Grafting and as it relates to missions
I grew up in Nebraska which is predominately an agricultural society. However, in complete honesty here, I do not have a green thumb. At our home in Utah we had a small garden. We grew strawberries, rhubarb, and even had some grapevines. However, the best fruit that we ever harvested came from the grapevines that hung over our fence from the neighbor's yard!
I may not have much of a green thumb, but lately I have been thinking a lot about the process of grafting and how it relates to missions. "Grafting is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. In most cases, one plant is selected for its roots and this is called the stock or rootstock. The other plant is selected for its stems, leaves, flowers, or fruits and is called the scion. The scion contains the desired genes to be duplicated in future production by the stock/scion plant." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafting)
There are many reasons why grafting is an important (and widely used) horticultural technique.
First: grafting can allow a plant to yield fruit much quicker. Most fruit trees take between ten to fifcteen years to reach fruiting maturity. A young scion grafted to a mature rootstock is capable of reaching fruiting maturity much quicker (sometimes as quick as two years!).
Second: grafting can help produce an overall hardier plant because the scion has weak roots or the roots of the stock plants are tolerant of difficult conditions. e.g. many Western Australian plants are sensitive to dieback on heavy soils, common in urban gardens, and are grafted onto hardier eastern Australian relatives. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafting
Third: in areas where soil-borne pests or pathogens would prevent the successful planting of the desired cultivar, the use of pest/disease tolerant rootstocks allow the production from the cultivar that would be otherwise unsuccessful.
There are many other reasons why the technique of grafting is used, but for the sake of time (and the point of illustration) we move on. All of this is interesting but what does it have to do with missions?
A little over three months ago my family and I moved from the U.S.A to Germany. We are working with Kontaktmission with the long term goal of planting a church in Germany. Moving to another culture is not easy. It takes time to learn the language, the culture, and the worldview of the people you are now living among. But we did not just move to Germany as simple "transplants." That is to say, we did not just select a place on the map, say, "we will move here" and go. We went with a missions organization who connected us with a wonderful local church to serve alongside as we adapt to the culture. We have been "grafted in" to an existing body.
Just as I can see the benefits of grafting within plants, I also see the benefits of this "ministry grafting."
First: being grafted into a community of believers gave us friendship and a support network from the start. I have many people who will patiently talk German with me, correct my mistakes, and encourage me to keep going. We have families who we can connect with and who have kids that our kids can play with! We are not alone, and this community gives us strength!
Second: being grafted into an existing German Christian community helps us to adapt to the new culture quicker and hopefully avoid cultural faux pas. Many missionaries when they first arrive onto the field make mistakes without even realizing it. It happens, we are coming into a culture that is different than our own. They have different perceptions of: time, politics, social interactions, conflict resolution, etc. I know that I will still probably make my fair share of mistakes; but having a community around us to walk us through those mistakes, and to call us out on the mistakes we are making, will help us to grow and adapt to our new culture in a healthy way.
Third: I think this third point flows from the second in the fact that being grafted into an existing community helps keep us healthier. It would be easy to allow cultural differences to build and build, it would be easy to allow the difficulty of learning the language keep you down. But we are not alone. We have brothers and sisters in Christ who are pulling for us, who are helping us, and who are praying for us.
Finally: productivity. A new plant growing from a seed must first establish a root system. As stated earlier it can easily take 10 to 15 years for a tree to reach fruiting maturity. However, by grafting a tree onto an established, mature rootstock, it can produce fruit much quicker. I could not imagine how difficult it would have been to come here by ourselves with no connections. It would take time just to build a network (or root system). I have seen (and read numerous blogs) from missionaries who took years upon years to learn the language because they were not able to make that their main priority when first arriving.Through Kontaktmission we have been grafted into an existing church in which we can work alongside and help them produce fruit, as we learn the culture and the language.
I have seen many church plants struggle and many fail (even ones that were not done in a "foreign context"). I have seen many church planters burn out. There is a danger in isolation and there is the potential of sickness that comes from not knowing or being able to adapt to a culture (both physical and spiritual). We are not alone in our work, we have been grafted into the Kingdom of God through Jesus. I thank God for my brothers and sisters in Christ who help me everyday.
Third: in areas where soil-borne pests or pathogens would prevent the successful planting of the desired cultivar, the use of pest/disease tolerant rootstocks allow the production from the cultivar that would be otherwise unsuccessful.
There are many other reasons why the technique of grafting is used, but for the sake of time (and the point of illustration) we move on. All of this is interesting but what does it have to do with missions?
A little over three months ago my family and I moved from the U.S.A to Germany. We are working with Kontaktmission with the long term goal of planting a church in Germany. Moving to another culture is not easy. It takes time to learn the language, the culture, and the worldview of the people you are now living among. But we did not just move to Germany as simple "transplants." That is to say, we did not just select a place on the map, say, "we will move here" and go. We went with a missions organization who connected us with a wonderful local church to serve alongside as we adapt to the culture. We have been "grafted in" to an existing body.
Just as I can see the benefits of grafting within plants, I also see the benefits of this "ministry grafting."
First: being grafted into a community of believers gave us friendship and a support network from the start. I have many people who will patiently talk German with me, correct my mistakes, and encourage me to keep going. We have families who we can connect with and who have kids that our kids can play with! We are not alone, and this community gives us strength!
Second: being grafted into an existing German Christian community helps us to adapt to the new culture quicker and hopefully avoid cultural faux pas. Many missionaries when they first arrive onto the field make mistakes without even realizing it. It happens, we are coming into a culture that is different than our own. They have different perceptions of: time, politics, social interactions, conflict resolution, etc. I know that I will still probably make my fair share of mistakes; but having a community around us to walk us through those mistakes, and to call us out on the mistakes we are making, will help us to grow and adapt to our new culture in a healthy way.
Third: I think this third point flows from the second in the fact that being grafted into an existing community helps keep us healthier. It would be easy to allow cultural differences to build and build, it would be easy to allow the difficulty of learning the language keep you down. But we are not alone. We have brothers and sisters in Christ who are pulling for us, who are helping us, and who are praying for us.
Finally: productivity. A new plant growing from a seed must first establish a root system. As stated earlier it can easily take 10 to 15 years for a tree to reach fruiting maturity. However, by grafting a tree onto an established, mature rootstock, it can produce fruit much quicker. I could not imagine how difficult it would have been to come here by ourselves with no connections. It would take time just to build a network (or root system). I have seen (and read numerous blogs) from missionaries who took years upon years to learn the language because they were not able to make that their main priority when first arriving.Through Kontaktmission we have been grafted into an existing church in which we can work alongside and help them produce fruit, as we learn the culture and the language.
I have seen many church plants struggle and many fail (even ones that were not done in a "foreign context"). I have seen many church planters burn out. There is a danger in isolation and there is the potential of sickness that comes from not knowing or being able to adapt to a culture (both physical and spiritual). We are not alone in our work, we have been grafted into the Kingdom of God through Jesus. I thank God for my brothers and sisters in Christ who help me everyday.
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