Brad Buser and his family spent twenty years among the unreached Iteri tribe in Papua New Guinea. They learned the language, translated the New Testament, planted a church, and trained indigenous elders before leaving with their work accomplished. Here are points 6-10 of his course lecture entitled “Ministry Team Startup Talk.” Part 1 contains points 1-5.
6. Realize that there are many ways to handle things. Don’t let small issues come between you. See them as issues that need to be decided but held at a distance.
- “Did you have to shoot that dog?”
- “Why can’t we pay more than the going wage?”
- “I don’t want a team generator.”
- “I don’t want a team language office.”
- “I want an electric fence around my house.”
- “Give shots or pills?”
- “This phoneme is a V, not an A; this other one is an I, not an E.”
- “We must teach literacy this way.”
- “I need to be the translator.”
Seek answers that show a compromise. Be careful, guys — don’t let these things divide you. Maintain a fervent (not necessarily gushy) love and value for each other. Fight against making everything a lofty issue. Get familiar with the phrase, “I compromise.”
7. Learn to speak without generalities: “you always… leadership never… TAC is only…” Generalities box your partner or others into an image that’s not true. Be specific and controlled. Don’t just open fire. Reckless words hurt and can’t be taken back. Lazy speech comes back at us in time and is something the Scripture speaks volumes about.
8. Know that finding replacements for your team is tough. You’re new now, not in two years. Don’t toy with the idea of “If he leaves it’s no big deal; we could get past it.” Those thoughts happen and are just wrong. You don’t go to test the waters. You go in and you stay. Stay. Leaving early is a huge deal. Don’t plan on people leaving. Surround yourself with reasons not to turn back. Find godly friends who won’t let you turn back.
9. Help your wives grow out of being your biggest defender to being honest brokers with you. Teach them to value the shots that come from brothers who love you. Let them know that you need their honesty more than their sympathy. This is not natural and takes time. But it brings real maturity and 4- or 6-way growth and strength to a team. Most missionary fights are with wives. Let the shots come. You want to be godly before you want to be pain-free. Think the best!
10. Be willing to share your lives with each other. It may not be realistic to have your [ministry] partner as your best friend. But being able to enjoy your years of service and your partners and not just endure them must be seen as a non-negotiable. Purpose to work through, compromise both ways, and look beyond (not focus on) anything that keeps you from enjoying your partners. Love does cover a multitude of sins… but being willing to talk and discuss can help to lessen the load of things one must overlook.
Listen to people with scars. That’s become a motto of mine. Brad Buser has scars. In processing some old files recently, I came across one of his handouts from a class on Cross-Cultural Church Planting at The Master’s College around 2004. I never took the course, but Brad and his teaching were so well received by the students who took the course that I sat in on several sessions during my time on staff. The handout was entitled “Ministry Team Startup Talk,” a title that completely understates the priceless value of what Brad had to say. Brad’s teaching is rich in experience, incomparably honest, and fiercely missional (before missional was cool). The outline contains 20 points, and I’ll be sharing five at a time in coming days.
Oh, and by the way, Brad and his family spent twenty years among the utterly unreached Iteri people in Papua New Guinea. After five years, they were able to start slowly teaching through the Bible. After thirteen years, trained indigenous elders were in place. After twenty years, they left, with their pioneering missionary task complete. Brad gets it, because Brad has lived it, and lived it well.
“Every one of these principles represents a couple that didn’t make it on the field.” — Brad Buser
1. Your goal is not merely to “open an area” or “live in the bush,” but to see a church planted and NT [translation] completed and to leave behind something that will stand the test of time. It is an immense job. Keep that in mind in all you do. Don’t be fascinated with being the first person to see or live among a people group. That’s not your goal! Die to everything you have to, even things no one else has to sacrifice. Deny.
2. Our appetites for glory are unfulfillable. Die to them now. Be careful how you set yourself up even in your prayer letters. You’re part of a team. Are you willing to have your ministry partner be the one everyone thinks of when they think of the _____ Team? Are you willing to have yourself be considered a side issue? After 6 or 12 years, the same? Know that this will be an issue! Everyone’s gotta be involved! Don’t assume that the person who says “I don’t care” or who remains silent is going along with you. Make people talk! Silence is almost always misread. Preempt the problem.
3. Today you’re ready to sacrifice anything; but as these “sacrifices” become normal parts of life, He will ask other ones of you. The less glorious sacrifices may trip you up more than the dramatic ones. A “life of sacrifice” in little areas will probably more describe your years here more than a couple huge sacrifices. Most missionaries go downhill in their ability and willingness to sacrifice and suffer inconveniences. You will probably lose your warrior mentality. Don’t be ignorant and naive. What happens when you can’t go out and buy anything? The less glorious sacrifices will weigh on you. Stay sacrificial.
4. Value your teammates now. Even when their gifts aren’t easily seen and aren’t on display. It may be years before _____’s gift comes into the spotlight; maybe never. But remember that the people you open the tribe with are extremely valuable. The tribe will never look at any who come after you like they look at those of you who showed up first. Show your appreciation. Silence is death. Affirm! Affirm your partners to other missionaries. The first missionaries into a people group are given incredible respect. This is why missionary turnover is so deadly. Your team is so important!
5. What do you see as things about you that will be hard for your partner to live with? Men, husbands, women, wives: What steps are you taking now to be more endurable for others to be around? If not, what are you waiting on?
The Life and Death of Bob Kinney
November 24, 2011
“It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart” (Ecclesiastes 7:2). Today is a day of feasting. But yesterday was a day of mourning. I want to enjoy today’s pleasures with yesterday’s perspective.
Bob Kinney died of a massive heart attack on Saturday, November 19. He was working on an outdoor project with a family member when he died. He attended First Baptist Church of Fairfield, Illinois, right off I-64 between St. Louis and Louisville. Left to grieve and to remember are his wife Sheila and three children — two married, and one enrolled at Boyce College where I work. Bob Kinney was 47.
I didn’t know Bob Kinney — had never heard of him — until late Saturday night. But I learned a lot yesterday at his funeral. I only wish I could’ve met the man. One day I will.
Bob was a petroleum geologist in the smalltown Midwest. At some point later in his life God got ahold of him in a new, fresh, and powerful way. Bob recognized that he had grown stagnant and lukewarm. He couldn’t stay this way. By the work of the Spirit of God, Bob was lit on fire. He began devouring the Bible, leading his family toward Christ, and exhorting others to do the same. He longed for revival, in himself and in others.
A close friend from Kansas gave the eulogy. He spoke about Bob’s constant joy. Joy in his family, joy in his friendships, joy in his work, joy in serving, joy in the Lord. Bob once drove 14 hours to Kansas simply to express to his friend that he sensed a growing distance in their relationship. Bob asked, “Have I done anything to offend you?” Nothing had been done — just the common tension of busy schedules, limited time, and overwhelmed lives. But Bob was committedly biblical. He left his offering (and everything else) at the altar and went to be reconciled. And he didn’t ask, “What’s the problem?” or worse, “What’s your problem?” He asked, “Have I done something wrong?” The wise man said, “There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24b). The wise man would’ve loved Bob Kinney.
Pastor Bennie Tomberlin preached a wise, passionate, courageous, and sensitive sermon, interweaving poignant lessons from the Bible with Bob Kinney’s shining life. This smalltown pastor comforted, challenged, reminisced, and most of all, shared Jesus Christ. What passage did he turn to? Genesis 5:21-24: the life and departure of Enoch.
Enoch breaks the dark rhythm of the Genesis 5 genealogy. The death-knell rings hauntingly throughout Genesis 5, but pauses at Enoch.
- “Seth lived… he fathered… and he died” (Genesis 5:6-8).
- “Enosh lived… he fathered… and he died” (Genesis 5:9-11).
- “Kenan lived… he fathered… and he died” (Genesis 5:12-14).
- “Mahalalel lived… he fathered… and he died” (Genesis 5:15-17).
- “Jared lived… he fathered… and he died” (Genesis 5:18-20).
But then: “Enoch lived… he fathered… he walked with God… he fathered… he walked with God… and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:21-24). Enoch’s life was distinguished from his contemporaries. Enoch walked with God.
But Enoch’s life was also distinguished from his contemporaries in another significant way: its length. Seth lived 912 years, Enosh 905, Kenan 910, Mahalalel 895, Jared 962, Methuselah 969, Lamech 777. Enoch? Only 365. Enoch’s was a life cut short, and his departure was an untimely passing. But his life was shortened by a homecoming, a heavenly invitation. Indeed: “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:5-6).
Bob Kinney, said Pastor Bennie, was walking the happy peak of personal spiritual revival. He was devouring the Bible, investing in his grown children, teaching his Sunday School class with gusto, exhorting and encouraging his fellow saints, and saying (even the very morning of his death) that he was longing to see the face of God. He wanted more of God, more of God’s Word, and more gospel life and flavor and impact in his church, in his community, and around the globe. Bob Kinney was walking with God.
I hate to watch what this family is going through with a surprise death and a vibrant life cut seemingly short. I hurt to see the tears and sobs that run so much deeper and will last so much longer than just the past few days of shock and mourning. But I am so glad I got to know Bob Kinney, even for a short hour as his body lay still in the coffin beneath the pulpit. For “through his faith, though he died, he still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4b). I want to listen well, and to follow him.
