September 6, 2026

The SEND U Blog

Reflections and Resources for Lifelong Learning for Missionaries

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Multi-tasking is a cultural trait
Mission Leadership, Multicultural Teams, Cross-Cultural Living

Multi-tasking is a cultural trait

Over the past few weeks, I have been listening to a fascinating series of lectures by Dr. David Livermore of the Cultural Intelligence Center.  I purchased the lectures on Audible as part of one of “The Great Courses” that they offer. This course is 12 hours long and is entitled “Customs of the World: Using Cultural Intelligence to Adapt, Wherever You Are.” I would highly recommend the course in learning more about other cultures and as part of learning to work in other cultures and on multicultural teams. In one of the lectures, Dr. Livermore talked about how different cultures view time. Besides contrasting a value on punctuality with a value on relationships, he talked about monochronic and polychronic cultures. Related Posts:Are multicultural teams more innovative?Mapping Your Cultural ValuesBehavioral Preferences About Time and PlanningMaking the Most of Multi-cultural TeamingCQ Identity-Related Behavioral PreferencesLeading multicultural teams… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
Books, Disciple-making, DMM, Islam, Missionary Roles, Spiritual Formation, Book Reviews, Contextualization, Insider Movements

Effective Discipling in Muslim Communities – a review

In the last number of years, many books have been published about how to engage and do evangelism among Muslim peoples. But few books address the specifics of how to help new believers from Muslim contexts grow in their faith while remaining in their Muslim communities and families. Given that some claim that up to 90% of converts from Muslim backgrounds reconvert back to Islam, discipleship and support of these converts is clearly a critical need in mission work among Muslim peoples. A few months ago, in this blog, I posted a review of Evelyn and Richard Hibberts’ “Walking Together on the Jesus Road: Intercultural Discipling.” Now, I would like to highlight another book in this same vein, speaking even more specifically to the challenges of disciple-making among Muslim peoples – Effective Discipling in Muslim Communities: Scripture, History and Seasoned Practices by Don Little. This book is one of those… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
Why did Jesus prohibit his disciples from going to the least reached?
Training, Contextualization, Evangelism

Why did Jesus prohibit his disciples from going to the least reached?

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. – Matthew 10:5–6 Why did Jesus not send his disciples to Gentiles and Samaritans? The Gentiles were the people who knew the least about the true God. From a missiological standpoint, they were the least reached. The Samaritans knew something of the Law but were not accepted as genuine worshippers of the God of Israel. They were also unreached and proved to be among the most responsive to Jesus’ message. Among them, Jesus saw one of his greatest harvests (John 4:35-42). The Jews, on the other hand, had already received many opportunities to hear about God’s grace over the centuries past through the prophets and the Law of Moses. Many of them were very resistant to any message that would… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther6 mins read
Not OUR disciples
Disciple-making, Training

Not OUR disciples

Who are your disciples? Whom have you discipled? While these questions are helpful in directing our focus on the importance of disciple-making and encouraging us to be intentionally investing in other believers, I think there is an inherent danger as well in these well-intentioned questions. During my sabbatical last year, I spent a lot of time thinking and reading about discipleship and disciple-making. I became increasingly convinced that in order to be a disciple-maker, we first need to be a disciple. In other words, to learn how to be a disciple-maker, we need to be learning from Jesus. As Dallas Willard so aptly said, Related Posts:Church Planting is DiscipleshipWho spurs on the missionary to love and good deeds?The Vine Project: A reviewDiscipling disciple-makersWhat limits our disciple's progress?A Time for Teaching?… Read the whole post
Ken Guenther1 min read
Book Review: Contextualizing the Faith
Book Reviews, Contextualization

Book Review: Contextualizing the Faith

Last month a new book on contextualization was published by Baker Academic. It is by A. Scott Moreau,  and is entitled Contextualizing the Faith: A Holistic Approach. Dr. Moreau is associate academic dean and professor of intercultural studies at Wheaton College Graduate School. He takes a ‘dimensional’ approach to contextualization, “an approach that deals with the whole life of the church and yet organized in a way that it could be taken in smaller chunks” (preface, ix). Moreau develops an approach to contextualization that goes beyond the intellectual or theological level. In chapter 1, he sets the stage by briefly discussing “What is Contextualization?” He does not give a formal definition but the following quote characterizes his understanding:         Related Posts:Book Review: Practicing Hope: Missions and Global CrisesEffective Discipling in Muslim Communities - a reviewBook Review: Spiritual Warfare in the Storyline of ScriptureSo what if they have… Read the whole post
Gary Ridley1 min read
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