eek! I wrote this post, published it and then WOPPP it was gone! Dang. Let me try to write something similar.
This morning I received a letter from my employer, Church Mission Society. There have been some massive cut-backs recently due to the financial downturn, but I have managed successfully to avoid them - not bad for the new guy on the block and for a Baptist who is unconvincingly Anglican. But the crisis has caught with me and today I received an apologetic letter saying that I have been made redundant effective February 2010.
REDUNDANT!! . . . AHHH!!! . . WHY ME?? . . .WHY???
Actually, it was no surprise. They had informed me a while ago, in a sensitive, almost painfully apologetic way that only the English can pull off. In fact, CMS have been overwhelmingly supportive and are pursuing ways that will enable us to continue our partnership in ministry, but with us raising the support from people and not them. "Mission Partner" is the name for it. In some ways, we had already starting this a few months ago when the other half of our funding fell through - another sob story that i won't lay on you the day before Thanksgiving. Those of you who receive our email have the skinny on how to support us with more than prayer.
Anyway. Its a hard thing to receive a redundancy letter, despite how nice your employer has been about it. Its like getting dumped by a girlfriend. Its a blow to your ego. It whispers insulting challenges to your accomplishments, It highlights the 'dunce' part of 'redundancy' when you say the word too many times in the same sentence.
But on the positive side, I have coined a new word: "Redumptancy"
And not only this, but I have also empathetically joined the ranks of others in The Redumptancy Club who have, like me, become victims of this world-famous recession. We share in the same disappointment of lost security, a fresh wave of personal humility, a similar journey of faith into dependance on God and the bubbling exhilaration of anticipating the new opportunity around the corner.
God loves corners. We should not avoid them.
God speaks to people in transitions. We should not fear them.
If you ask me "What changes will you make?" I can only say that, since God provides and has provided all we have needed for the past 25 years of mission service, we will continue to seek and equip young leaders around the world to fulfill the Great Commission. Because of the financial downturn, we have already made drastic cuts in our lifestyle, have already replaced the car with bikes, have already reduced our budget to a barebones level, and now run a pretty tight ship - or in this case, a truck. The next step is not cutting back more but getting more support from more partners. I think.
Who else has become a recent member of The Redumptancy Club? Should we lift each other into the next chapter?
OK - that is pretty much what i wrote. I am sure the original was more eloquent and appreciative of CMS - who have been wonderful bedfellows these past 3.6 years - but that's it. Now you have the skinny.
