posted two projects, GOSP4EL and COAD(Curriculum Of Asian Diaspora Christian) in indigitous.org. We only focus on GOSP4EL this time. Thank you again for team members of sister Zhang and Xiao Hong.

This is also a great time for networking and knowing some great people with the passion to serve God with their technical skills. Thank you for Ray and Nelson to share their skills, knowledge and passion for #indigitous. Thank you the organizers for their servant hearts, efforts and hospitality.     

嬰兒潮金齡宣教契機的迫切性

感恩去年參加金齡宣教營，希望各單位和參與者積極行動，華人教會的嬰兒潮金齡信徒出現于此時此地非偶然。機會不可再，白了少年頭，還能再走精彩人生下半場、承傳下一代、兩代。父子兵、祖孫兵完成上頭交付我們的使命。這個嬰兒潮金齡宣教的機會有其獨特性，一但過去、不能從來。怎樣進一步跟進、實踐金齡宣教。是一個迫切的課題，華人教會要講華人以外群體的宣教工作，不能再流于空談，金齡信徒能否繼續終生學習、把握先進科技、研究成果，用創新的方法來參與宣教。未來的宣教模式，重點不再是結構性勞動力的宣教，而是智慧型的宣教網絡。一切努力代禱、努力學習、研究和實踐。請多多指教。可以有什么具體的行動計劃、建議嗎？

垃圾還是活祭 Waste or Sacrifice

死亡的動物對你意味著什麼？ 我認為這取決於你在哪裡看到他們，祭壇或垃圾桶。 我們把自己當作活祭嗎？ 如果我們犧牲在錯誤的人手上， 像以利的兒子，那麼我們就是垃圾。
誰是祭司？ 這促使我思考唯一的大祭司和“信徒皆祭司”的重要性。 這就是為什麼我盼望GOSP4EL能動員平信徒。
今天帶著社會、教會領袖、祭司職銜的人不小，他們能把我們獻到至高神的祭壇上嗎？我們并不缺領袖，我們失去了方向和帶領者應有的質素。

What does dead animal mean to you? I think that depends on where do you see them, the altar or the garbage bin. Are we offering ourselves as living sacrifice? What if we were sacrificed to the wrong hands, e.g. like the sons of Eli, then we would be waste.
Who are the priests? This prompt me to think about the importance of the only High Priest and "priesthood of all believers." That's why I would like to see GOSP4EL engaging evangelical laities.
Nowadays there are many leaders and clergy with title, how many of them can offer us to the altar for the Most High. We are not lack of leaders, but direction and leadership.