Reading Selection 1

Act 1

Chapters and Topics

calling
spiritual gifts
spiritual warfare
methods of gospel proclamation
intineration realities
personal surrender and hope

“ . . . both sides are without hope as long as

they are without Jesus.”

Questions

Reflect on how your core moments with God have shaped your worldview and your relationship with God.
Name the fears that challenge you and describe how you face them.
What does the love of Christ compel you to do?
What resistance to following God have you experienced? How has God helped you?
What do you know about communicating the gospel to the culture you will encounter? What assumptions have been established—on both sides—to pit you and your audience against each other?
How does your family feel about missionary work? What value do you see in requiring missionaries to visit multiple churches?
Respond to the Hope/Dirt story. What might you need to remove so God can fill you to overflowing with His hope?

Reading Selection 2

Chapters and Topics

leaving family, friends, and employment
itineration: difficulties and encouragement
prayer support
financial and practical support
transitioning to the field

“I wish I could trust God the way

my son trusts me.”

Questions

What barriers might you face when making initial connections with churches and pastors? What doors might already be open for you?
Make a list of friends with whom you have been transparent about your struggles while following Christ. Then, list friends who have been open with you about their struggles. If either of your lists is short, why might that be?
How do you imagine being encouraged while traveling from church to church? What can you do to cultivate a sense of expectation and hope?
Recall a missionary’s visit to your home church. What made an impression on you?
What do you think of the following speaking advice? “Never wing it. Have a 30-second script, a 3-7 minute script, and a sermon. Your script should concisely introduce you, the people group, and the call you feel. Your sermon is not a opportunity to challenge a church but to connect with its people. If you speak from your heart, it should be something God has already been working on in you to deepen your call and something in which the people can partner with you.”
Which of the enemy’s statements, questions, or accusations in “Airborne” do you find most challenging to your faith?

Reading Selection 3

Act 2

Chapters and Topics

receiving counseling
arrival in new country
dreams and the prophetic
adjusting to team culture
relationships with leadership
spiritual understanding and practices

“At every church, I told them

God was sending us as a team.

God wants you here. He has something

for you to do.”

Questions

If you end up serving on a pre-existing team, there will be cultural norms the team has adopted. To not adopt the same norms is to challenge your leadership’s judgment. How would you address a cultural norm you felt you could not adopt?
The pressures of missionary life will highlight for you—and for everyone else—your character flaws. What flaws have you been hiding from yourself?
The gospel is too large for a person to be passionate about it in every aspect possible. On a team, you may encounter differences regarding ministry values. Leadership may be passionate in one aspect, and subordinates may feel passionate in another. If we believe that God has assembled the team, how can the passions of both parties be acknowledged as part of God’s mission?
What do you think of Dave singing worship songs on his balcony on the day Muslims go to the mosque to worship?

Reading Selection 4

Chapters and Topics

prophetic dreams and interpretation
team conflict
people of peace
team unity
conflict resolution
personal calling and revelation

“We are modeling!

Everything we do or don’t do

preaches the gospel!”

Questions

What practical plan would you have in place in case a team member, especially a child, got lost?
You may find yourself living near people who participate in activities of the kingdom of darkness. The darkness may respond aggressively to your presence, but you belong to the Kingdom of God. What scripture verses personally assure you that you belong to Christ?
In your life, what well-intended actions have Christians taken that you believe to be contrary to the gospel?
The “elephant” will both squeeze out negative aspects of a person’s character and bring to the surface what “matters most” to that person about serving God. Leaders who can support team members in recognizing their sins and in identifying what God has placed in their hearts as “essential to serving Christ” will significantly help their team grow. Regardless of your role, how can you support someone as they discover what is in their heart?

Reading Selection 5

Chapters and Topics

shared vision
clarity of God’s call for individuals and families
unity in prayer
business as missions
various methods of gospel proclamation
children as missionaries and their roles
following the leading of the Holy Spirit

“I came all the way here, and I’m still

a God-offender.”

Questions

If God were to make your assignment, “Be loyal and responsible to your team by serving them in the background in the area of prayer,” would that feel 100% fulfilling? Would there still be something you would want to do to “fulfill the missionary calling”? If so, what is that something?
As a servant of Christ, how can you best serve the leadership Christ has put in place? How have you successfully built trust with leadership in the past?
How have you made peace with those with whom you have had conflict?
Since the promises in God’s word change us and whatever realities we may face, what practical commitment will you make to your family, team, and yourself to be in God’s word? How will you hold yourself to that commitment?
Ponder these statements: 1) Jesus knows where the fish are. 2) The Father can speak to you through your children. 3) The Holy Spirit can lead us through our emotions.
Consider the following approaches to sharing Jesus: the “live-life-and-love-the-people-while-waiting-for-an-opening” method, the “3-minutes-to-Jesus” method, and the “Bible-study-with-locals” method. Also, notice the speed at which the refugees conclude that Dave’s family knows God. What would you call that method? Which approach are you drawn to?

Reading Selection 6

Chapters and Topics

ministry to financially influential vs. to poor
budget issues
accountability partners
families on the mission field
ministry to Muslim adults and children
team unity

“All things are possible. All these kids

can come to Jesus.”

Questions

What would leave you disillusioned? Lack of funds? Lack of language? Lack of power? Lack of vision? How can you become aware of the Father’s presence cheering you on?
Have you ever had an accountability partner? Have you ever crashed without one?
While prayer is not a science, can you recall—in the history of your Christian life, church, or ministry—an experience that supports the idea that unity in prayer is significant? What Bible passages do you know that correspond?
When Dave preached off-script, he got passionate about three scripture passages: don’t hinder children from coming to Jesus; speak to the mountain, and it will move; have compassion that leads to defiance of evil. He can see one of those passages coming to pass. What passages of scripture are you passionate about right now? What might they look like to you when they happen?

Reading Selection 7

Chapters and Topics

civil unrest and procedures
managing finances and cultural expectations
church planting
self care
receiving counseling
prophetic dreams and visions
relationship to Jesus

“If prayer changes things, then lack of prayer changes things.”

Questions

What do you do when you suddenly find yourself in a country about to go to war? Do you live life like usual and “keep trusting God”? Do you believe “taking precautions” to be not trusting God?
When you go on furlough to raise funds, how will you support the locals who have come to rely on you financially?
How does your target culture lack a natural understanding of the gospel? What pieces are missing in the narrative backdrop of how people think? How can you help provide a change in the backdrop?
The lie that God is unknowable is strong in the teaching of Islam. What is a strong lie in your target culture? In what ways does your own culture limit how you experience God?
It is difficult to “shake the dust from your sandals” when you’ve come to care about the people you’ve sacrificed so much to reach and love. If someone refuses your help and rejects the gospel, how will you process such rejection?
What makes you “feel most alive”? Will you have the freedom to feel alive in the target culture, or will you be hindered from expression by the nature of the mission strategy in place?
Can physical objects have a negative spiritual impact?
Besides the expense, what would hinder you from receiving counseling?

Summary

What bargains have you made with God? What are the stakes?
What is in your heart? Whom did God make you to be? What is most important to you?
What weapon(s) does Dave find? What weapons (armor) do you reach for when you are desperate?
What keys does Dave begin to grasp? What keys have you held before, or do you sense now? How has Jesus revealed Himself to you?

Reading Guide: The First Years

Reading Selection 1

Act 1

Chapters and Topics

Questions

Reading Selection 2

Chapters and Topics

Questions

Reading Selection 3

Act 2

Chapters and Topics

Questions

Reading Selection 4

Chapters and Topics

Questions

Reading Selection 5

Chapters and Topics

Questions

Reading Selection 6

Chapters and Topics

Questions

Reading Selection 7

Chapters and Topics

Questions

Summary