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YWAM DTS Notes Missions based on lectures by Calvin and Carol Conkey

The biblical and historical foundation for missions

The focus of God’s concern in people, we are created for relationship with Him. 

An indigenous church must be planted among each people group. 

The father of modern missions is William Carey.

William Carey: Missionary-Evangelist
by Fred Barlow from Profiles in Evangelism ©1976

1761-1834

English Baptist missionary to India. Born in England in 1761. Pastor before going to the mission field, he spent an active forty-one years serving the Lord in India, including translating the Scriptures.

"Shoemaker by trade, but scholar, linguist and missionary by God's training," William Carey was one of God's giants in the history of evangelism! One of his biographers, F. Dealville Walker, wrote of Carey: "He, with a few contemporaries, was almost singlehanded in conquering the prevailing indifference and hostility to missionary effort; Carey developed a plan for missions, and printed his amazing Enquiry; he influenced timid and hesitating men to take steps to the evangelizing of the world." Another wrote of him, "Taking his life as a whole, it is not too much to say that he was the greatest and most versatile Christian missionary sent out in modern times."

Carey was born in England, August 17, 1761, of a weaver's family. In 1785 he moved to Moulton to become a schoolmaster — and a year later he became pastor of the small Baptist congregation there.  It was in Moulton that Carey heard the missionary call. In his own words he cried, "My attention to missions was first awakened after I was at Moulton, by reading the Last Voyage of Captain Cook." To many, Cook's Journal was a thrilling story of adventure, but to Carey it was a revelation of human need! He then began to read every book that had any bearing on the subject. (This, along with his language study — for at twenty-one years of age Carey had mastered Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Italian, and was turning to Dutch and French. One well called his shoemaker's cottage "Carey's College," for as he cobbled shoes along with his preaching he never sat at his bench without some kind of a book before him.)

The more he read and studied, the more convinced he was "the peoples of the world need Christ." He read, he made notes, he made a great leather globe of the world and, one day, in the quietness of his cobbler's shop — not in some enthusiastic missionary conference — Carey heard the call: "If it be the duty of all men to believe the Gospel ... then it be the duty of those who are entrusted with the Gospel to endeavor to make it known among all nations." And Carey sobbed out, "Here am I; send me!"

To surrender was one thing — to get to the field was quite another problem. There were no missionary societies and there was no real missionary interest. When Carey brought up this subject for discussion at a ministers' meeting, "Whether the command given to the apostles to teach all nations was not obligatory on all succeeding ministers to the end of the world, seeing that the accompanying promise was of equal extent," One leader shouted, "Young man, sit down: when God pleases to covert the heathen, He will do it without your aid or mine." Another added his feelings as resembling the unbelieving gate keeper of Samaria, who said, "If the Lord should make windows in heaven, how could such a thing be?"

But Carey persisted.  Carey wrote his famed Enquiry Into the Obligations of the Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen. In this masterpiece on missions Carey answered arguments, surveyed the history of missions from apostolic times, surveyed the entire known world as to countries, size, population and religions, and dealt with the practical application of how to reach the world for Christ!

He prayed, he pled with others, and he persisted. And he preached, "EXPECT GREAT THINGS FROM GOD. ATTEMPT GREAT THINGS FOR GOD." The result of that message preached at Nottingham, May 30, 1792 — and all the other missionary ministries of Carey — produced the particular Baptist Missionary Society, formed that Fall at Kettering on October 2, 1792. A subscription was started and, ironically, Carey could not contribute any money toward it except the pledge of the profit from his book, The Enquiry. 

It was in 1793 that Carey went to India. There were years of discouragement (no Indian convert for seven years), debt, disease, deterioration of his wife's mind, death, but by the grace of God — and by the power of the Word — Carey continued and conquered for Christ!

When he died at 73 (1834), he had seen the Scriptures translated and printed into forty languages, he had been a college professor, and had founded a college at Serampore. He had seen India open its doors to missionaries, he had seen the edict passed prohibiting sati (burning widows on the funeral pyres of their dead husbands), and he had seen converts for Christ.

A leader in the second era of mission in 1865 was Hudson Taylor.

J. Hudson Taylor: Pioneer Missionary

by Fred Barlow from Profiles in Evangelism, ©1976

1832-1905

English missionary to China. Founder, China Inland Mission. Spent five years translating the New Testament into the Ningpo dialect. At his death in 1905, there were 205 stations with 849 missionaries, and 125,000 Chinese Christians in the China Inland Mission.

"He must move men through God -- by prayer," that was the philosophy of J. Hudson Taylor, first missionary to the interior of China and the founder of the China Inland Mission, which is today Overseas Missionary Fellowship or OMF.  As a teenager he accepted Christ and soon heard from Heaven, "Go for Me to China.”

After his call Taylor first moved from the comforts of his home with his parents and two sisters to work for a doctor in a small poor town and accumulate a little medical knowledge, and began to learn to live by faith, as his salary was small and the doctor sometimes forgot to pay him.  He had been called out late one night to witness to and pray over a sick woman with starving children. As he tried to pray, his words choked in his mouth because he had in his possession a silver coin that would answer his prayer and alleviate their sufferings somewhat. "Hypocrite!" he heard his heart condemn him. "Telling people about a kind and loving Father in Heaven -- and not prepared to trust Him yourself, without your money!" He gave them his last coin -- only one bowl of porridge between him and poverty! As he ate that last meal he remembered the Scripture, "He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord."

The next day he received a package. In it was a gold coin -- worth ten times the silver coin. Taylor cried out triumphantly, "That's good interest! Ha! Ha! Invested in God's bank for twelve hours and it brings me this! That's the bank for me!"

Thus at nineteen years of age, Taylor learned he could trust and obey God in every area of his life. There were many lessons to learn, but at the first he learned that a man can take God at His Word. Praying! And answers to prayer! That became the passion of his life. He learned to move men through God by prayer. He asked no man for any material thing.

There were storms at sea and miraculous deliverances in that five-and-one-half months' journey to China. There was civil war when he landed at Shanghai, rebels holding the city. Fires, famine, fearsome circumstances were fought by the young missionary on his knees and God delivered him. And at the age of twenty-two, eight months a missionary, he also found himself responsible for supplying the needs of newly-arriving missionaries, the Parker family.

Taylor ministered in the river towns, married a wife and saw many miracles in converted Chinese. But on June 25, 1865, he made his move to minister to the millions of China "West of the Mountains, South of the Clouds, North of the Lake"--Inland China. At Brighton, England, on furlough, he opened a bank account: "Ten pounds" (Fifty dollars) in the name of "The China Inland Mission." His initial goal was twenty-four workers. The next May the twenty-four sailed. Then there were seventy more, and another hundred. And finally more than eight hundred missionaries ministered across the miles of China's interior. Truly this man of faith excelled in the ministry of moving men through God by prayer.

Hudson Taylor died in 1905, before the communist takeover of his beloved China. His days were days of extensive and effective evangelism.

William Cameron Townsend founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators (from the Wycliffe website)

When young Cameron Townsend tried to sell Spanish Bibles in Guatemala in l9l7-l8, he discovered that the majority of the people he met did not understand Spanish. Neither did they have a written form of their own beautiful language, the Cakchiquel. Townsend abandoned his attempts to sell Bibles and began living among the Cakchiquels. He learned their complex language, created an alphabet for it, analyzed the grammar and translated the New Testament in the remarkably short span of ten years.

Concerned about other minority language groups, Townsend opened Camp Wycliffe in Arkansas in the summer of l934. Named for the first translator of the entire English Bible, the camp was designed to train young people in basic linguistics and translation methods. Two students enrolled. The following year, after a training session with five men in attendance, Townsend took the five to Mexico to begin field work. From this small beginning has grown the worldwide ministry of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Wycliffe Associates, and the technical department of SIL known as JAARS.

No cultural group is considered too small and no language too difficult. Pioneering continues as several thousand workers break new ground in many parts of the world. The highest standards of linguistics and anthropological orientation are upheld. Service is stressed. All field work is done in cooperation with host governments, universities and philanthropic groups. Portions of the Christian Scriptures are translated for people in their mother tongue, the language of their hearts.

In facing the daunting complexities of at least a thousand unwritten languages in the world today, Wycliffe workers trust God for the impossible as He provides the resources needed to reach the forgotten, by-passed minority people of the world.

Donald Mc Gavran 1897-1990, A missionary, educator, author, and a minister in the Christian Church/Disciples of Christ, Donald Mc Gavran was founding dean of Fuller Theological Seminary's School of World Mission in Pasadena, CA.[1965-71] Serving as a United Christian Missionary Society missionary in his native India from 1923 to 1957, he later worked as a professor at Indianapolis's College of Missions (1957-60) and as a director at Northwest Christian College, Institute of Church Growth [1961-65] before joining Fuller in 1965. There he became senior professor of missions in 1971-1990. He was also Director of the Lilly Endowment Research in Church Growth in Latin America from 1965-1967. A biography is found at Wheaton archives. http://www.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/guides/178.htm

In addition, McGavran lectured and founded churches around the United States and wrote numerous books, among them How to Teach Religion in Mission Schools, How Churches Grow, Understanding Church Growth, Crucial Issues in Missions Tomorrow, The Eye of the Storm: The Great Debate in Missions, and The Clash between Christianity and Cultures. His articles appeared in International Review of Missions, Missiology, Evangelical Missions Quarterly, Christianity Today, and other periodicals. He was also a writer of news and views column in United Church Review, India, 1943-47 and editor of Church Growth Bulletin, 1964-90. He was a member of the National Association of Professors of Missions and the American Society of Missiology.

Besides founding the Fuller School of World Missions, McGavran developed the methodology of  “contextualization” of the gospel for each culture and which teaching is found in the Perspectives curriculum. His Bridges of God (1954), originally titled, "How Peoples Become Christian" is viewed

"...as the classic summons for missionaries to utilize the "bridges" of family and kinship ties within each people group thereby promoting "people movements" to Christ...To Christianize a whole people, the first thing not to do is snatch individuals out of it into a different society. Thus a Christward movement within a people can be defeated either by extracting the new Christian from their society (i.e. by allowing them to be squeezed out by their non-Christian relatives) or by the non-Christians so dominating the Christians that their new life in Christ is not apparent.... It is important to note that the the group decision is not the sum of the separate individual decisions. The leader makes sure that his followers will follow. The followers make sure that they are not ahead of each other. Husbands sound out wives...As the group considers becoming Christina, tension mounts and excitement rises. Indeed, a prolonged informal vote-taking is under way. A change of religion involves community change. Only as its members move together does change become healthy and constructive." [Perspectives Reader, p.B-137-140]

Mc Gavrans methodology of "people movements" and the idea that cultures were to be "redeemed" by "redemptive analogies" are globally embraced. According to Mc Gavran the focus of the church is not to save individuals or disciple them, although he points out that is not to be forgotten. However, "extraction evangelism", that is, to save one person out of the "context" of his sociological 'unit' is a setback to global evangelization. He believed that when Jesus said to make 'disciples of the nations', He meant literally, the entire NATIONS including the  governments.  He also did some work with Charles and Win Arn in senior adult evangelism.

God’s heart is for all people.   God confused the languages in the Story of Babel in Gen. 11:1-9.  The world had one language and one culture but they rebelled against God’s plan and refused to spread out over the whole earth.  God created new languages and ultimately caused new cultures to be developed, at least 70 languages going back to Gen. 10:1-32.  There comes a time when God has to bring judgment.   God is balancing His patience with His holiness.  The rest of the Old Testament chronicles God’s interacting with the peoples of the region of the world.  Acts 17 indicates God was intimately involved with every people group and He still is.  People groups God interacted with include the Egyptians, Canaanites, Moabites, Amorites, Perezites, Jebusites, Philistines, Assyrians, Babylonians, Phoenicians, Mesopotamians, Edomites, Cushites, Ammonites, Sidonians, Persians, Samarians, Midianites, Horites, Hivites, Schechemites, Shunamites, Medes, Ninevites, Hitites, Amalekites, Ethiopians, Romans, Greeks, Chaldeans, Shuhites, Temanites, and more.

The Abrahamic Covenant from Genesis 12:1-3, Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you; 2 And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."  We see from this that God's heart is for all people.  Bless you is the top line of the covenant and then bless others is the bottom line or responsibility part, "you shall be a blessing" v. 2  "all the families of the earth shall be blessed" v. 3.  You can see this promise repeated throughout Scripture.

The 4000 year connection

The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU."  Gal 3:8 (NASB)

God’s heart is for the Egyptians.  God loves all people equally.  The Egyptians worshipped the creation rather than the Creator.  Every one of the plagues were focused on either an object of their worship or their witchcraft.  More than 15 times in Exodus God proclaimed His motivation for all that He did to the Egyptians.  “That the Egyptians will know that I am the only true God.”  God warned them, God told them a way out, and why He was doing it.  God calls them His people:

In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD near its border. 20 It will become a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the LORD because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion , and He will deliver them. 21 Thus the LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the LORD and perform it. 22 The LORD will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the LORD, and He will respond to them and will heal them. 23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. 24 In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, "Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance."  Isaiah 19:19-25 (NASB) 

Before 600 AD Egypt was a solid Christian nation, and a hub for Christianity before Islam came. 

Paul told the Athenians about the unknown God.  "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist , as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.' Acts 17:24-28 (NASB)

God made man inhabit the whole earth, He determines the times set for them being intimately involved in their history.  He determined the exact places where they should live.  The Satare people in Brazil have carved doves into many wood pieces in their building because they believe a dove led them to the area they settled in.  This opened the door to share the Gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit for a YWAMer on outreach.  Mankind needs to seek God for his survival in coping with hardship.  The way culture is created is by human beings coping with their environment.

God made every nation, Greek is ethne or ethnos, these are people groups, not political entities, but languages and cultures.  Ta ethne means all people groups.  There are 54 minority people groups in China, the smallest is about 10 million people.

This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. Matt 24:14 (NASB)

There are 300 people groups in Indonesia, 85% of the Christians there are Chinese, so there is much work to do with the other people groups there. 

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

Romans 1:18-20 (NASB)

God has been involved with all people, men suppress the truth they know by their wickedness and the truth is not passed on. 

There is no perfect culture in the world today.  Through creation God has made clear to all peoples all that can be known about Him.  God’s invisible qualities, eternal power, and divine nature.  This is general revelation.  However, all our view of God and creation are incomplete.  We see through a glass dimly (I Cor. 13:12).  God is too great to be contained in one culture.  What is God’s ultimate purpose? Some will stand before God from every tribe, nation, and tongue (Rev. 5:9-10).  Christ has purchased humans from every tribe, language, people, and nation   After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; 10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." Rev 7:9-10 (NASB) Rev 5 and 7 have the same phrase.  Salvation belongs to our God (Jonah 2:9).  Eph. 5:27 talks about the church, the bride of Christ, having no spot or wrinkle, a complete bride from every people. 

Great missions song, “Our Heart” by John Chisum and George Searcy sung by Bob Fitts.

Our heart our desire

Is to see the nations worship

Our cry our prayer

Is to sing Your praise to the ends of the earth

That with one mighty voice

Evey tribe and tongue rejoices

Our heart our desire

Is to see the nations worship You

Heavenly Father

Your mercy showers down upon all people

Every race upon this earth

May Your Spirit pierce the darkness

Break the chains of death upon us

Let us rise in honest worship

To declare Your matchless worth

There is no power that for one hour

Can withstand the greatness

Of Your Word on tongues of faith

So we're bold in intercession

Praying now that every heart will bow

Before You Lord in praise in praise

Our heart our desire

Is to see the nations worship You

© 1993 Integrity's Hosanna!/Integrity's Praise! Music  

Getting the Big Picture

Most Christians are puzzled by their Bible.  How does one book relate to the others? What is the big picture?

Introduction Gen. 1-11

Story Gen. 12 – Jude

Conclusion Revelation

Introduction Gen. 1:26; 3:14-16 proto evangelicum (the first time in Scripture where the promise of a Savior is given)  9:8-17 a covenant with all flesh (Noah and the rainbow).  10:17 the table of the nations with 70 listed.  The Jews were Semites.  Chapters 1 – 10 of Genesis are a bit condensed then 11 backs up in time.  How many books are in Heaven?  We know about the Lambs Book of Life.  What about the register of the peoples?  I shall mention Rahab and Babylon among those who know Me; Behold, Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia: 'This one was born there.' "

5 But of Zion it shall be said, "This one and that one were born in her"; And the Most High Himself will establish her. 6 The LORD will count when He registers the peoples, "This one was born there."  Psalms 87:4-6 (NASB)

Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, and from your relatives

and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you; 2 and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; 3 and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." Gen 12:1-3 (NASB)

Gen. 18:16-18 repeats the Abrahamic covenant.  Gen. 22:16-18 gives the strongest promise God can make swearing by His own name.  Again the covenant is reiterated.  Gen. 26:1-4 God tells Isaac about The Promise.  Gen. 28:11-14 God tells Jacob repeating The Promise to the next generation.  Jerusalem is strategic real estate, the center.  The Promise is mentioned in I Chron. 16:8-31, especially note vv. 8, 23,24,29 and 31.  II Kings 19:17-19 and Psalm 67.  With every top line blessing comes a bottom line responsibility.  God blesses us so that all the earth may fear the Lord.  Now there is a veil but the Lord will be revealed to the nations, all the nations.  The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; a banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined , aged wine. 7 And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, even the veil which is stretched over all nations. Isaiah 25:6-7 (NASB)

This reminded me of II Cor. 4:3-4  And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (NASB)

For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, so the Lord  GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations. Isaiah 61:11 (NASB)

Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'It will yet be that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities. 21 'The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, "Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts; I will also go." 22 'So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD.' 23 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.""'

Zech 8:20-23 (NASB)  This is why the Jews were chosen in the first place bring the other nations of the earth to the Lord.

"For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations," says the LORD of hosts.  Mal 1:11 (NASB)

And He began to teach and say to them, "Is it not written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS'? But you have made it a ROBBERS'  DEN."  Mark 11:17 (NASB)

Now He said to them, "These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and He said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 "You are witnesses of these things. 49 "And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."

Luke 24:44-49 (NASB)

Then we have a peak of the end of history for all the nations in And they sang* a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. Rev 5:9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands  Rev 7:9 (NASB)

A key that opens the door to biblical understanding of the big picture is seeing the Abrahamic covenant.  Do a test on biblical passages, for example the Ten Commandments.  The first four deal with our relationship with God.  Another example, Jesus gives the greatest commandment in Luke 10:25-37.  You might ask where is the cross cultural or all peoples emphasis of blessing?  The good Samaritan.  John 3:16, God does love the world.   We see The Promise in Acts 2:39; 26:7; Rom. 4:13-14,16,20; Rom. 9:8-9; Gal. 3:17,19,29; Eph. 2:12; 3:6; II Tim. 1:1; and Heb. 11:11. 

The heart of evangelism and missions

For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. 23 I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.  I Cor 9:19-23 (NASB)  We are to work at developing effective communication strategies.  Jesus gives these last words to His disciples in the Great Commission.  And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always , even to the end of the age." Matt 28:18-20 (NASB)

Our heart motivation in missions: For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. 2 Cor 5:14-15 (NASB)  Going where there is not a church.  And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man's foundation; 21 but as it is written, "THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE, AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND." Romans 15:20-21 (NASB)

The last frontier in world missions

A frontier is the farthermost limits, beyond or at the edge.  This is known as World A, made up of unreached people groups.  Over 60% can’t read or write.  Most prefer oral communication.  Over 80% of them, don’t understand English.

World A

Unreached people -- 24% of the world's population -- receive 1/2 of 1% of dollars given to Christian missions

World B

Unevangelized World -- 43% of the world's population -- receives 5% of dollars given to Christian missions

World C

Christian World -- 33% of the world's population -- receives 94.5% of dollars given to Christian missions

Evangelization by Worlds A, B, and C 

By individuals

World C 1,999,564,000

World B 2,426,110,000

World A 1,629,375,000

By countries 

World C countries 141

   Population 1,694,733,000

World B countries 59

   Population 3,755,012,000

World A "unreached" countries 38

   Population 605,304,000

$5 out of $100 given by Christians for ministry goes to missions and out of that 5 cents goes to mission work in the unreached world. 

Missions statistics from the places of the 10/40 Window:

Center of population:Two-thirds of the world's population -- more than 3.2 billion people -- live in the 10/40 Window.

Unreached and unevangelized: 95% of the people living in the 10/40 Window are unevangelized. Many have never heard the Gospel message even once. There are either no Christians or not enough of a Christian movement in many cultures of the 10/40 Window to carry out evangelism. If those groups are to be evangelized, believers will need to leave their own culture to enter another where they will seek to plant the Gospel. Cross-cultural evangelism is required because there are people groups with no church movements that are understandable or relevant to them.

World religions: Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism are centered within the 10/40 Window.

Least evangelized cities: Half of the world's least evangelized cities are in this window.

1.8 billion people have not heard the Gospel one time. 

For the same amount of witnessing, prayer, time, and money in North America there are 22 new believers, in S. America 50 new believers, in Mongolia 1000 new believers, Kazakshstan 2000 new believers, and in Saudia Arabia there could be 6,500 new believers. 

Media in Missions

Media can accelerate all stages of church growth and transformation.  It can be used in evangelism, discipleship, training leaders, church planting, and seeing whole societies transformed.  Media combined with human interaction is one of the most effective means of communication.  Consider your audience, who they are, where they are, what their needs are.  Ask, how can I best meet the needs of my audience? 

Jesus model of communication

He took time to understand His audience.  He took them from the known to the unknown.  He followed an adaptive strategy.  He utilized parables and real life situations.  He was fully dependent on the Holy Spirit. 

Personal  Life Mission Statement

What is my unique contribution to God’s plan for world evangelization?  Bring the Gospel to Thailand, share in hospital and children’s ministry, use English teaching, distribute Bibles and tracts, use media especially web design, pioneer a YWAM base and plant and pastor a church.  What are some of my dreams and visions?  To see Thailand become a Christian nation with millions coming to faith in Christ.  What do I believe is God’s highest aspiration for me?  Preach the Gospel and equip others to do it, and to become more Christ like.

Qualifications of Gospel communication

1.     Commit to effective and relevant communication

2.     Understand elements of effective communication

3.     Know your audience, including their language and culture

4.     Be concerned about what people hear or perceive

5.     Acknowledge the work of the Holy Spirit

Transmission is when the message reaches the ear.  Communication is when the message reaches the mind and understanding is achieved.

Five major categories

Muslims of N. Africa, the Middle East, and part of Asia  who believe in one God – Allah.

Hindus of India and Nepal ¼ of the unreached people in the world

Tribal people 2000 unreached people groups

Buddhist 1000 people groups

Chiinese folk religion 200 people groups

Missions web sites www.momentum-mag.org  www.indigitech.net  www.createinternational.com  www.perspectives.org www.travelingteam.org www.gmi.org/ow www.lausanne.org www.urbana.org 

Cross Cultural Adjustment

Culture Stress vs. Culture Shock

Stress is the natural emotional response in adjusting to the differences in a new culture from your own culture.  There is friction at the contact stage.  Culture shock is avoidable while culture stress isn’t.  Culture shock is not dealing with the stress possibly leading to mental breakdown, trying to change the new culture, refusing to adapt and cope. 

Stage one the honeymoon

Everyone is the same all over.  Focusing on similarities rather than differences, focusing on things familiar to your own cultural background.  Enjoying, admiring and finding amusement in some of the differences

Stage two the contrast

There is a sense of confusion, a sense of isolation, unfulfilled expectations, and a lack of familiar cultural cues

Stage three the reaction / rejection

“Those rascals broke my screwdriver while using it for a hammer again.”  Stereotyping is typical, trying to prove your own culture is better than theirs.  But remember “People don’t care how much you know, until they see how much you care.”  (John Maxwell)   “Perhaps if I simply ignore her, she’ll go away.”

Stage four the crossroads

Choices are made between going native, fight, or flight. 

Stage five successful adjustment

You are able to truly communicate what is in your heart.  Understanding is easily achieved by your audience.  You are becoming a belonger, an insider.

Just because people do things different doesn’t make it wrong.

We all tend to be ethnocentric centered on our own culture.

Factors that increase stress

Involvement

Value differences (i.e. cleanliness and punctuality)

Frustrations (related to living conditions or communication)

Temperament differences

Factors that decrease stress

Acceptance

Communication

Emotional security

Inner spiritual resources (I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me)

These factors combined equal your total culture stress

Recognize difficulties as culture stress.  Develop cultural acceptance.  Strengthen you security in Christ with a new level of trust.  Improve communication – learn the language.  Set realistic goals for yourself.  Have cultural retreats – where you enjoy something from your own culture. 

What is culture?  “All that we learn to do and how to do it from those around us” Dr. Lloyd Quast.   Culture is learned.  Rules and ways to live, how relate with others.   “Culture is a complex coping system” Dr. Charles Kraft.  “Culture is cumulative and changing, the behavior and patterns add up over generations. From time to time new behavioral patterns are introduced and soon many are following. These [are] constantly changing, as old ways are discarded and new embraced.  All wrapped together into a system – the basic building blocks are utterances (or ideas) artifacts and actions.” Dr. Sherwood Lingenfelter BIOLA.

What are the different parts of culture?

Behavior – what people do

Values – what is right

Beliefs – what is true

Worldview – what is real

"For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.

2 Chron 16:9a  (NASB)

“Good is the enemy of God’s best”  Ken Bartsch

Fred Markert is a YWAM Global Missions Strategist planting new bases underground.

Leaders are needed who say, “come with us, let us do it together.”

God can and will do what is described in Rev. 7:9.

Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.

John 4:35 (NASB)

There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.  Isaiah 9:7 (NASB)

Missions and evangelism are the cry of God’s heart.  God is on the move.

“Who wants to stay home and watch soap operas, when God’s turning the world upside down”  Floyd Mc Clung.

Christianity is growing at rate much faster than other religions, increasing by 6.9%.  74,000 come to faith in Christ each day.  A new believer every three seconds.  During the 1990s the number of believers doubled.  Demographics are changing, in 1900 79% of Christians were white, now 34% are white, 18% Latin American 16% African and 32% Asian.  Asians are now sending 35% of the foreign missionaries. 

Not is it worth it, but is He worthy?

Truth confirmed

Media, especially web design is a great way to evangelize and disciple.  Using Power Point is great way to teach.  Using movies can really move the heart.

What God is saying to me

Praise the Lord for the opportunity to do web design on www.Thaichurches.org 

There is great hope for Thailand because God loves the peoples of Thailand very much.  He very much wants them to come to know Him.

Implementation

Praise God and stay busy communicating the Gospel.

Areas God has brought to my attention

God is at work around the world to bring people of all nations, tongues, and tribes to Himself.  I was convicted about my lack of faith in trusting God to change the world and in providing the huge amounts some families needed for outreach.