OutreachMagazine.com: To the Ends of the Earth: Embracing a Global Vision

To the Ends of the Earth: Embracing a Global Vision
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James P. Long on 08/16/2010

Missionaries, pastors and educators discuss encouraging signs and trends in the
church's international outreach

Question: In the area of global mission engagement, what do you see happening in
the church that encourages you?
JOINING ARMS
The global church is joining arms, making a greater impact than ever before,
Old-school missions think: Find a ‘project’ and do your best to meet the
need on your own. New missions thought: We can make a greater impact by
combining our efforts. Instead of doing a lot of trips to different places, many
are going to the same places over and over, doing holistic community development
with defined goals to empower indigenous people and create sustainable economy
through micro-finance projects.
At Seacoast, we are focused on this type of mission in a couple of different
countries. Here is an article from the Post and Courier on what that looks like
in Haiti.
Our church really got involved in missions through a campaign that we did called
the Hope Epidemic, focusing our cause on the global clean water crisis. We spent
three weeks last December talking about the cause and encouraging people to give
sacrificially to give hope in this arena. To date, we have raised $350,000 and I
would say that a vast majority of the people in our church gave. So, almost
everyone was engaged. Before this, a few hundred people would go on missions
trips, but the entire church was not involved. Not everyone has to “go.” By
creatively adopting a cause and extending the options of missions beyond the
traditional mindset of just going, we have experienced compassion from our
congregation like never before.
Jason Surratt
Missions Pastor
Seacoast Church
SEVEN POSITIVE TRENDS
Here are some things I’m excited about …
▲ The growth of the church through conversions in places like Asia, South
America and some countries in Africa.
▲ The increasing number of missionaries being sent out from countries that
used to be targets of missions from the United States, such as Korea and Brazil.
▲ The passion of church leaders in the U.S. to go to other countries as
short-term missionaries.
▲ The passion of pastors from the U.S. to go to other countries to train
pastors. (I know of pastors in the States who go on a regular basis to Poland,
Serbia, several countries in Africa and South America to provide free training
to pastors who have very little formal training.)
▲ The increasing number of multiethnic churches in the U.S. and a growing
interest from many church leaders in the prospect of becoming multiethnic.
▲ The renewed interest in conversion church growth in this country by a
younger generation that is seeking to reach a new generation through evangelism
and church planting.
▲ The fresh interest from many ethnic churches in the U.S. (e.g. Korean,
Japanese, Armenian, etc.) to reach out to others who are not part of their
ethnicity.
Gary L. McIntosh
Professor of Christian Ministry and Leadership
Biola University
NOT JUST SUB-CONTRACTING MISSIONS
I'm encouraged by churches getting directly involved in global mission rather
than simply sub-contracting the Great Commission/Great Commandment to
missionaries or agencies. Our organization, WorldVenture, has identified five
kinds of mission churches in the U.S.: Sponsoring, Connecting, Partnering,
Focused and Missional. Churches that build on the sponsoring level and move
toward missional begin to take ownership for the work of missions and that
cascades into the spiritual formation of their people as well as the development
of long term relationships with nationals and missionaries. Certainly it is a
lot more work than simply sending money, but it transforms the church and its
people, not to speak of people around the world.
Doug Hazen
Director, Northwest Church Connections
WorldVenture
LOCAL INVOLVEMENT > GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT
One of the things I have seen (especially locally with the Luis Palau
Association's emphasis on "Seasons of Service") is churches getting involved in
their neighborhoods, involving their congregations in ministering locally for
almost no cost vs. raising megabucks to send short-term teams overseas. The
potential downside, of course, is that global needs might be diminished. That is
already being seen in a few places as churches combine their local and global
ministries into one person or committee. But I see it as a possible way to swing
the pendulum back a bit from the over-emphasis in recent years on short-term
missions. So I am encouraged to see involvement locally as a precursor to
possible global engagement. (For a helpful overview, see Eric Swanson’s
“Eight Trends That Will Shape the Future of Global Missions” in Leadership
Network Advance.)
John Branner
Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies
Western Seminary
THE SENDING CHURCH
I see a move, slow but sure, more and more towards sending. The Africa Inland
Church in Kenya has always had a commitment to evangelism, but I’m encouraged
to see this move into more mission endeavors by individual churches and the
denomination. We have a long ways to go, especially when it comes to the matter
of supporting national missionaries. But the trend is changing from a church
that has received missionaries for over a century to a church that is sending
nationals into the harvest field.
Scott Harbert
Kenya
Africa Inland Mission
FROM THE ENDS OF THE EARTH
In my research this year for the new edition of Operation World I spent a lot of
time communicating directly with national mission leaders of many countries. Two
stand out: China, and the Philippines. The church in China is continuing its
rapid growth, and it is growing in sending missionaries to other countries. But
the number of Chinese sent out to proclaim Christ and plant churches in other
places within China is the big story; enormous even. Tens of thousands of
Chinese Christians are leaving their homes and their jobs, usually moving to
other provinces, with little or no financial support from their sending
churches, to pioneer work in new places. It's a vast and powerful phenomenon.
With the Philippines, it is again workers sent out by, but not paid by, their
sending churches that is the big story. Thanks to the poverty and unemployment
of their country, vast numbers of Filipinos are living and working in other
countries. Not all of them, but many of them, are zealous witnesses for Christ,
and I was shocked to learn of the hundreds upon hundreds of new churches being
planted by these lay witnesses in some of the most difficult, restricted, and
unevangelized countries in the world. In their case, this is witness from below:
nurses witnessing to doctors, laborers witnessing to supervisors, cleaners
witnessing to executives. We live in an era of vast international migration, and
vast international Christian migration. It is the Filipinos more than any other
nationality I know of who are pursuing this for the global growth of Christ's
church.
Michael Jaffarian
Senior Research Associate,
Operation World
GLOBAL VILLAGE
I'm encouraged that people who once wrote off issues and concerns as being
"someone else's problem" are much more likely to see these same issues and
concerns as something they can and should help solve in the name of Jesus. In
that sense we truly have become a global village.
On the flip side, with so many significant needs now on the radar screen, some
Christians, churches and pastors seem to assume that whatever God lays on their
heart He's laid on everyone's heart. That can lead to an unfortunately arrogant
and judgment spirit that according to 1 Cor. 13 can cancel out all the good they
do!
Larry Osborne
Senior Pastor
North Coast Church, Vista., Calif.
AUTHENTIC PARTNERSHIP
I attended a missions conference recently where I heard a powerful concept. The
event was COSIM (the Coalition On Support of Indigenous Ministries). It was a
bunch of lifer missionaries. There was talk about the need for mutual
accountability. I hadn't heard missions people talk like that, at least not
old-schoolers like these. Now, I don't hang around with folks like these, so
maybe it's just me who is out of the loop. But here is the gist of what they
were saying:
Authentic partnership between North America/The West and believers in the Global
South and elsewhere means that each side should be accountable. In practice, and
through recent history, it seems, the North Americans hold the indigenous
ministries accountable for their finances, their behavior and how they run their
organization. But rarely, if ever, do the indigenous ministries hold the North
Americans accountable. A real partnership is a two-way street. But often, for
many reasons—including losing funding—the indigenous ministries do not speak
up and challenge the outsiders. It's not healthy. Well, what I heard in the room
was serious intent on the part of these North Americans regarding this major
change in missions work. It's what I heard in their voices, in their statements,
that really got to me.
I also began to wonder: What does mutual accountability look like? Real mutual
accountability? And also: What does mutual transformation really look like? We
can imagine metrics for the indigenous ministry in the field in terms of
spiritual activity and growth of the church/organization. But what are the
metrics that the North Americans should be held to? Who ever heard of someone
saying, "Now, you short-term missionaries, we need to see these points of
progress in the next 12 months or we are going to have to think about what God
is doing here ..."
Interestingly, being on the World Vision US board, I hear many stories about
efforts to have authentic mutuality between the North and the Global South. It's
probably the main thing I love about being on that board. They are really trying
to operate as a federation of 90 countries and not just one dominated by the
seven national offices that raise the most money (US, Canada, Australia,
Britain, Germany, Korea, etc.). The international board of WVI is intentionally
structured to create parity. There has been long-standing discussion about
"decision rights"—when there is a tough call to make, who decides? The field
office or the donor office?
Rudy Carrasco
Associate Director
Partners Worldwide
ENCOURAGING SIGNS
▲ Mission organizations (like TEAM) are working in partnership with home
churches of their missionaries, encouraging, helping the ones preparing, current
news of their chosen areas, etc. TEAM always worked with the home churches
before, but this is in a more personal way, allowing the home churches to help
plan and mentor their missionaries, they are much more involved than they used
to be in that whole process of start to finish of getting missionaries out there
▲ Short-term mission programs, summer programs the home churches are getting
more involved in the planning. They are more goal-oriented with plans of how to
motivate, teach and inform those coming. We are seeing more and more of those
who have gone short-term, return for the long term. Hands-on, but allowing to
see the very real needs that are there.
▲ Third World churches are getting the vision and more of them are starting
their own mission boards or programs to reach out to areas that we westerners
are often not allowed to go into. The Third World churches have unique insight
into missions and culture, which we don't always see. They don't do things the
same way that we do, can be very innovative. We have to let them go, and do it.
Personally; the Sougb tribe where we served has 10 couples out now, in other
tribal areas, learning other languages and living—really living—on the same
level as the people they have gone to. They don't do it the way we did it, but
they are doing it, by the grace of God, and God is building HIs church through
them. We are so glad to now be in the generation of the Grandfathers of the
Sougb Church, letting the younger ones go on. It's all about reproduction, as
long as that happens, God will build His church.
Dan and Barbara Lunow
Irian, Indonesia
The Evangelical Alliance Mission
SERVING THE POOR
I am delighted to see the Church awaken to the importance of children "in our
midst" and just how central they are in the Kingdom of God. The world is
shrinking and the "ends of the earth" are no longer “way over there” and
“none of our concern.” The Church is coming alive in its awareness and
commitment to serve the poor as a natural part of our walk with God, and I see
the next generation’s role as strategic and pivotal in pushing abject poverty
clear off our planet. These young leaders are not only aware of global poverty,
but they deeply care and will not tolerate sitting idle. They nudge their peers
to action. They want to give, go, and serve! I see the Western/Resourced Church
uniting as a body and reaching out to their counterparts overseas. I believe
Church to Church is the wave of missions in the future.
Wess Stafford
President and CEO
Compassion International
COOPERATION AND PARTNERSHIP
I see an increased awareness in the European church on cooperation and
partnership among various church groups. Also, expanded methods of engaging with
the non-church world are being used, such as business as missions.
Tom Petty
Veteran Missionary, France
Greater Europe Mission
THE EMERGING NATIONAL CHURCH
For many decades, Western missionaries have wrongly assumed that it is our
responsibility to reach the entire world for Christ. The apostle Paul, on the
other hand, obeyed the great commission by establishing pockets of believers in
each unreached nation and training them to reach out to their own localities and
countries. Today, I am very encouraged to see my national ministry partners in
NW Cambodia assuming responsibility for reaching their own country for Christ.
When we went to France 31 years ago, I had been trained as a Bible teacher.
Frankly, I had little training in cross-cultural work. Now, however, since we
began serving in Cambodia almost seven years ago, I have had to learn (along
with my national ministry partners and American teammates) some new
"church-planting" skills like raising fish, frogs, mushrooms, eels, pigs and
home gardening. Very fortunately, our national ministry partners are all
students at the university and are studying things like micro-finance. We're
learning together how to reach out holistically to the migrant rice farmers of
NW Cambodia. Partnership with mature national believers is great!
Kent Good
Cambodia
Grace Brethren International Missions
GREATER CHURCH INOVLVEMENT
We are seeing churches wanting to be more directly involved in the work on the
field. It is very important for churches to pray faithfully and give to the
work. That will always be needed. But what is encouraging to us is to see
pastors, and work teams, and young people connecting directly with the mission
field by visiting, contributing their skills and strength, choosing people
groups who do not yet have the Bible for special prayer and projects. In this
age where travel has become much easier than when we were children, and the
Internet has opened up communication and made it easy, we are delighted to find
people taking advantage of this to connect with the body of Christ around the
world. There is a much greater sense of working in partnership globally.
Larry and Cami Robbins
Bible Translators, Africa
Wycliffe Bible Translators
OUTSIDE THE WALLS
▲ Churches are aware that many young couples will not mark "missions" on an
offering envelope for a certain percentage of their Sunday offering, like
Jeanine and I have done since we were 21! But many younger will respond to
specific projects that meet true physical needs along with the gospel. And many
will even give some time to go to help!
▲ As a coach for pastors and churches, I ask them to publish for their
leadership each month how much of their offerings is going "outside the walls,"
including not just across the salt water but also local outreach and
benevolence. That recognizes the local mission also, which often has been hard
for some to do. A number have set goals to increase this percentage by two to
five points every year. Way to go! One large church was up to 42 percent going
"outside"!
▲ Ministry to the whole man--medicine and job training and health habits and
more, not just the gospel--continues to capture more hearts and global budgets.
That has to please our Lord, who cares about all our needs.
▲ I have been so disappointed with informal surveys about pastoral prayers in
the worship services--their absence, glibness, and omission of local and global
missions needs. But some are making sure they model that kind of prayer every
week. The lack of this is a new form of the old, "Us four, no more."
Knute Larson
Author, Teacher, Mentor
ENGAGING THE SCRIPTURES
At Biblica, one of the greatest encouragements we observe is renewed interest
not just in effective distribution of the Bible, but in greater "absorption" of
the Word of God that results in evidence that suggests true life transformation.
The church around the world is hungry to engage the Scriptures at a deeper level
in order to nurture real transformation of people, one life at a time, one
church at a time, one community at a time, one culture at a time. The church is
realizing that the Bible is at the heart of mission. Indeed, there is growing
sense that mission is living the story of the Bible and therefore we have to
drink deeply from its riches!
Scott Bolinder
President, Global Publishing
Biblica
DEVELOPMENTS IN NIGERIA
▲ There is a wave of younger missionaries in their 20s. They tend to be
short-term, up to two years, involved in compassion ministries, and very worship
minded. They are not equipped for translation teams, theological education or
deep cross-cultural living, but they are zealous, serious and a delight to work
with. They work hard and play hard.
▲ Here in Nigeria there is a real church planting movement in response to so
many people coming to Christ. There is a sea of new Christians waiting to be
discipled and brought into new churches.
▲ A good mix of worship styles exists. Here in Nigeria, there has not been the
music wars experienced in other countries. There is a good mix of traditional
music and more African styles of contemporary music.
▲ Western churches continue to fund career missionaries and projects. These
churches have not abandoned the command to go into all the world and made
disciples.
▲ High-tech approaches to the gospel seem to be bearing fruit such as radio,
films and music.
▲ Theological education is broadening out from its academic base to include
more practical ministry training and spiritual formation.
▲ National leadership has taken over from missionaries and they continue to do
a good job at leading their own churches and schools.
▲ National Christians are slowly catching a vision for producing their own
materials such as books and booklets that address issues faced by their local
churches.
George Janvier
Missionary, Nigeria
SIM
GATEKEEPER LEADERS
Many churches are realizing that global mission can start in their backyards
since many of our communities are diverse in some regard and many of these
people still have connections back home (at least that is the case for Florida).
There has been an increased interest (especially in the Latino community) to
invest in leaders who are active locally but have a global heart and gatekeeper
leaders are making these new emerging leaders partners with organizations that
need their help overseas. There is also less ego. More pastors are settling with
the fact that they may not be the ones "to go" but that they can partner with
the ones who are "already there". My church Save the Nations has partnerships
with leaders who go to Russia, Germany, etc and it gives us a reach beyond what
we could ever accomplish alone as a four year old church.
Elizabeth D. Rios
Executive Pastor
Save the Nations
For more on the global vision of the church, check out the September/October
2010 issue of Outreach.
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