The launch of my book is into its final countdown and I am at once very excited and extremely stretched.

Here are the dates:

· October 15 – Pre-publication sale launches via website, email, Facebook and a postcard mailer

· November 1 – Book goes to print

· November 15 – Pre-publication copy comes off the press and gets shipped direct to all those who order early

· February 15 – Publication date – right on time for spring missions conventions and book ordering for fall classes and small groups

The book? “Night Shift: Crossing the Cultural Line for the Kingdom” examines the Christian mandate for the 21st Century – what our mission looks like crossing borders in the night.

For over four decades, (am I really that old?) I have been drawn to do something about those who are underserved and in some cases neglected by the Body of Christ. It is my life's passion, a passion that has propelled me to travel and live in some very diverse places. This book is the outcome of years of study, research, preaching, teaching, training, and field work, by which I mean actually doing what I write about, both in my home country (the USA) and abroad, particularly in Asia, and most recently in PDX.

Three years ago a fairly serious bout of depression knocked me out of one remote place into another (Portland, OR, or PDX as the natives call it). I label it “remote” because it was a place I’d had little contact with before. And yet I’ve discovered there is much to do here as well. PDX happens to be one of the least churched cities in the USA and ranks tops in homeless population, human trafficking, slut shops, and other lovely “Top 10s.” (It also happens to be a wonderful place to live notwithstanding!)

My mission in life has always been to reach the unreached, free the oppressed and embrace the misfits (people like me :) ). And to recruit others doing the same.

Thus, the book. My days of extensive travel are over, at least for the foreseeable future. Instead I’ve discovered that through writing (blogging, for example), I can communicate with quite a diverse audience both geographically and otherwise. [Even in the past three months as I’ve backed off from blogging to get out this book, the hits on my website have shot up higher than ever. I guess that means when I’m silent, more people listen?]

Because of the nature of some of my work, I won’t be totally free to share all of my story or the stories of those with and among whom I have served. However, I’ve managed to pack a lot in there. Including some of those experiences and lots of helpful stuff from the Scriptures, which has been a pretty reliable guide for me over the years. I am praying that through this book thousands will hear my Master's vision for what they can do for those He counts dear to His heart.

The bottom line question with which I have lived since I was a thirteen year old is this: What does it take to get it done where it is not being done? The "it" in this question is what a friend of mine, Stephanie Ahn Mathis, calls the "2GC" mandate. In other words, what does it take to accomplish the Great Commission and the Two Greatest Commandments where they are not yet being fulfilled?

For millennia, we as Believers have been commanded to love God with all our beings, to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to go and make disciples of all nations. We, like Jesus, are called to bring good news to the poor, to free prisoners, give sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, and to proclaim what the Ancients called "the year of Jubilee."

Yet after all these centuries, the task of bringing God’s love to the unreached and oppressed and misfits remains daunting. Sure we as Believers in Jesus have come a long way, but there are still a lot of kids crying in the night - and some older people, too, lots of people short on hope.

I don't think our mission is more difficult to achieve now than it was 100 or 500 or 1,000 years ago, but there is a lot more to be done. Every age has its own challenges, of which ours certainly has its share. It is never easy and we definitely have some great issues to confront in today’s world.

So I’ve asked a question that is probably a burning one for you, too. How do we apply an age-old message and mandate to an indifferent and skeptical world that appears increasingly polarized, even hostile to the messengers of the Gospel? And I’ve found the answer: We do so by embracing biblical cross-cultural models and learning how to be shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves in tough times and hard places as we become agents of blessing to a world in desperate need of good news.

In this book, I talk about how biblical models apply to our lives and our world. How we cross cultural boundaries and creatively access opportunities in order to fulfill God's mandates. And how we do all that, when necessary, at night.

By “night” I mean serving where our work is not as visible as what we traditionally think of as ministry. I mean working in tough times and hard places. Working where people don't know or don't understand what you are doing. Going where people don't want you, serving people who don't like you, and blessing people who know only the curse.

If that sounds like your own neighborhood or workplace or family, you are right on. This book isn’t just for types with pith helmets who eat weird things. It is also for average Janes and Joes who never leave home, but find themselves in the committed minority.

Maybe you are already out there, trying your best to do it. Perhaps you've been at it a long, long time. Or maybe you've never considered doing it before picking up this book. My prayer is that through this book you can discover how to go on a mission crossing borders in the night.

The countdown is on!