Summer is always a fun time in SEND U as we have time to interact with our newest appointees during MOP as well as connect with home service coworkers during SNAAC. We also gather together for our annual planning retreat where we map out our annual plan and take stock of our previous year's goals. One bit of news we wanted to make sure you were aware of is that Ken Guenther will be taking a much deserved sabbatical from September 1st-February 1st. During that time, Beth Eckstein will be serving as the interim SEND U Director. We have set up a new email to use during this time SENDUdirector@send.org. Please email any questions or suggestions you have for Beth and the SEND U team.

Please take a few minutes to read Ken's very insightful and encouraging words to each of us as we go about not only making disciples but being disciples.

Many of us have the grey SEND T-shirt with the words, “Be Disciples, Make Disciples.” Each of us has been called to be both a disciple and a disciple-maker. We need to be learning and growing disciples of Christ who are multiplying ourselves in the lives of others so that they also become learning and growing disciples of Christ.

With Paul, I say, “Who is equal to such a task?” (2 Cor 2:16). This work of making disciples and equipping disciple-makers is surely a task that only God can do. Becoming a disciple and a disciple-maker requires a heart change (not just a great strategy), and what can I do to change someone’s heart? The Word of God is the divine instrument in the hands of the Holy Spirit that accomplishes this heart change and equips people to be disciple-makers (2 Tim 3:16-17). However, amazingly we are called to be the human instruments of this heart change in others.

In the third chapter of 2 Corinthians, Paul talks the transformation of the heart that the Spirit of God accomplished among the Corinthian believers. He says that the Corinthian believers (disciples) are a letter from Christ, written by the Spirit of God on the tablets of the heart. This is a clear reference to the new covenant of Jeremiah 31:33: “I will put my law in their minds and write in on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people.” Nevertheless, he describes this writing on the heart as “the result of our ministry.” Through Paul’s work as a missionary, God had written his Word on the hearts of Corinthian pagans, transforming them into disciples of the kingdom.

But this was not the only writing that was going on in the process of Paul discipling these Corinthians. He says in vs 2 – “You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone.” The Gospel was written on the hearts of the new believers. The new believers were written on Paul’s heart. His heart had also been inscribed by the Spirit of God as he had built relationships with these Corinthian disciples. He had learned to love these people of a very different culture than his own – and his life would never be the same.

A double writing – their hearts and ours. This is my desire for myself and every SEND missionary. I do not want a single SEND missionary to leave the field without the assurance that, as a result of their ministry, the Spirit of God has been writing on the hearts of their friends, transforming them into disciples of Christ. It might not happen in the first year or even in the first term. But I firmly believe that it is very possible for every missionary to witness this. I also want every SEND missionary’s heart to be deeply inscribed with the names of people in whom they have invested. We are not meant to be detached and dispassionate in our interactions with those we disciple. God intends that we will never be the same again. The Spirit changes hearts through our ministry, and in the process, our own hearts are also indelibly marked by the friendships that we have formed.
- Ken

Once again we welcomed new missionaries to our Farmington campus tor another great round of member orientation. Ethnic community visits continue to be a highlight, including a visit to a local mosque (pictured below). One participant stated “I was heartbroken when I saw the Muslims bowing completely on the ground. The verse, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me' kept playing in my head. We were praying for them while sitting in the back and watching them pray.”

Of course it is always a challenge for our youngest MOP-ers (and the participants) to make it through the long days of training, discussions, and of course working on the famous puzzle. But they all persevered and we anticipate great things for each of them. New coworkers are on the way for many of you!

The SEND U wiki has a new home! Wikispaces is closing down, but the SEND U wiki continues with all of its content. The SEND U wiki can now be found at this link: https://senduwiki.org. You can also access the new site by typing in “senduwiki.org” into your browser if you can't remember the new address. As we continue to develop more modules on the Crosswired site, we are excited to have more of our learning resources in one location. Currently, anyone can look at about 95% of the SEND U wiki as a guest. But if you wish to access the 120+ pages or documents that are password-protected or assist in uploading and editing documents, you will need to join the SEND U Crosswired site and log in. Please contact Ted (tszymczak@send.org) or Gary Ridley (gridley@send.org) and they will send you an invitation to join by email. You can see the process in full on the wiki at this link. Once you create your account, you will also have access to dozens of self-paced modules on the SEND U Crosswired site. Happy learning!